THE CHALLENGE:

“I have a cat, Sweet Little Black Kitty,” James Wynbrandt said.  “She sometimes walks on my computer keyboard and presses the keys. It’s like she’s writing feline haiku or something. Sometimes I swear she’s trying to talk to me, to communicate with me through her poetry. I should write a book annotating her verse.”

We saw something wonderful in Mr. Wynbrandt’s idea . . . and a way to make money from it.

As a published non-fiction writer and journalist, Mr. Wynbrandt had already made efforts to see if a traditional publisher might be interested.

He couldn’t even get an agent involved!

Instead, we encouraged him to turn Sweet Little Black Kitty’s poems (and his annotations to them) into a self-published work.

THE CORNUCOPIA PRESS SOLUTION:

To create a cyberbrand out of Mr. Wynbrandt’s idea, to productize it and monetize it, we leveraged the following Cornucopia Press services:

Book Packaging

Sweet Little Black Kitty – Collected Poems will be available October 21, 2013. Here’s how we helped Mr. Wynbrandt get his concept off the ground.

• Editorial Support
  • For those who require it, we provide clients with world-class editorial support, delivered by experienced professionals with decades in the publishing business, editors such as: Maureen Sullivan, former Executive Children’s Editor at Dutton/Penguin, and an expert in Young Adult and Children’s book publishing; and Allen Peacock, with senior editorial experience at Henry Holt & Company, Simon & Schuster, and The Dial Press.
    
  • As a published author and professional journalist, in Mr. Wynbrandt’s case, only the minimum amount of proof-reading and other Editorial Support was required.
• Print/eBook Cover Design (we’re using one of our favorite book designers, based in New York)
• Print/eBook Layout (we’re using another expert from Serbia)
• Illustrations (to keep the tone uniform, we’re using the same illustrator who’s doing the cover for the interior art)
• Print/eBook Production — Master development via CreateSpace and KDP (Kindle)
• Print/eBook Distribution, via Amazon exclusively, available worldwide.

Cost to develop Book/eBook: $4K, for design & book packaging services

Since each book/eBook is created via just-in-time manufacturing, there is no production cost to Mr. Wynbrandt.

Even when pricing the book aggressively to maximize sales, we’re able to generate royalties averaging around $2 per title!

That’s more than double what you’d expect to generate from a traditional publisher . . . after earning back your advance, assuming you got one!

Merchandising

In an average year, American cat owners spend $2.15 billion on cat food and $295 million on kitty litter alone.  It costs $7,000 to care for one household cat over its lifetime.  Cat owners are willing to spend. So, why not on Sweet Little Black Kitty merchandising?

Once again, we designed and created an offering without any associated production cost. Mr. Wynbrandt only paid for the time it took for us to set up his eCommerce offering @ Cafe Press.

Cost of designing and producing Cafe Press storefront: $1-2K+, depending upon the complexity of the store and number of products.

A Sweet Little Black Kitty Cyberbrand

Mr. Wynbrandt had already developed specific brand attributes (iconoclastic, irreverant, aloof, “beatnik”) for Sweet Little Black Kitty, based largely on SLBK’s history and personal story.

Now, we needed to extend that offline brand and create its digital persona — the Sweet Little Black Kitty cyberbrand.

To create and nurture the Sweet Little Black Kitty cyberbrand, we built the following digital manifestations:

• Website registration (with 1&1 or GoDaddy), masking and redirects
• Integrated website publishing system with social networking sites (Facebook, Google+, Twitter, MySpace, etc.)
• Sweet Little Black Kitty website/blog
  • Not just pushing SLBK’s book and merchandise, but a constantly evolving collection of interesting and primarily humorous news stories and features on cats and interspecies communication; i.e. a reason to come back again and again to the SLBK cyberbrand . . . and to buy something!

• SLBK Facebook Personal page, linked to the SLBK website

• SLBK Facebook “Fan” page, linked to the SLBK website

• SLBK Pinterest Board, linked to the SLBK website

• SLBK Twitter Presence, linked to the SLBK website

Cost of producing website & social network presence: approx. $4K

Plus, these digital assets are designed with non-proprietary software so that — if he so chooses — Mr. Wynbrandt can maintain and update SLBK’s Net presence himself, with minimal effort.

Each digital presence works synergistically. For a small monthly retainer (< $250/mo), Mr. Wynbrandt has opted to have Cornucopia Press maintain his website, Facebook/Pinterest/Tumblr page and Twitter feed. Our staff scours the Web regularly and adds relevant news stories plus features about interspecies communication to the site every few days. And it’s our headache to make sure the eCommerce engines keep humming. We worry so Mr. Wynbrandt doesn’t have to.

e-Marketing

Of course, building a Net presence isn’t enough.  Simply because you build it doesn’t necessarily mean they will come.

That’s why we launched an e-Marketing and PR blitz to promote SLBK online, leveraging:

• SEO and Key Word Buys
  • We made the SLBK site searchable, and purchased key words — such as “Interspecies communication”, and “cat poetry” — on the major search engines.
• Local press coverage in St. Augustine, FL.
  • Feature story on local undiscovered poet:  Sweet Little Black Kitty
  • Later repurposed and leveraged online to merchandise SLBK franchise

THE RESULTS:

For a minimal investment of around $5K, we helped Mr. Wynbrandt build a digital franchise that’s generating tens of thousands of dollars per year . . . all built on a simple idea, based on a national obsession.

“I couldn’t be happier,” crows Wynbrandt.  “Cornucopia Press turned my concept into a money-making business in no time, and it only cost me a fraction of what I’m generating every year.”

The post Sweet Little Black Kitty appeared first on CyberBranding Solutions.

The following case study is typical of what we do for retail clients, often working in tandem with their traditional ad agency or marketing group.

THE CHALLENGE:

The first complete re-design and re-branding for Henrietta Hudson since its founding in 1991. Create a new website and a new social media identity for New York’s premier lesbian bar and night spot.

THE CYBER BRANDING SOLUTION:

To update and contemporize the brand identity of New York’s premier lesbian venue, we did not want to stray too far. The original logo was already an established fixture.

“We love our old logo. Many of our customers have been coming to us for years, some for decades, and it will forever be associated with our brand,” said co-owner Lisa Cannistraci. “We may be considered the Stonewall of lesbian bars, the iconic classic lesbian nightspot that’s been around longer than any other lesbian joint in town, but Henrietta Hudson is more than just a lesbian and gay-friendly watering hole in New York City. We’re a flourishing global brand.”

“You ask girls in Brazil, in Spain, in Denmark, in China, in Australia; you ask them what’s the quintessential lesbian brand and Henrietta Hudson always comes in within the top 5,” added Cannistraci. “We’re a Greenwich Village institution and an international brand. We were here long before lesbianism became trendy. Overseas, we’re known just as much for our political activities, our involvement in the same sex marriage issue, our push for social change and acceptance of the LGBT movement as we are with having a good time and partying. We’re also increasingly involved in fashion and design, and now offer a whole range of merchandise. Whether it’s politics or film, fashion or books, the media or equal rights, we at Henrietta Hudson have a point of view and something to say. We are the alternate lifestyle . . . with an emphasis on style! And our new website is one of the many channels through which we express our brand.”

To create and nurture the Henrietta Hudson cyberbrand, we:

• Moved the site to a new, cost-effective hosting facility that would become the new home for this WordPress.org site.

The initial Website was designed using an off-the-shelf template from WordPress.com, but the vendor did not provide Henrietta Hudson with access to edit the site on their own. They were forced to go back to them every time they wanted to post information about a new special event at the bar. And it was badly designed: Note the homepage features no Main Menu for quick access, and the logo is difficult to view.

The Gallery page is somewhat primitive.

And both the “History” and “Almumni” sections are still “Coming Soon” . . . months and months after the site was built.

• We designed a new website built using customized CSS code within WordPress 3.9 running the Frame Photography theme. This provides Henrietta Hudson with a highly polished, liquid interface that works just as well with mobile devices as it does on the personal computer. Plus, by using a WordPress template, the folks at Henrietta Hudson can make routine updates and changes themselves without having to come back to us for every little thing. An elegant interface that promotes the highly visual nature of their brand and club life; maximum flexibility when it comes to updates and control; and all this without the costs associated with using a fancy web design shop or digital agency. This is what Cyber Branding Solutions has come to stand for.

The new homepage features the new HH logotype, plus a huge video screen featuring an up-beat video selling the sex appeal and fun image of the bar.

The gallery page is much more liquid and responsive, and features the pictures in their original shapes, making for an interesting collage.

And we added a robust, easy-to-update events calendar section, plus a section featuring key links: (Lesbian) Groups and Associations; Media; Politics; and The Arts.

• Henrietta Hudson is an iconic brand and an iconic company. We were thrilled to be chosen by them to steward their CyberBrand into the 21st century. Black and white logos, designs and icons that work well in print don’t necessarily translate well to merchandise or to today’s LCD displays that demand greater color distinction and horizontality. We resurrected the tagline, ‘Bar & Girl’ as a play on ‘Bar & Grill’, which could still be found on the bar’s window awnings but was unused elsewhere. We feel it sums up the brand’s key copy point—you’re going to find a girl at Henrietta Hudson tonight—and does so in a tongue and cheek, irreverent way. You may think we’re one thing; you may have a preconception . . . but we’re something quite different. There’s a playful surprise there. Design treatments were developed not just for Henrietta Hudson’s web presence, but for their social media network expression as well. For Facebook and Google+, we developed ID icons based on the new social media logo design, plus evocative banners/headers for each network. We also built sympathetic iconography for Twitter and Tumblr, targeting younger and more female audiences. 

The Original Logo

Social Media Variants

Social Media Variants — HH

Main Social Media Logo

Social Media Icons and Banners

THE RESULTS:

For a minimal investment of less than $15K, we helped create a new CyberBrand for Henrietta Hudson, one that will help them expand globally and across multiple service and product offerings.

“We love the work Cyber Branding Solutions did for us,” say Henrietta Hudson co-owners Lisa Cannistraci & Minnie Rivera. “We have not changed our brand presence since 1991 and we were more than ready to embark on this journey. The final product speaks for itself. Now, Henrietta Hudson is much more than just a local lesbian-centric lounge in Greenwich Village. We’re no longer trapped in one physical space, identified with one thing. We can now express ourselves on a global level.”

The post Henrietta Hudson appeared first on CyberBranding Solutions.