by Madi Secareanu | Jun 20, 2012 | Branding, Business Success, Creative, Design
Change is inevitable and as your business changes, so will your brand. With a lot of hard work and dedication to your brand, your customers might come to recognize you, your colours and your voice as much as your products or services. Depending on where your business stands you may consider a rebrand or a brand evolution to breathe new life into your brand and reach new consumers. Rebranding or evolving your brand can:
- make it more current
- develop or improve your brand identity
- increase sales
- differentiate you
In recent years there have been several high profile rebranding and brand evolution exercises. In 2011 Starbucks rebranded to support it’s international go-to-market strategy. Note that they removed their name “Starbucks Coffee” from their logo as they are no longer just about coffee. Pepsi is notorious for rebranding itself at least once a decade and Wal-Mart famously up-grated their brand in 2008. What these three brands have in common is not only their size but the frequency with which they rebrand themselves, and the level of familiarity they’ve maintained while appealing to new consumer generations and demographics. They all also have a substantial and loyal customer base and their iconic status no doubt helped make the transition from the old to the new brand more seamless.
* source: starbucks.com
Be cautious though – if you have a growing brand, one that is building recognition and loyalty – a rebrand might not be the right thing to do. Taking away the elements that make your brand top of mind might hurt more than help your growth. But if you feel that your company is ready and could benefit from a rebrand, consider the following:
Why do you want to rebrand or evolve?
Ask yourself the following questions. Are sales low? Is your brand recognition suffering? Is your image outdated? Do you want to reach a new demographic or target market? Make sure that it’s the right strategy to achieve your goals – a rebrand isn’t just about making your brand look nice. It is a risky endeavor but if done correctly, it can help your business tremendously.
Develop a plan and strategy
How are your going to rebrand or evolve yourself? Is it going to be a complete overhaul, just the logo, the positioning or the tagline? The packaging? Moving your business forward requires a plan and a strategy and it doesn’t end with a new look – a new business strategy might require a rebrand and vice versa.
Don’t forget the past
This is key to retaining brand recognition and customer loyalty. The reason why Pepsi, Wal-Mart and Starbucks have been successful was because they didn’t stray much from the past. They were inspired it but they evolved. The familiar elements were retained and improved.
Focus on the future
You may take some elements of the past with you but remember the reason you’re rebranding in the first place – the future. You want your business to grow with the times. Your rebranding efforts should be able to stand up for at least a decade or two. Don’t go with anything too trendy or language that could be outdated. Keep it fresh yet timeless.
Consider your customers
Ultimately a rebrand or evolution is about the consumer. You can hire the best rebranding experts in the world but if your consumers don’t relate, you’ve make a big mistake. You must consider your costumers. How will they respond to your rebrand? Hold a focus group and have them review your rebranding efforts. Do they resonate? Do they still recognize and relate to your brand? Are they more inclined to buy? Then there are also the new consumers, ones that you could gain by appealing to them through your rebrand, the ones that may not be familiar with your current brand.
Just last year we updated the 3H brand identity that included an evolution of our logo, new typography, updated corporate colours and a website redesign. We kept elements of the past – the purple is our brand but the redesign helped us evolve into the 21st century of brand marketing. Our rebranding efforts don’t stop with us, we have helped clients such as Trispec evolve their brand with a new logo, positioning statement and brand visual, Liquid Nutrition with a rebranded vocabulary and Agropur, updating their Aged Cheddar packaging and website.
What elements do you think are essential to a successful rebrand?
by Madi Secareanu | May 24, 2012 | Advertising, Branding, Business Success, Interactive
Website copywriting is an art of its own. Although it contains some traditional elements, it’s very different than blog writing, editorial writing, ad copywriting….you get the idea. However, more often than not, some brands/companies and even self-proclaimed professional writers don’t see this distinction. Here are the most common web copywriting mistakes:
1. Too much copy
This mistake often steers visitors towards the Close button. Too much copy can be overwhelming. The lead should be up front, important information such as who you are and what you do should be easy to find. Now, I know some of you might be thinking that you need a lot of copy for SEO purposes, but that’s not all true. Yes you need to have more than a sentence or two, but even that one sentence, if it contains the right SEO-friendly keywords, can be very effective. Copy should be clear, concise and to the point and SEO optimized.
2. Unorganized copy
Closely related to the “too much copy” issue, this again can cause visitors to steer clear of your site. If your copy isn’t organized and just plopped in without a method to the madness, your site will not perform the way it should. The site-map and navigation should fall under the copywriter’s responsibility – web copy needs to not only read well, but it needs to flow and navigate well too.
3. Not SEO optimized
I touched on this in first mistake but let me expand. SEO is important for website performance and it should not be ignored when writing web copy. Utilize search engine key word tools and look for terms that you should be using in your web copy. Don’t forget the meta tag titles and descriptions – they provide the hook in search results that could turn a search into a visit.
4. No benefits
Similar to advertising, web copy should reflect the benefits of your brand or service. What’s in it for your customers? Why should they choose your brand/service? What do you have that your competitors don’t? Your website can often be your first selling feature, and if you don’t have the benefits outlined you could end up losing out.
5. Not focusing on a target market
Whom are you speaking to? Web copy should speak to your clients and what they need – tailor the message. It’s not enough to simply introduce your brand/service – you have to also talk about what you can do for your clients. There’s a difference between “we offer this” and “we offer YOU this”. If you’re talking to your brand/services more than you’re talking to your clients, your copy needs a refresh.
These 5 mistakes seem like common sense but just take a look around the web, and I guarantee that there’s no shortage of websites that fall victim to at least one of the afore mentioned web copy no-no’s.
Do you have any examples of poorly written sites that we could all learn from?
by Madi Secareanu | May 15, 2012 | Business Success, Interactive, Social Media
I might have said this once or twice before…but it really does seem like there is a new social media site gaining momentum each week. Some of you might be thinking “oh no, not another social media site! I barely have enough time to log on to Facebook”. It may seem like over-saturation at times but not all new social media sites succeed. Their success depends on several factors that include: knowing their audience, ease of use, community development, or linking up to other larger social networking sites. Here’s a look at a few social media sites that failed to capture a large following and several sites that are making big enough noise to keep an eye on this year.
The Ones that Could Have Been
1. Yahoo! Buzz: No niche… no need.
Similar to Digg, Yahoo! Buzz allowed its users to generate “buzz” around stories they read online. Unfortunately for Yahoo!, low user participation rates and low website adoption numbers led to Buzz’ demise.
2. Friendster: Poor strategy.
As one of the first social networking sites to make an impact, Friendster once had more than 115 million users. Its downfall was combination of programming flaws, an unstable infrastructure and poor business decisions. Friendster has since changed course and rebranded itself as a gaming site.
3.Ping: An Apple failure!
A failure is a rarity, but not unheard of, in Apple’s portfolio. Although it’s still active Ping, an iTunes based social networking site, has failed to generate much action. Its censorship, hard to use navigation and the biggie – its focus on commerce not building social relationship has really put users off.
The Ones to Watch
1. Path: Social networking on the go. (Terminated September 2018)
Path was social networking app, which allowed users to keep a journal on the go – a “path” of their life. Users could post photos, travel updates, share interests, music and keep in touch with friends and family. In September of 2018, Path announced its termination of the service.
2. Quora: Has all the answers.
Quora connects its users to everything they want to know. Users ask questions, responses and share information. Users can create their own personalized homepages surround topics, questions, people and content they are interested in.
3. Chime.in: What do you have to say?
Chime.in is a social network based on interests. Users share opinions and questions around their interests while discovering new information and making new connections and building communities around their favorite topics. Top interests include Street Style, Food, Social Media and more.
4. Stipple: Content with power.
Stipple gives image owners power over their content. It powers commerce and content inside of images on the web and mobile while fostering connections and communities. It also permanently connects images to their owners who can share information, media and commerce through their images.
Whether these “ones to watch” will make a lot of noise this year remains to be seen. One thing’s for sure – when a social media site becomes successful – success happens very quickly. We know the story very well – take a look at how fast Pinterest and BranchOut grew. The real determinant of a social network’s success and longevity lies in its ability to keep users interested while staying innovative – remember there seems to be a new social networking site every week, armed and ready to become the next big thing.
What social networks do you think will have the most impact this year and why?
by Madi Secareanu | May 8, 2012 | Advertising, Branding, Business Success, Creative, Interactive
It’s happened to all of us. We’ve been on Facebook posting something on a friend’s wall about a specific interest, like tennis, and the next thing you know Facebook is showing you an ad about tennis rackets. That’s the power of Facebook ads – it lets brands engage and target people based on interests – what they’re talking about and what they like.
Facebook ads can be a very powerful tool to help to generate interest, brand recognition and brand loyalty. It can be an advertiser’s dream – targeting using the information people willingly share with others or enter in their profiles. But it’s important to know the ins and outs of advertising on Facebook before you get started.If you’re planning on launching a Facebook advertising campaign, here are some things to keep in mind before you get going.
- Identify your goals
What do you want to achieve? Is a Fecbook advertising campaign the right strategy? Do you want more likes on your brand page? Do you want to get people to enter a contest? Do you want to drive brand awareness? Do you want to acquire new sales leads? Your objective defines your strategy, so make sure you know what your goals are before launching your campaign. Make sure to establish your objectives prior to launch but be prepared – with Facebook the strategy may vary throughout the duration of the campaign.
- Know your audience
Who do you want to reach – who is your audience? Think about what categories your customers fall into. Not only define them by demographics… dig deeper than that. Knowing your audience well lets’ you target your ads more effectively by tailoring your imagery and your copy to get your target audience’s attention.
- Set your budget
Set a clear budget as you would for all advertising efforts. Identify how much you want to spend daily or during the ad’s entire lifespan and identify your cost per click or cost per thousand impressions bid. How much are you willing to spend? What’s your strategy? Should you initiate a cost per thousand (CPM)or a click through(CTR) campaign.
- Know the rules
Get to know Facebook’s advertising policies and approval process. You’ll find useful information on what you can and cannot advertise, say or show. Knowing the guidelines before hand will lower your ad’s chance of getting disapproved or shut down.
Now, you might be ready to launch your Facebook advertising campaign, but don’t know if it’s going to be a success. It’s always hard to forecast if an ad is going to be successful or not, but if you know your audience well enough and you have a clear objective and a well-defined strategy, you can help improve your ad’s success rate. Here are a few useful tips on creating more effective Facebook ads:
- Copy is key
Develop to-the-point copy that grabs your viewers’ attention. Use a call to action like “Click here!” to help incite your audience to act. Also, use any keywords that you may have if you’ve done your psychographic targeting.
- Draw the eye
Facebook ads that have simple images generally perform better. Use people’s faces where possible as it can help create a more personal connection – but keep it relevant. Avoid using images with hard to read text. Again, try to keep it simple.
- Prepare for landing
Keep your landing page in mind. Where are you sending your audience? Your landing page should reflect what’s being advertised. It may seem a bit obvious but if you’re asking your audience to enter a contest, the landing page should allow them to enter a contest…and so on. Keep it consistent.
- Analyze the performance
The real beauty of Facebook advertising is that you can stop ads and launch new ones…in a blink of an eye! In order to do that though, you need to create many alternative ads in order to test them and analyze which ones work, which don’t and why.
As marketers, we already know the power of Facebook and what it can do for customer engagement and brand loyalty. We know how we can better integrate our brands into our customers’ daily life through Facebook – keep them talking about a brand by asking questions and through constant engagement, stay in front of their eyes and at the top of their mind. Recently, Facebook announced that it would include ads in the news feed – making ads even more integrated in customers’ every day Facebook activities.
What are your thoughts? Do you think Facebook ads are effective– any success stories that you’d like to share?
Click here to follow 3H Communications on Facebook!
by Madi Secareanu | Mar 20, 2012 | Advertising, Business Success, Miriamisms
You may not always be aware that you’re practicing them, but they become ingrained in the way you do things day to day. “Isms” for some, are an overarching, common sense way of doing things – approaches to keep in mind. These “isms” can apply to your everyday life or your career. In business and at 3H Communications, we like to use the term “biz-ism” as it is defined by our very own Canadian marketing veteran Miriam Hara.
So, what is a biz-ism and how does it apply to marketing? We’ve laid it all out for you in our first eBook “Marketing Understood 33 Biz-isms You Need for Success”. The first in a series of powerful eBooks, Marketing Understood will benefit anyone in business and marketing management today by giving you a collection of key marketing practices and philosophies to power marketing efforts. Whether you’re marketing a service, a product, a brand or whether you’re an entrepreneur, this eBook will give you a wealth of practical information presented in a very concise, no-nonsense way. It’s an easy, quick reference point on how to market and power marketing. Who doesn’t like the sound of that?
Among the 33 excellent biz-isms included in the eBook, the “Don’t be Surprised: Use Research” biz-ism caught my attention. I thought, well that seems like a no brainer, right? Although research is essential when making a good marketing decision, sometimes this crucial step in the marketing process doesn’t get the credit it deserves. Strong research helps identify, among other things, a target market and competitive approaches to make your campaign stand out above the rest. While researching, you might also find that you can take different routes and choose from several different options to effectively marketing your service or product.
The “Don’t be Surprised: Use Research” biz-ism, along with the 32 other great biz-isms in the Marketing Understood eBook, is a simple but important thing to keep in mind and add to your marketing mix.
You can download our “Marketing Understood: 33 Biz-isms You Need for Success” here to get more expert, seasoned insight on how to market powerfully and effectively.
Do you use any marketing biz-isms to effectively market your business? Leave a comment below – I’d love to hear what they are!
