Brand Envy Case Study / Martin Thiel

Our Credo “The cumulative effect of a consistent brand is the most important thing you can do to build your business.”

Welcome to our Brand Envy blog. We will create weekly installments about brand and marketing strategies. It is meant to be a forum that omits exclusivity of good design, and opens up the branding process and examples of great design for all to utilize. We will focus the blog in series so we can elaborate on topics.

First entry:

What happened when Martin Thiel came to Brand Envy to build his brand awareness? Brand Success!

“I loved working with Nadine and the Brand Envy team. Brand Envy has been a huge success for me, I used the promo mailer to raise awareness of my work and it helped to eventually land me a national agent. I am now bidding on jobs and sending my books on a regular basis. Nadine understands my goals and I am excited to continue creating new marketing and promo ideas with her. Nadine is the best!”- Martin Thiel

Working with Martin was a true pleasure. When he came to me, he had great work with a brand that did not match his work, clientele or project him nationally. Our first focus was his logo. His is one of my favorites our studio produced! It is so simple, and yet strong, and will truly last him for years.

Then we focused on his promos. Because I come from a the design world, where photographers are constantly marketing to me (we have several corporate clients, still today we produce annual reports, collateral materials, etc.) our focus for Martin was to create a real promo, a book. Not a postcard, a promo that announced to the world, “Here is Martin and his work! Yes he actually gets design and promotion.” The first week the promo hit agency desks one called Martin thanking him for creating a real promo. What made it better? When power agent Deborah Ayerst got the promo she not only called him, she signed him.


MARTIN THIEL / BRAND HIGHLIGHTS

• Bold masculine identity - black and grey.
• Business card is white and black with a blind deboss - smart and unforgettable.
• Smoking promo! Folded horizontally to highlight his name. Folds open to a large format book with 12 spreads - the item that inspired rep Deborah Ayerst to claim Martin as her client.
  
• LiveBooks website - application of identity to template - features his two best assets, name and work.
• Interior & exterior portfolio books - custom designed books from Lost Luggage with image selection (collaboration with Suzanne Sease) and layout.
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PROMO TIPS

Promos are a great vehicle for work and producing a piece with multiple images does several things that a postcard will never accomplish.

• Art directors are more likely to throw away a postcard than a book or special piece
  
• Elevates work, makes it special and as such not common.
• Plus don't forget design for your audience, a postcard is not a design element that ad agencies and design firms focus on in their portfolios so it should not be your focus for promotion.
• Worried about dollars? Send out less printed promos and allow e-blasts to fill in for the bulk.
  

IMPROVE YOUR BRAND AND IMAGE AWARENESS

• Meet with me at the 2007 Photo Plus Expo (Jacob Javits Center, NYC, October 18-20th.) I will be conducting brand consultations at the expo with Image Editor Suzanne Sease. Schedule a one hour consult for $350 ($1000+ value). Appointments necessary, space is limited. To claim your time slot call 1.888.LOST.456.

• “It takes a village to launch a photographer” In today’s market you need the best help you can get to be noticed by your desired audience and a team is better that an individual. It also allows you to see the designers ego, determine if your career is the priority... or their portfolio (it should be both, good design work gets you noticed.) A designer with an openness to working with a consultant that knows image selection marries the right design and the right images. This goes both ways, work with a consultant that is open to an outside designer and who recognizes good design!

HOW TO GET STARTED

Sign up for a consultation. Why?

• Photographers who are serious are willing to pay for a professional opinion.
  
• This gives me time to research: who they are, their current market, their competition, and how to address these items with a design and marketing plan.
• Asses current brand and marketing strategy to define its strengths and weaknesses.
  
• Establish budget and define what to expect for dollars allotted.

WANT MORE TIPS?
Subscribe to this Brand Blog, and don't miss my next post , a 10 part series.
“10 Things You Need to Know When Hiring a Designer”