hammock-wood-2Until last week, our new downtown Nashville offices* had been missing something vital: signage featuring the Hammock “H” logo. It was easy to figure out where to hang such a sign—our reception area is right off the elevators–but figuring out how to create it was a tougher decision. Our first choice was to commission a Nashville artisan whose hand-crafted signage was gaining regional appeal. Unfortunately, while we were talking with him, he went from up-and-coming to 100 percent “up,” and his backlog of work meant we’d go for months before getting on his schedule.

We decided then to go the maker route. Having abundant in-house design capabilities, our challenge was to find an artisan with laser-guided saw capabilities and the experience to transform our design files into wood signage. When we discovered such a company that also has mastered the type of post-advertising marketing skills we admire, there was little doubt we’d enjoy working with Oakland, Calif.-based Tinkering Monkey studios.


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Idea: Branding Must Flow If Your Brand Is to Grow

Google the word “branding” and you’ll find lots of explanations focusing on the front-end development of a product: the creation of a name, logo, slogan and a set of “values” that differentiates a product from its competitors. 

JF14-CoverEvery issue of American Spirit* invites readers to learn more about a historic home–and its owners–particularly those with connections to the Colonial or Early American period. Gracing the January/February cover is The Oaks, a Worcester, Mass., home finished at the end of the Revolution by Judge Timothy Paine and later occupied by his son, Dr. William Paine. Both Paines were Tories, but, ironically, the home is now owned and preserved by the Colonel Timothy Bigelow DAR Chapter, named for the Revolutionary minuteman, prisoner of war and military commander.

Another feature honors the French-born Patriot Comte de Rochambeau. He forged an effective partnership with George Washington and played an integral role in the British defeat at the Siege of Yorktown.

We delve into law and order, early-American-style, for a feature on Virginia statesman George Wythe. We investigate the mysterious circumstances of this Patriot’s painful death, probably at the hands of his ne’er-do-well grandnephew.


[Hammock’s Current Idea Email was released today.
Subscribe now to receive your own issue, once every two weeks.]
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Idea: Blind Men, an Elephant and Content Marketing

Ask several “content marketing experts” to answer the question, “What is content marketing?” and you’ll be reminded of the ancient fable from India about six blind men who describe an elephant after touching different parts of the animal. “It’s a snake,” says the blind man who touched the tail. “It’s a large leaf,” says the man who touched the ear. “It’s a tree,” says the man who touched the leg. And so on.