Fluke Corporation is the world leader in the manufacture, distribution and service of electronic test tools and software. Since its founding in 1948, Fluke has achieved the number one or number two position in every market in which it competes.

A wholly owned subsidiary of Danaher Corporation, Fluke is a multi-national corporation headquartered in Everett, Washington, USA. Manufacturing centers are located in the USA, the UK, Asia and The Netherlands. Sales and service subsidiaries are located in Europe, North America, South America, Asia and Australia. Fluke Corporation has authorized distributor and manufacturer representative channels in more than 100 countries and employs approximately 2,400.

Quite naturally, they chose a pileated woodpecker. Working as true partners, Meyers suggested the pileated woody and Hodgson chose the spokesbird’s name—Spike, for his striking red crest. Spike’s loud hammering and colorful appearance inspired H/M’s rallying cry for its clients: Make noise. Get noticed.

Now, after adorning business cards, letterhead, company walls and more, Spike finally has his name up in lights. Well, his image and the agency’s name anyway. Recently, H/M hoisted a large sign to note its Kirkland, Washington headquarters. Agency e-pro master (and noted birdwatcher) Willem Buys braved rain, wind and cold to photographically document the event.

The result? 900 images condensed into a 21-second video complete with music showing the installation in all its (abbreviated) glory. Typically, the pileated woodpecker can be found in forested areas with deciduous trees. However, for one rockin’ bird, a brick façade will do just fine.

As part of a pro bono effort for ClimbOn—an organization that provides job opportunities for homeless youth—the H/M team re-energized the brand. Included in the project were a new logo, color palette, position line, business stationery and Web page.ClimbOn works with YouthCare to create partnerships with the Northwest business community to provide career counseling and exploration, job referrals and placements to help homeless young adults move toward self-sufficiency. To sum up ClimbOn’s mission, Hodgson/Meyers developed the position line: Jobs for youth. Hope for life. By interlocking the words “Climb” and “On,” H/M created a logo that suggests partnership and advancement.

Said ClimbOn’s Director of Youth Services, Bill Northey, “We couldn’t be happier with the materials—and the thinking—that Hodgson/Meyers provided. Their work has captured what ClimbOn is about, and has provided inspiration for all involved with the program.”

We beg to differ, Bill. It’s ClimbOn that provided the inspiration for H/M. And continues to provide hope for the homeless youth of our area.

The United name stays, but the iconic red and blue “tulip” design is no more. Created by legendary designer Saul Bass in the 1970’s, the United logo was simple, elegant, and instantly recognizable. The fact that the logo remained fresh and relevant decades later is a testament to the strength of the design. Please take a moment now to mourn.

What we’re left with is the United name and essentially the Continental logo. The resulting identity makes no effort to break new ground, and instead already seems tired and stale. The Continental globe has some brand equity, yes, but it’s also a symbol that’s long been a commodity in the logo world. Hardly fitting for what is now the largest airliner in the world.

Perhaps this is just a stop-gap branding exercise, and we’ll be surprised by an innovative new identity down the road.  Time will tell.

Read more about Hodgson Meyers’ work in re-launching UC4’s brand.

The answer is a lot. In fact, color can be everything. Just where would Tiffany’s be without blue, UPS without brown, or Coca-Cola without red? Not only does each of these brands make effective use of color, they own that color in their respective categories, hands-down. Granted, it took millions of advertising dollars and years of brand impressions to do it. So what does that mean for businesses that don’t have the marketing budget of a small country? Can your brand still use color to stand out from your competitors? Why, yes of course!

Feeling Blue (or Red)

Here’s a fantastic graphic originally published in Wired magazine that illustrates the color landscape of corporate America. Although a little dated (note the Enron logo), it does a great job of showing just how concentrated the space is for brands using red or blue as their primary color. It also becomes obvious where there might be opportunities for differentiation.

Take a moment to think about where your brand falls on the color map of your specific battleground. Are you swimming in a competitive sea of corporate IBM blue?

Don’t Just Use Color, Own It
Here’s an example of how Hodgson/Meyers used color as a strong brand differentiator for Applied Systems, the largest and most progressive company in the insurance management technology industry. Applied Systems’ previous brand used a traditional royal blue and bright red color system. Ok, not a bad thing in itself — however, most of their competitors and a host of other companies in peer industries were using a similar color palette. Not good if you’re trying to stand out.

before

As a result, H/M proposed the current warm yellow as one way to break away from the pack and to represent Applied’s focus on cultivating strong customer relationships, as well as their status as an innovative, forward-thinking industry leader.

after

The new yellow color was designed to be an integral part of the brand, and was applied (pardon the pun) on everything from the corporate logo to promotional buttons. The result is a fresh look that re-energizes the brand and signifies its status as an aggressive, vibrant company.

What do you think?
What companies, brands or marketing campaigns do you think use color as a strong brand asset?  Comment here.

With so many letters and catalogs destined for the recycling bin, woe to the direct mail that does not immediately capture the reader’s attention. At Hodgson/Meyers, we’ve found that sometimes the best way to put the wow in your DM is to put the meow in your DM.

Enter the Fat Cat.

Illustrating the problem: Here kitty kitty

With service in 16 states in the southeast, Windstream Communications provides phone and Internet packages to business and residential markets. On the consumer side, Windstream often found itself up against more established, yet more expensive cable providers. To help portray those companies as being more costly, we represented them collectively as, you guessed it, the Fat Cat.

A casting call was put out for filled-out felines to…actually PhotoShop magic was responsible for creating the centerpiece character. Gold eyes gleaming and pleasantly plump, the animal quickly caught the fancy of H/M employees, earning such endearments as Phat C, Heavy C and Puff Catty. Not only did Fat Cat stand out as illustrated, he perfectly illustrated how cable companies profit from charging their customers higher prices.

Windstream vs. Cable TV: A tail of five kitties
Originally scheduled to star in a single direct mailing, the Fat Cat so resonated with Windstream—and its customers—that the client requested a series of five pieces to showcase the savings Windstream offered over its competition.

With Fat Cat soaking in a tub of money, one mailer featured the headline: Are you getting soaked by those Fat Cats at your cable company? Another featured the Cat sporting a diamond-encrusted gold dollar sign collar (think of it as feline bling) in front of a private jet with the headline, Is your cable company getting fat off you?

Fat results
Windstream notes that the first Fat Cat mailing pulled 55% more responses than their average pieces. Which shows that Puff Catty was the purr-fect DM solution.

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So, if you’re an advertiser, how do you stand out? In the case of Hodgson/Meyers client CSG Systems. Inc. – a customer interaction management solution company – the answer was to come out fighting. Or at least to wear boxing gloves.

How to stand out in the direct mail crowd

In touching more than half of all U.S. households, CSG helps companies such as Comcast, DISH and Time Warner with billing and customer interaction solutions. When the time came to introduce a new product offering, CSG wanted to reach approximately 100 key decision makers in the cable and satellite TV industry.

With such a narrow, targeted audience, a direct mail approach seemed the most appropriate vehicle. However, these influential executives are also the same targets of most every other technology company as well. Thus, the challenge became to create marketing materials that would not immediately be placed in the round file, under W for wastebasket.

As the marketing agency for CSG, we needed to think big and think outside the box. In this case, thinking big meant size. And thinking outside the box had to do with thinking about what went inside the box.

Which brings us back to boxing gloves.

Adapt the mail strategy to the marketing strategy

Cable and satellite marketing managers face the never-ending problem of customer churn, people who leave one provider for another. CSG has a way to help providers eliminate churn with a better customer management solution. We recommended sending life-size professional boxing gloves along with product information to the target audience, allowing CSG to figuratively and literally give marketing executives the tools to effectively fight churn.

The sheer size of the direct mail piece (7.5” x 10.5” x 12.5”) received immediate attention. Inside a handsome box, copy and layout framed a personalized message as if announcing a heavyweight championship bout.

Box copy and Everlast boxing gloves were customized with each individual recipient’s name. These decision makers were encouraged to “K.O. churn with CSG customer intelligence solutions.” In so doing, they’d be able to build strong customer relationships, retain subscribers more effectively and enhance the value of each customer interaction.

Big package. Big Idea. In short, a real knockout!

(Customized boxes for the CSG mailer were provided by MasterCraft.)