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Dr. Roof has been in business locally for some time. The company’s original logo was a cute little cartoon with logo text.  They’ve done a great job of branding; the logo is on all their vehicles, ads, collateral, etc.  Their trucks, ads and logo all used the same striking color combination of black, white, silver and blue.

Their business recently expanded, including foray into higher end and larger roofing jobs.  Their new identity, reflected in their most recent print collateral, includes a script logo font, rich photography, and an earthy, green color palette.

Their new website reflects the merging of the old and new Dr. Roof.  Branding transition takes a number of years and it is important to incorporate elements of both identities while customers, and the company itself, make the shift.

The “old” Dr. Roof is still in full gear; embracing that aspect of the company while also introducing long-time customers to expanded products and services was an important goal.  Attracting a new customer demographic whose primary interest aligned with the expanded line was critical.  Like our teen years, these transitions can be awkward.

Kimberly Armstrong, who headed up this job for Dr. Roof, delighted us by having a strong background in marketing and, consequently, an understanding of the challenge. She loaded us up with lots of rich photography, allowing for customized headers appropriate to each page, as well as a variety of slideshows, showing the breadth and depth of the company’s offerings–and their actual work.  This puts the focus on the products and services and allows the site design to simply frame the work itself.

Kimberly first met with Keleigh (and Perdita) for concept and site planning.  Once they had agreed on a site plan and architecture, Kimberly began developing content while beachdogs Kathy and Sabrina collaborated on initial design concepts (under Karadog’s adept supervision).  Sabrina took on project management and production, working closely with Kimberly for design and content and Kathy for search engine optimization.

In an effort to provide top-notch service, the company had us include several contact forms.  This allows a variety of questions to be immediately sent to the right department and receive the quickest response.

There are an overwhelming number of options in the type of work Dr. Roof offers.  The site needed room for a good amount of information, including an easy-to-use FAQ page and a glossary of roofing terminology, as well as an entire section on decking, siding, custom stone work; all the things Dr. Roof does besides roofing.

Finally, we gave this dynamic troupe a blog so they can post updates on timelines, showcase new products, vendors, service options and more.  Not only will this help their new site find good search rank quickly, it will serve to educate, inform and entertain their customers.

Click on over to drroofinc.com and make a note to check back soon.  This company is moving fast and their website promises to keep pace.

This rendition of White Christmas was recorded by Clyde McPhatter and the Drifters in 1953.  It was #2 on the charts in 1954.  Animation is by Joshua Held in 2002. White Christmas was written by Irving Berlin for the Movie “Holiday Inn” and recorded by Bing Crosby in 1942, and received the Academy Award in that year.  Crosby recorded it again in 1947, and that recording has become the standard.  It was also featured in the 1954 movie White Christmas with Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney, and Vera-Ellen. White Christmas is the biggest selling Christmas song of all time.

Merry Christmas!

We’re all acting like a bunch of kids this weekend in the snow.  Here is Wendy’s family, enjoying some sled time in the dunes and on the beach:

The power of YouTube!  Unless you’ve been pretty much off the internet and television entirely for the past year or two, you’ve heard of YouTube.  The site is a monster and a leader in online video.  In fact, we’ve just added to our blog installation package a plug-in that makes it super-easy for our WordPress customers to add video to their sites.

Adding video to your site via YouTube does wonderful things for you in Google.  Adding BAD video is a good thing.  Adding good video is, well, great!  Product demonstrations, customer commentary on products and services, the more ‘dry’ aspects of the medium can boost your rank in Google significantly.  If you’re willing and able to be clever, you can capture some viral traffic as your video gets passed around a bit.  If you figure out how to be both clever AND not appear like an advertisement, you’ve hit a sweet spot.  JC Penney has done just that in a series of (slightly predictable, somewhat poorly acted) videos.  Here’s one of my favorites:

By the time I realized it was an ad, I was already hooked and had to watch it to the end.  It will be interesting to watch the success of this campaign.  So far, it seems to be doing quite well in viewership.  I look forward to learning if it is converting to jewelry sales over the holiday season.

But I digress.  You don’t need polished video to make a difference in your site rank and viewership.  You just need a cheap video cam and the software that comes with any late model computer.  Then you need to set up an account at YouTube and link it to and from your site.  If you want help, we can hook you up with a videographer (low end or high end) and take care of all or part of the process for you.  Hey!  I just hooked you long enough to get to the ad for our services!

We’ve sure been enjoying today’s snow! It’s the most anyone can remember seeing here in 40+ years.

This evening starts the 8-day celebration of Hanukkah.   Are you familiar with the story of this blessed holiday?  Anyone want to play dreidl? 

What a fun job this was!  Tips & Toes had a nice looking business card, but it had become a little dated and was expensive to print.  After we priced out a variety of options, Wendy received those magical words all designers love to hear:  “Do whatever you want!”

The chartreuse card set was our first effort.  We put a high gloss on the photo side and a matte finish on the back (to make it easy to write on).  They turned out great!  Alish thought so, too.  In fact, she liked them so well, she decided to use them for nail appointments and cut us loose to design a complementary set for hair.  How fun!

Cooperative marketing is brilliant.

Take the Northwest Carriage Museum and the Willapa Seaport Museum.  Here, we have two amazing small museums, both created on grants, passion and courage, and both operated wisely–and close to the bone. They are neighbors, situated across the street from one another, and both have creative, dynamic, smart directors.

No one should have been surprised they would leverage their budgets and combine their talents to produce a brochure with more impact than either of them could have achieved alone.  See?  BRILLIANT.

It can be complicated to combine forces in this way, and shouldn’t be entered into blindly.  Styles and preferences are, more likely than not, disparate.  Branding can be diluted.  The time involved in agreeing on everything from concept to details can be maddening.

Had Keleigh and Amy not worked together before, there might have been trepidation.  After all, we beachdogs were agreeing to find a strong balance point between two museums and their independent-minded directors, a balance that would BENEFIT all concerned as well as PLEASE them.  Each of these women had Boards to report to, others to consult at many points in the process.  That’s a lot of cooks in the kitchen.

Not with this team!  Amy Dennis and Pam Darrah are both consummate professionals.  Not only were they each a joy to work with, their combined energy brought so much more to the project than could have been generated without them.  We’re all pleased with the result of the effort and the proof will come as distribution takes place and museum visitation increases.  Stop by one of our local visitor centers to pick up a copy of their brochure or, better still, spend a day at the museums.  You’ll be glad you did.

I just love living here in teeny tiny town.  It is literally and figuratively the beach of my childhood.  I’ve talked with people about this 30 years older and 30 years younger than myself and all seem to agree that the spirit of the place hasn’t changed over time.  Okay, so those pre-teens 30 years younger don’t really know what they’re talking about yet, but still!

This weekend offers up a slice of that magic for locals and visitors alike.  Holidays at the Beach is a weekend of family fun co-sponsored by the City of Long Beach and the Long Beach Merchants Association and we’re blessed to work with both organizations.  The rack card we did for this year’s event is shown to the left.

Organizers Ragan Andrew and Steven Linhart took over the reins a few years ago and have really injected new energy into a 3-day series of events. I love their “ticket” idea; we perforated the rack card to include a tear-off ticket to the Friday night event.  Kids get to keep the weekend’s schedule (to which they attach ribbons, bells and the like) and the theater gets a ticket so they can track participation.  Well done, team!

Keith and I going to meet the two newest members of our family in California over Thanksgiving, so we’ll miss my favorite part of the holiday season here in Long Beach: the tree lighting and caroling.  The good news is that we’ll be back in time for Ilwaco’s “World’s Largest Crab Pot Christmas Tree” lighting and Boat Parade and also for Ocean Park’s tree lighting and cookie decorating party.  There’s also the Peninsula Player’s Christmas Play, PAPA’s Fiddler on the Roof, the Boys & Girls Club’s Holiday Home Tour, the B&B Association’s Open House and Tuba Christmas.  Staff parties!  Friend Gatherings!  Cookie Baking!  Present Wrapping! Whee!  I LOVE this place and this time of year!

Happy Thanksgiving to each of you.  May your holiday, and your year, be blessed.  :: Keleigh