(Boston, MA, February 14, 1995)--The Design Management Institute (DMI) will hold its 7th International Corporate Identity Conference, "Connecting Corporate Strategy with Brand Strategy," on May 7-10, 1995 at the Hotel Inter-Continental in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

Attendees will learn answers to these questions and more:

• Can branding variety dilute corporate identity?
• How does your brand strategy relate to your corporate strategy?
• How can our brand image enhance the value of our existing identity??
• How do your develop and manage perceived assets?
• How can global design strategies build brand value?

According to the President of the Institute, Earl N. Powell, "The complexities of global competition, information saturation, and rapid change are making it imperative that a company's vision and resources be sharply focused. Loyal customers and stakeholders are increasingly difficult to develop and retain. These factors make extremely critical the manner in which a company shapes and manages all the messages customers and stakeholders receive through products, communications, environments, and behaviors. These are the important issues which this conference will examine."

Three seasoned experts will cochair the conference. They have helped to establish the theme, develop the content, as well as work with the speakers. Here are some of their guiding thoughts:

LEE GREEN (Manager of Corporate Identity and Design, International Business Machines): "At IBM, one of our biggest challenges is making sure we engage people the right way and at all levels. I am looking forward to hearing the speakers and the participants discuss these issues."

LINDA KEEFE (Vice President, Strategic Marketing and Design, Yamamoto Moss): "We find that often there can be dangerous disconnects among corporate strategies, marketing strategies, and design strategies. We all need to develop and share more effective methods to address this. This will be a key component of the conference."

JEAN BOUCHENOIRE (Director, Public Affairs-Branding and Design Management, Bell Canada): "At Bell Canada, our nomenclature and visual identity systems are designed to make it easy for customers to recognize Bell instantly in everything that represents our company, from phone booths to business cards. But of course, this is a long and winding road from theory to practice... This conference provides me with a unique opportunity to discuss broad issues with colleagues. The benefits of such an event extend well beyond the conference itself, as the networking process leads to continuing exchanges on topics of mutual interests."

IDENTITY MANAGEMENT AND BRANDING: WHERE IS THE COMPETITIVE EDGE?:

Professor Bernd H. Schmitt, Columbia Business School

RE-ENERGIZING A WORLD-FAMOUS BRAND NAME:

David Reyes-Guerra, Manager of Corporate Identity, The Xerox Corporation

THREE PARADOXES, ONE IMAGE: THE WORLDWIDE IDENTITY SYSTEM FOR IBM AS/400:

Randall Hensley, CEO and Creative Director, C3 Inc., New York; and Julie Furey, Manager, IBM AS/400 Brand Image

NOVO NORDISK: HOW, WHY AND WHEN DOES 1 + 1 = 1???:

Jytte Ulrich, Manager, Corporate Identity, Novo Nordisk A/S, Copenhagen

MULTIMEDIA AS A TOOL FOR CUSTOMER RESEARCH:

Joanne Fantini, Producer, sound/IMAGE

PANEL SESSION: KEY ISSUES IN CORPORATE DESIGN STRATEGY AND BRANDING:

Jean Bouchenoire; Robert Brunner, Director, Corporate Design Group, Apple Computer, Inc.; Lee Green; and Linda Keefe

MATCHING DESIGN VISION WITH CORPORATE STRATEGY:

Raymond Turner, Group Design Director, BAA plc (British Airport Authority), London

DELIVERING THE IMAGE: SOME EXPERIENCES IN IMPLEMENTING A MAJOR IDENTITY CHANGE:

Tony Key, Manager of Corporate Identity, BT (British Telecom), London; Bonnie Briggs, Manager of Corporate Identity and Communications, Caterpillar; and others

CUSTOMER CONFIDENCE AND CORPORATE IDENTITY: STRATEGIC ISSUES FOR THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY:

Sally Gutman, Manager of Corporate Graphics, The Walt Disney Company

KEY COMPONENTS OF INSTITUTIONAL IDENTITY: A STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK FOR CI ANALYSIS:

Tony Spaeth, Corporate Identity Consultant

This program gives you the opportunity to earn a certificate of completion for an integrated, education program in corporate identity management. To qualify for the certificate you must attend all lectures and at least one of the three executive seminars listed below.

WORKSHOP:

1. FINANCIAL CONCEPTS FOR DESIGN LEADERSHIP: PART I (Wednesday, May 10): Dr. Julie Hertenstein, Northeastern University, College of Business Administration

SEMINAR:

2. MANAGING EXTERNAL DESIGN RESOURCES IN THE '90S (Sunday, May 7): Dr. Cynthia Ingols, Corporate Classrooms

CASE STUDY:

3. LEVERAGING IDENTITY AND IMAGE IN GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTS FOR MARKET SUCCESS (Monday, May 8): Dr. Karen J. Freeze, Research Fellow, Design Management Institute

GENERAL INFORMATION

The two-and-one-half-day conference is structured to provide focused educational opportunities for senior design executives. Over 150 senior design managers, corporate identity managers, marketing managers, strategic planners, and corporate development managers will attend a series of classroom-style case study presentations, workshops, lectures and discussion sessions. Space is limited so early registration is recommended. The fee is $650 (US), with significant discounts available for Institute members.

For more information on registration and fees, contact Linda Forbes at:

The Design Management Institute
107 South Street Suite 502
Boston, MA 02111
Phone: (617) 338-6380
Fax: (617) 338-6570

The DESIGN MANAGEMENT INSTITUTE is the leading international organization dedicated to promoting and improving the effective management and utilization of design.

REGISTRATION PROCEDURES

You may email or fax your registration but we cannot confirm it until full payment is received. Registration fees do not include hotel accommodations. Your registration fee includes conference proceedings, morning sessions, luncheons and afternoon sessions.

SCHEDULE

Check-in and conference registration will be held from 2:00 to 3:00 PM on Sunday, May 7. The conference will begin at 4:00 on May 7 and adjourn at noon on Wednesday, May 10.

HOTEL ACCOMMODATIONS

All hotel arrangements must be made directly with the Hotel Inter-Continental before March 20 using the hotel reservation form below.

Reservation requests received after this date will be accepted on a space available basis only. The Institute has made arrangements with the hotel to offer a special rate of $125 (Canadian dollars) single or double occupancy, plus tax. A one-day advance deposit in the form of a personal check, corporate check or major credit card made out in Canadian dollars is required to guarantee your reservation. You may call in your reservation directly to 514-987-9900, or mail in the form below. Be sure to identify yourself with this conference.

TRAVEL ARRANGEMENTS

The Design Management Institute's travel agent, Tri Travel, will be delighted to assist you with your travel arrangements to Montreal. Call DMI to get further information. We suggest that you take a taxi from the airport to the hotel. It takes about 20 minutes and the cost is approximately $24 (Canadian).

CANCELLATION POLICY

If you have to cancel, a $100 administrative fee will be deducted from your conference fee and the remainder refunded or applied towards a future conference (within a year) as follows: * Until March 6: The entire fee will be refunded, less the $100 administrative fee. * March 6-April 6: After deducting the $100 administrative fee, 50% of the fee will be refunded and the balance applied to any conference within a year. * After April 6: No refund, but 50% of the fee remaining after the $100 administrative fee may be applied to any conference within a year.

HOW TO PAY

Conference fees should be made payable in U.S. dollars, drawn on a U.S. bank and sent to the Design Management Institute. Visa and MasterCard payments will also be accepted. Just fill in your credit card number, expiration date and signature on the conference registration form. We take no responsibility for charge card numbers sent via the Internet.

Foreign registrants may wire their registration fee to account number

011001742-224-27466 at:
BayBank
175 Federal Street
Boston, MA 02110 USA

HOTEL ACCOMODATIONS

Reservations
The Hotel Inter-Continental Montreal
360 St.-Antoine Street West
Montreal, Quebec H2Y 3X4
Canada
514-987-9900/514-987-9901 (fax)

Rate: $125 (Canadian) plus tax
Single or double occupancy

A conference registration form, which can be printed and mailed to DMI is available here.

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