Two new products were to be introduced, Evan Williams Honey Reserve and Christian Brothers Honey. Both brands — Evan Williams (a Bourbon) and Christian Brothers (a Brandy) — have strong shelf presence and a loyal following. Given that, we thought it best to maintain conformity with their current bottles.

As for the labeling…

Evan Williams Honey Reserve — A clear label applied to the highly recognizable, square Evan Williams bottle enhances the visibility of the honey-gold liquid, which is in itself a strong selling feature. A stylized rendition of a honeybee is positioned to draw the consumer’s eye to the words HONEY RESERVE. A black and yellow capsule closure adds to the integrity of the overall design overall.

Christian Brothers Honey — In keeping with the brand’s tradition, Christian Brother’s cathedral bottle and label configuration has been maintained. The label uses a striking gold background behind the word HONEY, which is in all capital letters for prominence. An artist’s rendition of a honey bear’s head is positioned at the top of the label to add a stylistic accent.

To get the full lowdown on what branding is and how to do it, you must read and adopt the landmark book by Al Ries and Jack Trout, “Positioning: the Battle for Your Mind.” The 20th anniversary edition was published in 2000, and for those who want instant information, it’s now available in Kindle edition and as an audio book.

Positioning - that’s what branding was called back then. To position (brand) a product, Ries and Trout recommend discovering what part of your consumer’s mind you want to own. What’s unique about your product, what’s exciting about it that will appeal to your consumer like no other product in its category can? When you discover that positioning, you will have a base upon which all advertising executions can be built.

It’s so simple to explain the concept of branding. A branding strategy as it relates to a specific product should be just that simple. One sentence. That’s all it takes. The creatives at KC are masters of branding.

We found a clear position for Evan Williams Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey: The longer a Bourbon is aged, the smoother it tastes.

St. Mary’s Medical Center cares for the whole patient, not just the part that hurts. They heal “body, mind and spirit.”

You can stop by your local McDonald’s for a McCafe coffee any time, for any reason to “Celebrate! everyday occasions.”

PAMA Pomegranate Liqueur was the very first to be made from 100% all-natural pomegranate juice. It is “Pomegranate Perfected.”

Did these branding strategies work?

Evan Williams’ “aged longer to taste smoother” strategy resulted in double-digit brand growth for the past two years. It has outpaced category growth for FIVE years.

The Keller Crescent campaign for St. Mary’s Medical Center led to a 25% increase in patient satisfaction.

In the months following the introduction of the KC McCafe campaign for the Evansville McDonald’s co-op, unit sales were the highest in the Indianapolis region.

The “Pomegranate Perfected” branding for PAMA resulted in the most successful new product launch of 2006.

Product after product that has been launched successfully will remain successful if the branding is clear, compelling and instantly understandable. Branding works. We hope we’ve made you believers.

Fast forward seven years and there she is.  The mother of my 22-month old little girl, and five months pregnant with our second child, was sitting next to me against a huge oak tree listening to two gobblers announce their location at first light of opening morning.  Unfortunately, she didn’t take one of those first two birds but the season ended later that day with her bagging her first turkey and she’s already talking about the 2011 season!

One of the fastest growing audiences in the outdoors is women.  Just like my wife, women are joining the ranks of the passionate outdoor consumers at an amazing rate.  This is not a fad!  These women are realizing the obsession behind hunting and the many positive experiences and relationships that come from it.  Although this is a relatively small audience compared to the entire industry, it is a sustainable audience that many outdoor companies have yet to address.  I believe the first brands to embrace this new opportunity will be the brands that see the greatest return in the future.  And quite honestly, if more brands made an effort to invite women into the outdoors this segment could grow at an even faster pace.

But the question is what has your company done to make yourself relevant to women?  Have you taken steps to better understand the drivers in this market?  If not, look to Keller Crescent Advertising to help you define the audience, tailor your message and position your brand to be a leader in this movement.

They have all lent their voices to our agency, Keller Crescent Advertising, to promote the products and services of our growing client roster — some more than once.

For example, Tim Kazurinsky, (Saturday Night Live, Police Academy) has voiced numerous radio spots for us, for several of our clients.

In recent months, these actors and others have partnered with Keller Crescent to launch a major sports program, showcase the latest advancements in health care, promote fast food restaurants and home improvement, and more.

Don LaFontaine, the legendary voice behind Hollywood’s movie trailers, was even used to create a sense of “audio” theater for a leading national brand.

No, we are not star struck. What we are is committed to presenting the most engaging and effective creative work in the business.

A recognizable voice adds to the trust factor provided the actor’s role in Film and/or Television is recognized for having a strong, positive persona.

For example: Elliott’s role in Tombstone–that of Virgil Earp–reinforced his image as a tough, honest, no-nonsense type as well as an expert horseman. Elliott was the agency’s first and only choice to launch a new season of thoroughbred horse racing in Kentucky, the thoroughbred horse-racing capital of the world.

Karn’s role as a home-improvement guru made him an ideal choice to promote a garage door company that marketed to homebuilders, installers and homeowners interested in retrofit upgrades.

Voice actors — not just on-screen performers — are carefully screened, auditioned and selected for tonality of voice, conviction and delivery. Their names may not be recognizable to the majority of viewers and listeners, but name value is unimportant. Believability is paramount.

The voices we use in our advertising speak for themselves.

There are so many online news sources and websites who are craving content that you could publish a press release every day and it will get picked up by someone and distributed across the net. This is great for you, but if you are still writing your releases using the same old formula that worked in the age of ink, you’re missing a huge opportunity to get more from every release you write.

It’s all about the search engines. Submit a press release as a text file, and it’s online in an instant, where the race to publish first is paramount to news organizations. Whomever is seen as the original source of a press release gets credit from the search engines and their credibility as an authority website rises. Knowing where to send your release is tricky. A well-placed online press release will get distributed to hundreds of other websites, which is great for you, but one that is not so connected won’t help your release get picked up by the most significant distributors.

Are you getting everything you can from your online press release? Did you include a full url link to your website, linking to a specific page where you tell more about your story? I didn’t think so. You could use additional links as well, one per every 100 words of body copy. And while we’re on the subject, did you make certain that your title leads off with the primary key phrase determined by the most recent analysis of your SEO strategy? I hope so, because missing that one would have been your biggest mistake. One last question: Did you choose to distribute your press release through a high-authority website that guarantees distribution through a large network of partners and syndicates? After spending all of that time creating a search optimized press release, it would only make sense to maximize your results.

Follow an SEO strategy when you create your press releases, and you can push your way to the top of the search engine rankings. Leverage the power of “high authority” news sites that link back to your website and you’ll maintain a strong presence in search engine results. If this seems like too much, don’t worry. We’re here to help. We can examine your seo strategy, optimize your press releases, and get your releases distributed online. Call us at (812) 426-7544 to learn more.

Why six?

When you provide too much detail, you leave little to the imagination. When you can’t tell your story in six slides, you don’t really know your story. With only six slides, you have to be focused and inspirational. A six slide presentation is your elevator speech. You have cut away the fat, and have left only the very best of the best. What is left is the raw essence of your passion–the reason you love the idea and why you need to share it.

Slide 1:  SET THE STAGE

“Imagine a world where anybody can buy things by walking into the store, picking out their purchase, and walking out without ever going through a checkout line.” Your first slide sets the stage and stimulates the imagination. It engages and promotes curiosity. If your audience is emotionally invested with their imagination, they’re more interested in listening to the rest of your presentation.

Slide 2:  PROVIDE A PATH

“New advances in RFID technology make tagging every item in any store cheap and ubiquitous. By outfitting stores with our sensors and software, checkout lines can be completely eliminated.” Show them that your idea isn’t just a pipe dream, but something that is achievable by taking specific steps. Establish your project as something that can be accomplished.

Slide 3: WARN ABOUT HAZARDS

“The potential for loss due to theft requires customer monitoring, but this can be done by allowing only members to enter and shop at the store, and they are identified through their RFID membership cards.” Answer their doubts and show them you have already considered the potential negatives, and how to handle them. Show that you have seriously considered all risks.

Slide 4: DANGLE THE REWARD

“Not only will customers be delighted, the amount of insight, product interest, and purchasing patterns will be at a level never before achieved.” It’s time to lift them off the ground again, to remind them why your great idea is worth their time and energy. Since they have already considered the hazards, it’s time to look at the tremendous upside.

Slide 5: WHY YOU WILL SUCCEED

“We have the right team of developers, the software has been proven, and all retail products will soon have embedded RFID tags.” Make it clear that it’s not just the idea, but the people behind it that will insure its success. Great ideas are nothing without great execution.

Slide 6: CLOSE THE DEAL

“Our first partner will have the greatest reward. If you sign with us today, you will have exclusive access for two years.” You’ve made your pitch, now close the deal. Give your audience something to commit to.

It takes courage and talent to cut all of that supporting material out of your presentation, but the results are worth your best efforts. You become the focus of your talk. You create a memorable event. Six great slides will capture your audience’s imagination and drive your key points home. And when they recall your presentation, they will remember 6 slides and what they represented.

Ellis Park (Henderson, KY), ranked 6th for best wagering by the Horseplayers Association of North America, recently selected Keller Crescent Advertising to promote its 87th season of thoroughbred horse racing.

Serious local horseplayers need little or no encouragement to show up on race day. If the horses are running, the purses attractive, a huge percentage of them will be there. Targeting this loyal group is not an efficient way to spend.

To boost attendance in 2010, Ellis Park and Keller Crescent Advertising developed a marketing strategy to attract a more diverse audience — entire families — by offering a series of special events including trick riders, camel and ostrich races, and giveaways, much of which are part of a conventional marketing program.

Where Keller Crescent Advertising has departed from the norm is in its Creative.

How so?

Reaching back into history, the agency focused on the way horses and riders kept families together over the years. The Pony Express, for example, helped families (immediate and extended) stay in touch even when hundreds of miles of geography separated them.

So, too, did Atlantic City’s “Diving Horses,” who attracted hundreds of thousands of families over the years (1920 - 1978) to a spectacle in which horses would leap from a 60-foot platform into the sea below.

This year, electronic advertising for Ellis Park takes the form of storytelling, splitting the message between horses/riders — then and now — and how Ellis Park plays a huge role in fostering quality family time.

Given the subject matter and the story quality required only one actor was ever considered for the voiceover and radio: Sam Elliott, an A-list actor and Hollywood icon famed for a throaty delivery and his gruff portrayal of Virgil Earp in Tombstone (1993) in which he starred with Kurt Russell and Val Kilmer.

Although Keller Crescent’s production budget was limited, we aggressively pursued Elliott holding our collective breath as contract negotiations progressed. Fortunately, the actor liked the scripts well enough to sign on, which in itself is flattering since he tends to limit his “commercial” exposure.

“The medium is the message” according to the late-Marshall McLuhan, an expert in media analysis, who viewed electronic media as extensions of the nervous system, a direct link to the human psyche. Handle it right, tap into positive emotions, and you’re halfway home.

By partnering Sam Elliott with the story-telling quality of the message, thousands of local families now fill the seats at Ellis Park every race day.

Keller Crescent Advertising was pleased to jump on this opportunity to extend the branding we created for SITEX to their web presence. Our design team broke new ground, adding a unique feature that lets you choose the background theme of the site to your favorite stripes, spots, or feathers. Our programming staff worked hard to develop solutions that turn the administrative side of their site into a nerd-free zone. It’s a pleasure working with SITEX Corporation, and the results show what happens when a great partnership is formed between a business and their agency. Check it out at: http://www.sitex-corp.com

Everyone loves a story of great leaders. We celebrate their achievements and oftentimes use them as role models. These high-profile champions spearhead large-scale crusades and subject themselves to public scrutiny. They voice their stand. They create waves of momentum and opportunity for change.

Who takes the opportunity and creates the change? I believe the success of any company lies in the hands of the everyday leaders, the unsung heroes. She might lead a work group, an account team or a function. He might be completely unofficial and use lunchtime or after work discussions to springboard new applications. They aren’t high profile. They don’t champion their own causes. They move patiently and methodically with a measure of restraint. They create ripples of change, rather than one giant crashing wave.

I was taught by the strongest, smartest, most humble man I know that as the top leader he could only describe for his team where he wanted them to go, give them the tools, and encourage them to get there. Pulling a company up by its bootstraps is more than a metaphor. It represents the integration and buy-in of the everyday leaders who make decisions in the trenches. He should know. He took his company from barely making payroll to, well, huge. He insisted that the everyday leaders would make extraordinary achievements happen by resolving problems through a long series of smaller efforts. Everyday leaders pick their battles carefully and look for modest but effective solutions. They aren’t interested in going down in a blaze of glory for one single, dramatic effort.

What does this all mean to you? The fact that you have made it this far into the article means you are a leader in search of more knowledge to better yourself and for a better company. I am suggesting that you can make a difference as an everyday, ordinary leader to set the tone and direction of your workplace. It doesn’t mean you have to inspire or thrill your colleagues, boss, or direct reports. It means you are part of the force that can create positive change through incremental measures.

To give you a visual.imagine standing knee-deep on the shoreline with waves crashing onto the beach around you. They are spectacularly loud, beautiful and fleeting. After a few minutes you realize you are in waist-high water. The waves aren’t as spectacular here and the current is quietly carrying you out to sea. This invisible current is the force that flows through your company and the most important place to affect change. The waves will continue to crash the shoreline but it is the silence behind and under the waves that is a thousand times stronger.

Companies must be constantly on the move both proactively and reactively to gain continued success. Set your path to match the fluid goals of the organization and impart change in your work to adjust. You will be a bigger part of the success by being less of a hero and more of an everyday leader.