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COVERED BELOW

- How America's Leading Stencil Designer Rose 40% Above the Noise
- Can Frozen Water Really Become a Brand? (And What Does Jerry Seinfeld Have to Do with It?)
- Can a New Yorker Breathe Life into a Phoenix Mall and Its Image?
- 20% Sales Increase in 30 Days: Refueling a Coffee Roaster's Packaging
- Catering to the Elite and the Busy (or Lifestyles of the Rich and Pampered)
- "Operators are Standing By!": Getting 500 New Customers in 2 Weeks
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January 27, 2003

During much of this year, we were kept very busy focusing on two parts specific factors for our clients.

For our existing clients, we were very involved in helping our clients maintain their OneVoice™ advantage through extended branding campaigns, while for our new clients, we helped establish that one unique voice they could call their own. Rather than "play on a level field" against the competitors in their marketspace, we worked hard to develop concepts that stood out from the numerous marketing messages clamoring for the attention of their target markets.

We call it giving them an unfair advantage while our clients1 competitors probably would use other words to describe what we've done.

To give you a quick summary, here are some highlights:

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A Cut Above for America's Premier Stencil Designer

One of America’s leading creators of stencil pattern designs from the Arts and Crafts Movement (1900 to 1925) is Trimbelle River. In early 2002, we started working to upgrade the look and brand presence of the company’s materials. Along with upgrading the company identity, DBD also created a 20-page "handout" that was a mere 4 x 5.5 inches in size.

Following that, we completed a series of ads, a full-sized (!) catalog and the packaging for their entire line of stencils and other accessories.

Just last week, we were informed us of this great news by its founder: "When I came to DBD last January, I had no idea just how much you would do for my business. My first project showed me what you were capable of. With an unrealistic time frame, you produced a beautiful booklet brochure. I believe this simple little marketing tool also contributed heavily to a 40% increase in my gross profit in 2002."
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The Iceman Cometh, Part 2

(or How Can Jerry Seinfeld Bond with a Jewish Businessman from Virginia? Oy!)
City Ice, a Virginia-based company that we have been working with for nearly nine years needed a print and radio campaign to redefine the brand, freshen up the message and enhance the brand1s meaning to its customers

This campaign needed to promote its newest feature: Heat-sealed ice bags with handles.

According to City Ice’s President, "Consumers have never had the convenience of being able to buy ice with handles, simply because ice was always seen as a commodity, not as a premium item. Only a few years ago, water was the same way, and now you have name-brand luxury waters leading the way in sales over soft drinks."

DBD was called in because, "DBD has always been able to make our vision into something compelling, humorous and demanding of people1s attention." This latest campaign is no different. It consists of in-store promotions, print ads and radio spots incorporating such off-the-wall, ethnic copy angles as "Handles...shmandles!"

The strategy is conveyed here by Creative Director, David Brier, "Two key factors came into play. First, ice is perceived as a commodity item, so the point became, ‘What could we say that would compel a shopper to take notice of THIS ice versus someone else’s?’ The next point was this: Consumers are rightfully skeptical about promises, since so many products promise so much and deliver so little. So our ‘breakthrough’ was this: Let’s be SO over the top in terms of outrageous promises, that people will be able to see that we’re on the same turf as they are—a company interested in their business—and thereby embrace it as down-to-earth and not taking ourselves so seriously. Besides...there is SOME truth to these claims...."

Thrilled with the initial response, here’s what they have to say: "People simply can’t believe what we've done with frozen water! Who knew?!" The ads and the message even got City Ice a full front page story in the business section of a leading Virginia newspaper.

MMuch to our delight, a former writer for the Jerry Seinfeld TV show heard the radio spots (which were "VERY Jerry") and said they were "incredible" (after he stopped laughing).
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A New York Legend Gives a Mall a Face Lift

Larry Feldman, a legend in the New York City Real Estate industry, has always had a nose for where the opportunities are. "I’ve been lucky in my career but I do my homework."

The latest focus is on malls moving away from the commercial office space that made him legendary for picking real turnaround opportunities. Larry states, "The mall we picked in Tucson represents the ideal opportunity to turn something that is under-marketed into a powerhouse opportunity, making DBD, whom I have worked with for the last decade, the ideal marketing arm to develop and implement the needed strategy and branding effort."

The first point of attack was the identity of the mall itself. After an initial review of the surrounding malls, DBD proposed a number of logo designs and slogans, based on initial shopper surveying and feedback.

Larry states, "The survey results were remarkable, with about 19% of the shoppers favoring of the old logo and an overwhelming 81% in favor of the new design. We had no idea the difference in response could be that dramatic." A slogan was developed based on further survey information demonstrating that the Tucson shopper responds to fun and saving money.

The implementation will carry through to stationery, exterior signage, an internal and external billboard campaign and radio spots. The new brand identity and campaign launched Fall 2002.
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Making a Brand That Woke Up and Smelled the Coffee

The Coffee Grounds has reason to be happy, though they’re still a bit numb over the 20% sales increase they saw in the first thirty days after the launch of the new packaging and design.

"We just cannot believe the marked increase in sales and customer interaction. In fact, being somewhat skeptical after seeing the first month1s results, we checked sales throughout the store just to see if the economy took an overall jump. Needless to say, that exercise proved to be a waste of time. It all came back to the new brand ID, packaging and signage developed by DBD International. And the sales continue to be up month after month."

In addition to the new logo, slogan, and packaging, DBD initiated an overall re-organization of HOW the coffee was sold in terms of category and developed a chart to simplify the coffee buying process, which was aptly named, "The Coffee Grounds Matchmaker."

What exact steps did DBD take?

In a nutshell, DBD's solution:
1. Introduced the store name with a new sense of style, clarity and distinction.
2. Stated the year they were established so those not familiar with
the store could see that it1s been around and is tried and true.
3. Added value by showing the range of provisions they, as a store, sell beyond coffee — a point often missed due to the store name.
4. After discovering customers spent up to seven minutes "waiting for some divine intervention" as to which coffee they should buy, DBD developed four coffee "types." Created with a corresponding chart, customers are helped to know in seconds which coffee is right for them. DBD then color-coded the bin labels for easy and quick shopping. This helps the average coffee buyer who isn't familiar with the unique climates and geographic qualities found in Guatemala, Costa Rica, Ethiopia or Brazil.
5. DBD added easy-to-understand descriptive lines to help define the coffee groupings to further assist customers. Again, many buyers of coffee wouldn't know what to do with "a hint of decadence and chocolate-cherry overtones, with a lingering citrus-like aftertaste coupled with nuances of wildberry."
6. To finally ensure they were known as a roaster, and not simply a "reseller" of coffees, DBD developed the tagline, "The Roastmaster’s in the House!" as a final distinction.

After the initial 20%leap in sales in the first thirty days, sales stamina has increased (as though the brand got an injection of high caffeine espresso) and has never looked back.
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Catering to NYC's Elite and Busy

Come To You, who will be featured in the February 2003 issue of GQ, is New York's premier provider of on-site manicuring and pedicuring for those too busy to leave their offices. They've also nabbed the NBA as a client.

The emphatic and high-energy founder of Come To You is Tamika Hardy. We call her "Princess Fabu" because her favorite word is "Fabulous!" - a word we are glad she feels compelled to use when reviewing our projects and concepts.

She recalls her earliest conversations with DBD, "They were SO full of ideas right off the bat, I was in a state of pleasant shock. Part of it is their apparent love of New York, but DBD1s approach was as dynamic as it was logical. They developed a new identity with a color theme that united our overall company image. Plus our literature now arrives in an intense cobalt blue envelope so there is NO chance of it ever getting lost with other mail.

"At first I was intimidated, figuring DBD only handled larger accounts — an idea I discovered simply wasn’t true. Plus two key things occurred: We’ve always been treated with enthusiasm like we were the most important client, and DBD’s solutions have gotten responses I never would have considered possible when we first started. Only one word says it all: Fabulous!"
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"Operators are Standing by..."

For ITC, a local telecommunications provider, DBD revamped the entire brand with a coordinated brand roll-out program including name development, logo design, tag lines and literature.

The last leg of this campaign was the brand ID program for ITC’s digital video offering which DBD developed the name and slogan for: Best Seat, Premium Digital Entertainment. "The concept was based on the fact that when someone is going to a concert or performance, what they always want is the "best seat.’ This allowed us to present the idea, ‘Now, every seat in the house is the BEST seat in the house.’ " states David Brier, DBD's Creative Director.

Result? Within two weeks of unveiling the program, 500 customers had signed on to subscribe to the service-ahead of schedule and doubling the projections.

Want your product to defy gravity and rise above the noise? So do we. Let’s talk.

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