BBM&D Strategic Branding has been honored once again by the American Advertising Federation for outstanding creative in the annual AAF Coastal California competition. Judged by a panel of distinguished industry professionals, the ADDYs recognize outstanding work in the field of advertising.

The Ventura-based firm has been a frequent ADDY winner in the past, and this year took home six awards for design—one silver ADDY and five bronze ADDYs. BBM&D received the silver ADDY for a re-branding of their own stationery and sales collateral, and a bronze ADDY for their own redesigned website.

BBM&D netted more bronze ADDYs in the following categories: sales collateral (a 35th Anniversary poster for Children’s Dental Group), advertising (multiple cross-media ads for Ojai Community Bank), and website development (a redesigned responsive site for Malibu construction firm Castle and Gray).

“We are honored and proud to be recognized by our industry peers,” said BBM&D President Barbara Brown. “Having our work acknowledged with these awards reinforces the creative and professional effort we put into it.”

“Winning for our work on responsive websites was especially gratifying,” said BBM&D Chief Creative Officer Keir DuBois. “Responsive sites have become the new standard in web development for working well and looking great on desktops, laptops, tablets, and smartphones.”

BBM&D Strategic Branding is a full service agency that helps position successful companies into higher levels of profitability and visibility. BBM&D has worked with such diverse clients as WellPoint Foundation, the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation, the Santa Barbara Museum of Art and Interface Children & Family Services. Their award-winning designs can be seen at bbmd-inc.com.

SANTA BARBARA, CA – BBM&D Strategic Branding, a Southern California-based strategic marketing and design firm, announced today that it has been awarded the contract by the Santa Barbara Airport to provide branding and marketing services.

“We reviewed a number of very qualified candidates, and BBM&D came out solidly on top. They have the experience and knowledge to help us move our brand forward,” said Hazel Johns, Assistant Airport Director. “They share our commitment to strong brand development, have deep-rooted experience in the Tri-County community, and thoroughly understand our philosophy of quality customer service.”

“BBM&D is thrilled to help keep the Santa Barbara Airport’s brand in the sky,” said Barbara Brown, president of BBM&D. “We are particularly enthusiastic about highlighting the Airport’s status as one of the best choices for travel for the entire Tri-County region. The spectacular new terminal and Curbside Concierge makes you feel as though you’ve begun your vacation as soon as you arrive.”

BBM&D Strategic Branding has been providing integrated branding and communications solutions since 1992. The firm has award-winning credentials and a diverse client list including Patagonia, American Fitness, California Museum at Thousand Oaks, Santa Barbara Symphony and  the Ventura Music Festival to name a few. BBM&D’s intelligent strategy and powerful designs cover all media, including broadcast, print and the web-creating solutions that differentiate top- tier companies across many industries. Their work can be viewed at bbmd-inc.com.

Smartphone, tablet, laptop, desktop. Does your website work well and look great on all of those devices? A BBM&D-created responsive website does just that—literally re-sizing itself to suit any viewport. There’s no need to duplicate your content or make a separate site for mobile.

When your website is responsive, so is your brand. Brands that are responsive to changing markets and technologies can both anticipate and empathize with their customers’ needs, maintaining a solid foundation in service. BBM&D’s redesign of the Castle and Gray website emulates the Southern California construction firm’s personalized dedication to each of its clients.

Barbara Brown, President/CEO of BBM&D (holding scissors), celebrates 20 years in business with (front row from left) Jim Duran, Bert Van Auker, Keir DuBois, Arrate Zavala, Jessica Miranda, Ed Summers, and the Ventura Chamber ambassadors.

VENTURA, CA – BBM&D Strategic Branding, a Ventura-based design firm, will be celebrating a landmark anniversary this year: two decades in business. BBM&D has helped clients build strong brands since its founding in 1992—during another economic recession—and in the past twenty years has become an award-winning company that serves local, regional, national, and international clients. The firm’s suite of services comprises all facets of brand development, including websites, logos, annual reports, publications, packaging, and advertising campaigns.

This past March, BBM&D moved from its former site in the heart of mid-town Ventura to a new location on McGrath St., bordering picturesque pumpkin fields. The new office sports a retro-’70s exterior, but a decidedly cooler vibe prevails inside, with environmentally-sustainable bamboo flooring, rich terra-cotta red interiors, graphics and fine art along the walls, and a light-hearted green chalkboard wall full of spontaneous doodles.

“It’s a great space to be creative,” said Keir DuBois, BBM&D’s chief creative officer. “Ordinary offices can stifle inspiration, but we don’t have that problem here.” DuBois joined the firm almost a decade ago as a web developer, and now oversees much of BBM&D’s digital output, including not only web development but also online publications, mobile websites and social media integration.

“The whole space really reflects who we are and what inspires us,” agreed Arrate Zavala, BBM&D’s art director. “Our entire team helped develop the interior look. There’s plenty of room to spread out and visualize a company’s brand in creative ways.” Zavala’s background is primarily in print design—brochures, posters, magazines—but she also works closely with junior designer Jessica Miranda, a keen fan of packaging design.

BBM&D marked their two-decade milestone and new location with an open house celebration on Wednesday August 15, Entertainer Danny Delurgio held court with Sinatra-esque singing; gourmet food truck Rock Chef Rolls, featuring chef Alberto Vasquez, provided delectable delights. Celebratory champagne flowed and the Ventura Chamber of Commerce brought their big scissors and army of Ambassadors for a grand re-opening and ribbon cutting.

“This is BBM&D’s way of thanking our clients and friends—those wonderful people who have worked with us over the past twenty years,” said Barbara Brown, CEO and founder. “We are proud of the reputation we’ve built, and we couldn’t have done it without their support.”

The firm has won over 300 awards for creative excellence, but doesn’t dwell on that number. “We don’t display most of our awards,” continues Brown. “We do show off a very special few throughout the studio—peer recognition is certainly gratifying—but we prefer to emphasize our work, because it’s really about our clients and their brands. That’s what makes for such a terrific experience.”

BBM&D Strategic Branding is known for providing integrated, thoughtful brand development using intelligent strategy and powerful design across multiple media, including broadcast, print and the web. The firm’s solutions differentiate top-tier companies and organizations such as General Motors, Kinkos, WellPoint, Venture Strategies Innovations and Patagonia. A particular highlight for BBM&D was brand development for the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation, including the Air Force One Pavilion opening and the 40th president’s memorial materials upon his passing. BBM&D’s work can be viewed at bbmdstrategicbranding.com.

Keir DuBois, BBM&D’s Chief Creative Officer and resident rock star, has self-published his first novel this month. Here’s the description from Amazon:

Set in mid-1990s Southern California, this demented, surreal, and dubiously executed slice of gonzo sunshine noir is narrated by two struggling students, their friends, enemies, and families. Roy (an underachieving freshman trying to stay sober and sane) and Derek (a failed athlete who’s starting over and can’t catch a break) get sucked into parallel paths of casual mayhem and spastic melodrama. The Weapon of Young Gods is a garbled, spoiled, questionably hilarious tale of arrested adolescence and amateur hedonism hitching a ride on the dying American Century.

Congratulations Keir!

First developed in Japan during the mid-1990s, the QR (Quick Response) Code has gone mega in the U.S. during the past few years, first as a replacement to zebra bar codes and then as a clever marketing tool.

The mobile-friendly image is most often used as a link to websites, for exclusive promotions, special deals, or other unique campaigns. QR codes have appeared on business cards, in print ads, on posters and billboards, and even brick walls. We’ve actually seen the ubiquitous QR used as links to résumés.

There are many ways to generate, deploy and track QR code data, but the proliferation of black pixelly boxes across marketing materials has struck some users as an ugly distraction. And while QR scanning apps are often free to acquire, it creates an extra step for accessibility. Depending on your campaign, that may not matter, but alternatives like Blippar are already popping up.

So, while QR codes shouldn’t be used gratuitously, thoughtfully-created QR codes with clear calls to action can be useful when they add value to a brand, such as an alternative way of perusing a restaurant’s menu when on the go.

As information architects and package designers, we’re always looking at how information is communicated, especially in small places. Those small stickers on fruits and veggies are actually not designed for consumers, but do tell you quite a bit. Four (4) numbers below the bar code mean the fruit is conventionally grown. Five (5) numbers starting with number 8 means the produce is genetically modified (GMO). And five (5) numbers starting with 9 means it is organically grown. Good to know.

Longevity is a brand’s best friend, but even strong brands with a loyal audience need fresh performances to maintain the magic. BBM&D’s redesign of the Santa Barbara Symphony’s promotional collateral celebrates the highly acclaimed organization’s 60th anniversary, playing to every seat in the house.

The new-look programs, advertisements, flyers, posters, and website—made in collaboration with Symphony CEO (and one-time creative brain behind the Recording Academy and the Grammys) David Grossman and his staff—help cement this Santa Barbara cultural and educational institution as a pillar of the local arts community.

BBM&D’s other work can be seen at www.bbmdstrategicbranding.com.

Strong brands know who their competitors are, and know how to communicate for effective differentiation. BBM&D helps our clients build and sustain their brands by using the best tools to communicate that brand. Our redesign of the AeroComputers website enhanced and updated their Wordpress installation with customized, compelling imagery and video to create a dynamic user experience.

The new sleek, powerful AeroComputers.com soars above and beyond its previous online incarnation as an out-of-the-box template. Their updated site dramatically presents Aero’s specialized suite of digital mapping products, used nationwide in municipal, state and federal police, firefighting, and search & rescue aircraft.

BBM&D’s other work can be seen at www.bbmdstrategicbranding.com.

Yep, that’s right—it’s all over except for the unpacking, and that’s proceeding apace. BBM&D has moved to a new location in Ventura:

4882 McGrath St., Suite 310
Ventura, CA 93003

New phone number: 805.650.5555
New fax number: 805.650.5556

2012 is going to be a big year for us. Stay tuned for some exciting announcements!