Moxie House Owner Speaks About Lancaster’s Rose Logo

August31^st,2010 | Branding, Real Women In Business

The last blog post on Lancaster’s “authentic” rose logo has been generating lots of interest in my local community. While researching the blog post, I saw few comments from Moxie House, the design and marketing firm that has been pushed into the spotlight when it was falsely accused of copying the logo from another artist.

I assumed Moxie House wanted to stay away from the mud-slinging, but I was also interested to hear its side of the story. The fact that Moxie House is a boutique women-owned firm made me even more curious.

I called owner Deb Brandt, who agreed to speak with me. Read more »

Lancaster City’s “Authentic” Logo Drama

August31^st,2010 | Branding, General

Last Wednesday, Lancaster City Pennsylvania unveiled a new branding campaign with a square rose logo and the tagline “A City Authentic.” The work generated criticism on internet message boards for straying from more traditional marketing of the past (among other reasons.)

Then an anonymous YouTube video appeared showing the rose logo to be virtually identical to one used by artist Dard Hunter.

The YouTube video points the blame at Moxie House, a Lancaster, PA design firm that worked with the city on the new branding campaign. So far, Moxie House has remained quiet about the issue. Owner Deb Brandt told the Lancaster Intelligencer Journal that her company received the logo from the city, and did not check the design origin because she was told the city was seeking copyright for the image. Read more »

When You’re Talking About Quality, You Better Have Proof

February6^th,2009 | Branding, General

If you’ve ever spent a night in a hotel, you probably remember how each glass was individually wrapped so you were assured your lips would be the first to cross its spotless surface. Why is that important?

These days, it’s not just enough to provide a quality service. You have to make that quality obvious if you want the competitive edge—much like the way housekeeping makes their presence obvious by folding the toilet paper and wrapping each glass.

Unfortunately, it’s not always easy. Read more »

Strategic Branding for Women in Business

January22^nd,2009 | Branding

Guest post by Lori Baer, a freelance writer who crafts marketing and corporate communications copy as well as feature articles. Her work appears at www.lbaer.com along with free resources designed to help individuals boost their writing skills. She also blogs about food at Friday Night Pizza.

Running your own business, like jogging, is an individual sport. No one else laces the jogger’s sneakers and no one else carries their butt to the top of that hill.

Just the same, many women business owners have no marketing department to sell their services for them, and no new business development team working to take their business to the top. Marketing falls solely on the individual—a fact that should be empowering regardless of how steep the climb.

Marketing is all about promoting your brand, and in a one-woman operation the brand is you. By charting a clear course with strategic planning—like the big brand boys do—the individual freelancer’s ability to define and control their brand with precision affords a race advantage most large companies only theorize about in conference rooms. Read more »