When the World Wide Web (www) was initially created, documents had rudimentary formatting options such as bold, italic and underline, and font, size and color were set with font tags. Everything was embedded within the HTML (hypertext markup language). Changing the background color, font or the width of a page required editing every single page of the site. More complex sites used tables, but they too were clunky, with nested tables that buried content, making it difficult to update as well.

Web developers soon realized that content and formatting serve quite different purposes and set out to separate them. They created Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), a set of rules that tell a web browser how to display HTML content. CSS set the background color, size of headers, paragraph font, color of navigation links and the indentation for block quotes, bullets, etc. Since formatting generally does not change from page to page, an entire website can reference the same CSS, and global formatting changes can be accomplished with one edit.

HTML now defines only the basic elements of a site—navigation and content—and is changed only when content is updated.

HTML and CSS are clean, lightweight and intuitive, making both website content and formatting easier to update and maintain.

Artist Michael Jantzen’s Wind Shaped Pavilion is a kinetic Syd Mead-like fabric structure designed to change form with the movement of the wind.

Says Jantzen of the wind-driven concept:

“This [wind] continually alters the shape of the pavilion, while at the same time generating electrical power for its nighttime illumination. …If the structure’s scale and the materials were to change, it could become an apartment complex or some other commercial building. In this case, the occupants could take control and rotate the segments to adjust to changing desires or needs, such as weather conditions, best views, etc.”

The structural integrity and utility concerns of an apartment building built of independent cams rotating around a central shaft pose several issues of concern. Jantzen is neither an architect nor an engineer, but perhaps one day an open-minded engineer will attempt to resolve the technical side of Jantzen’s blue-sky design.

Until then, I’m not setting foot in it.

Old Spice has done a nice job reinventing itself over the last few years, tapping a younger demographic and distancing itself from a staid and tired image.

Now, the Wieden + Kennedy agency is leveraging that former Old Spice brand persona in a self-deprecating boldface embrace of it. Their just-launched commercial deftly lampoons the P&G product’s once iconic dusty old boy yacht club image into something of indeterminable value—”it.”

A wonderful parody infused with a bounty of expertly appointed clichés.

Got it? Watch “it” and find out.

Communicators everywhere rejoice. Featuring an interface designed to ape the Periodic Table, The Periodic Table of Visualization Methods offers a guide to nearly every diagrammatic visual aid imaginable. The chart’s interactive roll overs make visualizing your next chart or graph an elemental exercise indeed.

I recently received a nice imprinted USB jump drive from a business contact. The $20-30 drive was wrapped in a piece of bubble wrap secured with a rubber band and left on a table for me without discussion. After the meeting, it was nearly thrown out with the trash.

1. Assess What Your Communications Say About You

Brainstorm is using a similar 128MB USB jump drive for a promotion; however, to us, the combined effect of the promotional item and the presentation represents the value we place on the recipient. As a premium, it also reflects us, our organization—our brand. Whenever possible, we hand deliver it as an opportunity to market ourselves strategically one-to-one.

2. View Your Premium as Something of Value

For the time and money invested in any premium, it should provide value—be something the recipient can use, like the jump drive—or fulfill a purpose, i.e., function within an overall marketing strategy and also stand alone to pay off a themed concept. The piece itself and its packaging must align with the brand aesthetic, mood and message. And, although not necessarily expensive, it must be properly executed with high production values.

3. Your Fit and Finish Must Fit and Finish Your Message

For our jump drive promotion we created a custom package, a trapezoidal obelisk box, finished in a matte silver with a hot orange fluorescent interior. On the exterior we added a simple contemporary pattern, our web url and our logo for a clean retail look.

The drives came in nice but plain protective cases from the manufacturer, so we added a Brainstorm touch, sealing them with small matching fluorescent labels with basic information about the drive. We then wrapped the cases in silver tissue, placed them inside the silver boxes and sealed the box with another fluorescent label with a concise five-word headline that included Brainstorm, the function of the premium itself, a potential benefit to the recipient, and a tacit call to action. It all falls in line with a newly-established brand mood that says to the recipient, “You’re a valued person.”

Furthermore, the integrated labeling system allows the boxes to be re-purposed for use in future promotions. We ordered extra quantities, thus reducing our unit cost and amortizing overall costs across future campaigns.

4. Presentation, Presentation, Presentation

Of course all of this is for naught if we do not present the box properly to our customers. We like to hand the box to our clients in person, or in meetings, we stand the box, message forward, in front of the recipient’s place at the table. If mailed, the box is carefully packaged in a shipping box replete with matching labels and additional messaging.

5. An Extra Touch

Hopefully the recipient will tell their colleagues about the drive, the package, and their nice experience with Brainstorm. But whether they do or not, long after the meeting ends when they insert the drive into their computer they’ll find the device labeled with what Dale Carnegie referred to as the single most important word in the world—their name.

What Drives Us

Although the drive is a stand-alone project and represents a very small aspect of our marketing efforts, it really supports a larger objective, the advancement of Brainstorm’s brand equity—always a good investment.

Not sure all of this planning, execution and follow through is justified? Consider how Apple’s Steve Jobs might weigh in on that question, or Nike’s Phil Knight, or Starbuck’s Howard Schultz, or Target’s Robert Ulrich, or FedEx’s Fred Smith. If you still have doubts, just ask us.