2011 has been an amazing year, with wonderful projects and excellent clients! From TanenbaumCHAT to Northwood Collections to Inneractive and everyone in between, we say thank you for giving us the opportunity to work with you and we wish you much success!

We’re going into our 10th anniversary in 2012 and to celebrate we gave our tried and true brand a revamp. U2R1 will be going into 2012 with a renewed purpose, manifesting prosperity for us and our clients, both prospective and current!

So, to leave you for the holiday season, we’ve got a special message from Dot. He’s been to a few holiday office parties with us, and let us tell you, he gets a little crazy! To help you out, he’s put together a list that should help you avoid being the butt of every joke when Monday morning rolls around. Take it away Dot…

Thank you to all who voted! Your participation, enthusiasm and feedback was so helpful and really made the entire process very exciting and fun!

As we went through all the comments and numbers it came down to A and C at an almost equal running, with C trailing slightly behind.

It seems like the public was on the same page as us because they picked our favorites as well!

Here’s what people were saying:

• confidence & strength
• traditional font
• easy to read
• eye appealing
• regal & classy
• sassy & sleek
• clean & sophisticated
• high class & fun

• creative
• contemporary
• clean & simple
• minimalistic
• classic & elegant

• great use of space
• great juxtaposition of box & circles
• shouting creativity
• represents tagline
• “I LOVE IT”
• redefining the box
• strategy & design related

the final reveal!

Although identity C got a lot of positive feedback, our conclusive decision was to choose Identity A with some minor revisions. The scores for both were VERY close, and our final decision was based on one very important factor. Which identity was stronger as a BRAND vs which identity was more inline with an artistic design. We felt that Identity A was a stronger BRAND focused identity. While identity C was more artistic, which works well for creativity and art, but is not always the best route when deciding on a business identity.

Our focus this time around was on our name. We get that our name is sometimes hard to remember or say, but we have had it for 10 years and it’s has a lot of meaning and history. So rather than changing the name, we made it stand out, Strong, Bold, Fun and representative of who we are!

As you can see, we made some tweaks to the font to add elements that the other logos had, integrating a more curvy, flowing look to the font without veering too much away from the original.

So without further adieu!

We would like to announce the new face of U2R1!

As we move forward to complete all our brand materials and new image we will release our progress to our fans, helping people understand and experience what it means to create a new business identity!

As for the winner?? Well you will have to stay tuned!! As we will be announcing who won the Branding Package in the coming weeks!

our new URL

Our new URL to reflect our new image is www.u2r1.ws (with style) don’t forget to keep checking back for more exciting reveals and contests!

Once we complete our official visual brand guidelines document we’ll have it available for download so you can learn more about who we are, what our tagline means, what we stand for and get a strong idea of how all businesses should build their brand identity and core blueprint.

Blessings and Prosperity

Most of the population has seen these ads already, even though the Vatican has put pressure to remove the ad campaign from the public eye immediately.  Can you blame them?  It seems to me that Benetton has pushed the limits for even then.  In my opinion this feels like a direct attack on all the big leaders of our world, with a hidden agenda that has nothing to do with spreading world peace.  Is this really an “unhate” campaign? when it just stimulates anger and controversy?  And what blatant disrespect to our world leaders, whether you like them or not to me this just portrays them as the jokers of the world.  It would have been a great campaign had the models consented to be photographed and publicized this way.  Gotta give major props to their graphic designer’s Photoshop skills.

The question that I’m posed with is whether Benetton’s success is actually based on their clothes and their product or in fact their ability to create controversial ads that piss people off.  It may be good marketing when you get people to stand up and notice but how many people actually connect with their brand based on the product they deliver?

What exactly are the values of Benetton’s brand anyways? I’d be curious to know given the history of their past ads.

But! they are getting people to write about them, and talk about them and the biggest leaders of the world are responding (with threats of law suits) but whether positive or negative you can’t deny that, that’s good marketing!

Why does a branding company need to ask the public what they feel about their brand? Because we know more than anyone that knowing what your target market wants and likes is the first step to creating a successful visual identity and marketing campaign!

We know, that it’s not enough to ask for feedback, that people want to know that they are being appreciated for their input and insight. So with that we launched “The new face of U2R1″ contest! Those who enter and choose the brand identity they like the most have a chance to win a $5000 branding package from us.

Engaging your audience is the way of the world, communicating to them and being transparent is very important when you are growing business and doing the proper research and development. Facebook and Twitter are the perfect platforms to create your social focus groups.

So without further adieu we would like to announce our contest! https://www.facebook.com/u2r1mediainc

We encourage voters to not only vote but offer feedback as to why they chose the style they chose! This gives us good insight into the reasoning behind their choice and whether or not it resonates with our focus, values and brand plan moving forward.

We as many of our clients can get emotionally attached to certain designs and ideas and decisions could be made based on our own perceptions.  We know that this could interfere with the ultimate purpose of creating a brand.  Yes it should resonate with your core values and vision but it also needs to communicate to your target audience, essentially that is who you are selling to!

Allowing your clients to be part of your business growth shows that you respect their feedback and are creating a company that revolves around their contribution to your success!

So what’s the new face of U2R1?? YOU DECIDE!!

All you have to do is: 1. Like 2. Vote 3. Share and you could be our big WINNER!

www.facebook.com/u2r1mediainc

We would love to hear your thoughts! Let the fun begin! The winner will be announced on facebook in the next few weeks

As designers, we love color. So imagine how excited we were to find this site: www.ownacolor.com.  There you can OWN a color, giving it your own name and description!

Own a Color, Save a Child (ownacolor.com)

It’s easy. Just pick your color, name it, and buy it for as little as £1.

Here’s the topper: Every penny goes to help transform children’s lives through Unicef!

Can you imagine? There are over 16.7 million colors to be named. Even at just £1 each, think of all the good we could do in this world with £16.7 million.

What does buying a color have to do with my brand?

As a business, your brand is who you are. Your colors, your logo, and your messaging all work to portray your company’s core essence and build trust in your target audience.

Your brand colors are as much a part of your identity as your full logo.  Why not make it official and OWN your color? (We realize this is not like trademarking or anything official, but it sure looks good to be able to say you named your color!)

Moreover, remember the saying “Actions speak louder than words”? Your company’s actions solidify your real core values. That is especially true of charitable actions, as they don’t technically benefit your business directly. These actions show your target audience that you are more than just a business.

When you stand by your values with actions, it builds trust and faith in everyone from employees to consumers.  That trust and faith in turn grows your business and validates your brand identity further.

The Own a Color campaign is a perfect way to reiterate not just your brand’s colors but also your brand’s core values.

How does that use my brand for good?

Well that’s easy! You’re buying your brand colors and all the money is going toward Unicef, thereby helping save children around the world.

But as with any good brand messaging, the key is to get it out there. Simply buying the color will not necessarily help your brand. There’s one more key step.

You need to promote your action:

• send out a newsletter
• write a blog
• post your color on Facebook
• tweet it
• in store promotions, anything to get the word out!

Then your one brand action potentially becomes many actions, all for a good cause. Not only do you promote you brand color and name, but you show that your company is doing good and sharing that good with the world.

We’ve got ours…  now go get yours and use your brand for good!

U2R1's Official Colors!

Not sure what your core essence or core values are? Don’t have a brand identity?

We can help! At U2R1 Media, we work with a wide variety of companies to create or solidify their brand identities. From a new start up to an established corporation, we can help you discover who you are, what you do, who your target audience is, how you should look, how you should sound, and much more. Your brand is your core; let us help you make it stronger!

As a BMOS (Business Management and Organizational Studies) student who is heading into third year and studying consumer behavior, I felt that after 18 years of useless couch potato summers it was finally necessary to get my life going. That’s when I finally decided to go hunting for some experience that would help me reach my future goal of obtaining a career in marketing. During my search, I managed to stumble upon a company that really stood out to me. That company happened to be U2R1 Media. After a short exchange of e-mails with the President Sari Gabbay we were able to set up a meeting. It was here that she eventually offered me an opportunity that I could not pass up: the opportunity to have my first ever OFFICE JOB!!! I was told that I would start the following Monday. Thanks Sari, I owe you quite a bit.

From day one, the U2R1 Media family brought me in as one of their own. Not only did I feel extremely welcome, I wasn’t treated as some worthless new guy who was just going to be a major inconvenience. I was their equal. At first I was assigned some minor tasks such as doing research on law firms for my co-worker Fauzia (Fantastic Woman). This, however, was quickly followed by being assigned a major project…all on MY FIRST DAY! Well, it was major for me at least. I’m not going to lie, I was kind of nervous, a little anxious, and I didn’t know if I was up for it. Of course I kept all those feelings in my head and accepted the project without hesitation. “Sure, I can do that.” The five words that I am truly glad came out of my mouth.

The project was to re-write the brochure for a Jewish community high school named TanenbaumCHAT. Little did they know:

1. I am Jewish
2. My brother along with a lot of my good friends attended CHAT

They were happy to gain this knowledge about me as they felt I would then have a distinct advantage in helping rebrand this school, and I was happy because I felt like I was writing for one of my own. So while looking through the old brochure with my co-worker Lydia Jackson (Very Bright Individual) and pointing out pictures of my friends including my three University roommates, I was starting to get a good feel of what needed to be done and how to get it done properly. After a few days of hard work I finally finished the assignment, in which I believe I did a fairly decent job.

After that, I got the rest of the summer off and went on a cruise to Mexico, all expenses paid by U2R1 Media!!! What a fantastic company.

In a fantasy world perhaps, but this is reality. That means when its time to work…its time to work. Instantly after my brochure experience, I was confronted with a few more tasks. But that’s the point I’m trying to make. I was given responsibilities as if I was a regular full time employee. As a result of that, I now feel a lot more confident and knowledgeable about the field that I want to dive in to. Furthermore, I am gaining the necessary experience that is required to be successful in the future, and no one (AND I MEAN NO ONE) has provided me with the same learning experience that U2R1 Media has given me.

So here’s a few words of advice kids:

While education is extremely important, what you learn in school and what you learn from working in the outside world are extremely different. I have learned a whole lot from working here that I did not learn in class. A combination of both is required in order to become a successful individual, which is why it is important to know that it is never too early to start. Experience and Education are the two most important aspects when it comes to the working world. So don’t be afraid to get out there and challenge yourself. I promise that in the end you will discover much about yourself that you did not know previously, and it will be a decision that you will never regret. Only good can come from learning a thing or two.

Regards,

Adam Panov
Proud U2R1 Media Inc. Intern.

Tonight I celebrate Passover, it’s a holiday that symbolizes freedom from slavery and bondage.  We tend to think that this only pertains to the physical act of being enslaved.  But this in fact is not the case.  How many people feel enslaved in their jobs and their careers? How many people in Corporate America go to work every day feeling like a robot afraid of their bosses, feeling unhappy, “CHAINED TO THEIR DESK!!”

Slavery still exists when we allow people to dictate to us what is acceptable treatment in the office, in companies and in our lives.   The fear in losing your job is so instilled in society that people devalue their worth and accept living a sub par life so that they can pay the bills and “get by”.

Slavery also comes in other forms.  Many entrepreneurs are slaves to the almighty dollar.  More often than not I see people working day and night at the risk of their family, their health, their entire well being, just to become the next millionaire or even billionaire.  Then what happens? all that money is spent to cure the “DIS-EASE” that they are left with from stress, emotional blockage and blatant disregard for their bodies and overall health.

What is the meaning of freedom? Most people say “Well if I had financial freedom I would be free from debt, free from stress, and free to live the life I always wanted”  What does that life actually look like? and to what expense is one willing to give up their freedom to achieve freedom? Quite the oxy moron we have here wouldn’t you say?

Freedom is a choice not dependent on external circumstance.  When we spend our lives allowing other people to dictate what we can or cannot do, dictate our careers, dictate how much money we need to have in order to be “free” then we are enslaving ourselves.    As soon as you made that choice, then that’s what the universe gave you, because that’s what you decided your self worth was going to be.

How many people are enslaved today? people you know? people you love? perhaps even yourself?

Slavery is not chains and whips and being forced to sit at the back of the bus or build pyramids anymore, today slavery has a different face.  It’s the face of overworking civilians who suffer at the cost of money, it’s disrespecting employees and treating them like robots instead of valuable humans who have the ability to contribute, it’s working 36 hour days and not spending time with the people you love and taking humanity for granted.  Slavery is when money comes first and love comes third.  Slavery is saying “this is the cards I got dealt and there is nothing I can do about it”

If that was the case then we would never have Obama as president of the United States, and the state of Israel would never exists, and women would not be in the lines to vote…the list goes on.

Slavery is a choice, like everything else in life, we create what we feel we deserve.  I know, that freedom is something to celebrate and I feel that everyone deserves a chance to be FREE! All you need to do is break those invisible chains and face the challenges head on as they did back in the days of Pharaoh.  All of our leaders paved the path to our children’s freedom, not accepting slavery as an option, so how can we honor their strength and determination? Well only to live in the freedom that our ancestors fought so hard for.

Blessings and Prosperity,

I think there is a lot of confusion between the Graphic Designer profession and Web Designer profession.  If a person is highly skilled in both areas then they offer a lot of value in terms of designing and developing marketing materials for a business entity.  That’s what U2R1 Media prides itself in having.  Our talented team both posses the know how and technological skills to create amazing graphic art as well as intuitive web design.

So aside from knowing web development what is the difference?  Graphic designers are usually print focused and don’t really know a lot about web design.  They are for the most part very talented artists who have a lot of skills in the art of design and layout.  Traditional web designers normally follow a standard template when creating websites and in some cases you’ll find some web designers challenging their development skills by integrating cool graphics that really enhance the website.

The key to building successful marketing materials including: print, website and promotional items, ideally the designer is a talented graphic artist who has the understanding and technical knowledge of web development, taking that one step further if they can conceptualize the marketing aspect of the promotional materials then the results are golden.

When I built my company, to me it was never a matter of graphics or web, at U2R1 Media everything is intertwined and all encompassing because we have to strategically build and design the visual identity of a company with all elements in mind.

1. What is the company’s ultimate goal in terms of results from marketing materials

2. What creative visuals can we design that will: enhance the company’s image, stand out from the competition & communicate to it’s potential and existing clients.

3. What features should the website have to ensure calls to actions

4. How will we market the company once all materials are designed.

When all of the above is considered and thought out properly and a strategy of an entire campaign is developed, then the recipe for success is right at your fingertips!

The misconception people have today is devaluing the importance of a really good and properly designed website in addition to a strong brand and overall visual identity.  Sadly our industry is flooded with “web developers” who can carry a tune but can they sing at the opera? Too often we get clients who chose price over quality and came to us with grave disappointment because the designer over promised and under delivered.

Of course we fix them right up! But that usually means starting from scratch.  So be careful when choosing your graphic designers and web designers/developers, because while price may be desirable, how many times to you want to redo the project to get what you need?  And how much time is wasted during that process of learning the hard way?  Don’t forget time is money! and when you aren’t supporting your company with good marketing materials and initiatives then you are losing potential clients every day!

For more information about how U2R1 Media can help you will all your graphic design and web design needs give us a call:

416-345-8271 or visit: www.u2r1media.com

and we’ll get you started in the right direction!

This article was provided by our copy writer using the website www.tsylos.com as an example – Stephanie Miller – www.millerscraft.ca

General Blogging Tips

1. Posting frequency. Several studies on this indicate the more you post, the more traffic you get. Start with posting as much as you can and aim for at least 2 times per week. More if you can manage it.

2. Images. Add relevant images to every blog post to enhance the reader’s experience. You can use your own pictures, purchase stock photos, and/or perform Google image searches and check for licensing restrictions. Best web practices say you can generally use photos posted on the web as long as you credit the photographer, including a link back to their site.

3. Scannability. Most blog readers read a lot of blogs. It is important to break up your text with headings, bullet points, numbered lists, bolding & italicizing important information, etc.

4. Granular (one topic) posts. Keep your posts as simple and to the point as possible. Do this by focusing on a singular idea. If you find that this one topic is turning into a lengthy post, fix this by writing a post series by separating it into parts (eg. Part 1, Part 2, etc.)

5. Call to actions. This is an important aspect of business blogging because you have an opportunity at the end of each post to encourage sales and/or develop regular traffic. A general rule is to remind readers they can subscribe to your RSS feed (include the link for convenience). For blog posts where youhighlight your expertise by showing/teaching them something (eg. tracking, fly fishing tips, etc.) remind them they can book a trip (add a link to your booking form/contact page) and learn first-hand.

6. Content is king. Don’t worry so much about SEO (though the basics are important – see below). Focus on providing valuable and interesting content for your potential clients.

Blog Writing Tips

1. Useful & unique content. A good business (and blogging) practice is to find out what the customer (or reader) wants/needs and give it to them. Questions your clients ask as well as the keywords potential clients search for on the Net (see the SEO research from your web project) are all good indications of what you should be writing about. “Useful content” includes: entertainment, industry news that affects them, education, information on products/services, and providing a vehicle for debate & community.

2. Post length. Generally good, readable posts are about 250-500 words in length. Some blog topics need to be more comprehensive but never go over 1000 words.

3. Headlines (or post titles). These should not be confused with “title tags” which are SEO-related page titles. The headlines are the first thing readers read when they come across your post. Blog headlines are akin to those magazines use on their cover to capture people’s attention and entice them to buy. Keep your headlines short (no more than 10 words), simple, descriptive, keyword-rich & interesting.

4. Post idea list. Keep a dynamic list of topic ideas (I keep a mini-notepad with me at all times). When just starting out, take some time at the onset to brainstorm a list of at least 10 blog post ideas. For Tsylos.com, I’m thinking: “Top 10 Tracking Tips”, “Sure Signs a Grizzly Bear is Near”, “How to Stay Safe in BC Wilderness”, “15 Most Popular Fly Fishing Gear”, etc. I also think readers would be interested in hearing personal stories and legends about the area. What about interviewing some of your clients for testimonial-type posts? As for company news, consider profiling new team members (one post per person) and cover each of your sustainability efforts in individual posts.

Beginner Blogging Tips

1. Keyword-rich content. As in Tip #3 in this section, writing and SEO tend to overlap. Generally I write content first, then while editing I’ll plug the keywords into the copy at appropriate places (e.g. when you write about fishing, insert ‘fly fishing in BC’). Resist keyword stuffing – a general rule of thumb is to use 3-5 keyword phrases for every 100 words.

SEO Tips for Bloggers

1. Front (or home) page. This is the most important page for search engines. Use general keyword phrases here in the homepage metatags, i.e. title, keywords & description, to describe Tsylos or more specifically, the Tsylos blog as a whole.

2. Headlines. Use keywords (try to include them at the beginning) while adequately describing the content of the post. E.g. “Top 15 BC Wilderness Safety Tips”

3. Post metatags. For every post you write there are SEO metatags. In the “title tag” use a variation of your headline (E.g. “BC Wilderness Tips: 15 Ways to Stay Safe”). The other metatags (keywords & description) are called “Nodewords” in Drupal. In your “keywords” list, make sure to put commas after the keyword phrases (so instead of “bc, wilderness, safety, tips” use “bc wilderness, wilderness safety, survival tips”.  The description should use keywords and adequately describe the post.

4. Custom URLS. In Drupal, the page URL is automatically generated from your post page title metatag so if you have a well-optimized page title already, you don’t really need to do anything here. If you wish to optimize the URL more fully in Drupal, click on “URL path settings” and uncheck “Automatic Alias” to customize the naming convention of your post page. Eg. “bc-wilderness-safety-tips”

5. Headings. When breaking up the text with headings, use keywords (especially at the beginning of the heading text) and assign H1, H2, H3, etc. tags to them. Do this by selecting the text with your mouse and using the text editor (format bar), click on “Heading 1” for the 1st heading, “Heading 2” for the 2nd, etc.

6. Linking. When writing blog posts, try linking to relevant old blog posts as well as pages on your website. When linking, use keywords, so instead of, “click here to find out more” use relevant (in contextual sense) keywords like, “find out more about bc wilderness trips on our website”.

7. Images. When saving photos to your desktop (either from your camera or downloading from the web) use keywords when possible. (E.g. instead of saving a photo of a man fishing as img2947.jpg, name it: fly-fishing-in-bc.jpg). Also, you’ll have a chance to use keywords in the “alt” tag or in Drupal, “Alternative Text”. Use your optimized naming convention of the photo in this text box (which pops up when you click on the image icon in your editor). In our example here, it would be: “Flying fishing in BC”.

8. Submit your site. This is an off-site SEO tactic that you can use for both your blog and website. Instead of waiting for search engines to find you, notify them – it’s free – that you have a website & blog. In Google, submit your website here and your blog here. You can also submit your sites to website and blog directories, too. Some are paid for (like Yahoo! website directory, about $300 per year but it really helps SEO rankings) and free ones, like DMOZ). There are differences in quality between directories (paid ones are usually a safe bet) and doing some research before submitting your site is a good idea.

Note from Sari: Thanks Steph! these are great tips and I’m sure our readers will use them to their benefit.

branding, marketing, web design toronto, los angeles

For the past 8 years I’ve been running my own business and trying to build a company that adheres to certain corporate status quo.  My entire life I’ve always been the type of person to go against the grain.  I never felt like I should have to justify why I was home sick, or why in Canada we get 2 weeks vacation out of 49 weeks in a year.  How was I supposed to see the world with only 2 weeks off a year?   I remember when I was in my early 20’s I worked for a law firm for a few months and got laid off because I would come into work one minute late, I’m not kidding though, that was their reasoning, “you are always 1-2 minutes late.”

We are conditioned to work like robots and unfortunately employers feel that it is the society norm to treat their employees like children, who must obey on command.   This type of mentality and office practice is stifling our creative flow, our individuality and our ability to perform to our best abilities.  As a business owner, I only want people working for me who feel passionate about what they do, we have created a mutual respect in the office with regards to holidays, sick days and personal days and because of this mutual trust, my team works hard, is excited about their projects and are constantly bringing new ideas and creative vision to the table.

When employees feel that they are appreciated and are contributing to the overall growth of the company that’s when you see a company prosper, that’s when you see increased internal moral and that’s when you see clients gravitating to work with a business that infiltrates a positive environment.

Google is a perfect example of how a company appreciates their employees and how during the economic downturn they thrived financially and gave all their employees 10% raises plus a $1000 holiday bonus.  At their facility they have playrooms, beautifully colourful office areas, nap pods, slides, daycare and so much more!

Work can and should be fun, if it’s draining and dull then the results will affect every aspect of the business and the success and outcome of the company.  Status quo are for those who are afraid to challenge themselves and for people who don’t trust that their employees are there for a bigger purpose than just a 9-5 job, and if that is the case then the probability of high turnover is almost guaranteed.

Leave the hierarchy to the days of Medieval Times.  In the 21^st century where we are constantly fighting for freedom and equality, that notion is not just for grand justice, it starts in our every day lives and so many times people feel like they are the slave to the “corporate man.”  When you step outside the status quo you may be pleasantly surprised to see the talent that emerges and the reality that people could actually feel energized and excited to work with your organization and you!

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