Companies of all sizes struggle with this question. For small companies the question is often whether or not to spend the resources to develop one; for larger companies it’s how to have your brand work really well; and, for all of them, there is always the question of what value does our brand bring us?

Come hear from the experts—the company helping ASL refine our own brand, The Oya Group—what a brand is, how it works, and why more and more companies are returning to branding to help them stand out in an ever more crowded marketplace.

Key topics to be discussed:

• A quick history of brands
• A very quick lesson in neurophysiology
• Why is branding important, examples of why this all works
• What makes up a brand?
• When do you need a brand?
• How do you get your brand on?
• Which of these is right for you?

 Speakers

Karen Hebert — President and Creative Director

Karen has more than 20 years experience in marketing, specializing in brand development, and concept creative. She founded Oya in 1994 and has nurtured it from a one-person shop to a thriving, award-winning agency. A trained artist and business veteran, Karen provides experienced and talented leadership on every project. She has provided innovative Creative Direction for companies of many sizes and industries. She has branded startups, like Greenfield Networks and Intacct, Realty, and worked within large established brands, such as Cisco and Synopsys. She is a fierce brand watchdog, and drives the rest of the team to ensure that client projects are precisely targeted, on budget, and on time.

Adam Gordon — SVP of Strategic Services

Adam has over 25 years of professional experience, including 10 years in technology and 15 in marketing, business development, and sales. He is an award-winning writer and marketer and has launched brands with companies such as Kodak, Pinnacle Systems, and Aruba Networks. He has won several Addy awards for his writing, and has developed brands for companies from early stage to mature. He has also developed brands in several industries, including technology, consumer, finance, and biomedical. His clients include companies such as, Centric Software,  Cisco, Adeza Biomedical, and Getinge. Adam handles the strategy and verbal side of branding, ensuring that brands tell the right story, to the right audience, in a concise, compelling, and memorable way.

About ASL Emerging Business Group: Best Practice Series

Abbott, Stringham, & Lynch (ASL)  Emerging Business Best Practice Series consists of lunchtime seminars that address ideas and facilitate discussions around financing, operations, building a team, and other areas essential to the success of emerging businesses.

ASL established the Emerging Business Group to help start-up and growth companies.  The Emerging Business Group provides a knowledge resource center of best practices for emerging businesses to streamline systems and operations, reduce regulatory risk, market themselves effectively, and free up entrepreneurs to focus on the business at hand.