Challenge:
The Taunton Press, the publishers of the premier craft/lifestyle magazines in the categories of woodworking, homebuilding, gardening, sewing and cooking, was at a crossroads. With the publication of the runaway best-seller "Not So Big House" by Sarah Susanka driving a surging book publishing division, there was an urgent need to establish a corporate identity that would:

• Establish a basis for new products, videos and seminars in addition to book publishing, which would be marketed under the Taunton umbrella.
• Not undermine or degrade the identities of the individual magazine brands.
• Cross sell individual publications based on the research-based theory that serious woodworkers, for example, often live in the some household with serious cooks and gardeners. 

Strategy:
Mintz & Hoke performed a comprehensive brand development program (see Focus.Fast.), out of which emerged points of continuity among the sub-brands that could be woven into a common identity - based mainly on psychographic elements. 

It also yielded this tagline: Inspiration for hands-on living.

This positioning recognizes the ego needs of this audience, the most serious craftspeople in the country, to be independent and above the didactic nature of common do-it-yourself publications. 

This tag, and the subsequent creative executions, bonded all the disparate entities into a common Taunton brand. (Note that the look and feel reflected the graphical styles of the publications themselves.)

Winning Results: 

• A new entity was formed in the minds of The Taunton Press' diverse constituencies.
• Subsequently, the book publishing division has grown significantly. 
• Subscriptions are up across all categories.