Broomfield, Colorado and Colorado Springs, Colorado —  April 8, 2013

Spectranetics Corp. (NASDAQ: SPNC) signs with Garrison Everest for extensive package design initiative. Garrison Everest is tasked with the redesign and development of their 20+ lead extraction and vascular intervention products.

Spectranetics develops, manufactures, markets and distributes single-use medical devices used in minimally invasive procedures within the cardiovascular system. The Company’s products are sold in over 40 countries and are used to treat arterial blockages in the heart and legs as well as the removal of pacemaker and defibrillator leads.

The Company’s Vascular Intervention (VI) products include a range of peripheral and cardiac laser catheters for ablation of occluded arteries above and below the knee and within coronary arteries. The Company also markets aspiration and thrombectomy catheters for the removal of thrombus and support catheters to facilitate crossing of coronary and peripheral arterial blockages.

The Lead Management (LM) product line includes excimer laser sheaths and cardiac lead management accessories for the removal of pacemaker and defibrillator cardiac leads.

“We are excited to be working with Spectranetics and look forward to helping them align their packaging with their corporate branding and providing a more favorable brand impression in the marketplace,” says Joshua Claflin, President and Creative Director of Garrison Everest. 

About Garrison Everest, Inc.

Garrison Everest is a leading Denver Branding Agency specializing in the innovation and communication of brands through web design, graphic design and package design. We find the white spaces for your brand to be seen, heard and remembered in a cluttered marketplace.

Broomfield, Colorado and Greenwood Village, Colorado —  March 23, 2013

Garrison Everest signs with Great-West Financial and the American Dental Association to redesign and enhance the ADA’s online account customer portal. This project is a continuation of last year’s website redesign (www.insurance.ada.org) completed by Garrison Everest for the ADA and will focus on continued improvements to the website’s back-end customer account section.

Since 1934, the American Dental Association (ADA) has joined with Great-West Financial to design insurance products that meet the unique needs of dentists. This long-time relationship continues to provide ADA members with access to quality group insurance at competitive rates.

The ADA sponsors the group program, and the favorable claims experience is shared with the participants in the form of a Premium Credit discount. As a Plan-specific discount, the Premium Credit reduces billed premium for all Plan participants, regardless of coverage amount.

“We are excited to be working with Great West Financial and the American Dental Association again and look forward to helping them enhance the back-end account section to improve its customers’ user experience,” says Joshua Claflin, President and Creative Director of Garrison Everest. 

About Garrison Everest, Inc.

Garrison Everest is a leading Denver Branding Agency specializing in the innovation and communication of brands through web design, graphic design and package design. We find the white spaces for your brand to be seen, heard and remembered in a cluttered marketplace.

Brands originated as far back as 1100 BC. The first known brand was from India. As man progressed up to the industrial revolution, it became necessary as more companies entered into the marketplace the need to differentiate ones products and services over another. Generic brands found it useful to become a real brand to succeed.

The term “Brand” comes from the old Norse word brandr “to burn.”  And as we all remember, Cowboys used brands to identify their cattle just as companies today use their brands to identify themselves.

Today, the term branding is used in marketing, advertising and sales as a way to build relationships on a social and psychological level. Brand developers seek to create not only the words, shapes, colors, look and feel of a brand but also to connect them to the consumer on an emotional level that then creates a preference over competing brands.

Some brands do this so well, they’ve become iconic. They’ve transcended into something bigger than just a product or service – but rather an attitude and lifestyle. Two examples I am looking at is Harley-Davidson Motorcycle Company and Ironman Triathlon.

The first example is Harley-Davidson. This iconic brand not only defines and differentiates a motorcycle company, but it also defines an entire class of people based on their lifestyle and attitude towards life. Talk to any Harley owner and immediately you’ll get a sense of who they are based on any one response to a trivial question about the weather. You may say: “Nice weather we’re having today isn’t it?” Harley owner: “ Yeah its #$*@ awesome – good day for a ride!” Then you watch them walk off in black leather chaps, vest and boots. Harley has extended its brand into watches, sponsored sub brands on Ford trucks and others. This brand has achieved cult status and is listed on Interbrands list of the 100 most influential brands.

The second example of a company that does this well is Ironman. Ironman’s tagline “Anything is Possible” – defines the attitude of the people who train for and finish a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mike bike and 26.2 mile run – all in one day. Ironman has extended its brand into shoes, watches, headphones, cereal, power bars, sports drinks and clothing. Not only has it’s brand become synonomous with inspiration, but also with accomplishment – which is its main draw for participants. Who would pay a $500+ entry fee, sacrifice 9-12 months of their life to train and then purchase on average $3000-$10000 in equipment to go through 8-17 hours of pain on race day. Although not as widely known as Harley, Ironman has achieved cult-like status, to the people who are called by its brand name.

By tapping into the psychological aspects of the personality, companies can have a greater understanding into their customer’s motivations and triggers.  So to that end it pays to do upfront research on your brand before crafting it.

The question remains, did Harley and Ironman purposely craft their brands in this way? Can you actually go out and create an iconic brand with a cult-like following? Or did these brands happen serendipitously?

In my next post, I’ll look at the history of both companies and seek to discover how these two brands have achieved iconic status.

Like most entrepreneurs I started in a basement back in early 2003. Prior to getting my start, I was doing UX design for a start-up right out of college that went under after it blew through $39 million in venture capital in 12 months.

I began working on little projects referred to me by friends and family, but when 9-11 hit and the country went into a brief recession I was forced to put my fledging dreams and business aspirations on hold and find a “real job.”

I found work with an agency downtown Denver that was located on the top floor of the Qwest building, (now Century Link). After being with the agency for 9 months, commuting 2 hours a day and experiencing the stress of what it takes to be an agency caliber designer, I knew that without a doubt, that if these people could do it – so could I.

Feeling anxious about getting back to what I started, an opportunity came along to be acting creative director with a virtual digital advertising agency on a contract basis working out of my apartment. I was essentially promised a steady workflow and was free to work on building my business. After a lot of thought and prayer, I felt God pushing me to make the jump. The job would be contract only, no benefits, no office — and no guarantees. So I quit the downtown agency and made the leap.

Now working incredibly late nights in my $450/mo Capital Hill apartment downtown Denver – it was fast and furious designing online ads, landing pages, print and website design — and I was loving it. After 6 short months the company I was contracting with went under from poor management because its owner took the cash and bugged out to Mexico (I’m not making this up), but left me with all their clients including NASCAR. This was the opportunity and springboard that really took my business — which was just a sole-proprietor at the time — to the agency level.

Slowly over a 10 month period, income began to increase and more clients and projects came in. I remember when I got my first check for $13K. I almost went through the roof – but I knew that I was on to something and I was developing something special that I could call my own. I guess the rest you can say is history (or history still in the making).

So here are a few things I learned in the process, below are nine tips that you can apply to your business that I have always tried to focus on that have brought nine successful years of business and counting. Being election day, you could call it my 9, 9, 9 plan.

1. Work hard – This goes without saying. If you are a self-starter and got the talent — the sky really is the limit in this country. Hard work always came naturally to me from my years as a competitive swimmer to chopping and stacking wood when I was a boy. A strong work ethic was instilled in me at an early age. Try to develop strong work habits and don’t quite till the job is done.
2. Persistence – There were times when things got really grim. We’ve gone through some really tough months that have tested our resolve. Like other agencies that went under in the great  recession, we almost lost it all as well – but we were able to hold on. Never give up – you never know when the next big project is around the corner.
3. Diversify – One of the things that makes our group unique is that we can do a lot of things for our clients very efficiently. Brand development, website design, logo design, packaging, SEO and now business development, marketing and sales. I think people who work in the agency business naturally become experts in business and become the “go-to” guys. We have since focused more on brand development and have partnered with other companies who are really good at SEO and programming, but continue to retain the ability to do these types of projects in house. This has allowed us to diversify our skill set and to stay afloat during tough times.
4. Never stop learning – Read the current marketing books, sign up for webinars, keep up on the latest software releases, know how to speak and present yourself and your ideas and always try to position yourself as a resource.
5. Be Proactive – Be the first to let the client know where you are on a project. Never allow them to email you asking were things are. Try to think ahead. I will spend the first hour of my morning going through my task list and determining how I can best serve a client and what needs to get done by close of business. This  keeps clients happy  which leads me to my next point…
6. Get Organized – Know when things are due, keep your schedule tight, know when to say “no”, always keep your time commitments and always be on time. I trained for an Ironman early this year while balancing my 3 and 5 year old, a wife studying for medical school and a full work load – it’s possible.
7. Differentiate – Find out how to really stand out in a crowd and how to separate yourself from your competitors.
8. Confidence – Confidence only comes through experience – failures and successes. I have crashed a few designs, botched a few presentations and have had clients drop us. However we’re lucky to say we’ve had more successes than failures. Be willing to take a risk and go after bigger accounts that you think are out of you reach. I was once told by an old friend of mine. “when people are scared, they go farther and reach higher.”
9. Networking – I am blessed to have made a lot of important friends and contacts when I first started out. I owe a lot to these people who referred leads and believed in me. Without their referrals I don’t think Garrison Everest would be where it is today.

In the design business most of it is about dealing with people. The better you are with people, being sensitive to their expectations and personalities the better and farther you will go. One thing that is also important to mention is being ready for opportunities when they come your way. We make sure to have our sales presentations and website updated with our latest and greatest work as well as talking points at the ready when potential leads call in. Always be prepared to talk about what you’ve done and how you’ve helped clients in the past. Ok, so it ended up being 11 tips.

I hope this has encouraged you to start your own business or to keep striving in yours.

If you are a company that has attempted to get into Wal-Mart, you know it is not easy. Wal-Mart is the holy grail for most product companies because one purchase order can be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Below are 6  points to keep in mind that will improve your chances of getting into Wal-Mart.

Develop your brand
We are firm believers in the following statement: “Unless you stand for something, you stand for nothing.” We have 10-20 of everything in the marketplace. Unless you develop your brand you risk falling into the cacophony of products that only differentiate on functions and features. A well developed brand makes your product stand heads and shoulders above the competition because of its unique story and personality.

Create an Innovative/Quality product
All great businesses start with a unique offering in the marketplace. In order for any large retailer to do business with you, your product has to be somewhat innovative. It also must be durable and packaged in a way so that when customers buy it, it doesn’t break, people can’t steal it and it is designed to be seamlessly placed on Wal-Mart’s shelves. Keep this mind as you design and develop your product and packaging. Make sure that during production you adhere to Wal-Mart’s requirements and build in good cost margins as Wal-Mart will ask for pricing below wholesale.

Great package design
Package design is key. A great package design can help your product look larger than life on the shelf. A good package design dramatizes and communicates the brand to the customer while demonstrating its use, function and features. It differentiates your brand from your competitors and allows you to stand out.  Outdoor Edge also adds QR codes on their packaging so the customer can scan using their smart phone to see a live demonstration—which further persuades the customer to buy.

Build your Inventory
One thing that most start-ups overlook is the ability to fulfill large orders. Wal-Mart promises to always give customers the lowest prices on their products and they always ask for large purchase orders…always.  Larger orders are typically classified as 7,000 – 10,000 units or more. If Wal-Mart accepts your application to be a supplier, you will need to fulfill the purchase order under their terms, which could be within 15 days, and you may not get paid for 60-90 days. If you do not have a good inventory and the means to stay afloat for 3 months, this could be a deal breaker. This also relates directly to my next point about business history.

Build your business history and a good product case study
A lot of our past start-up clients have come to us with one thing in mind: “We want to get into Wal-Mart, Costco, Home Depot, Sports Authority, Dicks, Lowes, Target, etc.” Most haven’t thought through what it takes to build their business first and are shocked when we tell them the bad news about what it entails – unless the product is truly remarkable and the client has the necessary inventory – but this is rare. We will typically advise you to build your sales history business first so that when it comes time to go for it, you are equipped with a track record that says success to the Wal-Mart buyer. You will also learn much along the way. A simple website with online store and online marketing program can help you build your business and obtain valuable experience. This strategy gets the most ROI and allows you to test the validity of the product before making a significant inventory investment. While this is taking place, we advise you to get out there and be willing to take some risks with smaller retailers. This also will provide you with much needed experience to perfect your sales pitch and allow you to test the appeal and validity of your product.  Long before Wal-Mart, Outdoor Edge was selling in smaller retail outlets like Sportsman Warehouse, Cabellas, Bass Pro Shops and others. This allowed them to identify and get over the many hurdles that you will face along the way.

Make the pitch – be persistent
Once you have developed your brand, designed a killer package design, built your inventory, have a deep sales history, product case study and have perfected a winning sales pitch, it’s time to apply. Your presentation should be brief and to the point; it needs to showcase and demonstrate the product’s value, tell the product’s sales history, list customer testimonials and review and project future sales. Once you’re accepted, having other products in your product line with the same standards will allow you to expand in Wal-Mart and potentially get into other retailers. If you get turned down, or you experience fragmented or down right rude communication, don’t give up, it may take a few months or years to finally get that first meeting.

By following the above points, you’ll have a good idea and direction on how to go about getting into a large retailer. Contact Garrison Everest to learn more about our Brand Development, Web Design, Package Design and Online Marketing programs!

Utilize these 4 things to get your website back on track.

So you started a website project a few years ago and it has basically been left to drift and DIE!  Somehow you got really busy and the dreams of starting your new internet venture got put on the back burner.  It wasn’t your fault… job, kids, life got in the way.  But now, you’re ready to get back on it – fully motivated and ready to rock. Have no fear, here is list of things you can do to revive that old website and get it back on track.

Ask yourself these questions to evaluate where you are where you need to go:

Website Design/Branding:

1. Is the current branding look/feel in line with the audience you were targeting years ago?  If  not, make some changes.  Update your tagline, maybe change your logo to a new font face, update the colors, etc.
2. Is the imagery looking a bit nostalgic?  Replace those pics with people who live in this era.
3. Content – does it look busy?  Is the functionality outdated?  These types of issues usually deter savvy internet users from staying on your site.  Make it super easy to understand.  You only have about 8 seconds to capture their attention.
4. More pictures, more content, more action!  Add some JQuery sliders or an animation.
5. If you made the brand about you, make sure you evaluate your strengths and weaknesses.  People will tend to heavily gravitate or heavily repel from personal brands based on how they see and/or relate to you.  This will also effect your ability to effectively target your audience.

Content/Community:

1. For subject enthusiast sites (hobbies, interests, sports, politics, etc.) to be successful, you need to be blogging 2-3x per week – yes, that’s a lot.  No one said it would easy.  To supercharge it, add 2 or 3 videos monthly or more and make sure the photography and content is interesting and adds value.
2. Imagery needs to be rich and interesting.  This causes the site to be “sticky” – meaning when people hit it they stick around.
3. Inbound or “pull” marketing is the name of the game.  Blogs or articles should add value to your subscribers and visitors.  Earn their trust, help them solve problems, make them feel a part of something bigger, provide useful information — build your credibility.
4. You need to think in terms of how you can build a community or “tribe” where you earn the trust of people who have the same likes/dislike as you.  I have two clients who are really successful at this.
5. Client 1 on average sees over 6k visits per day and Client 2 has a community of over 85,000 people and has over 10k visits per day. They both built a community that supports their users.  In your case, you need to be the catalyst to help your visitors come together.  You may seem to have the right topics, but you must also be willing to let things go completely organic and be as authentic as possible.  In a media saturated world, authenticity is better.  
6. Both clients direct their efforts toward other online groups, email marketing, merchandise, events and online radio shows.  Checkout blogtalkradio.com.    
7. Social Media – Once you’ve got some relevant content going, time to start reaching out and joining the conversation on other blogs, Facebook pages and following like-minded people on Twitter and connecting on LinkedIn.  Build a following by commenting and jumping in on conversations.  The great thing about the web is you don’t need an introduction, just something in common — so jump in and start making friends.
8. Already thinking along these lines?  Good…now you need SEO to ignite it.

SEO/Marketing:

1. Your site most likely needs to be optimized.  Since it’s been dead for months (or years), it lacks a lot of the keywords necessary for page rankings.
2.  To accomplish this, you need to hire a professional SEO firm to help you get it optimized.
3. Google just put out a new algorithm – the programs that rank websites – and their requirements are stricter than ever.  The new algorithms are now based on sites that provide real substance and real human opinion.  Gone are the days where links where enough.
4. Site speed – very important, make sure your site loads quickly.

By keeping these points in mind, you’ll be ready to shock your website back to life!

Got questions? Contact us to learn more!

Left to right: Dr. Nathan Watkins, Ergentus – Joshua Claflin, President, Garrison Everest – Russ Minary, Garrison Everest – Dr. Dave Rutherford, Ergentus

Garrison Everest just completed work on a 10 month brand development project with ESP (Emergency Service Physicians) of Colorado – now named Ergentus. We helped ESP align and brand their 36 year old organization to keep pace with the ever changing health care industry.

Along with a complete brand strategy— the project included a complete redesign of the organization’s corporate identity, website, marketing collateral and scrubs as well as a new name which we designed to more accurately represent who they are as a company.

Ergentus Rollout Party

Ergentus held their official roll out party Friday, April 27th, 2012 in Denver, Colroado where the brand was officially introduced to employees, hospital staff and Exempla leadership.

Ergentus, a group of 65 emergency medicine physicians and physician assistants currently serve at Exempla Lutheran Medical Center in Wheat Ridge, Colorado and Exempla Good Samaritan Medical Center in Lafayette, Colorado.

Learn more at ergentus.com

The left-leaning design majority was apparent when I was in College at the University of Wyoming.  When most of my peers were wearing chains, sporting purple hair and idolizing Bill Clinton, I was showing up to class in a white shirt and tie (I was president of my fraternity and on the varsity swim team, so such an outward appearance was appropriate, if not the expectation) — It was I who stood out at the end of the day.  It wasn’t my fault I grew up on a ranch in Northern Wyoming with a skill and talent in design.  I am a 5th generation Republican, I don’t have a choice in these matters.  Regardless of being a minority among my peers as a conservative designer – even in the Denver web and design market – I am thrilled to get the plug.

I do, however, want to reply to a couple of statements made in the article, “…it seems unlikely that in the near future, vernacular American political design will be transformed by abstract concepts like ‘narrative’ and ‘brand.’”  As Callahan says, “It’s just putting ink on plastic.”

There is some truth to this, evident by the fact that of the thousands of people who run for elected office every year, many have neither the budget nor an understanding of the benefits of branding and design.  But for those folks who do get it, and to challenge Callahan’s suggestion that candidates are only known for the look of their yard sign, I’m willing to bet that those with a better looking yard sign not only have a higher likelihood of getting elected, but most often do.  So in the end, it’s really not just ink on plastic, now is it?

Below is an excerpt from the article written by Fritz Swanson.

Nor1 leverages its cutting-edge pricing and merchandising technology to intelligently maximize the revenue and profits of its customers and redefine data-driven pricing strategies. The Silicon Valley-based technology company’s patents and patents-pending are focused on perishable inventory serving a variety of industries, while its core solutions are designed to service the hospitality industry. The statistically driven PRiME® engine is the innovative backbone to Nor1 solutions.  PRiME dynamically analyzes millions of points of data gleaned from Nor1 transactions to directly meet the desires of hotel guests before they even ask for them.

The new brand was designed around the creative premise: “The fusion of technology and guest experience.” Nor1′s technology helps hotels enhance the guest experience through upsell offers guests are likely to buy. “We wanted to create a solid graphic representation that signifies the amount of computing taking place behind the scenes that allows Nor1 to create real-time offers that have the highest likelihood of being purchased for its customers,” says Creative Director, Joshua Claflin.

The website features over 20 custom graphics, JQuery sliders, logo scrollers, javascript programing, blog, news and lightboxes — all powered by WordPress.

Visit website: www.nor1.com