Applied Storytelling

project updates recently


	MAY 29 2008
	IHOP Corporation transitions to a new corporate name — DineEquity — and a new corporate brand.
	Beginning May 28, IHOP Corporation, the parent company of IHOP and Applebee’s Restaurants, is operating under a new name and NYSE ticker symbol (DIN). The new DineEquity name is the most visible element of a comprehensive corporate brand platform development effort completed by Applied Storytelling in conjunction with Santa Monica, California-based Baker Brand Communications. In a company release, CEO Julia Stewart summarizes the thinking behind the new name and tagline: "The acquisition of Applebee's required that we select a name for our company that reflects our company's core competencies and recognizes our ownership of multiple brands, and DineEquity does just that," she says. "Further, DineEquity's tagline 'Great Franchisees. Great Brands.' prominently identifies two of the most important contributors to our success. With Applebee's and IHOP, we have brought together two great brands, and we are beginning to demonstrate how we are more successful together than we could ever have been apart. Our name change to DineEquity reflects the promise of our newly combined company." For most consumers, DineEquity is likely to remain a background presence at most. Culminating in the name and tagline, the new brand development effort is geared to quickly convey the company’s core strengths to financial audiences and franchisees. your thoughts? / 0


	MAY 25 2008
	Arena Stage revitalizes its brand to prepare for a bright new future in a striking new venue.
	Arena Stage is one of the nation’s pre-eminent, pioneering regional theaters. When the Washington D.C-based organization installs itself in its new, $120 million facility in 2010, it will benefit from more than the excitement and momentum that comes with a new venue: By then, the brand communications effort developed by Applied Storytelling together with San Diego-based MiresBall, will already be working to strengthen attendance, highlight Arena’s relevance to new audiences, convey what makes Arena Stage different, and express more clearly than ever the role Arena Stage plays among D.C. area theaters and at a national level. A new descriptor epitomizes this distinction: Formerly, Arena Stage identified itself as Washington’s choice in theater for more than 50 years. Today, it’s simply Where American theater lives. In addition to laying a long-term foundation for Arena’s communications, Applied Storytelling and MiresBall helped Arena with a much more time-sensitive challenge: creating a compelling way to talk about the theater’s 2008-9 and 2009-10 seasons, which will take place in temporary venues far from Arena’s original (and future) location. This effort resulted in Arena Restaged: a two year festival of American Voices, a distinctive positioning and identity for a singular moment in the theater’s history. MiresBall has served as Arena Stage’s brand design consultant of record for more than a decade, bringing a distinct visual presence to every season, and creating an immediately recognizable tone and manner across the sum of Arena’s communications. In 2006, this effort extended to a concept and identity for Arena’s successful capital campaign effort, the most ambitious for a regional theater to date. Applied Storytelling has supported these efforts with powerful messages, themes and ideas. Today, taking a longer view of how it connects with subscribers and audiences than a season-by-season approach allows, Arena Stage stands to remain at the forefront of regional theaters in yet one more new way. your thoughts? / 0


	MARCH 29 2008
	A new tagline for Allergan, Our pursuit. Life’s potential™, signals adoption of a new communications platform.
	Allergan, a global leader in several pharmaceutical categories, has grown and diversified in recent years. As it has done so, the company has felt an intensifying need to articulate what it does and why it does it in a simple and distinctive way. Allergan’s corporate brand initiative began in earnest with the company's 2006 annual report. In early 2007, Applied Storytelling joined Santa Monica, California-based Baker Brand Communications in developing an updated brand platform for Allergan. Scope of the platform extended to positioning, brand personality targeted messaging and array of additional tools and insights. The effort culminated in the public introduction of its new tagline and mission early this year. In addition to playing a key role in tagline and vision statement development, Applied Storytelling provided messaging insight for the company’s new web site and wrote key sections of its award-winning 2007 annual report. (See also Going Live, September 2007.) Companywide introduction of Allergan’s new tagline and mission statement followed a December 2007 preview to director- and executive-level management. Insight, the company’s magazine, reports an enthusiastic worldwide response. your thoughts? / 0 tagline Allergan


	FEBRUARY 28 2008
	Ikan System debuts in New York at MetFresh Supermarket
	With the promise to “revolutionize your grocery shopping”, the Ikan “intelligent shopping system” has officially launched to consumers at the MetFresh Supermarket in Brooklyn, New York. Ikan takes the idea of price scanning to an ingenious new place: Similar to how a supermarket scans what you purchase, Ikan scans and records what you discard. From there, you can improve your recycling and waste management for increased cost savings. You can also forward new purchase orders directly to your Ikan-enabled supermarket, for increased time savings. Working with the system’s Brazilian inventors together with Santa Monica-based KBDA, which designed the Ikan identity and packaging concepts, Applied Storytelling developed a name for the new system that is easy to say and use on a worldwide level. The name also makes a nod to kanban “just in time” manufacturing as well as to the “I can” sense of empowerment over time, money and waste management the smart new system inspires. your thoughts? / 0


	OCTOBER 26 2007
	Lending support to the Advertising Photographers Association's "Be Original" campaign
	Since 1982, the APA has been championing the rights of photographers and image makers worldwide. The organization’s new “Be Original” campaign www.beoriginal.org supports its advocacy role for the profession with messages that celebrate original thoughts and actions from a variety of creative professionals. Applied Storytelling’s Matthew Kruchko joins individuals from Saatchi & Saatchi, Yamamoto Moss Mackenzie and a variety of other companies in sharing insights. His? An Applied Storytelling mantra: “Hear the voices. Mix it up. Repeat the procedure.” your thoughts? / 1

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SEPTEMBER 21 2008

Using its destination brand platform as a guide, Henry Ford Museum implements a new master plan.

Marking a new milestone in realization of its 10-year strategic plan, The Henry Ford, one of America’s leading cultural institutions, has taken significant steps towards implementing the first phase of a new master plan for one of its signature attractions, Henry Ford Museum.

Approved in 2007, the new plan is being developed and implemented by the Oakland, California-based West Office. Proposed physical changes to the museum floor include a new circulation plan and reconfigured exhibit spaces. The new plan also calls for four new, centrally located exhibits to shed light on different aspects of the American Experience and provide a lively introduction to the rest of the exhibits.

A key member of the Master Plan development team, Applied Storytelling helped to guide and support the master planning effort in important ways, beginning with refinement of the museum’s existing destination brand platform. Originally developed by Applied Storytelling in 2002, the updated platform has provided the strategic framework for subsequent master planning concepts and decision-making. From there, Applied Storytelling worked closely with West Office team members, museum staff and curators to develop narratives expressing the content and experience for each of the museum’s key exhibits.

Since relaunching its institutional brand and reintroducing its family of destination brands in 2002, The Henry Ford has established itself as a brand marketing role model for cultural institutions nationwide. The institution’s brand development effort has earned several awards including the American In-House Design Award, ReBrand 100 Merit Award and two Brass Rings from the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA).

Building on its initial visitor-focused platform, The Henry Ford has continued to work with Applied Storytelling to extend its narrative-driven approach to brand development to its food, retail, educational, collection, charitable giving and cause-related activities as well. Chief Marketing Officer Carol Kendra notes that since 2001 food revenue is up by $1 million, catering revenue is up by $1.3 million, ride revenue has doubled, special event and attendance revenue has almost tripled for the institution’s “big four” events, membership has nearly doubled, sponsorship revenues are up 120%, in-kind sponsorship support has grown 439% and the institution’s hotel partnership program has grown 423%.

“Applied Storytelling is one of our most valued partners,” says Kendra. “We have been working with Eric and his team since 2001 and continue to find their insight and direction vital to supporting our business plans.”

your thoughts? / 0


					At the intersection of business strategy and individual desire exists the potential for a story charged with meaning and emotion. This story is called the brand. We provide the interpretive and analytic talent to express this story in the most powerful way. And then we help companies tell their stories for market advantage.
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