Why Windows got it right with their new identity

Most of us have seen it now. Last week, Microsoft officially revealed the new Windows brand with its Windows 8 logo.  Blog surfing for responses from people around the web, I’ve generally agreed with the consensus. Overall, everyone agrees that it’s a very clean, simple logo design that very effectively reflects what they’re doing in their new Metro Style UI with Windows 8.

Then, I came across this article from The Verge (one my favorite tech blogs), and they suggested that Microsoft “really missed an opportunity” to capitalize on its previous brand – carrying the most recognizable part of it, the waving flag, through in the new logo.  Usually, I’d be the first guy to argue in agreement with that point.  When creating a new brand, one of the first questions I typically ask is,  ”How recognizable and established is the comapany and their current brand?” And if the answer is “very recognizable and/or established,” I work pretty hard to creatively evolve their current brand into something new and fresh without losing the core of the old identity.

This time, I beg to differ.  In fact, I’d say Windows needed to dump the waving flag like a bad habit.

When NOT to delete a customer’s Facebook post

For several months, I had been looking forward to a trip to my favorite place in the world: Colorado. Accommodations booked and recreation planned, all I had left to do was drop off my dog at the boarder’s the evening before my 6:30 A.M. flight.

On the drive to my dog’s “hotel,” I chatted with a ride-along friend about why I enjoy this particular dog-sitter. They let the dogs run free all day, a far leap from the jittery cabin fever he experiences when emerging from other boarders. Plus, the doggie hotel is extremely connected with social media. I can make reservations on their Facebook page and often interact with the staff while I am away to check on my furry friend. They made such an impression on me, I had voted for them in our city newspaper’s “Best of…” small business contest.

My dog at the Prizm office

We arrived, and my dog ran to the door, excited to be at his weekend play place.

Unfortunately, we arrived to a “Closed” sign. Lights out. Dogs in pens. No creature with a key or opposable thumbs in sight.

Customer Service: Less is Not More

I was reading an article posted on Techdirt about the SOPA/PIPA legislation that was just recently shelved. The article, which can be found here, is about how the gaming companies are supporting the bill even though the gamers (according to the article) are not. To sum it up, one gamer sent a letter to SEGA asking them to oppose the legislation and got the following in response:

“Generally these issues are caused by bad installs or junk data that’s stuck in the system memory. The first suggestion would be to perform a hard reset on the device. It’s best to attempt this any time you experience performance problems with your device or have an app crash. If it doesn’t work, its suggested that you uninstall the app, perform a hard reset, reinstall and then perform one more hard reset before launching the game.

“If you’re problems continue, please let us know.”

Now if you’re like me, your response upon reading this was “that’s about as expected from a big corporation.”

Wait, what?

Why is that

Success in a Foundation Campaign

Prizm is honored to have been a partner with Indiana State University Foundation during its $85 million campaign.  The campaign was the first comprehensive campaign in the school’s 160 year history.  Prizm was engaged to elevate the brand, showcase the March On! Moments through video storytelling, and design both a live event experience and an online presence.

We are so proud of Indiana State and are honored to have them as a client. Read more about their campaign’s success here.

Creating a Mobile Marketing Strategy | Step One: Identifying if you need one

As 2012 begins, the mobile industry continues to grow and mature. Companies are just now beginning to understand the capabilities of these super computers in our pockets as the entertainment sections of the App Stores are giving way to corporate applications. Yet for most small businesses that are still working out the kinks in their social media campaigns, they haven’t even started to think about their mobile presence. The prevailing logic is that they don’t have an App that can bring value to their customers and modern mobile browsers do a pretty good job of displaying their website that was meant for the desktop so mission accomplished, right? 

The other day at Prizm, we were doing some research

Prizm as a Time Bandit? Ah, yes!

As we begin a new year, it occurs to me that I have spent a dozen years now with Prizm.  How can that possibly be?  After all, to contemplate 12 years in future tense feels like a much longer span of time than it does to look back on that same number of years.  And the scary part about it is that as I age, time seems to just go faster and faster.  But enough of that conversation, it could lead me down an entirely different path.  Hmmmmmmmm…Perhaps another blog?  Perhaps not…we shall see.

The purpose of this blog, though, is to give you, the reader, an inside perspective on Prizm, and why, as I look back over these past years, it is easy enough to recognize why time here passes so quickly.  There are a number of contributing factors, all of which could be a singular cause of time slippage, depending upon which angle one views life through, at, and with Prizm.  I have decided to list my top five in no particular order:

Southwest Airlines, Chick-fil-A, and Tnemec: Building great company culture

Exceptional internal communications: we’ve seen it in action but don’t realize exceptional cultures and internal communications until someone exclaims over a great example. Chic-fil-A, Hobby Lobby, and one of our dear clients, Tnemec Company, are doing it exceptionally well.

Merry Christmas from Prizm!

If you haven’t already seen our Holiday EVM (Electronic Video Message), catch all of the marshmallow-y, hot cocoa-y, Christmas Carol-y goodness here.

Wish you’d received this in your inbox? Email your contact information to marketing@prizmproductions.com to receive future videos like this one.

Responsibility: a lost art?

I am proud to be the mom of two incredible sons, aged 13 and 10.  These kiddos have endured an entrepreneurial family from their first breaths.  They have seen the good times and the tough times throughout their young lives.  In an effort to guide them, we allow them the hard lessons of responsibility.  Sometimes, integrity is a tougher path to follow in the short term, but in the long run, it is a most valuable trait.

Andrew and his long-lost retainer

Case in point: our 10-year-old, Andrew, wears a retainer as a precursor to braces, a passage of youth.  Andrew is in Scouts and takes great pride in responsibility.  He’s done a pretty good job of keeping track of his retainer — we all lose things sometimes. However, when we discovered that he lost his retainer for a third time, his dad and I told him he had to pay for the replacement with the money he’d saved to go to Disney World.

I can hear all of you reading this now.  That’s terrible.  Why would you make your son spend his Disney money on a retainer?  Mean Mommy.  I mean reeaaally.

“Mispellings” help your brand (suffer)

I can’t imagine I’m the only one who is immediately disenchanted with an online source when I come across a spelling or grammatical error. Especially when perusing news articles, blogs, and, yes, even service- or product-related corporate websites, I throw out the brand as soon as I come across an error so obvious. To me, it makes the people behind the brand seem really lazy…or at least lacking in precision and attention-to-detail.

Even in the world of “LOL” and “:)”, good writing skills are a necessity regarding brand reputation. Having clear communication shows professionalism, accuracy, care, and it proves credibility. Not having good writing skills may lead customers to believe you are also not careful with your business, or that you are apt to avoid double checking work.

Luckily, at Prizm, we have two robots who crunch all of our writing for us. Just kidding. We do, however, pay written communication special mind to avoid cranky customers like me who frown in the general direction of grammatical malpractice.

Consider the following ways to watch your back: