“In one day, YouTube sends data equivalent to 75 billion e-mails…,” says Phil Smith of Cisco Systems.

The world’s ever-increasing demand for bandwidth shows no sign of abating. And so the debate rages on. Could the internet buckle under demands for increased data transfer—or from shark bites?

Well it better not!

From fiber optics to routers this BBC piece explores some possibilities along those very lines.

Introducing the sector-reviving, very green and uber-cool miniHome featuring a stand-alone, renewables-ready, hybrid propane-electric energy system.

It Stands Alone

This self-contained, off-grid recreational vehicle with up to 13 foot ceilings comes fully furnished and appointed with all appliances—even a microwave—for about USD $108k. Its designers boast, “You add the dishes, linens and the contents to the fridge and you’re ready to go.”

A Trailer?

The miniHome is a travel trailer fit for year-round living even in extreme climates. According to its website:

The miniHome RV is ideally suited to function as a ski chalet, cottage, vacation retreat, guest cabin, or luxurious, yet simple, home-away-from-home.

Slated to be featured on HGTV Canada later this month, the stylish miniHome is turning the stigma of living in a trailer on its head by creating value through smart design.

The Lesson Here?

Opportunities abound, even in a segment beleaguered with image baggage. Never count out a market, industry, or brand.

Is your brand a “green” miniHome or a vinyl-sided double wide?

Getting Through

Email is an effective and relatively inexpensive way to reach both current and prospective customers—if it gets delivered.

Don’t let incorrectly implemented authentication block your email communications. Authentication essentially identifies an email’s sender and holds them accountable for their email practices.

It’s Your Brand

Understanding and establishing the proper level of email authentication is critical to both delivery success and the ongoing reputation of your business in the marketplace. Authentication records should be considered an extension of your brand.

To learn more about the importance of email authentication—what’s involved and what’s at stake— read this article by David Baker of MediaPostPublications.

Are you authenticating?

It’s rudimentary, but when it comes to marketing your product or service, define the features, but sell the benefits.

Will it improve a business’ bottom line?
Will it enhance the user’s physical or emotional well-being?
Why should your customers care?

If you don’t know what your current or potential customers need or want, simply ask them. They’ll be more than happy to tell you.

To develop a successful marketing campaign, tailor your messaging to establish the benefit customers will derive from your product or service. Then take it to market.

Have a tailored campaign story to share?

After working with Deskey, a retail product branding consultancy for 18 months, Cincinnati-based Fifth Third Bank has released its new identity. Unfortunately, they traded in a readable, recognizable mark for a trendy, often parodied swoosh/horizon/.com logo (see before and after marks above).

Granted, the original mark with its 1980s Optima font was badly in need of an update, but it was easier to read, less detailed and better suited to meet today’s multi-channel media requirements.

Deskey has done some nice work over the years (Crest, Luvs, Downy), but here they’ve encumbered the graceful sweep of the “new horizon� arc with a modified boxy 5/3 shield. To get the arc from one side to the other, they added more detail and ran a line around the shield. The result resembles a head-on lumbering albatross.

Logos 101

See the mall placard example at right as a visual reference point.

• For better readability, use upper and lowercase letters (Fifth Third at top) instead of a small cap treatment in a lightweight decorative font (bottom)
• Omit superfluous words like “Bankâ€? (see Chase or National City)
• Enhance, update and streamline a well-established mark, don’t add decoration or embellish to the point that individual elements compete with the whole of the mark (bottom)
• Keep overall proportions in mind and don’t entrap the logo with size-limiting top or bottom elements (bottom)

According to Inside Indiana Business, Fifth Third plans to infuse the new brand into every facet of their operation, from call center retraining to a revamped customer Bank Center experience. They get high marks for listening, research and action planning, but the new mark—the cornerstone symbol of all Fifth Third hopes to become—is pragmatically, aesthetically and thematically lacking. Its mishmash of colloquial, trendy and passé decorative elements doesn’t reflect their brand promise of working hard for tomorrow.

Fifth Third’s hard-earned and longstanding brand equity deserved a better effort.