Reframing the Brand

Recently I attended a Green Expo in San Francisco and it was interesting to see the number of booths dedicated to various different enterprises. Surprising to me was the number of independent organic chocolatiers. Seems that hand crafted chocolate is just as dynamic an entreprenuerial industry as hand crafted soap, toiletries and cosmetics.

Locally, we have several chocolatiers many of them quite large. San Francisco's Ghiradelli, of course, Berkeley's Sharfenberger, and then a bunch of others including a company you can find in between Pier One and Fisherman's Wharf, TCHO (pronounced Choh).

Let's talk about TCHO.

This American Life radio shows explains in episode #383: Origin Story how much we American's love a good entreprenuerial back story. That's why HP spent millions to recreate the garage that was used by Mr's Hewlette and Packard at the start of their company. And why Google, which started at Stanford University with lots of backing dollars, moved after two years into a garage, stayed their for six months then moved out. Just so they could have a garage back story.

Thco's brand story is complicated and involves many elements. The main one is the idea of chocolate gone high tech. This is based on the fact that the main chocolatier used to design systems for the space shuttle. Watch their TCHO is video and ask yourself, if you were to make a similar video of your company, what would it look like? What would it say about you?

Kaila Westerman
TKB Trading, LLC
www.tkbtrading.com

Max Factor Shuts Down

Say Bye-Bye to another cosmetic company with fascinating entreprenuerial roots. In 2010, the current owner of Max Factor will discontinue the product in the U.S.

Max Factor was begun by Maximilian Faktorowicz in the early part of this century. His company became really famous during the golden age of Hollywood (1920's and 1930's), where his products were used and promoted by famous actresses such as Judy Garland and Claudette Colbert.

Max Factor's list of innovations in the cosmetics industry is long, including the fact that he actually coined the term "Makeup" to describe making up ones face! But what really interests me is some of the interesting ideas the company had which might have life in them today as a kind of "retro return" to the somewhat greener roots of cosmetics:

• Nail "Polish" in which beige colored powder is sprinkled on the nails and buffed with chamois to give shine and some tint. This is nail polish without the toxic chemicals and varnishes, a completely green concept that could find legs today. (The product was introduced in 1925 and called Max Factor's Supreme Nail Polish)
• In a similar vein, they introduced Society Nail Tint in 1927, which was a small porcelain pot filled with a rose colored cream. One applied this to the nails and buffed for a natural rose color.
  
• Also, Society Nail White was a tube of chalky white liquid that was applied under the nails and left to dry, similar to a french manicure.
• Colorless, clear mascara

Hmmm. I always find that looking at the old books on cosmetics, or the innovations of the old companies is chock full of fun, retro ideas.

Kaila Westerman
TKB Trading, LLC

Recipe Section added to our Website

Last week we added a Recipes tab to our website. This week, and all through July we will be diligently adding recipes.

Our first project has been to photograph and upload all the various nearly 100 color blends created by our customers in last year's Pop Mica Recipe Roundup. These will give everyone more ideas on how to work with the Pop Micas to create their own unique products.

As we finish that project, we will turn our attention to more complex challenges such as foundation blends, how to make pressed powders and more.

Our Recipes Section is probably the most exciting thing at TKB right now, so check it out often in July.

Kaila Westerman
TKB Trading, LLC

Communication between Old and New

I was away last week visiting my parents, who are in their 80's and assisting an uncle who is in a nursing home. For one week, my fingertips fell away from the pulse of ecommerce onto the frailer, paler, pulse of elderly wrists.

When these people pass away, I will miss them; but this trip I was also struck by how much I will miss their modes of communication. For example, my dad loves to give me informative clippings. He gives them at the start of a visit, rifles through the manila folder for more at the end and mails them in thick packets in between, often with a handwritten note: "You probably already know this stuff. All's well here. Dad"

Compare this with the communication I received from a 20-something customer. She had bought our kit and had a question but didn't know how to get hold of me, so she posted a query on our You Tube account.

Repeat: This young woman had my kit and therefore also had my website URL and email address but she didn't know how to contact me. I've heard that to someone of her generation email = snail mail. But I hadn't really realized that my email is as useless to her as my twitter address is to my elderly uncle.

It reminded me of 12 years ago, when I started my business and would get 100 phone calls a day. Now I get about 20. Five years ago, I used to be flooded with emails, now not so much. This despite the fact that sales are up.

At that moment I finally GOT it. Social Networking IS the revolution, and I gotta get with the program. No point in resisting any longer.

Kaila

Reading All Plaques Makes you Green

My father is the ultimate plaque reader. As a child, we marked road trips not by miles but by plaques read. Those "off road" historical markers? The ones that you saw beat-up, kid-smeared green station wagons turning out for? The ones that you happily disregarded ? Yeah. We read 'em.

No wonder then, that on Father's Day this year, I felt compelled to read a plaque. It was early evening outside the FM Smith Recreation Center in Oakland. I was the first to arrive for our Neighborhood Crime Prevention Council Meeting. Milling about the rec center was a handful of youth, in the distance the thump of a basketball and squeak of sneakers. Marijuana smoke wafted.

Five minutes passed but none in my group had arrived yet and the center was still locked. I scanned the park trying to find the source of the smoke then noticed in the distance four life- sized mules covered in graffiti. Next to them, an equally graffiti-decorated plaque. I reluctantly made the trek.

Turns out that the FM Smith Rec Center is named after Francis Marion Smith, known internationally as "Borax" Smith. Born in Wisconsin in 1846, went to Nevada at the age of 21 to make his fortunes. While there, he discovered and staked a claim for a borax mine. Built an empire on this natural mineral and marketed it as 20-Mule Team Borax because it took 20 mules to haul the mineral from the mines. Later, settled in Oakland with his wife and did wonderful things like build housing for orphaned girls and develop rail systems in the area. Died, donated this part of his estate to the City as a park.

20-Mule Team Borax is still made and sold, now by the Dial Corporation. It is a very popular ingredient in home-made, natural, biodegradable cleansers:

• Automatic Diswasher Detergent: equal parts borax and baking soda, 2 tablespoons per load.
• All-purpose Cleaner: 2 tbsp vinegar, 1 tsp borax, 2 cupts hot water, 1/4 cup liquid soap.
  
• Natural Laundry Detergent: 1 cup washing soda, 1/2 cup borax, 1 bar soap, 3 gallons water. For a visual guide (including videos) on how to make this recipe as well as examples showing how well it cleans: Simple Dollar
  

It was early evening. The city about me hummed, squaked and squealed. As a person who moved to California from the midwest when I was 21, as a seller of minerals, a lover of natural cleansers, an Oakland resident involved in making my city a better place. I felt the rush of a connection to another time and place.

I used to think plaques were dorky. Now, I just wish I live long enough and do well enough in my life to have a plaque of my own. Graffiti covered or not.

Color Blending till the Cows Come Home

I've had a week of color blending. Swatching colors across my forearm and fingers so many times during the day that my skin is a little raw.

I just spent four hours "duping" a single color, and I am awed. That I get to have such a great job, that it took me so long, that I actually succeeded.

Here's what I've learned so far:

• A single blend probably consists of no more than 5 elements.
• Start with the pigment base. To that add the hilite. To that add the main hue. Finish with the complementary tweaking to neutralize the hue.
• Wash, rinse, repeat.
• Take breaks between attempts.
  
• Keep notes and samples.
• Ask other people for feedback.
  
• Count Blessings.

Kaila Westerman
TKB Trading, LLC

New Product:: Roll on Tube

This just in! We now have Roly Poly Bottles! (Also known as plastic bottles with a rolling ball applicator and a white cap).

For me, a Roly Poly is very retro. Reminds me of the 70's: summer, hanging out in the yard with a lemonade, a book, sunscreen and of course, roll-on watermelon flavored lipgloss.

But of course they can also work for other neat things such as glitter (our microfine glitter works great). You can fill the tube with straight glitter or you can suspend the glitter in some kind of base such as a lotion, a lip gloss, castor oil. You choose.

Hope you enjoy!

Kaila Westerman