http://www.wearethreesixty.com/ee/index.php/site/index/ Produced by threesixty, Fast Branding is a platform dedicated to tracking and understanding the issues that will drive innovation in todays age. en siobhan@threesixty.ie Copyright 2010 2010-05-06T10:17:41+00:00 http://www.wearethreesixty.com/ee/index.php/site/nualight_raises_9m_in_latest_funding_round/ http://www.wearethreesixty.com/ee/index.php/site/nualight_raises_9m_in_latest_funding_round/#When:10:17:41Z Congratulations to our client, Nualight, who has just announced a successful funding round of €9.1m. We were retained by Nualight in 2007 to deliver a rebrand for the company prior to global scaling. Since then the company has achieved numerous success milestones including winning Europe’s largest contract in this emerging market.Climate Change Capital Private Equity (“CPE”), a €200 million fund dedicated to investments in clean technology companies, led this funding round in Nualight Ltd., a leading manufacturer of LED lighting solutions to the retail sector. Nualight is based in Cork, Ireland. Simon Drury, a CPE Partner, said: “Our due diligence showed that Nualight is a clear leader in developing the most effective lighting solutions for retailers, both in terms of energy efficiency and merchandising effects. With the company’s strong market position amongst display case manufacturers and retailers, and its high-quality management team, we are confident that the company will continue their growth as this market accelerates.” We’re delighted to have worked closely with Nualight since 2007, delivering key projects including website, partner sales kits and inputting on global brand and marketing strategy. 2010-05-06T10:17:41+00:00 http://www.wearethreesixty.com/ee/index.php/site/crafts_council_launches_book_for_international_galleries/ http://www.wearethreesixty.com/ee/index.php/site/crafts_council_launches_book_for_international_galleries/#When:12:13:21Z “The Irish Craft Portfolio book is already generating huge interest among international galleries and collectors”, so said Des Doyle of the Crafts Council of Ireland at the launch of Irish Craft Portfolio 2010 on Friday, March 25th in the National Craft Gallery.Threesixty worked closely with the Crafts Council of Ireland to design this premium book which contains a beautiful and wide-ranging collection of the best of Irish craft. Selected by an international panel, the work will be showcased through the book to international galleries and collectors. We see Irish craft at this level as a vital cultural asset, helping us to position Ireland on an international stage as a country that produces highly creative work with a distinctively Irish aesthetic. We’ve been privileged to work with the Crafts Council of Ireland over a 10 year period, delivering a mix of strategic research and creative projects with the objective of supporting the Irish craft sector. The collection can be viewed at http://www.ccoi.ie/irishcraftportfolio 2010-03-29T12:13:21+00:00 http://www.wearethreesixty.com/ee/index.php/site/enterprise_ireland_pilot_project_goes_national/ http://www.wearethreesixty.com/ee/index.php/site/enterprise_ireland_pilot_project_goes_national/#When:13:49:49Z High-growth business ideas will be the lifeblood of Ireland’s smart economy. That’s the view from Enterprise Ireland, who approached Threesixty in Autumn of 2009 to manage the branding and marketing communications for a new pilot idea generation project that will go national in 2010.The aim was to connect third-level researchers with experienced entrepreneurs in order to spark new high-growth business ideas. In response, Threesixty created the Ideagen brand which rolled out through brochures, press advertising, web and national road signage. Use of social media including Twitter, Facebook and Linked In was a key component of the campaign. It was a first for Enterprise Ireland to use social media to promote a series of events in this way and it proved very successful, creating a particular buzz among the technology audiences and positioning Ideagen as future-focused and progressive. The Ideagen pilot is now in the planning stages of a national roll-out later this year. We’re proud to have contributed through Ideagen to the development of high-growth entrepreneurship in Ireland. Connect with Ideagen: Website, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn. 2010-03-23T13:49:49+00:00 http://www.wearethreesixty.com/ee/index.php/site/so_far_in_2010.../ http://www.wearethreesixty.com/ee/index.php/site/so_far_in_2010.../#When:11:45:38Z We’re delighted to have delivered projects for the Crafts Council of Ireland, Waterford Stanley, Aga, Glanbia, Carbery Ingredients, Intel and many more leading Irish and international companies so far this year. We can’t show the strategic thinking and commercial focus behind each project, but you can see some of the creative results here. 2010-03-22T11:45:38+00:00 http://www.wearethreesixty.com/ee/index.php/site/a_little_birdy_told_me.../ http://www.wearethreesixty.com/ee/index.php/site/a_little_birdy_told_me.../#When:21:39:52Z “Heard in front of the coffee machine:Sarko+Carla=Over. From now on Carla+Biolay=big love.” March 9th It was the above statement that sent cyberspace into a furore of gossip, babble and accusations of adulterous rendezvous on the part of first lady of France, Carla Bruni and her husband, Nicolas Sarkozy. Posted by Franck Rieusset, an intern at Warner Bros near Paris, on the social networking and micro-blogging site Twitter, his offhand tweet sent the cyber rumour mill into overload, with the gossip spreading like wildfire amongst Twitter users and inevitably being picked up by the media.The sultry Bruni supposedly having an affair with singer Benjamin Biolay, whilst her husband turns to his junior ecology minister, Chantal Jouanno, for comfort. Following the Twitter frenzy, the weekend tabloids and broadsheets alike allocated some hefty real estate to the gossip. This is a testament to the power of the Twitter network - rambling cyber gossip to global headlines in a matter of hours…With such a powerful and public platform, should there be regulation on what can be ‘published’ by twitterers? Surely Franck Riesset never expected his impromptu tweet to ignite such a whirlwind of controversy. Should it be possible for the Sarkozys to sue for defamation of character? The future will surely see increased control and regulation of social networking sites, as similar controversies emerge, but for now it seems, the cyber rumour mill keeps spinning. RT@Alyssa_Milano: “Chile was just hit by an 8.5 magnitude earthquake. I wish the earth would stop moving.” Feb 27th Chilean twitterer ‘Conycampus’ retweets the above, reporting to followers and to the world, that Chile has been hit by a devastating earthquake. Retweeting, a way to repost another twitterer’s message, highlights a post, whether the post be very funny, very interesting or in some cases, breaking news. ‘Conycampus’ continues reporting in real-time, from the epicentre of the disaster, uploading Twitpics of the devastation. Many other twitterers in the disaster zone do the same, creating real-time news feeds and updates before the media has reached the scene. This is where Twitter becomes more than just the incessant ramblings of the digital generation. It is proving to be a very useful tool in emergency situations. Twitterers tweet and retweet emergency numbers, names of the missing and injured, and vital information such as aid collection points and hospitals in urgent need of blood donations. It is instant, effective and global. Twitterers can tag their tweets with hashtags so that a search for a certain topic (ie.#Chile) will generate a list of all tweets with this tag. In the aftermath of the Chilean earthquake, #Tsunami and #Chile, allowed the public to access vital information on Tsunami warnings, evacuation zones and access to aid. Twitter is not just a social network, but has become an information network and an indispensable resource for future emergency situations. “From Orbit: Launch was awesome! I am feeling great, working hard and enjoying the magnificent views. The adventure of a lifetime has begun!” May 13th 09 Mike Massimino aka ‘Astro_Mike’, NASA astronaut and ‘twitterholic’, reports from outerspace to cyberspace. Famed as the first ‘tweet from space’, I was decidedly disappointed when I discovered that Mike relays his tweets to mission control at NASA, who then tweet in nearly-real-time on his behalf. Despite this Mike has amassed over 1,300,000 followers on Twitter, many of whom I’m sure are under the illusion that Mike is tweeting directly from outer space! Businesses, politicians, charity organisations and celebrities alike use Twitter as a promotion and branding tool, - its quick, simple and most importantly, it’s free. Who can afford not to use it? Well, me. I don’t tweet and feel a certain twinge of resentment at the thought of my cyber self taking on a bigger role in my life. It brings to mind Avatar, where Jake Sully climbs into his pod and lets reality wait while he lives out a virtual life through his avatar character. While I lmao or rofl, my real life waits, and beckons. Should I join the flock, could I be so narcissistic as to think that people should be interested in what I had for breakfast? With a user retention rate of approximately 40%, I believe that I too would be a twitter quitter, quickly overwhelmed by tweet traffic jams and (useless) information overload. I would then suffer a cyber power outage and jolt back to reality, leaving my avatar behind and returning to my senses. 2010-03-17T21:39:52+00:00 http://www.wearethreesixty.com/ee/index.php/site/mii_south_east_marketing_awards/ http://www.wearethreesixty.com/ee/index.php/site/mii_south_east_marketing_awards/#When:13:14:52Z We dusted off our glad rags and headed to Mount Juliet for the Marketing Institute South East Marketing Awards. Two projects that we worked on were shortlisted for the awards. Our Another Huge Bale-Out advertising campaign for Waterford Stanley last year was shortlisted in the Campaign of the Year category. This very successful national campaign ran across print and online media and helped Waterford Stanley retain their 2009 sales levels for stoves despite far more challenging market conditions. Wexford Bus won in their category Best Small Business Marketing for their rebrand and marketing campaign. We are delighted to have delivered the creative on this project, congratulations to Amy Pettitt and to the team at Wexford Bus. 2010-03-12T13:14:52+00:00 http://www.wearethreesixty.com/ee/index.php/site/brand_value_versus_brand_values_in_recessionary_times/ http://www.wearethreesixty.com/ee/index.php/site/brand_value_versus_brand_values_in_recessionary_times/#When:22:19:39Z Aldi has just opened in my neighbourhood. For a working mother of 3 - it’s the best news I’ve had in a long time (yes, yes I probably need to get out a bit more). I pottered down there on Sunday morning and knew every second person there, such was the level of local interest. Just five minutes away is our local Supervalu, expensive but good for last-minute shopping on a Friday night. I would say it will be wiped out by Aldi despite their expensive rebranding exercise a couple of years ago that hung on the proposition: “Real Food, Real People”. Unfortunately, feel-good brand propositions such as that one won’t fly when people place more value on real value than they do on brand values. How might Supervalu respond?Well this situation sums up to me the weakness inherent in much of the branding that emerged during the boom years. The brandmeisters took an existing product or service, and spun it with a cosmetic veneer to suit the zeitgeist.  The actual offering was rarely challenged. The reality is that the core proposition - the actual product or service that is offered - must have an enduring intrinsic benefit and differential in order to succeed. Browsing through Aldi’s shelves, I was struck by how much of the food is produced in Ireland and as a signed-up foodie I can tell you that the quality is exceptional. So the Supervalu’s Real Food, Real People proposition is simply a more expensive version of what Aldi is offering through it’s innovative business model. So how can Supervalu respond? Well not by trying to wring more mileage out of this weak branding exercise in my view, they have to take a long hard look at what Aldi is actually offering and look at how they can develop a highly differentiated alternative that is actually complementary to, instead of competing with, Aldi. I think the core of this must be their fresh food delicatessan which is weak at the moment. If they actually developed a very strong fresh deli and in-house take-away food offering (always offering value of course) along with a very good fish, cheese and charcuterie counter I think they could claw back considerably. Aldi and Lidl have very limited product lines as well so Supervalu could probably win out on specialist food offerings such as special-dietary needs and so on. The bottom line is, it has to be good value. What would this mean for the Supervalu brand? Well, probably a rebrand for starters 2010-03-04T22:19:39+00:00 http://www.wearethreesixty.com/ee/index.php/site/updates_from_kitui_in_kenya/ http://www.wearethreesixty.com/ee/index.php/site/updates_from_kitui_in_kenya/#When:16:27:30Z About 3 years ago we switched our support from a household name charity to a small, 100% voluntary charitable organisation called the Friends of Kitui. We know and trust the people involved and liked their practical, respectful and honest approach to making a difference in Africa. Kitui is a part of Kenya with huge challenges and no economy to speak of. Friends of Kitui have a clear strategy that begins with providing water and goes on to support education and entrepreneurship. We have committed to funding a water project there every two years. This removes the travel time taken every day to access water, freeing people for education and work and providing them with the water they need to live and grow food. Last year we funded the development of a dam at Makonga which brought water to 500 people in the immediate area. The main thing we have learned from our involvement is how little money it takes to make a huge difference over there. We recently received updates from Friends of Kitui. They are now exploring the development of a poultry project and we’re hoping to find a mechanism for contributing some skills and knowledge to help make it work. To us, entrepreneurship is a way to generate wealth. To them, entrepreneurship is a way to make a basic living. It puts our so-called recession into perspective and highlights the inequality inherent in our global economy. If you are interested in the idea of enabling entrepreneurship in Africa, consider Friends of Kitui, you can be sure that your contribution is making a real difference there. 2010-02-04T16:27:30+00:00 http://www.wearethreesixty.com/ee/index.php/site/why_twitter_is_a_great_branding_tool/ http://www.wearethreesixty.com/ee/index.php/site/why_twitter_is_a_great_branding_tool/#When:13:45:17Z According to Brandchannel, the number of visitors to Twitter hasn’t changed all that much since June. Still, about 20 million people each month check in to Twitter to tweet or to read. Has Twitter peaked or should you still be considering how to integrate Twitter into your branding strategy?Personally, I have a horror of Twitter’s witterers - those who tweet compulsively about their every movement. However I have become a huge fan of Twitter as a branding tool over the past year and here’s why: 1. Twitter helps you track your industry trends in real-time Find all the visionaries, thought-leaders, key influencers, experts and media channels in your market sector and follow them. A 5-minute flick through your twitter homepage each day over a cup of coffee (as I do) will keep you in touch at a high-level with what’s happening. It is quite simply the only way to keep on top of the tidal wave of information that is out there. 2. Twitter helps you to really understand your customers Find opinion-leaders in your market and follow them. If they are very active twitter-users, they will tweet regularly about the details of their lives. No better way to gain insight into how they think and what is important to them. If you’re lucky and they like your product, they might even tweet about you to their followers. 3. Twitter helps you to track your brand Just search for your brand on Twitter and see what real people, in real time are saying about you. Of course, you then need to decide what to do about it… I’m a big fan of responding directly to any complaints and taking them offline. Convert that person and you’ve not only done the right thing, you might have created a new ambassador for your brand. Of course, you can also use Google alert. 4. Twitter helps you to say a gentle hello to prospective customers, especially if you’re an online business I have a personal twitter account under the name “nonsumers”. I use it to log all of the ethical products that I buy as part of a personal project to live more sustainably without the hairshirt and ashes. I don’t actively seek followers, it’s really just a project for myself and I will look back at year end and see how we as a family have changed our consumption patterns. However each time I tweet about a product category, I will pick up a new follower. It’s invariably a company selling the type of products I just tweeted about. To me, it’s a gentle and non-invasive way for businesses to put themselves on my radar. I can choose to follow them in return if I wish, but I pretty much always check out their websites and will bookmark the ones I’m interested in. (oh and if you’re interested, you can follow me here) 5. Twitter helps you to get your message out to lots of people very quickly For those who are unfamiliar with Twitter, it allows you to retweet other people’s tweets out to your followers. It’s the same thing as forwarding on an email to everyone in your address book. So if you have something interesting to say and your followers have lots of followers, you can get your message out there very quickly. Be aware though that people will only retweet information that’s new, interesting and of relevance to their own followers. Today, Damien Mulley kickstarted an experiment on twitter asking people to tweet their business elevator statement followed by #biztweet (this means that all tweets containing #biztweet will be gathered together by twitter). Within a couple of hours, people were retweeting his request and elevator statements (including ours) were flooding in. Nice profile-building for Damien Mulley. 6. Twitter helps you to tell the story of the people behind the brand Websites tend to be a bit more formal, blog posts by their nature tend to be topic-specific, tweets on the other hand can be friendly in tone and far more varied in content. You should be able to tell what really interests a business by looking at their twitter page. It should be a reflection of what they read, what they do and what they care about. It’s a great way to communicate the personality behind your business. People worry about having small numbers of followers but that is just one way of measuring the effectiveness of Twitter. Be warned, anyone can set up a twitter account in your business name so whether you are going to take the plunge or not, you should immediately set up a twitter account for your business.  By the way, when you get started be sure to come and say hello to us @wearethreesixty       2010-01-27T13:45:17+00:00 http://www.wearethreesixty.com/ee/index.php/site/nike_plus_ipod_equals_digital_dream/ http://www.wearethreesixty.com/ee/index.php/site/nike_plus_ipod_equals_digital_dream/#When:10:11:58Z Having recently been awarded the accolade of Digital Campaign of the Decade by AdWeekMedia, Nike are getting quite a lot of mileage out of their ‘Nike+’ campaign, an online social network where runners can connect, share their runs, join challenges, set goals and record their achievements. Launched in 2006, what Nike hails as the ‘worlds largest running club’ has amassed over 300 million kilometers of runs - which I’m told is enough for more than 400 round trips to the moon!So how does it work? Place a Nike+ sensor into a Nike+ running shoe. Ensure you have a Nike+ device - a sportband or a Nike+ enabled iPod, at the ready. Start running. The sensor will communicate with your Nike+ device, which will record your distance, pace, calories burned and time taken for the run. Upload your run stats to Nike+ online. Store all your run info, sets goals, connect with other runners, share your routes and discover run routes all over the world. With customised run programmes, Nike+ Coach and many more features, Nike+ takes training to another level. AdWeekMedia relates that Nike have increased their running shoe market share from 48% in 2006 to 61% in 2008. The brand awareness and the brand experience created by Nike+ was surely a driving factor in securing the extra market share. Whilst runners compare and compete on Nike+ online, they are constantly exposed to new Nike products and gear. Runners associate their athletic goals and achievements with Nike, they share a connection with a community of runners and when they run, they run as part of a global network, not alone. This emotional connection becomes an emotional bond with the Nike brand, and so follows brand loyalty, perhaps even brand worship. In merging with Apple, a brand with a much coveted cult status, the campaign sees the union of two of the worlds’ biggest brands (both in the top 30 in Interbrands’ Best Global Brands 2009 rankings). Nike has created and connected a global community of runners with a common drive and determination, and set feet pounding all over the globe. The farthest I’ve ever run is for the bus. But this little sensor that could sit in my shoe and tell me how well I’m doing…I’m starting to wonder, how far could I run? Surely I could run a mile or two to start? Maybe work it up to five or six miles over a few months? I’m tempted to push myself to my limit, to fall into bed with every last inch of my being exhausted and invigorated. What do the Nike+ community say to me? Just Do It. 2010-01-07T10:11:58+00:00