One of the challenges of the RV industry is the availability of products for photography. We usually have to scramble to get products in and out of the photographers, and often don’t have the leisure to take the products out for on-site photography. The solution is to use a little bit of digital elbow grease and a lot of attention to details. This tow-shot is the compilation of five photos and nearly 50 detail, color adjustment and blurred layers.

I don’t drop into #brandchat nearly as often as I’d like, but when I do, I always walk away with fresh perspectives on branding.  The discussions force me to examine what I believe about marketing, branding, and positioning.  Today, after talking about BP’s woes and brand damage control with the gulf oil spill, I walked away thinking about how in branding, perception is reality.  No matter what the circumstance is, no matter what the truth may be, what consumers believe often trumps what is actual.  A brand’s position is based on their placement in the consumer’s mind. It doesn’t mater what your brand does, what matters is what customers think your brand does.

I participated in a lively and interesting #brandchat session on Twitter today. Today’s discussion was especially engaging because we looked at case studies of brands that “do it right” and brands that are struggling. We also discussed keys to saving a brand that’s in a “downward spiral”.

Toyota (unsurprisingly) cropped up throughout the discussion and for many reasons. What was surprising is that instead of a bashing of Toyota’s falling brand, there was more talk of expectations of Toyota bouncing back.

With 20 years in the books at HuebnerPetersen, we’d like to document some of our favorite work that may have never seen the light of the world wide web for one reason or another. We’ve decided to try and compile some of this work in a series of posts that explore “things we like to do.” This first installation is a brief collection of design that involves organizing and categorizing complex information into quick, easy, understandable visuals. Some call it information design or information architecture. We don’t care what it’s called, we just love doing it.

Experts, across the board, will agree that developing a solid strategy for your brands social media efforts is the most important driver of success.  Your strategy should be built around your long-term goals, your capabilities and resources, and your audience/customers.  While the framework for your social media strategy can be developed at the corporate level, it’s easy to overlook how you’ll integrate your dealer network.

For OEM’s a holistic social media strategy is one that functions at both the corporate and retail levels.  When developing your strategy, don’t forget that every department, every employee, and every one of your dealers represents your brand – and every one of them has access to social media.  How your dealers utilize social media will directly affect your brand.

We’ve started a tradition of designing and producing a unique notebook each year, as a way to say thanks to our clients, vendors and friends. 2010 is the second installment and we had fun developing the concept and design for this year’s book. It features a “notes” section and an “ideas” section complete with spaces for doodles, idea-ranking, next steps, date, topic and importance.

We recently helped position and brand Entegra Coach, a great new line of luxury Class A motorhomes. They’re stepping into the market during hard times but have a great history and dedicated family behind them.