When Lowe Destination Development, a leading developer of resort hotels and communities, acquired one of the last unclaimed stretches of property on the often-scenic but usually crowded Southern California Coast, the company set out to create a destination worthy of the world-class setting.

Long before the 582-room resort’s June 1 opening, its development and marketing team needed an evocative name to set the tone for partners, travel planners and prospective buyers of its oceanfront residences.

Working with San Diego, California-based MiresBall, which developed the Terranea identity, Applied Storytelling set out to develop a name that would suggest a timeless sense of place: at home in an exclusive Southern California setting, evocative of the resort’s Mediterranean-inspired architecture, and distinctive from the names of dozens of other landmark properties young and old that dot the California landscape.

After identifying Terranea as a select candidate, the name team conducted an additional review of its spelling and pronunciation to give Terranea’s owners the ability to adopt the new name with confidence.

Terranea is one of a growing portfolio of high-profile names Applied Storytelling has developed for hotels, communities and other landmark destinations in the United States and elsewhere.

Established in Mexico in 2002, Evolutiva quickly secured a place as one of the top firms in its profession. It could claim plenty of successes serving some of the biggest companies in Mexico and Latin America. To continue to grow, however, founder Janice Muñiz and her team knew they would need to refine their image and story to set themselves apart in a relatively undeveloped and under-served market.

In short, Evolutiva faced a classic triple challenge: building awareness for a new type of service, presenting a distinctive approach to that service, and then generating interest in the firm itself.

To address this challenge at a time of heightened exposure, Evolutiva turned to Mexico City-based BLOK Design for a new visual identity, and to Applied Storytelling for a compelling brand story and marketing messages to be integrated into a wide range of touchpoints.

The highly personal nature of Evolutiva’s approach lent itself to a highly distinctive verbal brand that referenced folk tales and teaching stories from the world’s wisdom traditions.

Today, despite a challenging economic environment, Evolutiva is thriving: Its transformational value to business leaders is clear.

Applied Storytelling has helped a growing number of specialized professional services firms to strengthen their presence in this climate of change. Look for their stories as they launch and reintroduce themselves to their customers in the weeks and months to come.

Qualcomm’s Plaza mobile internet solution is among the new offerings and initiatives the telecom leader is showcasing at the world’s largest mobile industry gathering, held in Barcelona February 16-19.

Qualcomm first announced Plaza, a “new end-to-end widget framework that will allow operators to drive use of the mobile Internet” last May and released a series of teaser videos about the service on YouTube in late 2008. Qualcomm envisions Plaza as an easy-to-implement, platform-neutral alternative to competitive offerings from Nokia, Yahoo and Apple via the iPhone.

Working with San Diego-based MiresBall, Applied Storytelling provided an array of messaging tools and written communications to support Plaza’s launch, beginning with the name of the service itself. Early on, the effort also included the development of clear, simple messages targeted to operators, publishers and device manufacturers. To develop these messages, Applied Storytelling worked not only with Plaza stakeholders but also conducted a systematic review of competitors’ communications.

MiresBall has led Plaza’s overall brand expression, beginning with the Plaza identity and extending to ads, videos and marketing collateral. The current initiative to support Plaza builds on extensive mobile communications expertise the two firms have developed over the past several years, working closely with Qualcomm and others.

This January, a limited number of US retailers began offering a new, hibiscus-infused variation on the Mexican distiller’s premium quality reposado tequila. The soft pink-tinted liquor, Gran Centenario Rosángel, premiered in Mexico last fall. Jose Cuervo turned to Applied Storytelling to name the new product.

The name takes inspiration from the allegorical angel that appears in its package design.

The new name needed to satisfy a number of criteria in addition to being distinct from the names of other hibiscus-flavored beverages and true to the Gran Centenario personality and packaging. For one, it also needed to have a “cool Mexican feel” that did not feel overly exotic or foreign to a Mexican consumer. Additionally, of course, it needed to sound pleasing when combined with “Gran Centenario”.

For Applied Storytelling, the successful effort continues the firm’s longstanding strength in consumer product naming. It also represents a growing body of work geared to the Mexican and Latin American markets.

In the young but rapidly growing executive concierge industry, most leading players are focused on the rapid scaling and diversification of services. Beverly Hills-based Mint has opted for a different path: an intensive focus on performance and individual consideration.

In terms of operations, this focus has led Mint to build the infrastructure, grow the talent and foster the service culture that will support stable, ongoing growth as well as to cement the loyalty of existing members.

At the same time, Mint has strived to strengthen the way it engages with members, underscoring its distinctive approach and providing a clearer picture of the services it offers and the many ways members can make use of them.

Engaged by Mint to define its point of difference and tell its story in a crisp and compelling way, Applied Storytelling first worked with company founders and key staff members to understand the company’s own unique culture. Afterwards, the Applied Storytelling team worked directly with members to understand their specific, and surprisingly diverse, needs and preferences.

In addition to brand positioning, personality and promise fundamentals, Applied Storytelling developed a simple, streamlined system for organizing and presenting member services. Applied Storytelling also recommended a number of new tools and channels for reaching out to members.

Brand insights have informed everything from the company’s new web site, member materials and client and partner presentations to a companywide employee training program.

"Our brand development initiative has been instrumental in helping us to develop a stronger and more focused membership development effort,” says Mint co-founder Gordon MacGeachy, “as well as to achieve a stronger market position among partners and member development prospects.”

“Additionally,” he notes, “the effort has set the stage for an enhanced sense of pride and value among our employees."