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Cup O’ Joe with a Pro: Double Oak
Branding
[July 22, 2025]
On Thursday, June 17th, the
Lincoln Economic Advancement and Development (LEAD) held their
second ‘Cup O’ Joe with a Pro’ event. This event was hosted by Guest
House and started at 9:00 a.m. For those who are unfamiliar, Cup O’
Joe with a Pro is meant to give local experts a platform to speak on
their expertise to other local business people. This particular Cup
O’ Joe saw Ethan Frontone from Double Oak Branding speaking.
At the start of the event, Frontone
introduced himself. Frontone talked about how he and Justin Harnacke
founded Double Oak Branding. Frontone also stated that he is a
full-time worship leader in Lincoln. He then went on to talk a bit
about Double Oak Branding. He shared that not only does his company
help other companies in Lincoln, but companies all around the
country. Double Oak Branding’s goal is to help people and companies
find effective branding to connect with their customers.
Everyone else then went around the table and introduced themselves.
In attendance were Jennifer Kirby of Heartland Community College and
the LEAD board, Ben Crombie with LEAD and a student of Marketing,
Colleen Roate with Spirited Republic and the LEAD board, Brenda
Short with the Humane Society of Logan County, Brandon Boyd with
Lincoln Christian Church, and Ethan Hoinacki with Guest House.
Runge then shared that the idea of this event was to be an open
forum. She stated that LEAD was previously hosting local experts in
a more formal setting in the evenings, but that those presentations
were not always well attended. They decided to try Guest House as
the atmosphere is more relaxing and conducive to discussion.
Over the course of the next hour and fifteen minutes, Runge and many
present proceeded to ask Frontone questions about branding. Frontone
shared that branding is what is going to help companies connect with
their customers. It is not just about having a logo, but how people
feel when they interact with a certain brand. That feeling, while
not always in control of the business owner, can be adjusted with
proper branding. Double Oak Branding assists businesses in both
creating logos as well as helping to guide that feeling in their
customers to be as positive as they can make it through branding.
Frontone also shared that Double
Oak will have the companies they work with hand out questionnaires
to their customers. The answers to these questionnaires can help
inform the business and Double Oak how their customers feel about
the business currently, giving them what they need to make informed
decisions about what branding choices they need to make. Frontone
also shared that some businesses they have worked with in the past
already have the idea of what they want their branding or logo to
look like. In these situations, Frontone shared, the outcome is not
always as successful as the business owner was hoping.
Roate asked Frontone about branding for Lincoln. She stated that the
city, the tourism department, and Lincoln Way, while all looking to
improve Lincoln’s economic development, all have different logos.
She was wondering if Double Oak would be able to make the look
between the three more uniform. Frontone shared that it is a dream
of his to rebrand Lincoln, but that it is not always so easy. Like
with anything, a new logo for Lincoln would be loved by some and
hated by others. He has mentioned ideas about this to Lincoln
government officials. His idea is that, if people driving by were to
see a new Lincoln logo on something like a water tower, their
thought would be ‘I have got to stop in this town.’
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Boyd asked about
the shelf life of branding. He wanted to know how often a
business should be rebranding itself to its customers. Frontone
shared that while a good brand should last about ten years, the
answer is not always the same. A company wants to go with a
brand that is timeless, not just hopping on the bandwagon of
whatever is popular at the moment with whatever is trendy.
Runge then asked a question on Short’s behalf. Runge stated
that, since the Humane Society is not working with a large
budget, how are they to know what is good branding and what is
not? Is there a way that they can acquire good branding without
having to spend more than they have? Frontone suggested looking
into template logos, something that is simple yet original. He
suggested using Fiverr, but recommended caution as well.
Sometimes people on Fiverr are only there to make a quick buck,
but others really care about their service. He also recommended
having a logo that can be easily scaled up.
Company boards were also talked about. Frontone shared that they
have worked with several churches in Lincoln, and that the
church boards have not always been happy with Double Oak’s
initial ideas for rebranding. Runge spoke into this as well,
stating that with all boards, there will always be a person who
is going to deviate from the popular opinion. She encouraged
people at the table to welcome these deviating opinions. Runge
also shared that studies have been done on this concept, and it
was found that if a person with a deviating opinion is removed
from a board, someone else will take their place. When all of
the opinions converge in the middle, it creates an idea that
will fit the company or group they are representing the best.
Hoinacke also shared the importance of not being stubborn. He
shared that, when he was first opening Guest House, the
intention was to actually name it Way Point. The idea was that
his coffee shop would be a stopping point, or way point, for
people on their way from their last destination to their next
one. When they shared this with their friends and family, they
did not like the name. When they eventually settled on Guest
House, he still heard from people that they did not like the
name.
Short asked about changing a logo. She stated that she got
pushback from board members in the past about changing the
Humane Society’s logo. She wanted to know if there is a way to
change it but keep the essence of the logo. Frontone shared that
you can make multiple variations of your logo to be used in
various circumstances. He also offered to help design a new logo
for the Humane Society without changing the essence of the logo
itself.
Hoinake also asked about business owners that have multiple
companies under their purview. Should all of the companies have
similar logos and branding. Frontone stated that if the
businesses are all going to have the same customer base, that
this could be a good thing. If the businesses are trying to do
different things, however, you may want to go with different
branding. He shared that, if someone does not like your brand
for a business, if they associate that brand with another one of
your businesses that does something completely different, they
are unlikely to try that other business.
The discussions went on for a bit longer, with a lot of good
information being shared and questions being asked. Frontone
answered all of them, and Runge gave her expertise on subjects.
At about 10:15 a.m., the conversation wrapped up and people went
on their way. Runge did share that the next Cup O’ Joe with a
Pro will be on August 21st at 9:00 a.m. at Guest House. This
next Cup O’ Joe will feature Prynt Digital who will be talking
about a business’s social media presence.
[Matt Boutcher] |
