PRO Rugby profiled in New York Times Magazine
First, he needed a name and a logo. He couldn’t use the word “league” because “rugby league” signified a much less popular version of the game that developed after the so-called Great Schism of 1895, when working-class players from northern England who wanted to be paid split off from teams adhering to the supposed purity of amateur competition. A branding firm in San Francisco proposed a number of logos and names.
Addis Creates PRO Rugby Branding
We named it Professional Rugby Organization (PRO Rugby) and designed a simple, iconic symbol. Our jersey designs for each team (home and away) include a tackle line to help enforce the lower-body tackle rule. Inaugural teams include San Francisco, Denver, Ohio, Sacramento, and San Diego.
Verlasso’s Scott Nichols named Seafood Marketer of the Year
Verlasso burst onto the seafood scene in 2011 with what it termed “harmoniously raised” farmed salmon, produced through a joint venture between chemical conglomerate DuPont and salmon farm company AquaChile. Led by Scott Nichols, Verlasso has built a brand worthy of our inaugural Seafood Marketer of the Year award. [read more]
Apple gets stars to set Watch’s status
“They’re breaking new ground with a smartwatch, which has always been a bit nerdy. They have to position it away from the fan boys to get a wider market,” said Steven Addis, chief executive of Berkeley creative agency Addis. [read more]
Starbucks to junk CDs
“Music has always been a key component at Starbucks,” says spokeswoman Maggie Jantzen. “We are looking for new ways to offer customers music options.”
It’s about time, says brand guru Steven Addis, CEO of the brand agency Addis. “CDs make them look dated as a brand. They need to move to streaming and have their own streaming service.”
CD sales nationally have been declining; they dropped another 15% in 2014, according to Billboard, the trade magazine that first reported Starbucks would drop CDs. Starbucks declined to disclose its CD sales.
Under CEO Howard Schultz, Starbucks had become increasingly tech-savvy, and was among the first to test and accept mobile payment. It’s always pushing to move the tech needle.
Music and cultural coolness often go hand-in-hand. Selling music, in some form, “might not be much of a revenue generator but it’s a relevance generator,” says Addis.
Prosper is doing things differently.
Prosper came to Addis to help create a brand that lives up to the potential of the product and the community they have developed. [read more]
Colburn School of Music Launches New Identity
The Colburn School is a performing arts school, situated squarely in the artistic center of Los Angeles. The institution spans all levels of Arts education; from early childhood development in their Community School of Performing Arts, to training the world’s most talented classical musicians in the Colburn Conservatory. They came to us in need of a cohesive brand strategy that would align the many facets of the school under a single purpose, and to develop a visual identity system that signals its differences from Julliard and other peer institutions. [read more]
Review of Print Magazine’s Winners of 2013
We’re pleased that our integrated communications work continues to be called out by respected industry peers.
Updating The Look of A Revolutionary
Since its inception, Nutiva has been on a quest to revolutionize the way the world eats.
What hadn’t changed for over 15 years, however, was the look of their products at retail. That is now evolving, for Nutiva will begin rolling out a completely new identity and packaging system we designed for them.
China meat scandal hits Starbucks, BK, Papa John’s
The Chinese meat scandal expanded to at least three new, major fast-food brands and one new nation on Tuesday, and more are expected to soon join the embarrassing fray.
What to do at this critical juncture?
“I think that all companies need to take an active role in regulating their supply chains,” says Steven Addis, CEO of Addis, a brand-consulting firm. “McDonald’s and Yum Brands in China should announce permanent food-safety procedures where all of their ingredients go through quality-control testing to assure the public of safety.”