Legend has it that the modern Santa Claus was created by Coca-Cola back in the 1930s as part of a national advertising campaign. As part of this theory, it was also widely believed that that Santa’s red and white colors were chosen for one reason — to promote the Coke BRAND.

In fact, according to Wikipedia, Coca-Cola was not even the first soft drink company to utilize the modern image Santa Claus in its advertising – White Rock Beverages used Santa in advertisements for its ginger ale in 1923 after first using him to sell mineral water in 1915.

White Rocking Santa Ad - 1915

What Coke did do was give us a consistent, standardized look, while promoting an image that would spread across the globe. While they didn’t invent the red-clothed Santa, their massive campaign was one of the main reasons for that Santa Claus is depicted even today as wearing red and white.

The “new Santa” became part of Coke’s annual advertisements, which featured him drinking Coke, giving Coke as a gift, and enjoying the drink in different ways. It worked. Coke’s sales surged during the winter (under a depression), and the new lasting feature helped the booming company expand its sales to children (to the dismay later of parents).

Coke achieved a strong BRAND presence :

…by understanding their BRAND is their business, giving their end consumers an experience even during tough times and remaining consistent. In essence, Coke isstill an extremely strong BRAND even ~ 79 years later after the Santa Claus advertising campaign during the 1930s depression. ”Coke is in sight, and in minds”

Coca-Cola Santa - 1931

Define : BRAND

Boundless Design’s definition : A BRAND is the set of expectations, memories, stories and relationships that, taken together, account for a consumer’s decision to choose one product or service over another. If the consumer (whether it’s a business, a buyer, a voter or a donor) doesn’t pay a premium, make a selection or spread the word, then no BRAND value exists for that consumer.

A BRAND used to be something else. It used to be a logo or a design or a wrapper. Today, that’s a shadow of the BRAND, something that might mark the BRAND’s existence. But just as it takes more than a hat to be a cowboy, it takes more than a  designer rattling on about texture to make a BRAND. If you’ve never heard of it, if you wouldn’t choose it, if you don’t recommend it, then there is no BRAND, at least not for you. Design is essential but design is not BRAND.

BD lays out what we see as the 4 realities of BRANDING :

1. BRANDING is not a part of the business, it is the business.
2. A BRAND is about experiences, not logos and taglines.
3. Little things that you do consistently are much more important than the big things you say.
4. A BRAND strategy is the single most important differentiator between a good company and a great company.

The average person is only capable of keeping 3 -5 brands per category in their memory. Think Repetition!

“Out of sight, out of mind” continues to be a marketing reality, and those companies cutting back on their marketing efforts are creating an opportunity for those who are increasing their efforts.  Now is the time to rise — 2010.

Last Friday Blabber Duckie hit the road and traveled to visit Chris Ganc Account Manager at Miles POP Corporation. We were introduced to Chris thanks to Stephanie Schoening with Monarch Life Sciences as both are involved with INpact Medical Device Network. We too are a proud member of INpact and via a fellow member Jon Speer with Creo Quality we were recommended to connect with Miles POP. Wow, are we glad we received this introduction and made the trip to visit Chris.

We walked in the front door of HardingPoorman Group as Miles POP is also located under the same roof. We were warmly greeted by the front receptionist with a huge smile and some amazing glass bottled water from Norway “VOSS.” I was truly wowed from the very beginning and could not wait to experience more from these outstanding companies. As I was awaiting to meet Chris, I sat in the lobby sipping on my awesome water imagining in my head what was to come next.

HardingPoorman Group

Miles POP (Print On Plastic)

Chris greets me and off we go to a contemporary style conference room decorated with many of Miles POP (prints on plastics) completed pieces on display. Chris and I begin chatting about our companies while Chris noticed Blabber Duckie and made the comment “oh so you’ve seen our duckies as this is the year of the duckie for us here at Miles POP and HardingPoorman.” I looked at Chris and chuckled as I asked her to explain what she was referring to and then I explained BlabberDuckie.com (Blabber Duckie Blogs) to her. This was a very neat unexpected connection as throughout the building were signs of their duckie as they even had a Christmas tree with all of the duckies throughout the year proudly displayed on the tree.

BD with "Year of the Duckie Tree"

Chris continues our meeting by taking me on an amazing tour of their company (Miles POP) and HardingPoorman. Miles Press began operation in 1927 as a full-service commercial printer. In 1988 the organization developed a niche of specializing in printing on unique substrates such as vinyl, styrene, cling-z, static cling, and foils. On April 29, 2005, the company was purchased by SPG Graphics. To increase brand recognition, the name of Miles Press was changed to Miles Printing on Plastics (POP is also a spin off of “point of purchase”). On December 1, 2007 Miles POP became a certified 100% WBE (women’s business enterprise). Miles POP can handle the following print projects : Decals, Shelf Talkers/Danglers, Counter Mats, Signage, Schedules, Postcards with Removable Decals, Magnets, Frequent Buyer Cards, Static Cling/Cling-Z Decals, Membership Cards, Patented CD/DVD Packaging, Plastic Postcards plus many other endless pieces.

BD with a Printing Press at Miles POP

BD with a Printing Press at Miles POP

Needless to say, as a Graphic Designer, I was truly impressed and wowed by Miles POP plus cannot wait to use them for our client projects. In fact, I was so inspired that I have already contacted Chris with a small print on plastic of course project need we have currently on our plate for a client of ours. BD strongly encourages you too also contact Miles POP and check them out as you might also be very impressed.