Rebranding Branding - The Distility Blog

1day1brand system delivers an innovative and collaborative process for building brands

TORONTO, ONTARIO (July 21st, 2010) -- MaRS, a Toronto-based not-for-profit innovation centre, is pleased to announce that one of its clients, Distility Branding, has closed a round of angel funding totalling $350,000. Proceeds of the investment will provide operations support and allow Distility to further its marketing and sales efforts.

The Distility team is comprised of self-titled “brand technologists” with a passion for inventing new workflows that make branding quick, collaborative and trouble-free–a passion that led to the development of Distility 1day1brand, a breakthrough business method and collaborative software system that makes it possible for teams to develop a brand promise, position and personality in just one day.

“The recent funding will allow us to extend our workflows to make even more branding activities quick, collaborative and trouble-free,” says Axle Davids, CEO of Distility. “Furthermore, it provides the capital for us to aggressively expand our sales networks and pursue businesses and marketing partners who find traditional branding too slow, complicated and expensive. Lance Laking and the MaRS advisory team have been committed throughout the process.”

Distility has been a client of MaRS since 2009 and recently moved its offices to the MaRS Incubator. Through the guidance of the MaRS Advisory Team and lead advisor Lance Laking, Distility is now poised to shake up the traditional branding industry.

“I always felt that marketing and branding service firms had an aura of ‘black magic’ about them, making the process more complex, time consuming and expensive,” says Lance Laking. “Distility is looking to disrupt this perception by making branding more tangible and affordable for small to medium-sized businesses. Distility’s technology makes the branding process engaging and scalable.” MaRS worked closely with Axle Davids and the private investor to ensure Distility was investment-ready.

For further information, please contact:
Andrew F. Stewart
Distility
T. 416-413-7777, ext. 3
E. andrew@distility.com

We're delighted by the response so far to Brand Scammed! Have a look in the comments section below for some of the quotes we've received by some of the best minds in business. And please add your quote to theirs. You'll be in great company!

By Axle Davids, CEO & Brand Technologist, Distility Branding

This scam is by far the biggest of all Brand Scams and leads to the worst brands of all.

The typical story is a client who needs a branding deliverable like a website or lead generation campaign. They ask their internal resource or a vendor to do a logo, tagline, or “figure out our brand” while they are at it.

The vendor may be well intentioned but ignorant about brand analysis, strategy or standards. They may be overconfident, a branding wannabe who figures that since they have worked “on a brand” they are capable of creating one. Or they may be cynical, preferring to avoid the heavy thinking and collaboration of brand analysis and brand strategy, and just get a billable deliverable out the door.

But the real person to blame here is the buyer. If you still think branding is just a logo, or a slogan, or a brainstorm, you are kickin’ it old- school – and not in a cool retro way.

To read about more Brand Scams or download our new eBook "Brand Scammed!" Click here.

The 2010 Awards of Excellence, recognizing outstanding accomplishments in entrepreneurship, were presented last night at the 2nd Annual TBDC Awards Gala.

From innovation, to community impact, to unyielding perseverance, the Toronto Business Development Centre Awards Gala honours TBDC graduate business owners who embody the 'Essence of Entrepreneurship'.

Distility CEO, Axle Davids was honoured to receive the Excellence in Innovation Award for developing our Distility 1day1brand workflow.