Web 2.0 takes the concept of Web one step further and makes the platform a network. Instead of just passively absorbing information, users actively create the information and engage with one another. Chances are you are already into Web 2.0…but just don’t know it. Sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and personal blogs are all examples of Web 2.0.
When using Web 2.0 on Facebook, Twitter or any other social engagement platform there is one golden rule everyone should abide by: Think Before You Tweet(or post). Just because you can say something doesn’t mean you should. Remember, once you put something out on web 2.0, it’s there forever for anyone to see.
When used incorrectly there could be some very negative consequences to Web 2.0 so be careful. The best way to protect yourself is to think before you Tweet (or post) and consider the following before making anything live:
1) does my message have a purpose
2) is this something I would want to read
3) is my statement accurate
4) will this come back to haunt me
Once you know how to avoid the pitfalls of Web 2.0 you can start enjoying its benefits. Here are just a few from a branding perspective:
1. Audience reach: Web 2.0 doesn’t discriminate and anyone, anywhere, with an Internet connection can become engaged with a brand. Terms such a “viral video” or “trending” are often used to signal high engagement. There is unlimited potential when it comes to reach. When a brand tweets, posts or blogs something that resonates with the audience, people will want to share it.
2. Personalized communication: through Web 2.0, brands develop a voice and a personality that speaks with consumers, not just to them. Brands and customers can have an ongoing dialogue that allows for praises, concerns and questions to be addressed directly and instantaneously. Responding to comments directly can establish a positive relationship and a positive relationship can then translate into brand loyalty.
A great example of Web 2.0 would be “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like” campaign Old Spice did in 2010. It was a Youtube campaign that lasted three days and became the quickest growing online campaign in history. After just 24 hours there were 6.7 million views on Youtube and grew to 23 million views after 36 hours. [1] That kind of reach and growth wouldn’t have been possible if the campaign started with traditional television commercials. Once the video was posted, Old Spice went one step further to engage with their consumers by posting 187 video responses featuring the star of their campaign.[2]
Now that you know how to use Web 2.0 and have seen what it can do for a brand, how do you plan on integrating it into your next campaign?
In clear terms, it defines your company’s direction… and actually acts as a compass through growth opportunities and changing market conditions. It is the critical platform for all communications. Without direction or focus, the brand goes…. absolutely everywhere… and not in a good way!
It seems very easy to create… A few words that speak volumes. How difficult can it be? More to the matter, how significant is a positioning statement? Positioning Statements, or in the case of Consumer Packaged Brands, slogans, have been at the heart of advertising sell copy since the inception of mass selling.
It is an important component of your marketing initiative… if not the most important. Positioning is not just a fluffy marketing word… it defines and identifies your Brand/Business. A brand positioning statement eloquently states your brand’s “stake in the sand”. Moreover, it expresses “This is who I am, this is what I do, this is what and how I deliver”. In basic marketing practice, the easiest way to describe a positioning statement is that it announces to the world what makes your brand stand out above the rest and how you do that in a very succinct message.
Keep your brand/business on track with a powerful positioning statement. So how do you go about developing one?
A good marketing exercise to do prior to attempting to create your own positioning statement is to look at the brands that have successful taglines and try to identify the key messages that the tagline promotes. Ask yourself if the statement is relevant to what the brand promises, or the product delivers….or if it speaks to the service the business provides. View the positioning statement in rewind. You’ll find that the good positioning statements easily reflect the market, the target and the benefit of each brand or business. Here are some to get you started: McCain “It’s all good TM”campaign, “i’m lovin’ it”, an international branding campaign by McDonald’s Corporation (they incorporated it with their logo), and Scotiabank “You’re richer than you think”.
In this new world of do-it-yourself marketing and branding, many start-up companies go at developing a brand positioning statement on their own. Often those positioning statements end up being descriptors of the brand. Like the warning copy on an Evil Knievel daredevil act, I urge you not try this at home… and alone!
Here are the must haves of a positioning statement, in no particular order:
1) The Promise: Must state what we offer.
2) The Benefit: Must clearly identify what’s in it for them.
3) Personality: Must reflect the culture and brand voice.
4) Originality/Uniqueness: Must be a thing of beauty and joy.
5) Simplicity: Must be so succinct as to inspire a “wow”.
6) Longevity…. it must be there for the long haul.
What better way to demonstrate the importance of clearly stating the benefit simply within a positioning statement than with the Muppets! Watch this video clip from the Muppets Take Manhattan movie, for Ocean Breeze Soap. The message is bang on!
Once you achieve the Positioning Statement…. you must, and this is so very important: Use it consistently and frequently on all communication pieces. On business cards, web sites, apps, trade booths, ppt presentations, print ads, radio ads, digital ads, TV ads, leave behinds, etc, etc, etc.
This positioning statement will drive your message home to consumers, just like a GPS and will definitely build the foundation for brand recognition. Check out our ebook “Branding Understood” to get your gears turning!
Does your positioning statement have what it takes to direct your brand’s destiny?
Brand, like fine wine, is described as having character, essence, personality or persona. Well there’s a new adjective in Marketing Vocabulary in terms of describing a Brand. It’s called Brand Voice. With the explosion of Social Media, Engagement Brand not only has to have a “personality” it must also have a Voice. In the frenzy of not being left out and joining the social conversation, many Brands have quite literally “jumped” in the social arena. So is any voice better than no voice at all?
Marketers Beware! Pioneering the great frontier of social media does not mean leaving brand principles behind. Au contraire… Brand Voice does not negate Brand Position (PDF). No not at all. Brand Position: what sets Brand apart from the myriad of all the other “me toos” out there, has never been more important and more relevant in establishing Brand Voice and setting course to top of mind awareness and market consideration.
There are true and tried methods in establishing Brand Voice, regardless of its “newness”. Make sure that before you embark on this exciting social media journey, you’re equipped to handle the good, the bad and the phenomenal!
Here’s a quick checklist in achieving that.
1) Your Brand’s Position: Yes, it’s a motherhood statement, however, nothing replaces a solid positioning, even on Facebook or Twitter. Regardless of the ever-changing communications dynamic, suffice to say, without a clear positioning, there is little point in proceeding to obtain a brand voice.
2) Single Focused Mindedness: Let’s not be all things to all people. Have a clear understanding of the Brand’s Position; Brand’s Vision and Brand Culture is key in maintaining a voice that speaks in the same way, all the time. No matter if you tweet 5 times a day, write status reports, guest blog or engage in discussions, what you say needs to be different and the same.
3) Determine your Objectives and Strategy:Really, what Marketing initiative can be called marketing without them? A Brand needs to have a Social Media Strategy. Before you start, define what is your vision of success? Who do you want to have follow you? How are you going to achieve that? What are the timeline measurement points?
4) Guidelines for Speaking to Your Target… consistently:Marketers have always been clear in evaluating Character and Style against print ads, TV or Radio ads and their packaging. Social Engagement and Brand Voice are no different. The need for a consistent voice with a consistent approach style and message is key. And lets not forget Tone. It’s important to set the tone for all Brand communications. Like everything else that makes a good Brand into a great Brand… Consistency is King.
5) Establish an Editorial Calendar: Brand Voice is about engagement and even entertainment. It’s much more complex in doing so than a 30 second commercial. Brand now has to make friends and have people follow. It has to resonate with its core following and contribute to the conversation with meaningful content. It must allow for a loss of control in order to gain it. It’s a dynamic approach to Brand Marketing. It is fantastic, exhilarating and the best thing for brand since broadcast ads hit the airway. Brand who dialogue with their followers (no, not customers) are in a place where they can play the role of influencing behaviour like never before. Brands need to understand how to engage without selling. It has to deliver in less than 150 characters its positioning, its reason and its promise.
6) Be Authentic: Deliver on Brand Promise. Deliver on Brand Character. Deliver on Brand Experience. Listen and respond. Speak and engage. Needless to say a Brand that is not authentic has really no hope in achieving excellence in any Marketing channel. Brand must always deliver.
Brand Voice is an increasingly important element of the total Brand Experience. As such, the Social Media channel has taken its rightful place along side print, broadcast and digital media in the strategy to market Brand holistically, effectively… and successfully. How vocal is your brand?
If an image is worth 1000 words, combine that image with text and the actual meaning behind the image becomes clearer. The variable of 1000 different words is reduced to only those that are necessary. This is not to say an image cannot speak on its own – many talented photographers, illustrators and artists can attest to that. Nonetheless, image and text together create a more focused message and is the root of great advertising. Further, the chosen typeface not only speaks with the image, it also speaks for itself.
Let’s start with typography
The origins of typography can include the first forms of written language and date back to about 3000 B.C. with Cuneiform by the Sumerians. However, it wasn’t until about 1440 A.D. when Johann Gutenberg created the printing press utilizing moveable type that typography as a craft really took off. This involved the process of printing by use of type blocks made of metal with raised letterforms that could be inked and pressed into a substrate.
What is the role of typography?
The roles of typography, typographic style and the typeface as parts of visual communication have evolved over the ages. Fast forward to today, within the information age (digital age) and there isn’t much we can’t do with type. We have many different tools and methods for working with typography. However, the principles behind it have not changed much since Gutenberg’s contribution. Ultimately, the role of typography should remain to honour content.
So, what’s in a typeface?
A typeface in itself is a visual. If you do not understand the language presented in type, you see it only as a visual. Although, a typeface is much more than it would appear at first glance. It is ruled by legibility, but also communicates through the form of it’s characters to provide meaning.
As designers and creatives know, we all have quite an attachment to the typefaces we work with. Unlike images, typefaces as elements are the ones that we refer back to on more than one occasion, so much so, we know most of them by name. Also, we know their “personalities” and which one of them would pair best with any given image.
A good typeface as part of a design can be compared to a good orchestra as part of a stage production. The music is heard and felt, but does not bring undue attention to itself. It aids the message. This happens not just through its personality and style, but also the mesh it makes with its image counterpart. It is the partnership of these elements that create a complete spectacle. If one overshadows the other, the message may suffer.
Respect for the typeface
If typefaces are ruled by legibility, we also need to consider their readability. As designers we aim to strengthen the meaning conveyed by a typeface through proper setting, size and placement. After all, any good “face” deserves that much. Without respect for the typeface, and its letterforms, many beautifully designed and legible typefaces can lack readability.
Where is typography now?
Well, through its many evolutions, typography has been handcrafted, mechanized and digitized. With these advancements in technology our relationship with typography has become strained. The speed, ease and flexibility that we have been afforded also means the time consuming task of attention to type can sometimes suffer.
Generally speaking, typefaces have been battered and bruised, scaled, pushed, prodded, stretched, outlined and sometimes just ignored entirely. However, as with any good element, the well intentioned and humble typeface continues to hold strong to it’s rightful place in graphic design.
Once upon a time (and not that long ago), there was an entire industry dedicated to typesetting. The specialized role of the typesetter was to govern the accuracy of the text component in conjunction with the designer’s visuals. Now, the role of designer includes typesetting. Graphic designers hold sole responsibility towards the success of typography within visual communication.
“By all means break the rules, and break them beautifully, deliberately and well.”
– Robert Bringhurst: The elements of typographic style
A good typeface should be embraced for its succinct presence, rather than written-off to optical software. So, let’s all just remember for a moment how much our typefaces mean to us, and how we can best show off their strengths.
What role does typography take in your design and more importantly, how much attention do you give it?
Creativity is not a gift possessed by few. I can just hear the combined outcry from all CPs (Creative Professionals)! According to Jonah Lehrer, in his book “How Creativity Works“, creativity is a thought process that we all can learn. I tend to agree with Lehrer . I have seen this in action where a “non-creative” professional has stated something within a brainstorming session that has inspired a great idea. In the pursuit of the next great idea, innovation or concept, “creative” individuals gather around to catch that ever elusive WOW moment.
Our 3H brainstorming sessions are relaxed and informal, usually accompanied by popcorn (cause who doesn’t like popcorn?), a big (HUGE) notebook, a black Sharpie pen, armed with briefs, background information, research, market trends, etc… Just when you think that’s it, there’s more controversy from Lehrer’s book… and let me say this from the get go… I don’t necessarily agree with. Lehrer is of the belief that group brainstorming sessions don’t work. Group brainstorming sessionshave worked for us.
However, some say group brainstorming sessions don’t work because we cannot demand creativity, that ideas usually come more freely when we are doing things like brushing our teeth or driving to work. As in most group dynamics, those with the biggest egos get heard, leaving the rest quiet, forgetting their idea while they wait for their turn to speak, or worse, neither able nor motivated to contribute to the conversation. In a large group, it is often easy for one to ride the coattails of the more vocal in the group, focusing on other people’s ideas, consequently not generating their own original thoughts.
In our agency, we brainstorm to find solutions to solve a problem, remove an obstacle or rise up to a challenge. Our group is not small nor big… and we often build on each others ideas, successfully! In our group we all think differently. Our different backgrounds and experiences have provided us with a unique dynamic in achieving creative results. Everyone acknowledges that individually we have something valuable to offer. When you work as a team like this, everyone can take ownership for the resulting solution, and feel passion and enthusiasm for the end result. In a group dynamic, it is important that everyone is encouraged to participate, to allow the freedom to speak out loud… there are no bad ideas, thoughts or words: each suggestion or idea builds on the next. We follow our Brand Kinetix process. In broad strokes, here is how we work it:
In a comfortable, relaxed environment, we discuss and agree on the objective, based on a client brief.
We eat popcorn. This is essential for our brainstorming sessions to achieve success.
We share ideas and suggestions, having agreed on a time limit, knowing that this may be the first in a series of brainstorming sessions.
One person manages ideas in whatever way works best for your group: sticky notes, big piece of paper, a bulletin board, etc.
Come up with a handful of good ideas, refine them, and then regroup to see if it stands the test of “the day after, the afternoon before”.
There are many other “organized” approaches towards brainstorming to keep things fresh and stimulating. Here are a few:
6-3-5 Brainwriting – according to Wikipedia:The technique involves 6 participants who sit in a group and are supervised by a moderator. Each participant thinks up 3 ideas every 5 minutes. Participants are encouraged to draw on others’ ideas for inspiration, thus stimulating the creative process. After 6 rounds in 30 minutes the group has thought up a total of 108 ideas.
The Stepladder Technique:This is a decision-making approach involving the creation of a two-person subgroup (the core) that begins initial discussion of the group task. After a predetermined time interval, another group member joins the core group and presents his or her ideas. The three-person group then discusses the task, and the process continues in steps until all members have systematically joined the core group. When this occurs, the group arrives at a final solution.
Round-Robin Brainstorming works like this: 1. Sit your group or team at a table. Each person gets a stack of index cards. 2. One person communicates the brief to the group. No one else speaks yet. 3. Each person quietly takes a card and writes down one idea. They then pass the card to the person on the right. 4. That person reads the card and uses it to generate a new idea. He or she then turns the first card upside down in a stack, and passes the new card to the right.
5. The process of writing new ideas and passing to the person on the right continues for a set amount of time, perhaps ten minutes. 6. At the end, the facilitator gathers the cards and reads each idea aloud. The cards are then arranged and grouped on a whiteboard or wall, with duplicates discarded. This is used to stimulate discussion or more ideas.
How do you feel about brainstorming as a group? Are you in agreement that “a-ha” creativity can’t be achieved in this context? Are there other approaches that you’ve utilized? I invite you to share them here.
