Any opportunity to furnish a campaign with our strategic and creative faculties is motivated first and foremost by the utmost in client satisfaction. However, while it goes without saying that the receipt of awards is an entirely subsidiary form of gratification, we also appreciate the opportunity that competition provides for us to truly fine tune our craft. 

Any opportunity to furnish a campaign with our strategic and creative faculties is motivated first and foremost by the utmost in client satisfaction. However, while it goes without saying that the receipt of awards is an entirely subsidiary form of gratification, we also appreciate the opportunity that competition provides for us to truly fine tune our craft. 

We are pleased to announce that we were awarded a series of accolades in the latest cycle of the Communicator Awards. Honoring excellence in marketing and communication, this organization is one of the largest of its kind, receiving over 6,000 entries each year from all over the world. The prestige associated with the Communicator Awards offers recipients “proof and validation that their work is highly regarded by their peers within the industry.” This recognition speaks deeply to our insatiable creative energy, and relentless pursuit of excellence as a team.

The Awards

The Communicator Awards are sanctioned by the Academy of Interactive & Visual Arts, and the panel of judges is derived from an invitation-only “who’s who” assembly of over 600 of the world’s most esteemed professionals from the media, communications, marketing, and creative fields. Judges represent an array of the top media firms, including: Disney, Condé Nast, MTV, Time, Yahoo!, and more! Beyond innovation and craft, the Communicator Awards seeks the ability of a project to truly move its audience — to emotion, to action. 

Our agency was fortunate to receive nods in last year’s cycle, and in 2014, the Communicator Awards has again honored our agency with a series of Silver Awards of Distinction. 

"The key is to greet each new client endeavor with a fresh reverence for its unique challenges. No branding project should ever be approached formulaically because what makes a brand different from another of its kind what should be isolated, cultivated, and celebrated to create growth for that brand."
— Armen David, Executive Director

Our work with Linda May Properties has been a frequent award-winner, and from this year’s Communicator Awards, we’ve been recognized for a commercial campaign showcasing our client’s exemplary standing in its field of international real estate, an online video campaign, as well as website development in both the Real Estate and Specialty categories.  Additionally, our work with LA2DC (www.la2dc.org) — a nonprofit dedicated to awareness of world genocide — received an award for website development in the Activism category.

The meaning behind these awards is two-fold: not only do they serve to commemorate our valued client relationships, but they affirm our core abilities as a team.

Looking Onward

Above all else, we know that to be successful in our field is to remain suspended in a state of constant effervescence, with our ingenuity as vibrant as our work ethic. The industry authority held by the members of the Communicator Awards is unmatched in terms of its collective experience, and subjecting our work to such expert scrutiny is but one of the many avenues through which we seek to grow. Moving forward, we are excited about new opportunities to serve as proprietors of creative and strategic excellence for all we work with.

Let us preface the forthcoming by stating that the meaning behind our recent win at the 2014 Horizon Interactive Awards is two-fold. First, over the course of its thirteen entry seasons, this award has become one of the most distinguished in the field of interactive and creative media. So it goes without saying that having our work recognized by an organization so renowned by our industry is truly the sincerest of honors. 

Let us preface the forthcoming by stating that the meaning behind our recent win at the 2014 Horizon Interactive Awards is two-fold. First, over the course of its thirteen entry seasons, this award has become one of the most distinguished in the field of interactive and creative media. So it goes without saying that having our work recognized by an organization so renowned by our industry is truly the sincerest of honors. 

Secondly, the rigor required to be competitive in the Horizon Interactive Awards is a nod not only to our final product, but to the tremendous discipline of the whole STARMEN team.  

The 2014 award cycle was one of stringent competition. Over 1,200 entries were received from over 27 countries around the world, including: Australia, Austria, Brazil, Belgium, Canada, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, Pakistan, Poland, Portugal, Russia, South Africa, Sweden, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan, Turkey, Thailand, Ukraine, United Kingdom, and almost all 50 of the United States of America.

This magnitude of competition holds us to the highest of standards, and brings all the more meaning to the receipt of these awards for our team.

The Awards

We are truly honored to have not one, but two, of our recent projects honored in this award cycle. 

For our work on the Linda May Properties website, we’ve earned a Gold award. Our work with Linda May has also been honored with the Summit Emerging Media ‘Innovator’ Award, as well as the ‘Best in Class’ Award from the Interactive Media Awards.

As well, we’ve earned a Silver award for our work with L.A. Banquets. With each of these awards comes a celebration of a very valued client relationship, as well as a testament to the truly prolific nature of collaboration. 

Why We’re Honored

Perhaps one of the most significant things about a Horizon win is the circumstances under which it is received. The panel of judges spans all levels of the interactive media field, and so submissions are evaluated by industry peers whose qualifications stem from their very own active participation in the different avenues of this wonderfully creative, multi-faceted line of work. In addition to creatives and developers are project and account focused individuals who represent the importance of a final product being not just beautiful and engaging, but truly at the height of usability.

The pride we feel for our work is trumped only by an overwhelming sense of humility. We’re honored to have been a part of such outstanding client projects, and welcome you to reach out if we can be of service to yours. 

In the business of branding, nothing speaks truer to the work that we do than industry legend, Al Ries’, immutable commandment: the Law of Focus. It is a pivotal point, one that allows the purpose of a brand to be actualized in a more tangible way. 

What makes your brand different from others of its kind? Is it more luxurious, or more at the cutting edge of technological innovation? Is it environmentally-friendly, or is it tightly aligned with a unique social purpose? 

In the business of branding, nothing speaks truer to the work that we do than industry legend, Al Ries’, immutable commandment: the Law of Focus. It is a pivotal point, one that allows the purpose of a brand to be actualized in a more tangible way. 

What makes your brand different from others of its kind? Is it more luxurious, or more at the cutting edge of technological innovation? Is it environmentally-friendly, or is it tightly aligned with a unique social purpose? 

Our point is that whatever distinguishes your brand from the rest of the pack is the driving point your branding endeavor should aim to build upon. And with the marketing industry in a state of perpetual evolution, it is a true testament to Ries’ authority that the Law of Focus remains a true cornerstone of branding excellence to this day.

As Ries writes: “If you want to build a brand, you must focus your branding efforts on owning a word in the prospect’s mind. A word that nobody else owns.”

So, step one involves getting to the core of what drives your brand -- what it ultimately aims to be synonymous with. Only then can your company and its products truly begin to transcend a likely oversaturated (and, really, what industry’s isn’t?) marketplace creating a uniquely authentic opportunity for consumers to connect with your brand.

Perhaps one of the hallmark case studies that highlights this very point is car manufacturer, Volvo. The marketplace is inundated with German automobiles, and the reason so many can maintain relevant chunks of the market is that what differentiates them, defines them in a way that renders the others obsolete to the right consumers. Mercedes Benz is synonymous with prestige, and BMW is for driving. Audis are intrinsically German, but only one thing comes to mind when one contemplates a Volvo: safety.

So while Volvo is also German, by all accounts a great car to drive, and is definitely luxurious, their conceptual namesake for consumers continues to be that they’re the ultimate in safety. For consumers placing inviolability above all else when shopping cars, Volvo is a leader that has stood the test of time, even as the auto industry as a whole continues a trend in revolutionizing vehicular safety.

Since Ries’ heyday, new media have vastly shaped and expanded how and where branded messaging can be unleashed, so expanding your brand’s word into a fully realized concept in the minds of prospective customers will help that concept stay relevant in a vastly visual marketing landscape.

Once you have successfully defined your brand’s verbiage, only then can you own it. And ownership lends itself unencumbered to leadership in its respective share of the market. In other words, once you are synonymous in consumers’ minds as being the safety (or prestige, or driving, or, well, you get the picture) brand, you inherit leadership of the safety sector of the automobile marketplace. 

Now, all of this is not to say that once a market leader, always a market leader. In fact, time as our witness, no-visibility David beats iconic Goliath every day in marketplaces in industries all across the globe. 

Case in point: A little San Francisco start-up called Method that introduced a new line of household cleaning products to a global landscape inching ever more closely towards environmental collapse. As a direct response to the competition’s notoriously filthy carbon footprint, Method is the brainchild of two childhood friends who built their company with one goal in mind: sustainability. Their rapid success is further testament to their focus on that commitment to remaining cruelty free and environmentally friendly. Since Method’s launch, nearly every company in the home cleaning goods industry has tried their hand at launching similarly sound products. Yet despite the massive surge of new products that have hit the market, Method continues to dominate broadly because its efforts are singularly focused.

Our team at STARMEN would love to help you finesse your focus to create a truly compelling brand experience. Get in touch!

We’re pleased to announce our work on the Linda May Properties “Live Your Luxury” campaign has received recognition from the AVA Digital Awards. This project has previously been the recipient of awards from other organizations, including the distinction of Best in Class from the IMA Awards. We are deeply honored by this most recent recognition: a Platinum Award for excellence in website design and development, as well as a Gold Award for our “Live Your Luxury” video marketing campaign.

We’re pleased to announce our work on the Linda May Properties “Live Your Luxury” campaign has received recognition from the AVA Digital Awards. This project has previously been the recipient of awards from other organizations, including the distinction of Best in Class from the IMA Awards. We are deeply honored by this most recent recognition: a Platinum Award for excellence in website design and development, as well as a Gold Award for our “Live Your Luxury” video marketing campaign.

While it is with great pride that we accept these accolades, we would be remiss if we did not pay proper tribute to the journey itself. You see, the AVA Digital Awards is a competition that focuses not just on the end-product, but on the planning, conceptualizing, creative direction, design, and overall production process of digital campaigns of all shapes and sizes. Honoring remarkable work at every stage of the process is the hallmark of these awards’ unique significance to our agency, and we - as a collective agency - owe this honor to each individual facet of our team.

The Significance

Renowned for their stringent standards and internationally-acclaimed credibility, the AVA Awards are judged annually by the Association of Marketing & Communication Professionals. 

Each piece is evaluated and judged on individual merit in contrast to other awards programs where entrants are judged in relation to other submissions in their categories. 

This practice only lends further credence to the overall significance of these awards because it is evidence our work is prolific in its own right, on its own terms, regardless of other projects taking place elsewhere.

The Journey

Our biggest challenge with Linda May Properties was that it faced an industry with a rapidly expanding digital presence. We created the “Live Your Luxury” campaign in an effort to not only enhance perceptions of the Client’s brand in the minds of existing and future clientele, but to allow the company to maintain its competitive edge in an increasingly web-based marketplace. 

We knew immediately that a successful campaign for Linda May would equate to one squarely rooted in the company’s long reign at the height of its industry. The firm has consistently been ranked within the top 1% of Coldwell Bankers Realtors® internationally, and so our work necessarily built on that momentum. Our Client’s quality of work speaks for itself, and so our aim was not to build a site and marketing campaign that spoke not more loudly or boastfully, but more wisely, about our Client’s stature in its field. The resulting “Live Your Luxury” is an elegant yet succinct expression of this merit.

As a successful web presence becomes increasingly paramount in today’s modern marketplace, so too does the need for a sharp, well-defined message. And from these needs, the “Live Your Luxury” campaign was born to not only provide our Client with an attractive, functional tool to facilitate business, but with a carefully crafted communication apparatus, one that would speak both to its values and relentless, “always on” ethic.

We are proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish on behalf of our Client, and incredibly appreciative of the opportunity to further sharpen our toolset in the process.

We find that our insatiable pursuit of excellence necessitates continued evolution, and such is the primary reason we enter our work into competitions like the AVA Awards. Relentless in this endeavor, we find that placing our proudest pieces in line for public scrutiny forces us to produce our best work, and we’re steadfastly aligned with the philosophy that excellence isn’t a stagnant milestone. Instead, it is a constantly advancing finish line requiring a tenacity of spirit, and a constantly evolving repository of skills and ideas. 

Innovation is perhaps the cornerstone of our modern society, and for good reason. Innovation helps us progress; it heals us, enriches us, and entertains us. It connects us as a people in ways prior generations could never have dreamed. But all too frequently, marketers with raw ambition aim to catapult their campaigns into fresh, new territories simply to be the newest or the most different, all without a clear motive in mind.

Innovation is perhaps the cornerstone of our modern society, and for good reason. Innovation helps us progress; it heals us, enriches us, and entertains us. It connects us as a people in ways prior generations could never have dreamed. But all too frequently, marketers with raw ambition aim to catapult their campaigns into fresh, new territories simply to be the newest or the most different, all without a clear motive in mind.

Perhaps one of the biggest buzzwords across industries today, innovation is the driving force of thousands of initiatives embarked upon each year by companies and their marketing teams, big and small. Yet for the thousands of new companies and products put forth into the marketplace, very few stick around long enough to make a huge impact in the way we as humans live our lives. That’s because most self-proclaimed innovators are eagerly in pursuit of the what without a truly impassioned why.

Simon Sinek outlines this point very poignantly with his concept of the Golden Circle. Perhaps the key takeaway from Sinek’s concept is this: “People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.” 

As an agency, we work to develop strategies for our clients that expand on this very principle. We recommend our clients aim to answer the following before they embark on any new marketing or branding campaign. Not only does it allow them to get to the root of the why behind their innovational work, but it also saves them the hassle of needing to realign an already in-motion project later down the line:

1. Why is my company important or special to its industry?*
   
2. Why should a customer choose my product over others in the marketplace, and what benefits does my product have over the competition?
   
3. Why should existing and potential customers align themselves with my company?
   

*This is perhaps one of the most important questions your company could ever hope to answer because it is the single-most important factor in assessing your necessity and relevance to your industry.

Innovation is an intangible what, qualitative in nature, and therefore cannot be measured by the numerical data you’ll no doubt reference to assess your campaign’s success. Thus, innovation on its own will not suffice as a motivational tool for any initiative. 

Instead, consider the ultimate customer experience that could be had with your brand and the output from your innovational endeavor. Ultimately, you most likely want to enhance the user’s life in one way or another. But how, and again, why? 

For this reason, we believe that at every step of the brand development process, checking the pulse of a project’s decisions is crucial. The appropriate answer to any choice driving a creative or content process should never be “because that’s what everyone else is doing”. Riding the coattails of another shop’s innovation will always, without fail, lead you farther away from what’s truly authentic for your company, and lead you closer to the clutter.

In marketing, like in life, it’s often all too tempting to take the road of least resistance. At the end of the day, opting to ride the coattails of another organization means one essential thing for your brand: someone else is not only in the lead (leaving you in its shadow), but that leader is also in the driver’s seat, dictating the journey for yours, despite the inherent company to company idiosyncrasies.

And so, we believe that only by first identifying the why behind your company’s what can your organization truly experience authentic brand growth. When people can align themselves with your company’s values and innovational spirit, they will care about your company’s output.

We believe the key reason to buck the trends lies in that very point. The things that make your company unique to its industry are the very points that justify your company’s existence and relevance to its market. But in marketing, foregoing the tried and true in search of a new idea or way of communicating with consumers can mean the difference between a campaign that merely satisfies the status quo and one that is truly groundbreaking.

We're honored to have received an Innovator Award from Summit International's Emerging Media Awards (EMA) in the Real Estate/Neighborhood/Community Website category for our re-brand of Linda May Properties. But the reason why we're proud to have received 'Innovator' might surprise you.

We're honored to have received an Innovator Award from Summit International's Emerging Media Awards (EMA) in the Real Estate/Neighborhood/Community Website category for our re-brand of Linda May Properties. But the reason why we're proud to have received 'Innovator' might surprise you.

The Real Value of Receiving 'Innovator'

We enter these meritorious international competitions frequently; We want our work reviewed by some of the world's best design, marketing, interactive media, and branding professionals because we know that each of the major competitions has high standards of excellence. Holding our work up to these high standards helps us to grow. This latest award is tangible proof that we're at the top of the best brand development firms out there. Our participation helps hold us accountable to our own high standards, and to our clients, and that is extremely gratifying.

The other aspect of gaining endorsements from the major competitions is that it provides us with the opportunity to celebrate our client relationships and our clients' own excellence. For example, our web branding of Linda May Properties — a luxury real estate company in Beverly Hills that has been in the top 1% for the last 12 years — has not only earned the Summit EMA Innovator Award, but also a MarCom Awards Platinum, the Davey Awards Silver for Visual Appeal, a W3 Awards Silver for Creative Excellence on the Web, and Interactive Media Awards Best In Class in the Real Estate category. Our clients are at the forefront of every win. When STARMEN wins these awards, our clients gain accolades, and increased exposure as well.

Pushing the Bounds of Creative Excellence

Summit's Emerging Media Awards are threefold: Visionary, Innovator, and Leader. Winning Innovator is even more precious given the fact that Summit's 2014 Emerging Media Awards cycle included over 1,200 entries from numerous countries, with only a mere 7% of entrants earning recognition.

"The Summit Emerging Media Awards (Summit EMA) evolved through a need to recognize and celebrate creativity, innovation and those pushing the bounds of creative excellence in all forms of emerging media," states the Summit International Awards website.

The EMA is open to marketers, coders, designers, developers, innovators, visionaries, and leaders in the exciting realm of digital media. The EMA recognizes entries that introduce new methods, as well as entrants who are thought leaders in emerging media, and demonstrate excellence on the web via apps, videos, mobile sites, and social media.

Summit provides the theatre for boutique firms to compete on a global stage with its international panel of judges, and entries from all over the world. Judges (representing small, medium, and large firms) and universities, all recognized in their fields, hail from institutions and specialties the world over.

All said, this year we're planning to continue to submit our work to the major award entities for invaluable feedback and validation. As a solution-oriented agency, we love helping clients transform challenges into opportunities. And who knows? Maybe the work we do for you will earn prestigious recognition too!

Contact us today to kick-start a future campaign win.

We believe that the only way to predict the future is to create it. And at our core, we are an agency dedicated to the creation of positive change through strategic brand development.

We believe that the only way to predict the future is to create it. And at our core, we are an agency dedicated to the creation of positive change through strategic brand development.

In 2015, we want to find even more ways to bring positivity and success to our clients, specifically in the way of branding. Our approach to business design and brand building will include more diverse and intensive marketing strategies, bolder brand stories, and more personal digital experiences. Whether you are a start-up, consumer product, B2B enterprise, or a non-profit, branding affects how customers perceive and relate to your brand.

Our 4 Guiding Principles to Making Brands Work in 2015:

Sharing Compelling Brand Stories

When it comes to branding, one thing hasn't changed in decades, if not centuries of advertising: compelling brand stories are crucial to success. Growth takes strategy, and every strategy needs a compelling story to heighten emotion that results in a desired preference. We continue to strive to create wonderful, entertaining, inspiring and unforgettable brand stories for our clients with the use of top-notch copywriting, design, research, and technology that evokes emotion. So, as 2015 brings even more innovative and memorable digital advancements to the forefront of our culture, we will embrace them wholeheartedly for the good of ourselves and those who trust us to build and grow their brands.

Humanizing the Digital Experience

Our narrative continues to support the idea that branding and design is all about getting personal. Getting hands-on is always a challenge in this exciting digital age, but we plan to accept the challenge and come out on top. In a crowded marketplace, companies should always be looking for ways to connect emotionally with customers, and to become irreplaceable. We will focus closely on collaboration this year so that we can discover and utilize the best ideas from listening to our partners - not just hearing them. Some of the best ideas for our strategies synchronize a personal connection between consumers and our work. At the height of every campaign, we want to feel the satisfaction of knowing that we've sparked a real, positive emotional response in the hearts of our audience.

Mobilizing Brand Experience

Creative genius can strike on variety of wavelengths or devices, anywhere - anytime. Yes, it is totally possible, and we offer ourselves as proof. When you work with great clients like we do, it's easy to come up with awesome ideas day-in and day-out - but without the ability to share content and brand stories, what good are they? This year, we want to work our existing creative process into new, mobile-based strategies. The more, the merrier!

Design Thinking Fuels Strategic Innovation

Design thinking is the search for the magical balance between business and art; structure and chaos; intuition and logic; concept and execution; playfulness and formality; and control and empowerment. It's all about creative ideas - and then knowing how to execute on them. We have the resources, the ideas and the knowledge. And this year we will continue to build powerful strategies that benefits both our clients and our team so that the question always remains, "That worked well! What's next?"

Looking Ahead

Has your company evaluated its 2015 branding goals? When you collaborate with us, you'll be at the forefront of your industry when it comes to understanding and deciding when branding is needed, and if a rebranding is the best option. We want to help you create the new standardization in the midst of a creative ever-changing culture.

What are your big branding challenges this year and how may we help you? Contact us here https://www.starmenusa.com/contact

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