As part of its monthly Competitive Edge Series, the Chamber is hosting a special program on Monday, April 30, 2012 called “Intersection: How Madison Avenue Creates Value for Main Street and Wall Street.” This is an excellent opportunity for businesses to learn about enhancing their brand from one of Tampa’s leading branding, interactive, advertising and marketing communications firms, Schifino Lee Advertising + Branding.

Ben Lee, Principal and Co-Founder of Schifino Lee and Evan Brownstein, Chief Creative Officer will be covering a variety of topics including how to increase a company’s value to customers, a proven step-by-step branding process, several successful case studies showing the impact of branding a company and steps that can be taken right now to grow and enhance a company’s brand.

The Competitive Edge Series program featuring Schifino Lee will be held at the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce, 201 North Franklin Street, Suite 201 on Monday, April 30th from 12:00 noon to 1:30 pm. Registration begins at 11:45 a.m. and lunch will be provided by Wright’s Gourmet House. Click here to RSVP for the event or call 813-276-9440.

When a long-established brand like Quaker Oats decides to refresh their logo the advertising world pays attentions. Schifino Lee wanted to know the details behind the new Larry and the new look, so we investigated.

The makeover was moderate but very effective to convey the message Quaker Oats is selling its consumers, “energy and healthy choices.” Larry is still sporting his classic Quaker hat but has lost his double chin. “We took about five pounds off him,” said Michael Connors, Vice President of Design at Hornall Anderson. The overall makeover included a hair cut, a pricey facelift, and a trip to the gym. Connors and his team shortened Larry’s hair to keep him looking thin. They also removed the double chin and brought in the sides of his face to introduce a more youthful slimmer look. And the final touches included broadening Larry’s shoulders to finalize his healthy energetic appearance.

Overall, Larry is looking pretty good. Time and tweets will tell how effective Larry’s new look will work for Quaker Oats and PepsiCo Inc.

If the right-brain is creative thinking and the left-brain is logical thinking, then Josh St. Aubin is Schifino Lee’s cerebral cortex.

On one hand, he is a talented designer with strong visual arts skills. On the other, he’s a brilliant programmer fluent in multiple languages: HTML, CSS, JavaScript, ActionScript, Flash, XML, Flex, PHP, ASP… the guy is scary-good.

“The digital landscape is in a state of constant change. Your customers want more than a website for your company. Today’s consumers spend more and more time online while engaging with multiple touch points that include social media, display, email, applications and mobile. When you utilize these new channels to their fullest potential, you capitalize on huge opportunities to connect with you customers.”

For 12 years, Josh has created innovative communications and experiences that helped build brands such as Dollar Rent A Car, Thrifty Car Rental, Transitions, Melitta, Badcock Home Furnishings and the New York Rangers.

Josh’s B.F.A. is from the International Academy of Design and Technology. He is a believer in “touch-nology,” and feels that the primary benefit of any innovation centers on its ability to connect people with experiences they love and enjoy.

Just like the rest of the world, we have taken an interest in Pinterest! This invite-only website hit 10 million U.S. monthly unique users faster than any independent site in history and has increased their daily users by 145% since the start of 2012. And this mega hit website is run by just 16 employees. We hope their coffee pot is never empty.

So what exactly is Pinterest? Simply put, Pinterest is organized randomness. It is a random assortment of images and videos called “pins” that are shared by users who organize their own pins into categories called “boards.” Currently, the most popular topics in the U.S. are crafts, gifts and special event items, hobbies and leisure, interior design, and fashion designers and collections. The real genius behind this site is each photo is linked to a website where the pinner grabbed the photo from. If you click on a gourmet pasta dish, you will most likely be taken to a website that lists the ingredients and recipe. If you click on a gorgeous little black dress, odds are you will land on a website where you can add it to your shopping cart. Anything that you can imagine – from painting your house to organizing your wedding – is pinned and repined thousands of times each day.

Pinterest’s mission statement is to “connect everyone in the world through the ‘things’ they find interesting.” and companies are starting to take advantage of this site to promote their own products and information about their company. For example, Chobani yogurt has 18 boards where they post everything from breakfast ideas to exercise inspiration to creative photos of Chobani-based dishes. It is like advertising without the overwhelming, “THIS IS AN ADVERTISEMENT” message and feel being pushed at you.

We decided to give it a try! Schifino Lee recently created an account and has created six boards to showcase our advertising and PR work across all media. Make sure to check us out! http://pinterest.com/schifinolee/

To better capture the essence of its photography exhibits and complement its new location, the Florida Museum of Photographic Arts (FMoPA) commissioned Tampa branding agency Schifino Lee to create a new website for the nonprofit museum.

The new site, www.FMoPA.org,, coincides with the museum’s move into a new downtown location this month. The website is meant to serve as an extension of the museum and offer a flavor of the displayed work for potential visitors and donors, including the Tampa Bay area’s growing class of creative professionals.

The site also describes how the museum — in addition to its historic and contemporary exhibits of internationally known photographers — offers an array of events, classes, membership programs, and community outreach activities.

With an untraditional look-and-feel and atypical navigation, visitors open the site to see eye-catching photography take over the computer screen. “This was a different approach than what’s often used in web design, and the visual power of the site is tied to its simplicity,” said Schifino Lee Creative Director Evan Brownstein. His team creatively and thoughtfully selected big, beautiful images “designed to make the photography the star,” he said.

Founded in 2001 as the Tampa Gallery of Photographic Arts, the museum was renamed in 2006 to better describe its purpose and mission of “exhibiting important photographic art as central to contemporary life and culture.”

The museum has recently relocated a few downtown blocks from N Tampa Street to Rivergate Plaza, located at 400 N Ashley Drive. The museum occupies the second and third floors of Rivergate’s architecturally significant Cube, a highly visible location in the heart of the Downtown Tampa Arts District.

About FMoPA

The Florida Museum of Photographic Arts is a museum dedicated to exhibiting important photographic art as central to contemporary life and culture.ÊFMoPA collects, preserves and exhibits historic and contemporary works by nationally and internationally known photographic artists. FMoPA also enriches the community by operating outreach programs to educate children and adults.

Utilizing the company’s existing brand platform, Schifino Lee recently launched a new website for The Vein & Vascular Institute of Tampa Bay in an effort to showcase the organization’s outstanding reputation in endovascular treatment and patient care. The website serves as a valuable online resource for patients to familiarize themselves with the facility, staff, treatment options available and various vein and vascular diseases.

The Schifino Lee team chose to emphasize the compassion and personal service that the Vein & Vascular Institute staff provides to each patient. From the first consultation to follow-up appointments, the doctors help to seek, diagnose and treat a problem with minimal recovery downtime after treatment. The Vein & Vascular Institute of Tampa Bay combines a state-of-the-art facility and instruments with years of knowledge and expertise to deliver an enjoyable experience unlike any other.

If you build it, they will come. Many people live by this mantra; however the Tampa Bay Sports Commission decided to take a much more proactive approach. By the end of 2012, nearly $120 million will have been invested to improve the Tampa Bay Times Forum, University of South Florida Athletic District and several other local sports facilities. The Tampa Bay Sports Commission, along with Schifino Lee, has created the “Experience New Now” campaign, to communicate these extensive and impressive venue improvements to event organizers around the country.

The “Experience New Now” project kicked off with redesigning the Tampa Bay Sports Commission logo into something that demonstrates the fun and energy of the destination itself, while also communicating the positive economic impact sporting events have on Tampa Bay. The logo is also accompanied by the brand promise of “Gameday. Every Day.” Schifino Lee then launched phase one of the campaign, creating a website, print advertisement and an innovative 3-dimensional direct mail piece to highlight how the Tampa Bay Times Forum is “New Now.”

The second phase, to begin in late spring in conjunction with the reopening of the USF Sun Dome, will feature the new venues at University of South Florida. The third phase will highlight several other local sports facilities and roll out in the latter half of 2012.

In 2011, the Sports Commission brought in 114 sports events that filled roughly 109,000 hotel room nights. This number is expected to swell to 120,000 this year. For more information, please visit www.TampaBayisNewNow.com.

Being a small company doesn’t mean you need to look like a small thinker. Cary Showalter came to Schifino Lee to develop a site that could exude the professionalism and personality of his company, ShowTech Solutions. ShowTech was founded by Cary in order to share his extensive IT experience, along with his business expertise, to small business and entrepreneurs that have challenging technological needs.

The new ShowTech website showcases the wide range of services and solutions the company offers; from security & support to complete integration of all your office, mobile and cloud server technologies. The site also contains a blog, allowing current and prospective clients to not only learn about what is happening at ShowTech Solutions, but also current news in the technology industry and in-depth product reviews.

Overall, the new website will effectively inform consumers about what ShowTech Solutions does and how they do it, while also facilitating communication through blog and social media posts. To view the new website, visit http://showtechsolutions.com.

When two of the nation’s leaders in the on-hold and in-store marketing industry joined forces, the combined company needed a new brand name to fit its wider array of service offerings. Audio Messaging Systems (AMS) and IOHI together became Spectrio.

Schifino Lee worked with national leaders of Oldsmar-based AMS and Oklahoma-based IOHI to define the essence of the new company’s value proposition, and then create an engaging, original new name and brand. The name “Spectrio” reflects the broad spectrum of products and services offered by the company, while the branding matches its technology-focus and forward-thinking creativity. The new tagline: “Be heard. Be seen. Be inspired.”

Schifino Lee also acquired the web domain www.spectrio.com for the company, which was available due to the originality of the new name.

The new company combines the audio marketing skills of AMS with the interactive expertise of IOHI, to deliver solutions for on-hold messaging, IVR (Interactive Voice Response) prompts, ambient music and in-store digital signage. Spectrio’s clients include such national companies as LabCorp, Regions Bank, Terminix, Gerdau, Pep Boys, Raymond James Financial, Goodyear and Papa John’s Pizza.

This was the eleventh company Schifino Lee has rebranded in the past 12 months. “Creating new brands that help define a company’s value proposition and break through the marketplace clutter is a challenge we truly enjoy and excel at,” said Schifino Lee Principal Ben Lee. “Seeing the direct, bottom-line impact is also rewarding.”

For Spectrio, the new name has already proven popular with employees and customers. “Spectrio has received a great reaction from the new name, and it has helped them quickly frame their positioning and message to customers,” said Lee.

It’s not often a person gets the chance to examine their organization from an outside perspective.  Leaving (and returning) has given me that rare opportunity.  During my absence, I was able to understand and better appreciate the uniqueness and strengths of Schifino Lee and how the agency approaches its craft.  One of the things we do so well is immerse ourselves into our clients’ business from a customer’s perspective; and transform the key insights we glean into a strategic plan of action and creativity that truly brings the brand to life.

I’m baaaack… with renewed enthusiasm and passion for doing great strategic branding and advertising with people I love!

About Roxie Clements:

Roxie Clements is Vice President, Director of Client Services, overseeing the agency’s Account Management team and managing several of the agency’s major clients.  A strong strategist, Roxie combines her skills with focused, positive drive to produce the greatest ROI for all clients.

A Florida advertising veteran, Roxie previously supervised the Florida Lottery account and other notable clients including Florida Tourism, Winn Dixie, Wet ‘n Wild, Levitz Furniture and Barnett Banks.

Roxie is one of many children in her family.  “I have 3 sisters and 2 brothers.  My mom had 6 kids in 7 years, and we weren’t even Catholic.”  Some of her favorite ads are the AT&T campaign “where the calls drop off at the most inopportune moment in the conversation. They’re funny, memorable, uncomfortably true and very engaging.”