Our Blog | Aasman Brand Communications

The Whitehorse Brand Experience

posted Jul 25, 2011 | by Neil | 1 Comment

Downtown south is on the agenda tonight in Whitehorse as Council meets to discuss and vote on the Downtown South Master Plan.

It's been an interesting few months for the city. A logo/tagline change sold as a rebranding was rebuffed by citizens leading to a modification of the existing logo. Some folks cried "waste" while others, (like ourselves) tried to clarify that logos aren't brands.

So what is a brand when it comes to the City of Whitehorse?

How locals and visitors interact with a city, its streets and traffic patterns, the design and size of buildings, blend of commercial and residential, the green space and signage all reflect a city's brand.

Putting logo trouble aside, tonight's council discussion and subsequent vote on the "Master Plan" will be a telling sign of what city leaders feel the brand of our fair home ought to be.

What do you think? Want to attend? It's tonight, July 25th, at 7:30pm in Council Chambers (City Hall, 2121 Second Ave.)

Leave a comment for "The Whitehorse Brand Experience"

awesome diy badness

posted Jul 22, 2011 | by Jennifer | 3 Comments

Today, we present some examples of why it clearly pays to hire professionals to do the marketing. (Local TV ads are the best!)

Enjoy the badness. Happy Friday from aasman!

This is what happens when the boss just really, really wants to be on tv.

And this is just surreal.

Leave a comment for "awesome diy badness"

Dare to Drink Where Your Daddy Did

posted Jul 20, 2011 | by Eleanor | 0 Comments

"Dare to Drink Where Your Daddy Did" isn't short and snappy, but the alliteration and implications far make up for that.

Judging by the rocking good time had by all at the Pit Pub under the Westminster Hotel on Saturday at the Dawson City Music Festival (DCMF), I reckon the cycle of future daddies may continue. It's a hilarious and fitting angle in a town where it's illegal to make buildings look modern and "bush men" come in from mining camps to drink on the weekend.

The above hotel has it's own inspiring proposition to suit. The Westminster Hotel claims to be "the romance capital of the Yukon" and states it loudly on a banner in Rosewood type as you enter the festival gates.

Love it.

Have you ever stayed there? I haven't, I'm too scared. I love the new marketing though.

As a side note, how did the Westminster Hotel manage to be Lead Sponsor the festival? Impressive for a dodgy little gem.

Leave a comment for "Dare to Drink Where Your Daddy Did"

The Luxury of Social

posted Jul 18, 2011 | by Neil | 1 Comment

We recently took some time to review the social media positioning of what Forbes Magazine calls the worlds top 10 luxury brands. The results were interesting.

Since the list changes little from year to year we tapped into Forbes 2009 list to get started. (The 2010 edition was available but didn’t have a solid online component.)

We crunched some numbers and of the 10 brands listed, all have a presence on facebook, nine in an official capacity. The combined pages represent just over 15 million “likes."

To put this in perspective, facebook’s most liked page is Texas Hold’em Poker at nearly 44 million “likes." In fact the top 25 facebook pages have over 22 million “likes” each. Among the pages are gems like Vin Diesel and Linkin Park as well as corporate brands, Coca Cola (29 million) and Youtube (36 million) while facebook itself sits in second (43 million).

(Click here for a full breakdown.)

Twitter is a different story: 4 of 10 are active on twitter and followers total a stunning 31,000. If we combined the top 10 luxury brands according to Forbes Magazine their twitter presence wouldn’t put them in the top 1000 tweeters. @joerogan, a man who's made a living feeding testicles to people, has more followers!

So all this begs the question – Why are renowned luxury brands not feeling or creating the social love? Invariably the response is that these brands are exclusive while social networking is inclusive and not the right fit.

Let's ask one more question - Are facebook, foursquare, twitter and now google+ just websites that allow people to communicate or the genesis of tomorrow’s social environment?

If it’s the latter, then luxury brands that fail to find ways to remain exclusive in the new social environment might not be on that Top Ten list for long.

Leave a comment for "The Luxury of Social"

cup half colourful looks pretty full

posted Jul 13, 2011 | by Margriet | 4 Comments

Detail of a ten-foot piece. Photo by Gary Bremner.

You know you have a keeper when your designer can’t stop the creative juices flowing after they leave the office studio. Our art director Eleanor was challenged to put up a show in a very short period of time at Gallery 22. Compiling work she's done in the past (both personal and for her own clients) to the present, she put up an interesting and eclectic show.

Pieces range from big to small, animal to people, colour to black and white, humorous to serious, and graphic to fine arts. One thread tying them all together is Eleanor’s personal style that is essentially calculating, but flamboyant, playful and overall positive. Her work is intentional, whether it is to illustrate a storybook or to express her own joy with fluttering birds or jazz musicians.

It’s wonderful to see Eleanor’s growth as a designer while at work and how it parallels her own personal growth as an artist. This is evident in her growing confidence and willingness to try just about anything.

Go have a look at cup half colourful and let your mind wander, enjoy the stories, colours, and the sheer fun of it all.

Check out Eleanor’s interview in the Yukon News, about her show cup half colourful.