Archive for the ‘Creative’ Category
Social Media and Driving Don’t Mix
Posted in Creative on August 23rd, 2011
Great ad from N=5 advertising in Amsterdam.
What’s Your Brand Promise?
Tags: american marketing association, Brand Promise, corporate culture, customers, execution, expectation, greatness, Internal Communication, promise, vendor communication
Posted in Branding, Communication, Copy/Content, Creative, Customer Service, Employer Branding, Internal Communication, Marketing, Recruitment on October 20th, 2008
The American Marketing Association describes a brand as a ”name, term, sign, symbol or design, or a combination of them intended to identify the goods and services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of competition.”
I like to simplify that by saying that a brand is a promise. And since it is a promise, then it must also be an expectation.
It is critical that your brand promise is clearly defined and articulated to internal and external stakeholders. Stanford professor and author Jim Collins, speaking on how to develop the brand said, “First figure out your partners, then figure out what ideas to pursue. The most important thing isn’t the market you target, the product you develop or the financing, but the founding team.”
In a down economy, buyers of products and services can’t afford to take a risk. They will stick to the brands that have kept their promise. Although noted here previously, it is worthy of repeating. A well-executed branding campaign delivers a myriad of dividends including:
Giving people permission to buy
Reinforcing preconceived notions
Establishing your promise deep in the subconscious of your audience
Helping you recruit and keep the best and brightest talent
Enabling you to charge premium pricing
Thriving during economic downturns
Easily extending into new markets
Branding is too important to leave solely to the marketing department. Branding is the delivery of your promise. It is why you worked those long hours in a garage before bringing your product to the market place. It is your vision. It is your passion. It is what gets you out of bed every morning. Whether you are the founder, partner or captain of the ship, it is critical that the team understand your vision of the brand promise.
Getting your organization to embrace, proselytize and consistently deliver your brand promise, starts at the top.
Define Your Brand Promise – According to Derrick Daye, managing partner at Brand Strategy, “the brand promise must meet three criteria in order to be effective. The promise must be unique, compelling and believable.”
Identity Must Support the Promise – Your logo, colors, tag lines, sell sheets, press releases, all must reinforce your promise.
Do Your Customers Connect - Assuming that you are targeting the correct customers and prospects, how does your promise affect them? Market research and your employees can help determine the relevance of the promise.
Internal Communication – Can your employees fully articulate the brand promise and the value to your customers? Have your new hires been fully educated on the brand promise?
Partner Communication – Do your channels understand your brand promise? And better yet, have you chosen channel partners that are aligned with your promise?
Corporate Culture - Does your corporate culture support the promise? Critical to success is that all members of an organization live the promise in thought, actions and deeds.
Measure Your Efforts - Peter Drucker said, “You can’t manage what you don’t measure.” Internal surveys, customer benchmarking metrics and peer review, will tell you if you are moving the needle in the right direction
Top Down Execution - It’s your promise. Be sure that you align your communication and activities around your brand promise. Champion your promise with unbridled enthusiasm. You’ll find that it is a highly contagious way to ensure adoption and execution by your team
According to Collins, “focusing solely on what you can potentially do better than any other organization is the only path to greatness.” If you stay true to your brand promise, which is uniquely you, then you are not guaranteed success but you will be on the right path to earning success.
Words That Work
Tags: content words that work, copy, frank luntz, words
Posted in Communication, Copy/Content, Creative on September 15th, 2008
Dr. Frank Luntz is a well-known political pollster and advisor to the Republican Party. He helped author the language in the famous Republican Party, “Contract with America” and has been a news analyst for major television networks. John Stewart, host of the Daily Show, once referred to Dr. Luntz as an “amoral Yoda” because he provided politicians with messages and language that simplified highly politicized issues.
In his book, Words That Work, It’s Not What You Say, It’s What People Hear, Luntz suggests that there are ten basic rules for communicators.
1. Use small words – The average American did not graduate from high school. “Simplicity counts” something that politicians such as Al Gore, John Kerry and Newt Gingrich could not grasp.
2. Use short sentences – be as brief as you can be, use a phrase instead of a sentence if possible and never use four words when three will do.
3. Credibility is as important as philosophy – Your words must be sincere and match reality. If they contradict accepted facts, circumstances or perceptions, they will lack impact.
4. Consistency matters – The key here is constant repetition.
5. Novelty: Offer something new – “Americans are bored,” according to Luntz, “if something doesn’t shock or surprise us we move onto something new.”
6. Sound and texture matter – The sounds and texture of the words that you choose should be as memorable as the words themselves. Snap, Crackle, and Pop conjure up an instant image of a bowl of cereal.
7. Speak aspirationally – Tell the audience what they want to hear and couch in such a way that it is encouraging the persuadee to want something better. John F. Kennedy gave one of the most aspirational speeches when he asked the American public “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.”
8. Visualize – Paint a vivid picture such as the M&M’s slogan Melts in your mouth. One of the most powerful words to get the audience to begin the visualization process is the use of the word “imagine.”
9. Ask a question – “Can you hear me now?” or “Got milk?”
10. Provide context and explain relevance – You must tell the audience the why of the argument before you tell them anything else is referred to as framing. It’s the economy, stupid, is an example of where the context is the message. Relevance refers to putting yourself in your audience’s position of seeing the world through their eyes.
If your message adheres to these rules, in totality if possible, there is a great possibility it will be a “home run” according to Luntz. However, the message and the media are organic and ever changing. Consequently, circumstances and word meanings change accordingly. The message must be understandable within the context of the audience’s frame of reference. Not understanding that frame of reference is why branding messages falls on deaf ears and campaigns fail to deliver on ROI.
Branding Yourself With Color
Tags: color, identity, logo, pantone
Posted in Branding, Communication, Creative, Design/Identity on August 25th, 2008
All identity programs start out in black and white. The logo, the nexus of any identity, is black and white; it’s skeletal. But, in today’s world of marketing and strategy, colors play a vital role. The following is what you should expect from any professional graphic designer. The proof is in the results. Take a moment to link a few successful firms with their colors.
Colors Help Sell Logo Branding
Quick, who is known as Big Blue? What corporate color is Coca-Cola? What can Brown do for you? What kind of market are you in when you call yourself Green? Color identifies. As we mentioned in a previous paper how cliché images communicate structurally, remember color is the “coat” to your trademark.
Linda Holtzschue in, Understanding Color-An Introduction for Designers, writes color is symbolic, related to cultural experience (key to communicating on the Web). For example, in western Europe brides wear white, in India red. Americans mourn in black, in India they wear white. One more example: Catholic priests wear black and Tibetan lamas wear robes of brilliant yellow. Color choice, along with fonts keep your image on track. Consistency must be integral to your program.
Color Ages You
Color communicates style, as well as service. Dark blues, greens and grays are indicative of traditional style, pastels speak of softness and metallics sophistication. Reds and yellows are more aggressive. In the marketplace of the early part of the 2000s, oranges, browns and purples, along with bright greens and light blues, show innovation and awareness of the environment. This listing is basic color theory. The options are as broad as the color spectrum. Color, like fonts, is fashion driven. You must have your research strategy in hand to take advantage of the information available.
Color Improves Brand Awareness
In, Pantone® Guide to Communicating with Color by Leatrice Eiseman, two color facts are stated relating directly to corporate marketing and strategy. One: The best background for color matching is a neutral gray tone. Two: Color and visual elements activate the right brain, while the printed word activates the left-brain. When all are combined, there is greater recall, recognition and attention! Eiseman continues, “Memory retention studies show clients are up to 78% more likely to remember a word or phrase printed in color versus black and white.” Proving color today is not only good, but also essential for business.
Good Design is Good for Business
Tags: bill bernbach, culture, design, durability, identity, logo, strategy, visual communication
Posted in Branding, Communication, Creative, Design/Identity on August 18th, 2008
In the 1950s and 60s, Graphic Designer Paul Rand (creator of the Westinghouse, ABC, Cummins, UPS (the original) and the iconic IBM identities) revolutionized the corporate logo. In so doing set a standard still valuable today. To Rand there was no formula to answer how your company should be presented when you’re not there.
Creativity plays a major role in the truly effective logos. And, when hiring this service certain things should be kept in mind.
Decision Maker
Before we go further and because an identity is the key to your marketing, strategy and tactics you must be the decision maker. Rand said it was an exercise in futility, unproductive and costly. Culture and vision come from the top. Logos are tactical and therefore play a pivotal role in your business’ success.
The Role of the Logo
Simply put, the logo is the marketing image of you communicating your values, vision, even You! – when you are not there. That may seem over the top until you realize how often this piece of art is connected to you and your company.
Who You Are and What You Do
This part should be easy, yet this is a minefield. You are now starting to define what makes your firm different, the culture you want to have or already have. What voice and vision do you have? This step goes hand-in-hand with the previous step. Be as open and clear as possible.
Clichés
In the spoken and written world, clichés show, for the most part, a lack of creativity or depth of understanding. In the visual world it’s the opposite to a point. Clichés are shorthand in visual communication. How well those clichés are crafted makes all the difference between the clever and hackneyed.
Durability
Be ready to answer the question of usage. How well the identity works is simply not a matter of aesthetics alone. The trademark must be versatile. It needs to work strategically in many applications. Marketing your firm may require the image to be reproduced in one-color stitched on a ball cap, printed on multiple surfaces and sizes to full color for HD presentations. No successful corporation exists without the benefit of a dynamic logo. Great logos define their company and become the external, as well as, internal face of the firm. Don’t discount company morale.
On a sobering note, the logo is only as good as the product, service or company it represents. The late, great adman, Bill Bernbach once said, ” Good advertising will do one of two things: Increase sales and profits or put you out of business quickly”.
