BRANDING X|O A Montana Perspective (PDF)

BRANDING A Montana Perspective

ITS OFTEN SAID WE ARE

INFORMED BY OUR UPBRINGING AND

ENVIRONMENT

!

BRANDING - A MONTANA PERSPECTIVE WEB.key - April 29, 2014

BRANDINGA MONTANA PERSPECTIVE™!

© GREG WERNER 2014

THIS IS A PERSPECTIVE OF BRANDING FROM A DISTINCTLY MONTANA POINT OF VIEW. MONTANA IS ALSO KNOWN BY MANY COMMON TERMS…

THE TREASURE STATE

MONTANA

THE STATE MOTTO, UPON BECOMING A STATE


MONTANABIG SKY COUNTRY

1947 A.B. Guthrie novel “The Big Sky”

THE LAST BEST PLACE

MONTANA

….THIS PHRASE, MADE FAMOUS IN The Last Best Place: A

Montana Anthology WILLIAM KITTREDGE. ONCE BEING

GRANTED TRADEMARK STATUS BEFORE REVERSAL AND

BEING PLACED ‘OFF-LIMITS’ BY SPECIAL STATUS IN 2012 WITH

THE USPTO. IT WAS RULED GENERIC AND “BELONGS TO

MONTANA AND ALL MONTANANS”. The State of Montana, on

the other hand, doesn’t ‘own the mark’ because it never claimed

it, and as in the public domain, can’t prevent Montanans from

using it.


GENERIC, COMMON

LANGUAGE PHRASES

THESE MAY BE WELL KNOWN PHRASES DESCRIBING MONTANA, BUT IT’S NOT _THE_ BRAND OF MONTANA. THAT BELONGS TO ONE UNIQUE ICON, ONE UNIQUE IMAGE.

BRANDING v 1.0


TRUST EVERYONE,

BACK IN THE 1800’S, IT IS WAS SAID, … !

BUT BRAND!YOUR LIVESTOCK


AND THIS IS HOW IT WAS DONE

BACK THEN YOUR LIFE OFTEN DEPENDED UPON THE MARK YOUR LIVESTOCK WORE UPON THEIR HIDES


… AND THE SAME IS TRUE TODAY.

THEY WERE DISTINCTIVE AND THEY WERE YOUR’S - IF YOU COULD KEEP THEM. THE BRANDS ELIMINATED CONFUSION ON THE RANGE AND IN THE MARKETPLACE. THIS ROADSIDE SIGN IN CATTLE COUNTRY REMINDS US OF THE PAST AND PRESENT. THEY WERE CREATED TO BE SIMPLE AND SOME HAD SIMPLE MNEMONICS ASSOCIATED WITH THE MARKS. THE NOTABLE ONES ARE THE CIRCLE, THE BAR, THE “FLYING” LETTER, . . . DOES ANY ONE NOTICE A MARK COMMONLY SEEN TODAY? THAT’S RIGHT, THE CIRCLE C - IT’S THE SECOND TIME YOU’VE SEEN THIS MARK IN THIS PRESENTATION, COMMONLY KNOWN AS THE “COPYRIGHT MARK”. … THE “ROCKIN’” LETTER, THE “LAZY” LETTER, THE QUARTER CIRCLE, THE “SWINGING” LETTER, THE DIAMOND, AND YES, THE CIRCLE R IS A LEGITIMATE BRAND TOO, PREDATING THE MARK WE ALL RECOGNIZE TODAY AS THE “REGISTERED TRADEMARK”.


HERE ARE SOME SIMPLE BRANDS.

VISIT BOZEMAN, MONTANA TODAY AND YOU CAN VISIT THE ROCKIN’ R BAR ON MAIN STREET - POPULAR WITH COLLEGE STUDENTS SINCE THE 1950’S.


BUT EVEN IN THE 50’S READING BRANDS WAS BECOMING UNKNOWN. NO NEED FOR THE “ROCKING’ WORD, IT’S ALL THERE IN THE “ROCKIN’ R”

THEN, AS NOW, THERE WERE THOSE UP TO NO GOOD WHO SOMETIMES FOUND THEIR PAY AT THE END OF A NOOSE


A “LAZY M”, IN THE HANDS OF A RUSTLER, COULD BECOME A…

TWIN, OR DOUBLE-DIAMONDS. YOU COULD BE SEEN AS A REAL FOOL IF YOU BOUGHT A HERD OF “DOUBLE-DIAMONDS”.


THERE WERE SOME OTHER CLEVER WAYS OF USURPING A BRAND AND MAKING A QUICK BUCK, AND ALSO TEST YOUR LUCK


A MORE PERSONAL VIEWPORT OF

BRANDING!!

THROUGH MONTANA EYES

WHAT I WOULD LIKE TO DO NOW IS TAKE YOU ON A MORE PERSON VIEWPORT OF BRANDING — THROUGH MONTANA EYES

CMRCHARLES MARION RUSSELL MONTANA COWBOY ARTIST

1864 - 1926

…AND IT IS WITH THIS WESTERN ARTIST, CHARLES MARION RUSSELL. IN HIS DAY, EVERYONE IN MY BIRTH-TOWN OF GREAT FALLS KNEW HIM AS CHARLIE. THEN, GREAT FALLS WHERE I GREW UP WAS A SMALL TOWN WHERE MOST PEOPLE KNEW EVERYONE.


CHARLIE WAS KNOWN FOR HIS PAINTING, BUT HE WAS A SCULPTOR TOO. BUT AS WE WILL SEE, THERE IS A ICON OR LOGO, IF YOU WILL, THAT MARKS HIS WORK THAT EVEN TODAY LIVES BEYOND HIS TIME.

CHARLIE WORKED IN A LOG CABIN STUDIO THAT HE AND HIS WIFE BUILT NEXT TO THEIR HOUS IN THE EARLY 1900’S ON “THE EDGE OF TOWN”. NOW, OF COURSE, ITS IN THE MIDDLE OF TOWN. MY WIFES GRANDPARENTS OWNED A SMALL GROCERY DOWNTOWN AND USED TO DELIVER GROCERIES TO THE RUSSELL’S IN THE TEENS AND TWENTIES. IT IS SAID, BEHIND EVERY SUCCESSFUL MAN…


NANCY RUSSELL… IS A WOMAN, AND NANCY COOPER RUSSELL WAS EVERY BIT THAT — FOR YOU SEE, CHARLIE WAS HAPPY JUST DOING HIS PAINTING AND HAD LITTLE CARE FOR “THE BUSINESS” SIDE OF THINGS.

CHARLIE RUSSELLIT’S AFTER THEY MEET AND MARRY THAT YOU START TO SEE THE USE OF HIS “SKULL” BRAND AND THE “CMRUSSELL OR, CMR…” THAT MARKS HIS WORK.


AS A YOUTH IN GREAT FALLS, I WAS SURROUNDED BY THESE BOOKS, AND THIS PLACE…

…THE CM RUSSELL MUSEUM. ESTABLISHED IN 1953. MY FATHER IS NOW A RETIRED ARCHITECT FROM GREAT FALLS. HIS FIRM WAS FORTUNATE ENOUGH TO DESIGN THREE EXPANSIONS OF THE MUSUEM OVER HIS SIX DECADES OF PRACTICE THAT NOW COVER A FULL CITY BLOCK.


IT WAS IN THE BOOKS AND IN THE MUSEUM THAT I BECAME FAMILIAR WITH THE ICONIC SKULL. CHARLIE MUST HAVE DRAWN IT THOUSANDS OF TIMES. IT BECAME THE ICON OF HIS WORK - DOUBLY EXPRESSED HERE.


IT WAS AT THE MUSEUM THAT YOU COULD BE SURROUNDED BY THE SCULPTURES AND THE PAINTINGS…

IT WAS AT THE MUSUEM AND IN THE BOOKS THAT I GOT FAMILIAR WITH THESE FANTASTIC IMAGES OF A WEST THAT WAS DISAPPEARING - THE WEST THAT CHARLIE RUSSELL CAPTURED SO VIVIDLY. “WAITING FOR A CHINOOK”, OFFICIALLY “THE LAST OF THE 5000”


HE VIVIDLY CAPTURED SCENES OF A WEST NOW GONE.

“IN WITHOUT KNOCKING” - ONE OF MY FAVORITES


HERE YOU CAN CLEARLY SEE WHERE HE TRUELY BRANDS HIS WORK. CHARLIE WAS A CLOSE FRIEND OF THE NUMEROUS INDIAN TRIBES OF MONTANA. IF YOU DIDN’T LIKE INDIANS, CHARLIE DIDN’T LIKE YOU.

CHARLIE HAD A WAY OF BEING ABLE TO CAPTURE A TIME WITH EVERY NUANCE OF HIS MONTANA SURROUNDINGS. HE CAPTURED THE SKY LIKE IT IS. A SKY YOU HAVE TO EXPERIENCE FIRST HAND.


HIS LETTERS AND NOTES ARE SOME OF THE GREATEST WORKS FOR THEIR SIMPLICITY AND THE HUMANITY THAT THEY EXPRESS. HIS ILLUSTRATIONS SURPASSED HIS RITIN SKILLS, BUT The RITIN’ EXPRESSED UNMATCHED SINCERITY.

YOU WILL NEVER FIND PUNCTUATION IN HIS RITIN’. HE MUST HAVE BEEN SKETCHING DURING THAT CLASS. HERE HE SIGNS OFF WITH THE BRAND, NOT AS WE MIGHT, WITH OUR NAME.


WOULDN’T IT HAVE BEEN FANTASTIC TO GET A NOTE LIKE THIS.

I THINK YOU WOULD NOTICE THIS LETTER IN YOUR MAILBOX! I WONDER HOW MANY DIDN’T GET DELIVERED AS CMR BECAME MORE AND MORE FAMOUS.


THE TRIGG FAMILY WAS THE NEIGHBOR FAMILY AT THE OTHER END OF THE BLOCK THAT ENDED UP WITH A CONSIDERABLE COLLECTION OF THE ART AND WITH IT, THIER ONLY CHILD, AN UNMARRIED LIBRARIAN, HELPED FOUND THE MUSEUM ORGANIZATION IN 1953. IT WAS ON THE LOT OF HER CHILDHOOD HOME THAT SHE ESTABLISHED THE FIRST MUSEUM BUILDING WITH MY FATHER’S FIRM’S HELP.

MY FAMILY CAN’T ESCAPE CMR’S HOLD. IN 1964 A NEW HIGH SCHOOL OPENS IN GREAT FALLS, DESIGNED BY MY FATHERS ARCHITECTURE FIRM - C.M. RUSSELL HIGH SCHOOL. A CAMPUS FIT FOR A UNIVERSITY SETTING WITH A…


FIELDHOUSE TO COMPLIMENT.

THIS PLACE FIGURED HIGHLY IN MY FORMATIVE LIFE, WAS IT CHANCE THAT THE “SKULL” BRAND AND LOGOTYPE NAME ARE SO CENTRAL TO THE DESIGN?


THE SKULL ICON REMAINS THE ICONIC “GO-TO PLACE” AT THE SCHOOL FOR BUILDING MEMORIES.

BRANDING v 2.0

SO LETS TRANSITION NOW TO WHAT I’LL CALL “BRANDING, VERSION 2.0”


“Charles M Russell!Skull Brand”

SO, WHAT DO WE DO THESE DAYS WHEN WE WANT TO FIND OUT ABOUT THE “Charles M Russell Skull Brand”? WE… …IT

AS A RESULT, WE’LL SEE IMAGES OR READ STORIES LIKE THIS OF CHARLIE RUSSELL… OR


…OR WE DISCOVER ANOTHER RUSSELL BRAND WHO HAS THE CHALLENGE OF MANAGING HIS OWN.

I MANAGE MY BRAND, AND YOU PROBABLY DO TOO.


V 1.O >>>>> V2.0

SO WE BEGIN TO SEE THAT BRANDING, IN THE OLD SENSE, TAKES ON A NEW MEANING IN OUR AGE TO THE POINT NOW THAT WE MANAGE OUR OWN BRAND, AS CHARLIE DID ONE HUNDRED YEARS AGO.

TODAY, BRANDING!IS!

EVERYTHING, ESPECIALLY TO A

COMPANY IN BUSINESS


WHERE YOU RANK MATTERS. HOW YOU STAND OUT IN THE CROWD MATTERS.

BRANDING

SO, WE’VE SEEN BRANDING UNDERGO A TRANSFORMATION OF ONE MEANING,…


WE’VE GONE!FROM THIS

TO THIS… TO THIS. TODAY’S BRANDING MORE THAT IDENTIFIES, IT STRATIFIES OUR CHOICES AND DECISIONS.


THE ULTIMATE BRAND!

COMPLIMENT & TRIBUTE

SO, WHAT IS THE ULTIMATE BRAND COMPLIMENT AND TRIBUTE?

IN CHARLIE RUSSELL’S CASE ITS THIS. IN TIME, WE FROM MOVE FROM THIS…


TO THE SIMPLICITY OF THIS…

TO EXPRESSION IN THIS…


TO TEACHING WITH THIS…

TO SHARING WITH THIS - WITH ITS CENTRAL ICON, COURTESY OF CHARLIE RUSSELL. THE ICON BINDS IT ALL TOGETHER IN AN ITEM THAT ANYONE CAN HOLD, AND APPRECIATE, IF THEY HAVE KNOW THE HISTORY.


THE SKULL IS AN ENDURING ICON OF

A TIME GONE BY

THANKS CHARLIE

65


FOR MORE INFORMATION

http://www.CMRussell.org!

http://www.charlesmarionrussell.com/museum.html


BRANDING X|O A Montana Perspective (PDF)

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