Valdez RFP

thank you for visiting our portfolio site.

Enjoy this showcase of some of our work—and how we work—for a variety of Spawn Ideas’ brands and projects.

Re-defining a destination brand for a proud, friendly community of Alaskans that want to share their home with intentional visitors looking for high-quality, active, and immersive Alaskan experiences.

logo development

Our designers go through rounds of different logo explorations and approaches with our clients to find the perfect logo that represents the brand and its purpose.

final logo

brand guidelines

The look and feel of a brand is expressed in so many ways outside of the logo and tagline. When we develop a brand, we leave our clients with the tools they need to apply that brand look and feel across multiple mediums and situations through robust brand guidelines.

Alaska’s travel/tourism brand and materials were dated. Spawn refreshed the brand identity, developed new visitor personas and engaged a quality lead generation strategy. See the before and after here for the logo, a print ad, and the vacation planner magazine.

BEFORE

AFTER

Want to see more of our Travel Alaska work?

Check out our work on Travel Alaska’s vacation planner and lead generation

Spawn rebranded the city of Anchorage: Anchorage. Big. Wild. Life. The theme has a double meaning. It conveys both large animals/wildlife and a big adventure filled with the abundance that only Anchorage delivers.

Click the link to get an inside peek at a presentation we made to the client featuring the differentiating brand position of Abundance. (Note that Spawn Ideas was then called The Nerland Agency.)

Alaska Railroad

Now Departing Ordinary

Alaskans love the heritage and history of the Alaska Railroad, but awareness of the present-day Railroad was lagging. Spawn Ideas came onboard to highlight the modern vibrancy of this legacy brand.

CENTRAL IOWA

WATER TRAILS

At Spawn, every branding effort is customized for the client. Look into our process, below, for branding and naming the CIWT (a working name). The new transformational name is being finalized today (Friday, February 26)!

Ask

Create a memorable and unified brand for a network of 150 miles of water trails and 86 access points throughout the central Iowa region. A consortium of regional organizations are responsible for the branding project, with leaders participating in committees including Branding, Steering, Marketing and Diversity and Inclusion.

DELIVERABLES

Research and analytics to inform brand identity. Research/testing (names & concepts). Must include representative numbers of typically under-represented groups (BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, Iowans with disabilities, Iowans with low income)
Branding: brand promise, attributes, value proposition, brand personality
Design: name and logo, brand standards guide
Brand Implementation: Communications/PR plan outline, message map

BRAND OBJECTIVE

Create a destination brand that offers national identity for the project. Emotionally connect target audiences with the project, conveying its uniqueness and importance. The project includes goals related to water conservation, economic development, workforce and tourism attraction and outdoor recreation (many audiences, one brand).

CHALLENGES

Large committee/multiple committees of Iowa leaders investing time, money, fundraising volunteerism and reputation to see the project through
Required broad input from all Iowans, with special reach out to under-represented groups
Developing an umbrella brand to serve residents, workforce and tourism attraction, water conservation needs, economic development and fundraising needs

LEARNINGS

If you think you’ve done enough stakeholder engagement, think again (especially for under-represented groups)
Racial bias is the number one problem with market research; you must meet people where they’re at
Clients often need help making decisions that balance research and personal perspective
Agency leadership and credibility comes with consistent reference to the research as foundational for all creative work. You must draw the connection clearly

RESULTS

The brand identity was finalized and approved several weeks ago. A final CIWT brand name will be selected Friday, February 26, with backing from latest research testing of four name alternatives. Other materials will follow.