Seeing the interest skyrocket in kayaks, stand-up paddleboards (SUPs) and rowing sculls, Kevin Kirkland turned the success of one watercraft business, Lake Geneva Marine, into the opportunity for a second. Mr. Kirkland’s passion is being on the lake, and his love of non-motorized watercraft made it clear what was to come next.

Fontana Paddle Company’s mission is providing non-motorized watercraft to enthusiasts on one of Wisconsin’s most premier inland lakes, Lake Geneva. For over a century, Chicago, Milwaukee, Madison and Rockford vacationers have enjoyed Lake Geneva’s clear waters and gentile shores. Today’s thriving lake culture not only supports motorized boats, but the quickly growing popularity of silent sports.

Fontana Paddle Company offers watercraft and equipment rentals, lessons for the first timer as well as the expert, tours for individuals and groups, a pro shop to get gear of your own, and a storage or put in service that will allow customers to keep their gear maintained and ready without the hassle of transport.

Mr. Kirkland came to Signalfire in early June, 2010 with a plan to have the boats in the water before July 12th. Fontana Paddle Company needed a brand, full marketing materials, a website and a complete social media setup. Given the compacted timeframe and the volume of creatives, Signalfire hit the ground running. Developing both the brand and the website concurrently, his completed materials were all online the week before the scheduled launch.

Fontana Paddle Company’s dynamic, self-maintained website was built on the newly-launched WordPress 3.0 platform. The client will have the capabilities to not only manage the content (text and images) on the site, but will also be able to add pages and new stories over time. With smart, dynamic navigation, the site will grow with Fontana Paddle Company’s service offerings.

With marketing materials and branded apparel into production before the launch, Signalfire dove into the social media setup. Signalfire kept their personnel and their ability to share their passion of non-motorized watercraft in the forefront when developing a strategy. By creating a custom landing tab on the Facebook Fan Page, a branded Twitter background, custom avatars (profile icons) and a complete Foursquare business venue setup, Fontana Paddle jumped into the social media waters head first. Look for location specials on Foursquare, news about lessons and tours on Facebook, and keep in touch over Twitter.

The success of Fontana Paddle Company demonstrates Signalfire’s ability to develop engaging brands in many mediums. From logo design to turn-key web development and from print design to social media strategy—Signalfire is your best choice when launching a brand from the ground up!

This new rage of sharing one’s location by checking into venues such as restaurants, bars, hotels, and even grocery stores is broadcasted further into Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or any other media platform. Friends keep connected and get connected for evenings out. Co-workers share lunch suggestions or bagel choices. But more importantly, these venues can pass along specials, tips or other incentives/rewards for those who participate. Experiences are shared and broadcasted as endorsements to friends or virtual acquaintances.

Broadcasting one’s location along with commentary ranging from “cute bartender” to “never order the seafood ravioli” carries with it a type of endorsement. Sharing your location is simply advertising the location’s brand. Your presence gives an opportunity for the brand to interact with the members of your interest community. Like the venue or hate it, you’ve just performed a vital advertising task—you’ve shared.

The threshold of sharing versus oversharing is very subjective to the individual. Each person must choose to check in and share. Every digital acquaintance chooses to interact with the individual and in essence is in the same position as someone who watches a television show live and sit through commercials. While some choose to watch the television show over the Internet and some watch it on the DVR only to fast forward the commercials, smart brands have re-embraced the age old practice of product placement.

Product placement, such as the AT&T phone or the Starbucks Coffee or even the Ford truck the main character tools around in are all subtle forms of advertising—carrying a subliminal brand message. The phone always gets a signal. The coffee is always right. The truck always gets through the rough stuff. Bottom line, every product placement brings the audience a message. Now we look at our lives enhanced with social media and then social location networking.

Looking at our lives as we check-in, share our impressions or even our critiques; we are, in essence, doing product placement for every brand we interact with. For example, we have Restaurant A delivering a great pasta dish to our first date couple, each are relatively savvy in media. Both checked-in as they entered separately, likely commenting on nerves. Both update Facebook or tweet from the restroom to let their friends know how the date is going and how the food is or how the waiter gave a quiet wine recommendation that rocked. All seems rather innocent, but it all plays for the restaurant’s brand.

How did this date play in the restaurant’s brand favor? Flip roles. Two similar people with somewhat overlapping social communities and spending habits broadcasted their intention to dine. Both gave subtle, but ringing endorsements to the food, the service and the atmosphere. In more fashions than a brand could dream these two tell a great story on why someone should go on a date at Restaurant A. Simply put, these two have just done a great restaurant product placement into their social media lives.

When examining your own business or personal brand, how does social location networking fit into product placement? What does your check-ins say about you (regardless of you checking in places or who is checking into your place)? How can you capitalize on it and make the most of this newest rage? Be aware of your brand in this new realm and never forget to engage here, too.

Stick. Stay. Stretch. Snap back.

Sounds like a pretty good brand strategy?

So much of our message about social media revolves around being sticky. How well a brand message resonates or sticks to the consumer’s decision making process is critical in all mediums—especially social media where brand loyalty is hard won and easily lost. Could putting a brand message out, letting consumers carry the message with them, spreading the message by contact to members of their interest community, and eventually having them return with even more interested consumers be a winning brand strategy. I think so.

Spreading a brand’s message from consumer to consumer means that the message is personal. The brand message must identify with the consumer on a one to one level. It must also have an inherent vehicle to drive the consumer back to the brand (website, social media nest, etc.). This “snapping back to home” is not too different that a rubber band stretched out and snapping back, but with each snap back to home more consumers get brought in. In fact, I keep thinking of the “sticky hands” we’d get from gum ball machines when we were young.

What tools would you use to enhance the “elasticity” of brands? Social location networks (SoLo), or location-driven social media are great examples. In this instance, we’ll use the rapidly growing platform, Foursquare, as an example. Our early adopter, Allison, goes out with her friends on a Friday evening. Checking into venues over the course of the night and broadcasting her locations and opinions. These are passed along to Facebook, Twitter and other social media venues spreading her experience, visited businesses, and overall fun to all of her followers / friends. Conversations begin about the drink special she got from Club A or the incredible service at Restaurant B.

Allison is using SoLo networking to spread the word for these brands. She’s flinging out the sticky hand and getting her followers/friends to “snap back” to the brands she’s experienced. Those friends/followers of her interest community are now embracing the brands Allison “endorsed” in her night out. Suddenly, Allison’s friends/followers are going to want to repeat her experiences and share them through their own interest communities.

Allison’s adventure and subsequent spreading of brand messages is, of course, contingent on not only making the brand personable, but engaged. Brands must engage Allison while she is on her adventure. Brands must give her the tools to support her sharing of the brand message. Foursquare is a good example of how brands can engage consumers on a new level and spread their message to a wider consumer audience. This article on the success of restaurant owner, Joe Sorge, using this exact medium illustrates the effectiveness.

Brands are now faced with the possibility to integrating into consumer’s lives on an unprecedented level. Overt advertising for brands with small budgets is a challenge, but smart brands who are willing to engage consumers and help spread their brand message while doing so will ultimately succeed. However, that means brands must discover what, when, and how their consumers are communicating and sharing. As Gary Vaynerchuk puts it (in his trademark language), “you’ve got to get in the trenches, bitches!”

Giving interactive mavens and potential brand evangelists, like our fictional Allison, the tools to spread your brand will mean every time she goes out your brand message will stick to more and more consumers. Like the sticky hands, every time it goes out, it will bring something back.