At the beginning of each development initiative, DRAY Media conducts direct consultations with our clients to define a comprehensive statement of work. Through proactive and impactful engagement, we clearly determine targeted benchmarks and goals as well as a critical path for development. Information is the most pivotal developmental element as it shapes the breadth, scope and focus of accompanying development stages.

Before you begin to construct a communications platform, it is important to ensure that all the assets impacting development are in place and accessible to the teams dedicated to execution. DRAY Media conducts a comprehensive internal exercise involving our creative, account management and strategic teams to pour through the collective body of assembled research data as well as client sourced materials and any other identified information sources influencing development. The goal of this activity is to accurately define the scope and direction of development to effectively allocate and source resources.

The efficiencies realized in this process are widespread as they determine the validity, value and potential impact of various competing and non-competing interests on the developing brand’s capacity to influence its market targets to the desired effect. The end result is the basis of a platform that avoids the pitfalls of homogeneity and commoditization, the safer but ultimately forgettable generic route many brand development projects fall into.

This stage requires varying degrees of client interaction, primarily to ensure that the focus of the exercise and the assets it collects are in sync with the client’s overall aspirations for the development of the brand as delineated in the statement of work.

Research is integral to each and every project executed by DRAY Media. As no two companies or organizations share the same goals, products and perceptions, it is imperative to attain a full grasp of both internal and external cultures that define the client, their target consumers as well as outward competitive and positioning influences. We begin with an intensive research exercise to understand and define our client’s goals and objectives, competitive environment, market dynamics and communications objectives. This allows us to immerse ourselves in our client’s culture, and by extension, master it.

We then turn our focus to external environments and influences to develop a firm grasp of what assets are out there, what works and what doesn’t, as well as how competing models communicate their mission and values. We identify external cultures and sub cultures both literally and figuratively, as the brand being developed must position well across a variety of cultural influences and societal expectations. The best brands stand out in their ability to successfully communicate key differentiating factors, something that clearly defines the brand as superior within its competitive landscape.

No development project can succeed without a plan. At DRAY Media, a comprehensive development strategy is created to guide all projects. Essentially this is a project development program highlighting and confirming assets, budgets and critical path for each and every component. The strategy defines and packages the client’s mission, vision and values, creating a proposition in which achievable goals can be achieved within a defined framework.

In today’s hyper competitive marketplace, a marketing strategy ensures a defined and consistent approach to any company or organization to position and promote their product or service in a manner that will outperform their competition. At DRAY Media, our marketing strategies work in concert with our client’s corporate values and core lines of business to delineate the marketing and communications goals of the client as well as defined methodology for the day to day process of implementing it.

Never before have there been so many avenues to promote and direct your message. From the vestiges of ‘old media’ in print, radio, television and mail to the vanguard of ‘new media’ on the internet including websites, blogs, social media and viral marketing, the choices facing businesses are both complex and daunting. DRAY Media tailors each and every media strategy based upon a thorough appreciation of the communication goals of our clients combined with an exhaustive assessment of our client’s target audiences. The goal is to place educated options in front of the client, so that media budgeting becomes an informed choice.

No company or organization can effectively position and market itself without a strategic online presence. Developing and constructing the most capable, compelling and cost effective online platform requires a plan, rooted in your mandate, corporate values and communications priorities. DRAY Media has extensive experience formulating and executing strategic online tactics that place optimized choices in front of our clients to power their online communications.

This stage is where DRAY Media’s reputation for stellar creative is earned over our 13 years and hundreds of successful projects. It is where we open up our reservoir of creativity and let the ideas flow. From brand graphics to crafting word text applications and slogans, we align the full scope of visual asset development with the core values and goals defined in the strategic document.

The conceptualization of creative concepts is the starting point, both in graphics and word text themes. Brands' connections are emotional, touching on behavioural receptors in a manner that is often misunderstood. The ultimate brand experience should seem like a natural choice. The combination of graphic and word text should be perceived as inviting, friendly, relatively simple to approach and interact with. It should automatically infer relevancy and timeliness, in a manner that is useful to the end consumer, that its promise is impactful.

Simplicity is always the guiding watchword. Too many visual platforms have been undermined in the attempt to say too much in their materials. Complex themes create barriers to perception and understanding: a poor starting point for any platform. It is important to understand that first impressions are often lasting. Visual concepts must be relatable to both internal and external cultures. They must be not only positive, but convincing.

DRAY Media understands the balance that needs to be struck in visual presentation. It must always serve to advance the communications goals and objectives of the client in a manner that is recognizable as an asset.

The balance of a layout – the manner in which information is organized and presented in the communications platform – is crucial in facilitating a successful understanding and connection with the content. The aesthetic balance is guided by the principles of the brand ‘language’ combined with the expectations of the target consumer. It is not enough that a layout is ‘pretty’; the information must be configured in a fashion that guides the eye of the enduser to appreciate and digest the balance to the platform’s communications goals. DRAY Media is renowned for its innovative and balanced layout strategies that facilitate fluid production cycles and impactful results.

Graphic design is much more than the replication of an established aesthetic. It is the capability to understand the parameters of a design within the framework of a brand language and the aptitude to adapt that understanding across a multitude of communications assets. This is crucial for our clients. It allows its material applications to be readily recognizable as client assets, underscoring the solidity both of the organization and its resources.

Ensuring the integrity of your online assets, from ease of uploading to security buffers, requires superior programming expertise – mere ‘coding’ will not make the grade. Creating a safe, secure online asset that possesses a fluid functionality across a myriad of web browsers is imperative to maximizing the client’s online communication goals. DRAY Media is fluent in both OCIO protocols and W3C standards that guide web development, ensuring optimized functionality within a defined framework.

The ability to manage the content of your online assets can be very important, especially where the timeliness of presented information can have a direct impact on your communications priorities. DRAY Media offers a variety of customized options in content management system (CMS) applications that allow ease and flexibility in managing content flow within an intuitive editing framework.

In the modern communications arena, an impactful, interactive online presence is an absolute necessity – often acting as the primary touch point between your organization and your target audience. Helping your target audience to efficiently connect with your online resources requires the incorporation of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Search Engine Marketing (SEM) into your media planning.

SEO is a tailored strategy designed to drive targeted traffic to your website. It requires organizing content so that search engines will assign a good ranking to your website. SEO can be an integral component of a broader SEM strategy that strategically incorporates online resources to boost your online presence. SEM integrates the massive resources of the internet, such as social media applications, online advertising, networking programs, user-generated content, web feed media and tracking software.

At DRAY Media, we work with our clients to identify and define their communications goals and priorities to determine how online marketing strategies would complement their overall media plans. We assess their catalogue of online assets to determine how to efficiently frame and execute a tailored SEO/SEM strategy. DRAY Media also offers a variety of enhanced SEO/SEM packages.

Ensuring optimal online performance requires consistent attention to updating content. DRAY Media offers a selection of maintenance packages to complement your communications priorities over time.

In this stage of development, the core design and message ideas, concepts and applications are presented to client representatives for analysis and feedback. The overall look and feel (including brand graphics and logotypes), brand language and form, imagery and photography styles, colour palettes (primary and secondary), size, positioning and exclusion zones are all delineated with an accompanying descriptive logic that defines how the concept mirrors the goals proposed in the work plan.

Based on client evaluation and consultation, the project components presented to the client are revised and refined, incorporating changes into the platform prototypes. These revised concepts are then packaged into presentation files submitted to client representatives for review.

Stringent quality control protocols are present throughout all DRAY Media’s development processes. As each project moves into its final stages, these protocols are intensified to ensure seamless parity with core communications objectives and production parameters.

DRAY Media now employs the most advanced printing resources in Canada for superior results, efficient delivery and unparalleled quality. This is part of DRAY Media’s commitment to ensure the consistency of the client’s print media assets.

At this juncture, final project deliverables are presented to client for final approval.
All production material and print application initiatives are executed.