People engage in branding exercises for a number of reasons, but in the end, there has to be a return on the investment. Can you measure the ROI on branding?
The Old Log Church Museum did.

aasman worked with the Yukon Church Heritage Society for two years, clarifying its brand — its fundamental purpose, values and differentiation — and then developing communications tactics to position “Yukon’s Spirited History” in the marketplace.

But what’s even more important is: the client got it. The Yukon Church Heritage Society embraced the concept and began to align itself and its product around the new brand focus. They got it, and then they got the numbers too.

As of October 1, the total number of visitors to the Old Log Church Museum was up 44% from the previous year, admission revenues were up almost 40% and museum shop sales were up 227%.

Now that’s a brand with purpose.
 

Aasman just launched the flu shot campaign “I’m taking a shot.” It features three Yukoners talking about getting the flu vaccine so they can protect the people they are in contact with. The three scenarios—nurse, child care worker and barista— play out in print, digital and Facebook ads, posters, transit ads and theatre slides. I suppose this constitutes a "campaign," but after reading Doug Brown’s blog post “Are you paying for a campaign and getting an ad?”  it looks like one could argue that it isn't.
 
I'd like to suggest our campaign is actually more than the final deliverables—it's the real person in the ad and how they are affected by the experience of contact with those around them. It's the photo shoot, the reactions they get from their boss, coworkers, family, friends, clientele, patients. . . It's the small ripple that starts conversations and builds momentum.
 
I went by Java Connection yesterday to drop off a poster from the "I’m taking a shot” campaign. (One of the JC's baristas, Candace, is featured in the ads.) About five young women came running from behind the counter, the manager Cindy joined us, everyone was excited to see it. The café was full of customers, it seemed like a party. Posted on the beam right next to the cash register, was a cut-out copy of the ad. Lots of positive talk bubbled out about getting the flu shot using the campaign language and Candace has it up on her Facebook profile. 
 
So, did I make a case that we actually have a campaign here? Perhaps I should wait and see what happens with our child care worker and nurse. . . wish I had the budget to feature 10, 15, 20 more Yukoners.      

Last month a new talent joined our ranks in the role of Administrative Assistance / Media Buyer. Naomi Hutchison is a recent graduate of Yukon College and a proud Yukoner, when you dial aasman chances are you'll be chatting with Naomi so take a couple minutes to learn more about her below!

How long have you lived in the Yukon?

Almost 22 years. Born and raised here in the Yukon.

First impressions of aasman?

The ideal workplace for me, I can put my education to use and gain excellent work experience.

What were you doing before coming to work with us?

Studying multimedia communications at Yukon College as well as coaching gymnastics at the Polarettes Gymnastics Club.

What's the best trait you bring to your work here at aasman?

I think the best traits would be that i'm creative and open minded. I think those will come in handy working here at aasman.

And now for the really important questions:

Favourite Sandwich? Pretty much any sandwich with bacon on it.

Best tunes to work by? Lady Gaga. I'm always in the mood to listen to her music.

Most exotic travel experience? February 2011— March 2011.  I travelled with family to Cebu City, Phillippines, where my mother is from. It was great to experience the culture my  mother grew up in and to meet her family for the first time.

Snowboard or Skis? I don't do either but i'm hoping to learn how to snowboard this year.

Beverage you can't live without? Apple pear vitamin water is my new favourite drink.

Last weekend my partner and I were hiking near Kluane National Park and practically bumped right into an abandoned cabin. It had a unique structure using three living trees to support its walls, but more unique was the green paint used to decorate the ends of the logs and the knots where branches had been removed. It struck us as odd that someone would carry decorative paint all the way out here–we'd hiked and canoed for two days at that point. This mysterious trapper or recluse must have had graphic connections.

Our next clue was the metal sheets that had been used as roofing–they were printing plates from a 1984 Whitehorse Star paper.

It sparked an explanation about the printing process, but now that I'm out of the woods I thought I'd use the opportunity to interview Trevor Sellars, one of the printing gurus at aasman.

ER: Trevor, what can you tell me about these metal plates?

TS: Metal plates from both local newspapers have been used by Yukoners for decades (in fact over 50 years or more) as roofing materials, shed walls, table tops, and many more ingenious uses.  Metal plates replaced movable metal type which was first used in 1377 in Korean and in a similar form by Gutenberg in Germany about 1450.

ER: So there's a metal plate for every piece of paper for every news paper? What happens to the plates afterwards?

TS: These large metal plates are used on the web press (a printing press that feeds large rolls of paper through four or five or six printing units) for each 4 pages of the newspaper. The two local newspapers each have their own printing plants and each uses many metal plates each week – I would guess between 50 and 70 each week. The newspapers still provide them to the public (for a small cost) while many plates are collected for recycling.

ER: Has the process changed since 1984 when these ones were made?

TS: Somewhat. The plates and the chemicals that are used to treat them are pretty much unchanged for the past few decades. Before metal plates were used,  movable metal type was used and set in frames which were mounted on the printing presses. I recall watching a friend in Nanaimo about 40 years ago set metal type for the Nanaimo Daily Free Press and damaged type was returned to a melting pot where it was later recast.

There are other plate types on the market that are not metal including paper, polymer substrates, paper, etc. and are used depending on the printing technology a printing plant has in its shop.

ER: How come people use them for roofing? Have you heard of other creative or bizarre uses?

TS: Let's say that these plates make a good temporary roofing material for a shed or lean-to but they have of course been used on homes by people wanting a quick fix to a small or big problem with their roof. I have seen them used to repair holes in cars and trucks, used to sheet the walls of sheds and buildings, used on table tops at camps and workshops, fashioned as rain gutters, as liners for garden boxes, and other things.

ER: Awesome. Thanks Trevor!

Surrealist painter Salvador Dali designed the logo for Chupa Chups lollipops!! (Okay, well it was an exciting discovery for me.)

I never would have guessed. When I think of Dali, the words that come to mind are flamboyant, intense, surreal, eccentric, absurd. Marketing hard candy on a stick just never factored into my perception of him.

Although, after thinking about it,  the connection isn't that much of a stretch. Dali's work was based largely on symbolism, and what is a logo if not a symbol? 

P.S. Even if you're not familiar with Salvador Dali, you might recognize his most famous work The Persistence of Memory (or reinterpretations of it.)