by Miriam Hara | Jun 28, 2023 | Advertising, Agency, Branding, Creative, Design
Colour is the silent language that speaks volumes about your brand. It’s the first thing that catches the eye, influencing perceptions and stimulating emotions Colours evoke emotions, convey messages, and even influence our decisions. As creatives, we’re not just painting with colours; we’re leveraging them as powerful communicative tools. The right palette can enhance brand recognition, guide user experience, and create visual harmony. It’s more than aesthetics; it’s about understanding the psychology of colour. Colour in creative plays a pivotal role in brand communication and consumer decision-making. Understanding colour psychology can help you choose the right palette for your brand, creating a strong visual identity that connects with your audience.
Consider some of the world’s most recognizable brands.
Coca-Cola, for instance, has leveraged the boldness and energy of red to convey passion and excitement. Facebook, on the other hand, uses calming blue tones to inspire trust and reliability. These brands have effectively harnessed the power of colour to shape their image and resonate with their target audience.
But how do you select the perfect colour palette that represents your brand accurately? The answer lies in comprehending the emotional and psychological undertones each colour carries. Red often stirs feelings of passion, urgency, or aggression. Blue can communicate trust, tranquillity, or melancholy. Yellow typically signifies happiness, vitality, or caution, while green is often associated with nature, growth, or envy. Let’s not forget purple, a colour that can project creativity, luxury, or mystery depending on its use. Every colour carries a plethora of meanings, shaped by cultural, demographic, and individual perspectives.
When choosing colours in creative, consider your brand’s personality and your target audience’s preferences. A brand embodying youth and energy might lean towards bold, lively colours, whereas a luxury brand might gravitate towards a more understated, sophisticated palette. It’s crucial to maintain consistency across all platforms and touchpoints, ensuring your chosen colours align seamlessly with your brand.
Never underestimate the importance of testing and research. Different cultures, age groups, and genders may react differently to certain colours. Employ tools like A/B testing, focus groups, and market research to delve into your target audience’s colour preferences. Remember, colour is not a one-size-fits-all solution. It’s both an art and a science, demanding a thoughtful approach and a profound understanding of your audience. However, when executed correctly, the right colour palette – perhaps featuring a dash of purple… or a whole lot of it! – can significantly bolster your brand identity, shape perceptions, and spur engagement.
So, how can you choose the right palette for your brand or project? Want to learn more about how colour can elevate your brand’s identity and message? Visit our website for more insights or contact us to explore how we can help you create a visually compelling brand identity.
by Miriam Hara | Jun 9, 2023 | Advertising, Branding, Business Success
In the spirit of transparency, this is a rework of a brand building strategies blog with the same title I wrote close to a decade ago! This is one of my favourite sayings and the structure of article, I believe is still solid. My original article was written when brand building was primarily built on the pillars of packaging and advertising. This only involved one-way dialogues and communications. Even with this one way communication stream, some brands were launched…and were still left winking in the dark!
Today’s Complexities
When you market or launch a brand or corporation with little to no deployed communication plan, you will be essentially winking in the dark. No one can see you winking in the dark …no one can see your brand. You know your brand is available…but no one else does.
Today, brand building takes place in a much more complex landscape, where the digital environment and the variety of channels available offer endless possibilities. Platforms such as Google AdWords and YouTube campaigns, app advertising, and social media properties (Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok, etc.) are essential for modern brand building. The rise of smartphones and on-the-go searches has opened up huge opportunities for brands to stay relevant and visible to consumers when they’re actively searching. And we won’t discuss omni-channel marketing here or the use of data collection for crafting personalized content…seamlessly, and yes effortlessly(that’s for another blog!).
The Same Yet Different
Amidst the ever-changing digital landscape, basic marketing protocols still hold true. Resonating with the target audience is only possible with a clear and emotive message which now needs to be identified beyond rigid demographic lines. Strategies must not only be focused but diverse.
Over a decade ago, brand building hinged on packaging and advertising. It was a one-way dialogue. No more! Times have dramatically changed. Brand building today taps into platforms like YouTube, social media, and influencers, which are key to a brand’s success.
Brand building strategies today requires integration and high exposure. Traditional (print and broadcast) media advertising, though still relevant, needs to complement digital and new streaming channels. Brands must strive for seamless communication across all platforms.
Community building and leveraging social influencers are an integral in brand building. A brand becomes a community hub, inviting consumers to share their stories. This paves the way for converting potential consumers into brand ambassadors.
Aligning with the right influencers can help brands reach new audiences and generate buzz. Understanding consumer expectations and leveraging the reasons why consumers can trust brands is paramount. Failing to engage and striking the right cord by aligning values with their target will increase the risk of brands being overlooked.
Brand building now thrives in a dynamic landscape that includes websites, social media, content marketing, search optimization, and mobile accessibility. It’s about creating a platform for discussion and consumer participation to build and achieve brand trust and love.
How is your brand building going? Are there any challenges needing help? Please share your thoughts and experiences below. I may need it to write another blog update for the next version of this blog in the next decade!
by Miriam Hara | Jan 10, 2017 | Advertising, Communications, Content, Marketing, Social Media
[Guest Post from Skilled.co]
The proliferation of smartphones has brought about a new trend in consumer buying behavior called mobile commerce. According to recent research the mobile commerce trend is expected to continue to grow globally in the years to come. Business owners who have developed a viable long-term mobile commerce strategy will profit from this trend the most. Mapping out an effective strategy can be challenging if it is unclear what the target audience expects from an m-commerce service. The best way to overcome this is to talk to the the customers directly.
![10 Must Do Steps to Improve Your Mobile Commerce Strategy [Infographic]](https://skilled.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/FINAL_Improve-Your-Mobile-commerce-strategy.png)
Presented by Skilled.co
Below are 10 easy-to-follow tips for devising a successful mobile commerce strategy. The tips are based on data obtained from 2016 Smartphone User Behavior Report and a survey which polled 2000 US millennials. This is the demographic group with the highest rate of smartphone ownership and usage. The millennials who took part in the survey were asked to answer a series of questions regarding their mobile commerce habits.
1. Target Millennials
Millennials and their smartphones are rarely separated, this is supported by the data collected that reported that 28% of Millennials in the US prefer to shop on their smartphones. According to the survey results millennials are invested in mobile commerce and they consider the prospect of online shopping to be one of the top three advantages to being a smartphone owner. Mobile shopping is also huge with high school students and millennials on maternity and paternity leave. Owners of online retail business should keep in mind that women in this age group are twice as likely to spend money on clothes via their smartphone compared to men.
2. Don’t Waste Any Time
Mobile commerce is yet to become the number one shopping method for US millennials. It was reported that 72% of US millennials currently prefer shopping on their desktop. There is room for growth within mobile commerce for businesses targeting millennials.The highest potential for mobile commerce expansion is within services like hotel booking, flight tickets and fashion stores. These were ranked as the three lowest priorities in terms of spending money via smartphones according to the 2016 Smartphone User Behavior Report.
3. Focus on Social Advertising
Millennials and social media are inseparable. It was reported that approximately 82% of young adults in the US check their smartphones within an hour of getting up and 73% go to sleep with their smartphones by their bed. To keep up to date with current events in the world Millennials prefer to use social media. The data collected showed that 68% of millennials choose to use Facebook as the social media network of choice for news consumption. Twitter is the second most popular source of news for this demographic group with 21% reporting use the microblogging site to find out about current events. It has been reported that 41% of millennials check and update their social media as soon as they wake up in the morning therefore, targeting young adults through social media marketing should be an integral part of every great mobile commerce strategy.
4.Know Your Target Audience
In order to come up with a unique and effective strategy to implement mobile commerce, there must first be a complete understanding of the needs and preferences of the target audience. For example business owners looking to target millennial consumers might be interested to know that, 40% of those polled in the survey spend more on flowers when shopping via mobile than on any other product. Millennials also use their smartphones to order a taxi and book various services. Young entrepreneurs are fond of ordering transport services like Uber via their smartphones while high school students are more likely to use their devices to order food. Young parents and full-time employees normally use their phones for online banking and bill-paying services.
5.Encourage Sharing
1 out 4 millennials reported suffering from the ‘fear of missing out’. This is where millennials develop anxiety that someone is having a great time without them. This phenomenon is particularly common among 18 to 22-year-olds who suffer from the fear of missing out marginally more than other millennials. For millennials sharing is one of the most popular features on social media platforms. The survey highlighted that 1 out of 2 millennials ranks sharing life moments with friends and family as the key advantage to owning a smartphone.For business owners who wish to develop an innovative approach to m-commerce they should encourage their millennial customers to share online content.
6.Include Health Information
Millennials are often accused of being overly confident about their lifestyle choices and irresponsible in regard to their health. This does not mean that young adults are not interested in learning about different ways to lead a healthier lifestyle. Out of the millennials polled in the 2016 Smartphone User Behavior survey, 46% ranked the opportunity to find health information online as the key advantage to owning a smartphone. One good example of mobile commerce done well is the app called ShopWell. This app offers nutrition facts and healthy eating tips based on the supermarket receipt scans, courtesy of a team of diet experts.
7.Make Security Your Top Priority
Online business owners who want to plan out an effective m-commerce strategy should always keep customer safety at the top of their priority. The survey results show that 25 to 30-year-olds feel the safest paying for products and services with their smartphones. Approximately half of the surveyed millennials reported that they feel unsafe paying with their smartphones. This is the same for high school students. The data collected reported that 1 out of 3 feel unsafe shopping on smartphones. The popularity of mobile wallets is slowly increasing, with 12% opting to use a mobile wallet.
8.Make Use of Notifications & Alerts
Millennials are not just the largest group of smartphone owners but they are also the most obsessive checkers. One in every three millennial checks their phone at least twice an hour while 2 out of 10 confess that they check their devices up to 10 times an hour. It was reported that 43% of millennials admit that they do not go to the toilet without their smartphone. The assumption can be made that the chances of a millennial missing a notification on their phone are small to none. This is why every great mobile commerce strategy should include an app that sends regular notifications and alerts to millennial customers.
9.Help Your Customers Find You
Recent research of mobile shopping trends shows that millennials often use smartphones to find the location of a store. This indicates that millennials are increasingly reliant on their smartphones and even ranked the location feature as one of the top 3 advantages of owning a mobile device. College students and full-time employees are most likely to use their smartphones to find information about their location. For Business owners adding a location feature to their m-commerce will assist in their targeted millennial audience to find their store.
10.Use Games & Giveaways
Mobile games and free giveaways are popular with millennials. Almost 7 out of 10 millennials say that playing games is one of their favorite thing to do on their smartphones. An easy for for business owners planning on mobile commerce expansions is to include millennial-focused games and product or service giveaways. Heinz, one of the most recognizable condiment brands recently upgraded its e-commerce strategy by including game features, QR codes and other engagement methods.
The collected data indicates that the mobile commerce trend is not only here to stay but is going to increase steadily in popularity.It was reported that many young adults are still a little hesitant to switch from desktop to mobile shopping due to safety concerns. This means that there is room for growth for business owners looking to expand their e-commerce. The infographic below highlights the top 10 tips for successful mobile commerce strategy. The data used in the infographic is up-to-date and obtained from trusted sources to support business in implementing these tips into their m-commerce plan.
by Miriam Hara | Oct 29, 2015 | Advertising, Content, Latest, Social Media
If you think social media is about selling, think again.
If you think social media is about selling, think again. Advertising is about selling. Social media is about sharing: sharing your expertise by positioning yourself or your business as the expert. After all, you are the expert, right? As the expert, your role is to share your expertise. A little social media 101 for those still trying to sell instead of share.
Substitute your own product or service in the following example and the thoughts still hold water.
You’re on social media to make people happy. Your ongoing presence on social media should be designed to keep them happy.
Just for a moment, imagine your business as one that sells kitchen knives. You’re not on social media to sell those knives. You do that through your advertising. You’re there to speak to the importance of having the right knife for the job. You’re there to teach people about knives and respond to their questions or comments about your company and its knives. You’re making connections and carving out conversations through your knives.
Kitchen knives come in a variety of styles and each is designed to perform different tasks in the kitchen. So, talk. Talk about knife blades, handles, edges and blade materials that work best for various jobs. Talk about the importance of keeping a knife sharp. Talk about the history of knives. Develop interesting associations with other subjects through your knives. The list is virtually endless and there are endless ways to talk about it all. Think creatively. But keep in mind that social media is a forum for conversation, for imparting information that will teach people something or help them in some way. Give people something to think about. Get them talking. You’re on social media to make people happy. Your ongoing (consistent) presence on social media should be designed to keep them happy. Make sure that they want to keep coming back to hear what else you have to say.
Be creative. Be original. Be funny, if you wish. Don’t take yourself too seriously.
Allow your social media content to spread its wings. Dream up unique ways to present and share information about your company and its products or services. You’re the expert — you own the valuable ‘insider’ information. You know things about your product or service that nobody outside of your company knows. So, share. Use video. Stream video. Show and tell. Show people having fun with your products — make your content a social event. And don’t forget to have fun while you’re doing this (you probably raised your eyebrows at that comment). But if you enjoyed creating the content, then it’s almost certain that your enjoyment will be reflected in your post. Don’t shy away from ‘funny’. Social media has an incredible sense of humour. Be creative. Be original. Be funny, if you wish. Don’t take yourself too seriously.
You might be saying, “Miriam, not all businesses are fun. Mine’s quite a serious business.” I understand. Some of you are in businesses or organizations that require a great deal of tact and diplomacy. But all businesses have a human connection. To be successful that’s what you must reveal on social media — the heart of your business. Share your heart. That’s what social media is about.
Bottom line: If you believe in your business or organization then you’ll have lots to share.
This post underscores the difference between sharing and selling. Bottom line: If you believe in your business or organization then you’ll have lots to share. The beautiful thing about this very social forum is that it’s accessible to all of us and it’s affordable.
So you’re a small company that lacks the budget to compete with the big guns. In social media that doesn’t matter. You don’t have to compete. You’ve (hopefully) identified your niche; now expand it, solidify it, and secure it. Create a following. Extend your reach. Build brand loyalty. Social media is not governed by borders. Want to stretch your content’s wings internationally? Social media is the passport that allows you to travel anywhere, even on a small budget.
… you’re delivering value. And people everywhere love value.
Through well-written content that is varied, interesting and engaging, you’re delivering value. And people everywhere love value.
What else adds value? Sharing different content, on different platforms, via different formats, while staying true to your brand’s culture across platforms — that’s valuable.
Do it right. Position yourself or your business as the expert. Share. Give. Respond. Reveal the heart of your business and people will seek you out.
We learned it in kindergarten: People don’t like people who don’t share.
If you’re not feeling particularly creative or confident about your social media efforts then reach out to someone who can help you develop a strategy; one that leaves room for your efforts to evolve over time. As the world’s most successful brands will tell you, the long-term payback of sharing over selling is worth the effort. If you’re going to be successful, a presence on social media is no longer a choice and sharing is a necessity. We learned it in kindergarten: People don’t like people who don’t share.
Want a few tips on creating content for social media? Download our content creation ebook, ‘Content Creation Understood.’
‘Stop Selling. Start Sharing. It’s what social media is all about.‘ was first edited and published by Social Media Today, on October 15, 2015.
by Miriam Hara | Sep 17, 2015 | Advertising, Branding, Creative, Design, Latest, Marketing
Powerful product packaging. It’s not just about the product experience anymore. Today, even the packaging needs to be an experience. Powerful packaging requires more than a basic understanding of packaging fundamentals. It’s not just about being pretty and persuasive with packaging, it’s also about being practical.
… powerful product packaging design can be likened to a powerful social media initiative
As you may have guessed from previous posts, packaging design is one of my favourite aspects of marketing. I’ve written about it often. In an earlier post, Package Design: Think of it as Social Media on a shelf I spoke about how a good package design compares to a good social media initiative: it’s inherently social, stands out from its neighbours, starts a conversation and gets people to connect with it. I promised a follow-up to that post with 7 quick tips for creating better package design. Here goes …
Product Packaging: 7 tips to get it right!
Want powerful product packaging? Here are 7 things you need to know before you even begin to design:
- Know your market. Who are you designing for? Research is the foundation for all successful marketing and advertising and that includes packaging design.
- Know your competition. Take a walk down those crowded store aisles and see what your competition is doing, then do it better! Be original.
- Know your story. Every brand has (or should have!) a story. Packaging tells your brand story but in a thoughtfully scaled down version that fits the physical format.
- Know your product. Packaging copy must tell your customers what you want them to know as well as what they need to know. These two things are not necessarily the same.
- Know your personality. Is your brand/product personality serious or fun? Your packaging design (i.e. shape, size, colours, textures, imagery and type fonts) must work together to reflect that personality. Don’t be afraid to use humour!
- Know your materials. Can the design be reproduced effectively in mass and is it cost effective to reproduce? Will your materials stand up well in the retail landscape … from initial transport to life on the shelf.
- Know your responsibilities. Brands have a responsibility to be environmentally conscious. Packaging should be eco-friendly.
Read more about the fundamentals behind powerful product packaging …
Packaging: More than a pretty on-shelf face
Delivering Great Packaging Design
10 Secrets to Eye-Popping Package Designs
by Miriam Hara | Aug 28, 2015 | Advertising, Agency, Business Success, Communications, Content, Interactive, Latest, Management, Marketing, Social Media
In life, we need a plan. To create rich content, we need a plan.
There’s a lot of buzz around content and content creation. For those new to content and content creation, it can get confusing. What is content? In a nutshell: content = information. Rich content = great information.
I’ll give you an example of what’s meant by content (information). As an ad agency, there is:
- The content (information) our clients hire us to create using a variety of vehicles: billboard ads, print campaigns, outdoor advertising, videos (including YouTube videos), TV spots, radio spots, advertorials, brochures, packaging, websites, Social Media, etc. … you get the idea.
- Then, there’s the content (information) we create for the agency: our internal marketing and advertising. This could be news and views delivered via our website, blogs, tweets, Facebook posts, pins on Pinterest, Instagram, posts on LinkedIn and on business-to-business sites, etc.
Rich Content – What’s its job?
Content’s job is to add value and provide insight. To do this, it must be engaging. To be engaging, it must be informative and interesting (i.e. ‘rich’). To be effective, it must be targeted. This is important. 3H’s content reach is wide-ranging and eclectic. We speak to our clients, to large corporations, small businesses, executives and non-executives, the business-to-business market, people in the creative field and students (particularly those in the arts and communication). A content piece may not (and likely, will not) resonate with all of these people, all of the time. So at 3H, we vary the content regularly, to make sure there’s something for everyone. And we’re strategic with our content. We put it in places where the people we want to see it, will see it.
Who? What? When? Where? Why? And How?
A helpful way to plan for engaging content creation is to think the way a news editor or journalist thinks when developing a piece. Answer the four “W” questions: Who? What? When? Where? Why? And answer the ‘H’ question: How?
Who?
Define your target market(s) — the people you want to speak to, the ones you want to engage with your content.
What?
What do we want to say to our audience? This will also help establish a tone for your content and a voice for your organization. Your business is unique; tone and voice help get that across.
When?
When will we reach our audience? Plan to reach out regularly, in the same places, so that not only do they expect you, they search you out. Appear sporadically and you’ll lose your audience. Be flexible and adaptable: if you notice your audience gravitating to new places (and with the pace of technology, this happens regularly) — be there for them.
Take advantage of established media events, things such as Earth Day, Labour Day, Heart Month, Diabetes Month, Valentine’s Day, etc. If your business is geared toward any of these things, piggy back your content on the media excitement.
Every business experiences an ebb and flow. Make the most of slower times to come up with new ideas for content.
Create events, unique ones that belong only to you. Then wrap content around these events. Content is about engaging your audience. Give them a reason to get excited, to celebrate and to connect with you.
Where?
Where will we reach our audience? Where do they hang out? If you’re not sure, do a little research.
Why?
Why do we want to create rich content? Sounds pretty basic, I know, but it’s important. Why do you?
As you plan moves along, the “why” should stick around. You’ve implemented a plan, but don’t set it and forget it. Review. Regularly. How is your content being received? This leads to important answers to questions, such as: “Why is this type of content working well for us, but this other type isn’t?” The success of your content is measurable. For example, you can measure the progress of your Social Media efforts with metrics (The 5 Easy Steps to Measure Your Social Media Campaign). You can measure response to your website Five Keys to Success for Measuring Your Website.
You can measure it by the comments and feedback you’re getting. If you’re never getting any feedback, start asking why?
A good plan has legs
A good plan has legs, it evolves; it can take you to new places with new insights so that your content consistently delivers value. Gives your audience a reason to keep coming back.
A good plan needs a good team
Content creation should not be the sole job of the content creator(s). I’ve said this before: Everyone in a company can and should have input. It makes for a much richer, collaborative and enjoyable experience and ultimately, content will benefit, in quality and quantity.
HOW?
How will you do it? It’s all about fiber …
- Meaty and rich content.
- Make it regular.
Add value! Provide Insight!
If you don’t feel comfortable or confident enough to create your own content, hire a content creator. It really is that important!
STICK TO THE PLAN!
(If it’s a good plan.) If the plan’s not working, find out why and fix it. Then … STICK TO THE PLAN!
Want to delve deeper into Content Creation? Download our free eBook: Content Creation Understood. 21 short snappy insights (we call them biz-isms) that will help you wrap your head around creating great content.
