‘Tis the season to think of others and we found three very worthy causes to help out: the United Way of Northern New Jersey’s “2011 Gifts of the Season,” the “One Warm Coat” charity, and a program run by one of our corporate clients, Spex, which answers letters sent to Santa Claus by underprivileged families.

We were thrilled to help a mother of four fulfill her children’s Christmas wishes. The second program, United Way’s Gifts of the Season, collects toys for children who otherwise would receive nothing this Christmas. Many in our staff were quick to respond with beautiful toys. We also managed to collect 56 winter coats and donated them to  One Warm Coat.

Responses like this from our employees never fail to give us the warm fuzzies, especially during the holidays. Thanks to all who gave someone a break this holiday season.

It’s December, so we just wrapped the Johnson & Johnson Global Invitational for 2011 — an exclusive recruiting event that brought together senior J&J business leaders and hundreds of the best and brightest MBA students from around the globe.

BNO has been a part of this prestigious, annual Johnson & Johnson event for a number of years. And it’s our job to make sure it’s an incredible experience for everyone. We apply the “BeVital” employer brand throughout the venue, produce engaging executive presentations, create signage and provide logistical support so that everyone is in the right place at the right time, and film the whole shebang.

This year’s Invitational was held in Florida, so after a busy two months of preparation, we headed South with a team capable of operating on little or no sleep. As with any event, challenges arise, but in true BNO form, we put out any fires quickly and quietly so the client never had to break a sweat. Actually, there were no fires, but there was a funny incident in the pool that proved we’ll go to any length for our client.

It’s a lot of hard work, but we definitely look forward to it every year. Not only are we producing some great work, we’re helping a great company attract the best talent in the world.

Play the video

There are few things as truly delightful as beautiful design, compelling cinema, inspirational thoughts, and old-fashioned Texas-style barbecue. And so when BNO agreed to send six of us from the Interactive Department to SXSW in Austin, TX, the anticipated convergence of these things was enough to make us squeal with nerdy glee. We returned after 4 days of rubbing elbows with the chicest of the geeks, overflowing with newfound knowledge, suffering from BBQ withdrawal, and armed with plenty of video documenting our journey. The experience allowed us to reconnect with our respective crafts, reminding us all why we truly love to do what we do.

The BNO office in Bridgewater looked a little bit younger on Thursday, April 28th. It was the first annual BNO Take Your Child to Work Day. A dedicated team of BNOers planned a full day of activities for children and relatives of the team members ranging in age from 6 to 11. Activities included BNO Bingo and Hangman, a branding and marketing exercise with the account management team, a resume and job interview event, demonstration of bar code scanning from the production department, and a green screen video shoot with the insanely creative video production team. At the end of the day, the children were even paid for a full day’s work! The day was a huge success and is sure to establish a new BNO tradition in future years. Check out more pictures on the BNO facebook page!

I love Apple. It’s no secret. I’m as loyal as a customer can be. I sing its praises and attempt to convert new believers. I’m a true brand advocate.

In 2006, I purchased my first Apple product: a PowerBook G4. While I was immediately impressed with the intuitive user experience, the sleek, silver laptop body, and the crisp, bright LCD screen, my brand advocate status did not immediately take hold.

It actually took a poor brand experience to truly convert me.

Late in the Summer of 2010, my iPhone 4 began to act up. The home button wouldn’t always work when clicked. I decided to take it to my local Apple Store to get checked out. I went on the Apple website and scheduled a service appointment (very convenient). I arrived on-time, checked-in at the Genius Bar, and was greeted by a technician. I explained the problem to him, at which point he plugged my phone into a little contraption that spewed out a bunch of technical data about my phone’s software performance. He didn’t find any problems and said it was likely a user issue – too many programs running at once (when all else fails, blame the user). The technician said I should “restore” my phone, erasing and reinstalling everything on it, and see if that fixed the problem. However, he said if I still had issues, I should bring the phone back the next day and they’d exchange it, no questions asked (right, uh huh, sure buddy).

That night, I performed the software restore. My home button still didn’t work properly. Needless to say, I was frustrated. I went back to the Apple Store the next day (without an appointment) and found my technician from the day before. I figured I’d to have to go through the whole software diagnostic process with him again. Anything that would prevent them from giving me a replacement phone. However, the second we made eye contact across the room, he said, “Hey, the phone’s still not working? Let me get you a replacement.” Within 10 minutes I was walking out of the store with a replacement phone, no more home button issue, and a smile on my face.

That’s why I’m an Apple brand advocate. It’s not just about the products, the user experience, or the crisp, bright LCD screen. It’s not just about the revolutionary iPhone 4 that’s changed my life. It’s not even just about my Genius Bar friend. It’s about the all-encompassing ecosystem that is the Apple brand experience. When I bought my PowerBook G4 5 years ago, Apple made me a promise. I didn’t just buy a product, I bought a brand.

Not too long ago, if I had a bad brand experience, I’d tell my family, friends, and maybe a person on the street. But it used to stop there. The story would fade as my anger and frustration subsided. Everything changed with the internet, and now social media has upped the ante. There’s now a permanent record of bad brand interactions across the world that can be accessed by anyone, anywhere. If it hasn’t already been said in a chat room or on a message board, there are websites that will recruit brand opinions for you in a matter of seconds.

Additionally, one bad experience with a brand can be amplified to millions via social media. It has been shown that customers have the highest regard for brand opinions given by family and friends. However, with social networks, one group of family and friends can extend from the United States to China (and back). Consequently, one bad opinion can spell serious trouble for a brand.

Even with this ominous outcome being played out on what seems to be a daily basis, some companies still don’t understand the new world of branding that we live in. They still feel that marketing is detached from branding. But if there’s one thing that social media teaches us, it’s that marketing is one small part of a brand ecosystem.

In layman’s terms, marketing is external brand messaging (advertising, PR, social media, collateral, etc.). It affects the image of your brand in the minds of customers. After all, a brand is defined by the perceptions of those people who interact with it on a regular basis. Every company has a brand, whether it knows it or not. Sometimes the brand merely exists in the minds of people, other times it’s permanently cemented on the pages of the internet.

Branding, on the other hand, is the internally-driven, all-encompassing force behind marketing. It’s the bridge that spans the divide between the external message and actual brand experience. It’s a reality that is often overlooked by companies who wonder why their marketing efforts don’t have the intended positive ROI.

In today’s marketing world, it boils down to whether a company focuses on one-dimensional marketing strategies to define its brand or it creates an all-encompassing brand ecosystem that defines its brand organically.

I recently read an article in Fast Company about Zappos and its employee-centric corporate culture. Zappos makes it clear in its external marketing that the customer comes first, no exceptions. This is reflected in their tagline, “Powered By Service.” It’s a message that is demonstrated by the employees at Zappos who live the brand on a daily basis and make sure each and every customer experiences it firsthand. How does Zappos get its employees to live the brand? It inspires them to be brand advocates.

As the article states, “Zappos unique management principles came to prominence partly based on the idea that the workplace should fulfill employee’s aspirations and personal values.”

Employees at Zappos are fulfilled and happy, so they’re driven to make customers to feel the same way.

While customer service has become the “new” marketing for some companies, marketers can’t ignore other avenues of brand interaction – collateral, advertising, website, blog, social media, public relations, direct mail, tradeshows, talent management, employer communications, recruitment marketing, etc. While some of these are elements of a marketing campaign, they’re also part of the brand ecosystem and must be in agreement with the brand message. They should be external reflections of the authentic brand promise.

Companies need to think holistically about the brand ecosystem. It’s not about a well-designed laptop or phone, it’s about how a laptop or phone fits into a well-designed brand experience. It’s about a company’s employees living and breathing the brand promise. Ultimately, it’s about turning all stakeholders into brand advocates. This can only be done by taking the brand promise and communicating it effectively across each and every touchpoint.

Is this our newest multimedia designer or an image still from the latest Mountain Dew campaign? Give up? It’s the first one, although he is almost as extreme as the aforementioned soft-drink. His name is JJ Sereday and you can find him in our interactive department, usually in front of a super complicated Cinema 4D file, or some other impossible-to-understand motion graphics program. That’s pretty extreme, right? Well, kinda nerdy actually.

But don’t be fooled. He’s actually a pretty accomplished skateboarder and snowboarder and has been sponsored in international competitions around the world. This means, he can steal your girlfriend faster than you can say “triple kickflip,” and he’s fearless to the max! He also once surfed through a hurricane (for real!) and invented a cure for hiccups (patent pending). Basically, JJ’s like the Old Spice guy, but real.

Ok, so it’s not really Patch Adams, but we’re happy to welcome Rich Toomey to BNO as our new VP of Technology Services. He provides technical guidance on our digital projects, day-to-day management of our technical teams, and pretty much just helps us leverage technology appropriately so we can continue to provide totally awesome service to our totally awesome clients. But you probably already knew that from looking at his picture.

Rich comes to us with a monster of a background in software development. From inception and design to implementation and delivery, he’s successfully managed it all, going on 15 years now. When he’s not nerding about Linux distribution or AOSD, he indulges his more primal instincts: barbecuing anything he can get his hands on, 365 days a year. Oh, you’ve never seen a software developer barbecuing in the middle of a snow storm? Well then you haven’t lived, my friend.

Joining BNO’s digital department this month is video editor, Robbie Tassaro. While he brings with him a long list of credits on a slew of platinum selling DVDs, you’d never know from looking at him that he’s the Woody Allen of corporate video and commercial advertising. Simply put, he’s a gifted storyteller and has an eye for creating drama; proving that you can produce a credit card video that makes a conservative banker smile, or a frozen food commercial that feels like an emotional rollercoaster.

Above all, Robbie is an enigma wrapped in a riddle — affable and easygoing, yet surprisingly complex (which seems to reveal itself most often in the wee hours of an editing project). Our bearded friend cites pizza and animals amongst his favorite things, and once found himself on a 12-hour train ride from St. Petersburg to Moscow with no explanation as to how he got there. Well, we’re glad he found his way back to us!

Somewhere in that tangled bunch of toddlers is our new Senior Account Executive, Tara LaMotta. We could dive into the schpeal about how experienced she is, how she worked on accounts for the NFL and Teach for America, or some other avenue of impressive gibberish. But what really matters is this photo of Tara and her nieces and nephews, because this is where she really learned to navigate the world of client services. Who’s more demanding than a 5 year old girl? What project could possibly need more management than a hyperactive half-pint? Who dreams bigger than a gaggle of grade-schoolers? Just look at all those smiles- it’s pretty obvious she’s doing a great job. The craziest thing of all is that these aren’t even her kids. She’s not getting paid for that, she actually likes it.

As if to drive her point home further, this is the video that Tara gave us when we asked her to submit a YouTube clip reflective of her personality. Welcome aboard, Tara!

Usually we don’t give this kind of love to interns, but Rohan is an exception. Let’s look at the facts:

• Rohan already has a BFA in Graphic Design.
• Rohan is currently working on a second degree in Computer Science.
• Rohan worked 50 hours in his first week as an intern, despite his computer science homework and crazy exam schedule.
• To top it off, Rohan is proficient in HTML5, Flash, Illustrator, In Design, Javascript, Lightwave 3D, XML, and a zillion other complicated things.

Taking all of this into account, two things are clear: Rohan is a total masochist, and we are lucky to have him. His penchant for nerdy pain always results in some top-notch coding and design work, and he wears a smile the whole time. In fact, he was even smiling when he threatened that if I didn’t make this blog post way nicer, he was “going to crush me like HTML5 will crush Flash.” Needless to say, this guy means business!