by Miriam Hara | Sep 28, 2012 | Advertising, Branding, Business Success, Social Media
Or I should say, “Grow Brand Grow!” I often say that I see a Brand in terms of a life – it’s a natural! We speak of Brands as having a product life cycle, we speak of their maturity and we carefully have to nurture them.
In the height of social brand awareness, in today’s communications sphere, the concept of Brand as a living being has never been more true. Not only does Brand have to have a consistent presence through visual media, but it now has to have a consistent brand voice throughout it’s consistent platforms.
In the era of fast turnaround, communications technology is easy to fall into the momentum of constant change. It’s easy to react rather than reflect, assume rather than do research and actually know. We’ve gravitated from too much research and analysis to no research and quick fix strategies that fail in the long term. Don’t get me wrong, for tactics such as promotions and campaigns, quick analytical reference is fantastic to allow for tweaking and changing details. Although, from a Brand strategy and Brand development perspective, changing quickly is often not optimal. If Brand is not resonating with your audience, then quickly changing the tone and approach might not be the answer. But I digress.
The real subject of this post is to speak about Brands and Brand Evolution. Evolving Brands in today’s world can be a minefield. It’s important to be consistent with tone and voice, but also engage and add value. Prior to social media, Brands had to maintain a steady course in how they visually presented themselves to their audience and how they spoke to them through broadcast channels.
Today, the spectrum of Brand Personality has been broadened substantially: thanks to Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest and Twitter, to name only a few. It’s not about presenting Brand in a one way flow. Today interaction is key. Traditional channels of advertising, or rather, as I like to term it classic advertising channels may still set the tone but new channels of advertising and engagement build intimacy with the audience. It is because of this intimacy that a Brand’s evolution pace is quickened. This challenges corporations and businesses to “engage” their Brand while having the ability to hold their position and evolve almost each and every day – while staying the course.
Working on Brand marketing as we do – being as close to the Brands that we work on and with – we tend to forget that our audience is not as intimate with our Brand, regardless of the new engagement channel. We are closer to our audiences than ever before, but still, they need a little more time to get to know it. Resisting the temptation to change it, to add to it is the hardest part of branding – even in today’s world.
by Lindsay Sleightholm | Sep 25, 2012 | Advertising, Branding, Business Success, Creative, Design
So you’ve created a brand… What was once just a nugget of an idea has been researched, developed, designed and finally brought to life. The result of all that hard work is a complete identity that will embody all the values of your product or service. Now it’s time to release that new brand into the market for whom it was created. Time to pop open the bubbly and celebrate? Well, not just yet. Before you unleash your brand into the consumer world, there’s one more important step you need to take to ensure its success: you need to provide it with proper brand guidelines to steer it in the right direction. What are brand guidelines? Brand guidelines are a detailed outline of a brand’s essence, explaining everything from brand positioning to visual identity. They will form a document that will act as a reference tool of standards. In other words, they’re an “owner’s manual” for your brand. The standards given in brand guidelines provide direction in times of potential branding mishaps – say, for instance, an inappropriate use of a logo, which would result in inaccurate brand representation. Basically, it all boils down to consistency. The role of brand guidelines is to keep a brand consistent within its identity, and a consistent identity aids strength of brand. Is there any room for maneuvering? Of course. Consistency is the key to the strength of a brand’s identity, but that doesn’t mean there shouldn’t be a little leeway allowed for. Overzealous guidelines will only serve to box your brand into a corner. If guidelines are too restrictive – simply “insert photo here” – the brand won’t be able to thrive. It must be given room to breathe within its guidelines. And the creative team working with the brand should be able to convey effective messaging, without having to check their brains at the door. Know your guidelines
What’s important to remember is that a vested interest into the inner workings of your brand needs to be present at onset. Unlike the one you use for your car, this owner’s manual isn’t just something to consult when malfunctions arise. Instead, you need to ensure everyone working with the brand understands its identity, values, culture and how it communicates to its market. Brand guidelines should not only be made available at all times, but also clearly understood and referred to often. Brand guideline must-haves
- Brand definition: A clear definition of the brand should include all aspects regarding brand positioning, brand voice and brand management.
- Logo, icon and positioning statement applications: After the brand has been defined, it then requires having a complete illustration of the brand’s logo(s) and their components as part of the visual identity.
- Colour palette: The colours associated with the brand’s visual identity make up its palette. All colour values must be indicated in their various conversions for all forms of media.
- Identity restrictions: Unacceptable identity logo usage needs to be detailed in diagram form.
- Identity sizing and clearance: Minimum sizing and a measurement for logo clear space needs to be indicated.
- Identity typography: All typefaces, their sizes and weights as well as any typesetting requirements should be outlined.
- Trademarking: Any trademarks or legal lines that need to be present on graphic material, need to be stated.
- Brand visuals: Visual elements including photography and graphics associated with the brand need to be shown.
- Sample identity usage: Examples of acceptable advertising, promotion materials or signage while adhering to brand guidelines help to solidify requirements.
Anyone who has assisted in creating a brand knows the importance of brand guidelines. Successful branding starts with a clear identity and guidelines that promote consistency in its use yet allows for brand growth. In turn, the brand can thrive and build in value. The role of effective brand guidelines is essential to keeping your brand on the track to success. How much weight do you put on brand guidelines?
by Saara Jafari | Sep 21, 2012 | Advertising, Business Success
How many times have we heard ourselves and those around us complain about how there never seems to be enough time? And how often have we walked down an aisle in a grocery store and gotten overwhelmed by lines and choices of products? The answer would be ‘countless times’. Then why is it that advertisers often, in their rush to spend their marketing/advertising budgets often fail to understand what exactly they are competing with before formulating the message they want to communicate to the buyer.
While it is simple to define ‘competitors’ as those whom you are competing with, it would be naïve to limit the scope to only include products or businesses in the same category. Today’s lifestyle is often the major competitor. With the increasing tendency of multitasking and quick fixes, where cost of living is sky rocketing, and people are working more than one job or longer hours, people place a greater value on the little time they have left to spend with their families, friends and personal development.
What does this mean to marketers? It means there are only a few seconds in a day, for companies, to get consumers’ attention and how they reach out to consumers is equally significant. According to a research conducted by McKinsey in Europe, 54% of the respondent base went online to collect information before making a purchase. This means companies should have a stronger and mindful online presence, whether it’s through digital advertising or social media. It’s important to streamline your websites and have engaging topics of discussions on your social media sites and user-friendly navigation to assist consumers in getting the information they want effortlessly…. And quickly.
Information overload is a definite competing factor and should be recognized and analysed when trying to get consumers’ attention. Whatever it is you have to say, say it well and say it fast. Be sure that what you are claiming to offer is relevant to your consumer’s need.
It’s imperative to understand consumer buying behaviour before developing your communication strategy. This is what you need to know:
- know what they think, how they feel, who influences them, what drives them to buy that product and at what time,
- what makes them pick up the one brand as opposed to the others,
- when and where are they most receptive to actually listen to what you are trying to say,
Here are a few tips to make sure that your point gets across and sticks!
Do not ramble. You have to be focussed. You need to be concise.
Be catchy. There is enough serious stuff going on in the world. Don’t be afraid of a little cleverness, a little colour, a little music, a little positive emotion.
Keep it light. People like funny. If your brand puts that smile on their faces, they will remember you. Your job is partially done if they remember you fondly, and have positive emotional associations with your brand.
It goes without saying, of course, that your product should deliver on what it promises… marketing 101. No amount of cleverness or humour can make up for a brand that doesn’t deliver on its promise. Actually, you’ll tick off your consumers even more because they’ve taken out the time that they could have used else where to engage with your brand … only to be disappointed. But if you convey your promise of satisfaction and deliverance of benefits in a simple, light and humorous way, and deliver…you’ll definitely stand out.
You need to get inside their heads and step into their shoes to know how they think, how they process all the information bombarding them from everywhere. You need to understand this in order to break through all the clutter sucking up all their time. After all, that’s what advertising should do, gain share of mind and top of mind.
Please share your comments. We’d love to hear what you have to say.
by cassandr | Sep 5, 2012 | Branding, Business Success, Interactive, Social Media
Have you ever wondered how to tell a real account from a fake account? The tricks they use, and the game they play? Well you’re not alone.
Unfortunately many fake Twitter accounts pop up everyday, some harder to spot than others.
The downside to fake followers for brands is significant. The number of followers a brand has becomes irrelevant if the followers are fake. Measuring social media is already a difficult process, but once you throw in accounts that add no value other than a number it becomes even more difficult.
How do you truly measure social media success if a brand gets nothing in return from its Twitter followers?
StatusPeople is an App that is a social media management tool that can easily help businesses and brands track their social media communities and if they are real or not. Over 150,000 people have used the Fakers App to find out what the quality of their followers is.
Barring the use of any Faker App, here are some online do-it-yourself identity checks to help you spot the fakers, right off the bat:
1) Style and Personality
Before following a Twitter account make sure to do a quick review of their biography. It is also very important to check out their tweets and the daily conversations they engage in. This can easily display the style and personality of the individual you want to follow.
2) Huge Amount Following, Small Amount of Followers
This is a pretty self-explanatory indication if an account is fake. If an account is following thousands, while only a few are following back, this is more than likely a fake account. One of the first things to check is if they truly work for a specific company; you could possibly expect to see other employees following them.
3) The Follow/ Unfollow Game
Have you ever had someone follow you on Twitter and then unfollow when you don’t follow back? Some people do this in order to have a positive ratio of followers to follows. These types of accounts wait a couple days for you to follow them, and then unfollow the people they recently followed. They continue and repeat the process until they have the desired number of followers.
4) No or Very Few Photo Uploads
Many fake accounts do not post many or any photos at all. Fake accounts typically have pictures of different people; this gives the illusion that this is in fact a real person.
5) More Than 50 Tweets a Day
Many fake accounts use services that provide them with automated tweets. These accounts do not target their tweets nor do they write there own content. In other words, they just let the software do all the work and send out as many spammy messages as possible.
Fake Twitter followers negatively affect both consumers and brands; brands in particular should remember quality is always better than quantity.
How do you use your Twitter followers to enhance your business strategy?
by cassie | Aug 29, 2012 | Advertising, Branding, Business Success, Creative, Design
On August 23, 2012 a monumental change took place at one of the world’s largest technological companies; Microsoft unveiled a new logo, the first new logo since 1987.
This marks a significant change in the direction the company is taking. On the same day the logo was reveled, Microsoft stated in a press release that they wanted to revamp their image in time for the launch of Windows 8, which happens in late October. Windows 8 is the first software from Microsoft that can be used on both PCs and personal tablets, changing the way in which consumers interact with their various technological devices.
By creating a new logo Microsoft is not only trying to build interest and buzz around the product launch, but also show its target market that they have changed their way of thinking product development in response to how people currently use technology. Windows 8 is not just another “pretty” update and neither is the logo. It’s a new logo for a new Microsoft… with a new attitude.
Before
After
So how is that new business attitude reflected in the new logo? The first change is the font. Gone are the italics in favour of a new, straight font, which connects the F and T. They also altered the colour by lightening it and simplifying the use of colour removing dimension and shadows.
Secondly, the four coloured squares, which were previously curved and used to represent a window, have been straightened out and flattened to make a square. This was done to represent how applications will appear as mosaic tiles that will work on both touch tablets and PCs.
The changes are pretty minimal, so what has the response been? Pretty minimal as well. While it’s not being hailed as horrible, there’s no real praise for it either. It seems that it has failed to make an impression one way or another.
For a new logo that is supposed to be ushering in “one of the most significant waves of product launches in Microsoft’s history,” I personally think they could have done much better.
But like I said, they didn’t do a horrible job. Many components used are what go into a good logo. As Lance Ulanoff, Editor in Chief at Mashable.com, points out it’s simple and timeless. The design is clean and modern and void of stylistic trends that will easily look dated in a few years time. It also doesn’t deviate too far from the past logos. The logo is appropriate for the direction the brand is heading in. The tiles act as representation of the product the Microsoft is offering.
So where does it fail? Where it fails is the fact that it’s not memorable. Microsoft wanted the logo to be “humble, yet confident,” but humble is the wrong route to take if the brand is trying to play up the notion of significant innovation.
The lightened colour comes off as dull and weak. The adjustment of the coloured tiles is very minor. What the logo should say is “Microsoft is a leader in technology that offers innovative products to customers for their changing need.” Instead it says “Microsoft made a few changes here and there that might go unnoticed with customers.”
Simplicity is key in logo design…can anyone say Apple? The new Microsoft logo can be described as simple… but unlike Apple, it’s not clever and it’s not iconic. It’s bad business practice to try to follow in the footsteps of a competitor who has done it so well. Microsoft would have been better served striking off on its own… creating something original to set its brand apart.
While a logo a brand does not make, it is important to put thought and care into it, especially when evolving it.
Do you feel, given the goals and intended messaging, that Microsoft created a new logo that connects with consumers?
