Only released in beta version a little over a year ago, and already voted one of the “50 Best Websites of 2011,” Pinterest.com is a new social media phenomenon. It is a “mood board” style sharing site, where users create their own boards based on themes that interest them. Users “pin” URLs and photos to their theme boards, which are then shared with followers and other users. The site offers a “pin it” utility to allow users to quickly and easily pin something they see on any site on the web. Pins can be repinned, or liked, and allow other users to comment also.

To join Pinterest, you must be invited. You can get an invitation emailed to you from a current user, or go to Pinterest.com to request an invitation. When you are invited you can register through your facebook or twitter accounts.

I just started using Pinterest and I will say that the site has become a major source of inspiration and ideas for everything – cooking, fashion, home decor, art, design, technology, and much more. The search feature is useful when I’m curious about what’s been “pinned” on a particular topic. I started pinning favorite things of mine right away, and I also do a fair amount of “repinning” ideas that I see from other users that I want to save to my boards, too.

It will be interesting to see how companies and brands can promote products on the site. I’m sure many companies are already looking into how to incorporate Pinterest in a way that won’t alienate users – especially when their rules of etiquette are clearly opposed to overtly promotional activity on the site. As part of an overall social strategy, it appears that Pinterest is a site that should be considered, particularly if the brand can provide helpful, interesting, or inspiring information “pinners” would appreciate.

Have you started using Pinterest? Will it be part of your social media strategy?

Fort Financial Credit Union (FFCU) engaged Catalyst as Certified Brand Strategists to facilitate a brand discovery session in order to uncover the essence of its unique brand of financial services. This discovery exercise brought together key FFCU executives, management, and operations team members who, together with Catalyst, looked inside the organization’s history, services, culture, and people to uncover actionable truths.

Through this process, FFCU uncovered exactly what sets the organization apart from its competitors and why consumers choose to do business with them. Their brand position is that they are honestly unlike other banking experiences. From this position, Catalyst developed their new tagline, “Unbank your life.”

To launch this new position to the market, Catalyst produced a corporate brochure that outlines their philosophy, services, and products. The brochure is a unique shape and size, “unlike” a traditional corporate brochure, in keeping with FFCU’s brand image. This, along with the copy, caught the attention of Sappi Fine Paper, whose Marketing Communications Director wrote, “The overall approach is indeed refreshingly unbank-like. The photographs are people we can all relate to, and the copy speaks in simple, straightforward language. The printing quality is excellent.” The FFCU brochure is printed on Sappi Flo Dull Cover, specified specifically to enrich the four color photos and lend a high quality texture.

Catalyst is proud to produce printed pieces that so accurately reflect our client’s brand image and pleased that our work garners the attention of our industry peers.

Let us know what you think!

Car catapults into Catalyst

It was an exciting morning. It even made the news. And nearly took out Senior Art Director Jeff Anderson on his way back from the corner coffee shop.

Catalyst sits on the corner of a three-lane one-way main artery running through downtown Fort Wayne, and a one-way that crosses at the light. Some times of day it gets pretty dicey when vehicles are turning from Calhoun onto Washington and trying to make the lights. For us pedestrians, it’s a little like a live game of frogger. In fact we have witnessed several cars hit pedestrians while crossing, but that’s another story.

It was like any day. Everyone was hard at work, making clients happy, when they heard a very loud BOOM and CRASH. Running to the lobby, the ten or so people in the office that day found the front end of a vehicle extending 5 feet into the room. It had pushed the waiting room sofa and chair against the far wall, about ten feet. And it all just missed Jeff. A few seconds earlier and it would have been bad. He was thankful that there was a line at the coffee shop that day! (No one in the car was injured, either thank goodness.)

The area has been totally repaired good as new, but we all look both ways three times before crossing the street now! (more…)

We often council our clients that their corporate website is a critical touchpoint for their target audiences. It’s often the first impression a company gets to make on their potential customers. And you know what? It’s true for CATALYST too. While we’ve been hard at work helping our clients succeed, we’ve also been busy behind the scenes planning to relaunch our own site with a totally new look that best communicates our brand distinction and position.

That being said, we (humbly) suggest that there are more than 5 reasons to love our new site. (more…)