How To Get Your Brand Out Onto The Market

How often do you meet someone and then don’t remember their name after they tell you? For most of us this happens often. We need to ask again, ask around or wait till we see them again to learn their name once more. With business branding you never want this to happen. We want them to know and remember. Discussed below are ways to get and keep your brand recognition.

Get Out There and Show Yourself

Once you have developed a brand you are confident represents your organization well, get out there and show it off. Introduce yourself and expose your products/services as the brand they represent. The only way business and consumers will learn to know your brand is by putting it out on the market. Tell buyers, investors, and employees again and again who you are. Don’t let them forget and don’t be reserved, take risks!

A great example of brand recognition is Burt’s Bees. Their most famous product is their Burt’s Bees Wax Lip Balm. The business’ roots started small, but grew when they became known for their natural, effective, non-toxic ingredients. Burt’s Bee’s shaped their brand around the benefits of natural topical products. This natural, healthy attitude resonated not only in their products but also with their employees’. When consumers hear and see Burt’s Bees they think nothing but natural health.

Network Your Brand

When you meet anyone give him or her a card with your business name, and contact information. Tell them who you are and what you represent. In exchange ask them for theirs as well. People like others who aren’t to self-centered. Ask for there information as well and shows you’re open to two-way communication. It also implies that you’re willing to become a member of their network.

If we refer back to the Burt’s Bee’s example, simply selling his products brought profit, but once he had non-profit organizations behind his brand, other contacts formed and sales boomed. Burt’s Bee’s is now an active participant in and backed by many other ‘live green’ organizations, developing higher credibility and greater communication.

It’s important in this competitive world that people know not only your name, but also what your business represents. Tell them and tell them again what your business is all about. From this process you begin networking your business and its brand. Be on the look out for other organizations that can share or support your objectives. If you see they can benefit you, they are going to want your benefits as well.

Smile and remember you are a representative of your businesses brand.

Let Kinetica Media guide you through the process and open your new world of communication. Visit us at http://www.kineticamedia.com

The author Malerie Giaimo is a spring Public Relations intern at Kinetica Media.

How To Use Logo To Gain A Successful Brand

This article introduces the joining of logo and branding. A successful logo builds the beginnings of branding and together they represent your business.

Logo & Branding

Your logo is a symbol, a representation of your business. As a representation of your business it embodies your characteristics, values, and a positive feeling. This piece of art is placed on everything from newsletters, business cards, professional documents, packaging and any other piece of material sent into the public eye.

Your logo posses a great deal of power when representing your business. It is a symbol where company growth, recognition and credibility begin. When consumers see and purchase your products and/or services, an increase in accountability, awareness, and achievement is gained. Naturally, this takes time and energy, but it begins with your logo.

This logo then evolves into a brand. Your brand is what consumers expect from your business. They want to purchase your brand knowing that they will receive the same or a better performance than last. When a brand fails, this is when the consumer tries another brand.

With communication and marketing plans your business can develop your logo into a brand. When doing so, execute your look and feel to your target audience by presenting a unique identity. Consumers were already familiar with your logo now familiarize them with who and what you represent.

An exceptional example is Nike. Their marketing and communication plans are always filled with energy, life, and power. Their brand associates high goals, high achievements and high performance with their products. This is consistent in Nike’s television, magazine, billboard, Internet and store marketing. Keep in mind there logo is always present. Usually at the end of a Nike commercial a dominant noise brings awareness to the Nike Swoosh, leaving you with the power Nike knows you’ll feel when you purchase their product.

Start by developing a logo that represents your business well. Use that symbol to gain recognition. Then explode into the market with a plan that executes your businesses characteristics, values and emotions. Stay true to your logo and brand in service, product, communication and marketing.

Let Kinetica Media guide you through the process and open your new world of communication. Visit us at http://www.kineticamedia.com The author Malerie Giaimo is a spring Public Relations intern at Kinetica Media.

Sometimes in business we are so involved in the little things that we forget to refer back to the top of the pyramid. At the top of this pyramid is your company’s brand. This is a reminder as to how important your brand is and how properly executing it illustrates its true essence.

The Umbrella Over Your Brand

Your brand is how you want to be perceived and what your consumers expect. It is the umbrella over your entire company. Some may think logos, commercials, and glossy photos make up a brand. This is not true - those are marketing plans that only present the brand.

A businesses brand is the overall character and quality of the business. Big businesses have sub brands for other products and services, yet they all relate back to the overall brand, never shying away from the businesses true personality.

It is important that this umbrella covers your products and services. You should also remember that employees, consumers, shareholders, and the media must reinforce your brand. Everyone that comes into contact with your business must know the same brand.

Starbuck’s is a great example of a business that umbrella’s their brand. When hiring employee’s, corporate to café, they look for a certain personality. This is not someone who can just do the job, but someone who already embodies the Starbuck’s brand personality. Starbuck’s drinkers, employees, shareholders, and media all know Starbuck’s to be a delicious, tasteful, and exotic treat that recognizes diversity in its coffee and people. Starbuck’s has a brand for Starbuck’s and also a sub-brand for its environmental leadership - each appealing to a different audience while sharing common characteristics, but emphasizing slightly different personalities, values and goals.

An umbrella over your brand can be done with conscious thought and a well-developed plan. Define yourself as one business brand then accentuate the qualities inside that brand to develop sub-brands. Your communication and marketing plans will follow brilliantly.

Let Kinetica Media guide you through the process and open your new world of communication. Visit us at http://www.kineticamedia.com The author Malerie Giaimo is a spring Public Relations intern at Kinetica Media.

When branding a product or your business it is important that you give your consumers what you have promised them from the beginning. Two branding musts that will ensure success are: one, make a promise for life and two, be consistent in your market. Learn how one company made giant waves in the consumer spending pool.

Make A Promise For Life

Give your customers your promised brand all the time. They like something about your business, that’s why they chose you. When discussing plans or projects be certain that both parties understand and like the perspective outcome. Still - it must stay true to your distinct brand.

A great recent example is the Motorola RZR. This cell phone was the thinnest of its kind and its sleek soft look was a must have. Not to mention it had music, video and Internet. This modern product enabled Motorola to brand its business all over the cell phone industry. The RZR in time sold to every cell phone service provider. Motorola used every bit of the consumer craze to assist in marketing their brand. There branding promise of hip, stylish and fun once again won over consumers.

Be Consistent In Your Market

This means once you determine your brand don’t ever leave it. A brand gains recognition with time and dedication. It is gained by the respect and appreciation of its consumers. If you produce an excellent product that your business prides in, your brand will gain recognition.

In reference to the Motorola example, Motorola’s brand is known for its sophisticated, smooth design and innovated software and technology. When the RZR hit stores, Motorola’s brand made a mark in consumer buying power. Consumers now know the name Motorola better than before. They also expect the same brand in the future, empowering them to believe Motorola is the better the brand.

Stay true and consistent to your consumers. They will reward you buy purchasing your product over and over again. Create, design and have pride in your brand.

Let Kinetica Media guide you through the process and open your new world of communication. Visit us at http://www.kineticamedia.com The author Malerie Giaimo is a spring Public Relations intern at Kinetica Media.

Chapter 12 of 14
Adding value to your business…we show you how to guarantee it.

A celebrity endorser is worth absolutely nothing unless you can prove via measurable, lasting, and quantifiable methods that they have added bottom line value to your company. You can have Mr. or Mrs. Nice-person pitching products until they are green in the face, but unless you can calculate the bottom line results in terms of real dollars, chances are you have just wasted a lot of time and money. What we are going to illustrate in this chapter is the theory that adding value is essential to success. What we are going to do is let you in on our most treasured secrets and how we use them year after year to guarantee the desired results for our customers and their celebrity endorser. It’s not magic, but it does take the ability to think outside the box and create favorable situations where none may exist. The benefits to your company or product need to be measurable…and the longer they are measurable the more successful the promotion. What we want is real results from real people for real companies.

The value added proposition deviates a little from the overall theme of this e-book, but because we believe it is so critical to your overall business we feel compelled to share our insider secrets with you and how we squeeze every last drop of revenue out of every celebrity endorsement deal we involve ourselves with…it’s our job to make sure this works.

Hopefully most of you know that adding value to your existing business is critical to its long-term survival. Every business should have a dedicated approach to the added value proposition. Because you have rightfully chosen to use a celebrity endorser, you must be able to quantify the results. For that reason, we are going to cover a number of what we consider very compelling issues, for growing and sustaining growth with an exponential effect. We are going to analyze, scrutinize, embellish you, and help you determine how the celebrity endorser will benefit your company or product.

Our comprehensive look into the world of adding value through the use of celebrity endorsers, with practical and current, examples will include the following added value multipliers. In no particular order we will look at reactivating old customers, using referral systems, joint ventures, risk reversal, developing “back-end offers…too good to pass up”, intensifying your public relations (you now have a celebrity endorser on board), up selling and cross selling, developing a new or first time USP, determining the lifetime value of a customer, creating special events that in turn create special selling opportunities, and so much more, all using tried and true real life examples that you can immediately start to implement in your own business. The next few pages are power packed and supercharged with practical low to no-cost tactics that you can apply immediately to dramatically and instantly increase your business worth. Hang on to your hats as the next few pages offer some of the most revealing, comprehensive, easy-to-apply business practices that you can immediately take and adapt to your own business…starting today.

The reactivation of old customers now that you have a celebrity endorser on board is easy and sure to draw a very high response rate. It’s absolutely one of the best things you can do when it comes to increasing sales. It is so much easier to get old customers back then it is to get new customers. The cost of getting the old customer back is just a fraction of trying to find the new customer. One advantage is that they have already spent money with you so if you can offer them a compelling reason to come back, chances are they will spend again.

A very simple, easy, and effective way to get the old customer back is to throw a special invited guest-only meet and greet with the celebrity endorser. When we do this, we like to make sure that the old customer feels really privileged. We tell them that in the invite. We also tell them that because they are a valued customer, we are extending the offer for them and one special friend of their choice to come and meet the celebrity endorser at no cost. Once we have this in place, approach a local caterer and have them supply finger foods at no cost. The benefit to the caterer is that they are now in front of a bunch of potential new customers all for a minimal marketing expense. Next we approach a local beverage distributor (not stores…but distributors) who are always on the look out and have a large budget for such promotional activities. This simple, low cost, private event will certainly create its own buzz.

The use of referral systems is one of the oldest tricks to building a successful business, however, we run into tons of companies that don’t do this. Only certain industries consistently use a referral system. It should be a dedicated task that is done religiously. There are numerous ways in which to take advantage of a referral system using your celebrity endorser. We will give you two easy, cost effective, timely ways of making it a part of your business.

First, start with an opt-in email program if you don’t already have one. Begin by simply emailing your existing customer base and telling them that every time one of their referrals buys (minimum $50) from you, they get a discount coupon good for 10% off of anything you sell. The way to make sure that these emails will get read is to make the email look like it was sent directly from the celebrity endorser. The creditability and friend-factor comes into play immediately.

Another way to build a referral cash cow is to offer a special gift for referring someone. Remember back when I mentioned that you should keep you celebrity endorser busy? Well, if you did, you now have a bunch of autographed items that you can offer as a very special incentive. If you had one hundred items and offered the items to anyone who spent $100 or more, all of a sudden you have an extra $10,000 in sales. Now what did those autographed items really cost…just the cost of the item! You used that celebrity endorser’s time to your maximum benefit. By thinking just a little out of the box you can maximize the cost of the celebrity endorser by constantly thinking and re-thinking ways to take advantage of the time (not the celebrity endorser) and make every little thing you do turn into a revenue and profit stream for your business. Celebrity endorsers are people who are constantly on the move and they don’t like being bored, so keep them busy without being overbearing and you will get more than you ask for. That little extra effort can turn an ordinary event into an extraordinary money-making opportunity for you and your company. You’re paying for their time use it.

Joint Ventures are a sure fire way to help offset the cost of a celebrity endorser, as everyone wants to be around a celebrity. By positioning your company into the deal as a middleman, all types of good things can and will happen. Here is an example of how we offset costs. As soon as we know we have a celebrity endorser under contract we issue a press release to all the local media. The media is always hungry for news about stars. We use the press release to reel in a few prospects that always call asking about the details. We are always quick to find out what the real reason for the call is. Often, it is not what you think. By using just a little bit of old fashion prodding we can usually determine if there is value in pursuing the call. Most likely there is, so don’t let a hot opportunity pass you by…always ask questions.

Risk reversal, for those of you new to marketing, is nothing more than offering a super guarantee on any product you sell. It is the supercharged guarantee that can and will catapult your sales quicker than any other tactic. Offer a guarantee no one can refuse. Here is an example of how you might position this with a celebrity endorser. Announce the celebrity endorser and the hours when they will be in your business. Make an offer that states that anyone buying over $50 worth of goods will receive a free autographed picture with a purchase. To further cement the deal and clean up on sales, offer a 100% guarantee and return policy for thirty days. If they aren’t 100% satisfied, they can return the item they purchased for a full refund and keep the autographed item. No questions asked. The reality is that most people won’t bother to return the item. In fact, the longer the return period is, the less likely there will be a return. If you really sell a superior product, the returns will be infrequent. By offering the signed picture as an incentive to purchase the product, sales will dramatically increase just by the offer.

There is risk associated with this type of offer, but if you have a great product you need not worry about the risk. People will purchase your products now without returning them. Why would they suddenly start returning them now? More than likely that is not going to happen. What you have done with this simple idea is made your customer feel 100% at ease and probably much more willing to buy from you. In addition, you have thrown in what they may consider to be an item with a very high-perceived value at no extra cost. You have done more than just sell them something. You have gained a customer who, over their lifetime of shopping with you, could be a significant and consistent person “in play”.

All too often consumers are allowed to slip right through the hands of retailers who just don’t understand what full cycle marketing is all about. When someone purchases an item from you, it should be your duty as a professional to find out as much as possible about your customer without being overbearing. The one and only time you might connect with that person may be only on the initial sale. If you are not armed with the fastest, latest, most up-to-date marketing techniques for securing additional information, then you are missing a major opportunity. An opportunity that will cost you down the road. Once the customer has made a purchase, it is impossible to connect with them again without any information.

Information is key and is so easy to obtain when you have a satisfied customer standing in front of you. If it is so easy, then why do so many businesses blow this opportunity? They simply fail to plan. Don’t make the mistake of letting your customer slip out of your hands, never to be heard from again. When gathering information, you are really just setting the stage for the next sale. The next sale could be a back-end offer, cross-sell offer, or an up-sell opportunity. But without customer information there isn’t opportunity for another sale.

Once you have your celebrity endorser on board you can start the press releases rolling. One of the most powerful attributes of the celebrity endorser is to be able to harness their star power. The media is attracted to the celebrity like a powerful magnet. Once you have the celebrity endorser under contract, you need to immediately deploy a managed press release attack. Below is a sample press release we used for something we are doing with Rollie Fingers.

March 1, 2006

Press Release: For Immediate Release

RE: Celebrity Endorsements/Rollie Fingers

Las Vegas, NV: 4:25 pm. Hall of Fame baseball player Rollie Fingers has broken the mold when it comes to compensated celebrity endorsements. Mr. Fingers has recently started to use an amazing new fuel additive product produced by Bio Performance, Inc. Not only is he using it and getting significantly higher MPG’s, he is doing so without being compensated in any way by Bio Performance. He bought into the program like every other distributor. In the celebrity endorsement world where it is all about the money, it’s refreshing to see someone from the “A list” doing something because it works and feels right.

The fuel pill that is sweeping the country (over 20,000 people have signed up in the first 3 months and sales are over $9,000,000) has attracted Rollie because of what it is doing for his gas mileage…it’s increasing. Not only are the benefits felt in his wallet but it is also significantly cutting down (by as much as 80%) on fuel emissions. That’s a subject near and dear to Rollie as he has two small children who he wants to be able to grow up in an environment that is as clean as possible.

Rollie has personally experienced an increase in his mileage. If you would like to join Rollie in this unique venture just go to the bottom of this release and look at his attached web page. Listen to him personally speak about bio Performance. After listening, if you would like to explore in more depth the opportunities associated with this great company, simply follow the instructions and either Rollie himself or one of his close associates will contact you personally.

As Rollie so adeptly said, “I will try anything that can increase my cars mileage, lower emissions and make my car run better…I did and it works and for that reason I suggest you do the same…come join the number one team in the nation”. Now, who better than Rollie to know the value of a team…a man who played on what many consider the first modern day 3-peat with the Oakland A’s.

Thanks for reading and Rollie is looking forward to you joining him in this great business opportunity.

Once you get the knack for writing press releases, they will become your best friend. There are a number of services on the net that you can find under a Google search that you can use to submit your release online. The online services are going to provide you with national coverage you need, while all your local media contacts should also be sent the release. What you are trying to do is get local media exposure for free.

When using a celebrity endorser in an in store promotion, there are creative ways and incentives that can be used to attract a new customer, a larger spending customer, a devoted customer, and one that will turn into a long term regular customer. You can use cross-selling and up-selling techniques combined with the star power of the celebrity endorser.

For example, we used a famous female Olympic Hero for an in-store fragrance promotion. We announced that she would be at the store autographing pictures and doing a general public meet-and-greet. We also announced that there would be a private wine party after the regular event. During the event, all who paid to attend would get a chance to have pictures taken with the gold medalist, have those pictures signed on the spot and immediately framed. Remember, everyone paid to get into this event. In fact, the cover charge alone covered the cost of the picture, signature, champagne and every other detail of the promotion. It was a winning situation for the retailer, as long as they were able to sell one hundred, tickets which they did. In fact, if we were to do this again we would up the price and give part of it to a local charity so that they to could throw “their hat in the ring” and use the opportunity to contact more participants. The more ways you look at the opportunity, the more ways there are to up-sell and cross-sell while minimizing the cost.

If you don’t already have one, you need to sit down and determine your Unique Selling Proposition, or USP. A USP is that single benefit that you communicate to your customer that separates you from the competition. Having a USP is a defining moment in your business growth and maturity. Because you have a celebrity endorser, you have the opportunity to deliver your USP well beyond the written word. By using the celebrity endorser as part of your USP, you have created a business that is a force to be reckoned with. Once you have decided what your USP is, you can develop an overall marketing strategy based on the USP, using multiple points of attack through which you win over your customer. The celebrity endorser can go a long way towards helping you define and deliver your USP. They can be the mouthpiece that delivers the message or at least reinforces it.

When evaluating the celebrity endorser and the benefits you expect from them, it is always nice to perform a little equation to validate your decision. One way to do this is by using actual numbers to determine what the lifetime value of a new customer might be. In order to do this we need to create a numerical matrix that estimates how long a typical client will continue to buy from you once they start.

For purposes of illustration, let’s assume that the first year’s profit is $150. Let’s also assume that the typical customer buy’ for three more years. If we assume that the customer is worth $300 per year in profits, then the total value is $1,050. Once we know what the value is then it is up to you as a business owner to determine what you are willing to spend to obtain and retain a new customer. In theory, you could spend up to $1,049 to obtain the new customer. Of course that would not be practical since overhead costs, including advertising, are not part of the equation.

Celebrity Endorser’ can be a terrific brand builder, but before you jump into a celebrity endorser agreement make sure you take into consideration as many of the variables as possible that we have covered in this e-book. Don’t let the celebrity part get in the way of rational thinking. In rare instances, a celebrity (George Foreman is a great example) can really pull a rabbit out of hat. However, usually the celebrity endorser is nothing more than icing on the cake of an already thriving business.

Copyright © Ron Tyler 2007

Ron Tyler is a principal in TylerMarketing and the creator, along with a few other folks of the SuperBlog concept. Ron and his group have made a number of high level presentations using the SuperBlog as the media distribution alternative, with excellent results. The group will be rolling out its first SuperBlogs in April. The SuperBlog is a multi media concept created to solve the ever present problem of media communications and the shrinking opportunities for media placement in traditional channels. Ron can be contacted directly via email at rtyler51@comcast.net

So you’ve decided to open your own business. For the first little while, you could get sales or be comissioned but everybody wants their business to grow bigger and bigger. One of the ways to do that is to focus on branding. This article gives the main ideas for branding.

Start with a focus on your image.

Choose a logo. Don’t just draw one for yourself. A freelancer or an artist is a good choice with grahpic designers being the best choice. Often with artists, you will find out that your logo lacks clarity or it can’t go into a certain file. Hire a professional graphic designer with happy customers and you’re much less likely to get something you can use on a limited basis. Ask for a logo to be in the applications of an insert onto any file so a JPEG or something equivalent and also ask for a web designed version.

If you have a dance studio, try not to pick an image of a girl dancing. You want something more generic. You could always get that in accompanying art. But the problem with such specific logo images is that if you say want to attract boys as well, you’re sunk. And what about adults? So choose wisely, possibly studying other logos in the same area before asking for the work to be done.

Choose some accompanying art.

Also hire or find a family member who can design some art to go with your brand. So if you have a publishing company with a big more generic label, now is the time to get a few bits of art that you can insert on cover letters or envelopes as you please.

With just the logo, you don’t have enough to make a look.

Design A Direct Marketing Program

Once you have the look of your logo and accompanying art, design a direct marketing program. Be thoughtful in finding your target audience. In order to develop your business further, you don’t want to be taking on water. Direct marketing puts you in the driver’s seat. Do so by faxing or emailing to keep your costs low. Also dropping off flyers to specific targets may also work.

If you are having trouble getting the wording right, play with it more. In this case, you as the product or service inventor should be able to do a pretty good letter by yourself. Have people review it. Try to make it clear and remember to include a hook and a time sensitive offer of some sort.

Create A Website

There are many low cost options, especially when doing it yourself. Write out the basics yourself and understand that you can improve it in time. To keep it a selling website, include the background color of either blue, black or grey.

This website is 24 hours of advertising 365 days of the year. A flyer isn’t going to be able to offer you the same options.

Remember to include your logo and other artwork that makes your brand look distinctive.

Create A Presence On The Web

If someone goes to your website, you also want them to be able to google you and find information on you. Websites are designed to give quick bits of information, page after page. But there are people who would like to know more about your company. So make sure that you go to the free press release sites and put out some news.

It can be about new products or events. Anything that has an angle. Use the four paragraph approach where in the first paragraph you state what the angle is. Then go on about it a little more in the second paragraph. In the third, make sure to include background on the product, possibly a voice speaking. And in the fourth, try to tie it all together, including website information. By finding press release sites where the keywords are searchable, that’s a good way to go. Remember it is about a presence.

Decide On A Message

Decide on a message and start posting it to free online classifieds. By consistently delivering this message in direct advertising ect., you end up developing a brand name.

To be a brand name, you need to think bigger than a few sales here and there. It’s about saying to the world, I’m staying and I’m getting bigger.

People buy brands over generic when there is very little price difference. So keep that in mind that having a respectable brand with good images and great press all help brand your company.
Write press releases and submit them to the internet.

Robyn Whyte is the CEO of Stargazer Press. Drop by http://www.stargazerpress.com to our novels page and pick up a copy of V.B. Rosendahl’s new novel ‘Bitter Tastes’. Take part in our exciting special.

Over the past few months I’ve made several recommendations to clients to read the book “POP! How to Stand Out In Any Crowd” by Sam Horn. Let me share an extraordinary break through a client had the other day.

“Mary Q. Contrary” said:

“I got a copy of POP! (thank you for that recommendation - I’d not heard of Sam Horn) as I’m struggling with the name of my business - really with branding my business. Right now, “Group Performance” is either a brilliant name or a meaningless one - hard for me to say!”

Mary continued…

“I do much more than take my corporate client’s meetings from coma-inducing snore-fests to energized action-producing events - I teach them and their groups how to stay in the high-performance groove.”

Mary is such a fun loving kinda gal.

I picked up on the last three words “high performance groove” and checked for different variations of domain availability.

Why did I check these? B-e-e-e-e-cause… group Performance is boring. Sounds like you’re sitting in an office building at the mercy of a bunch of stuffy HR folks with blue hair, suit and panty-hose, over analyzing performance evaluations for some jacked-up corporation. Ick! Yeck! Phlewy! Sorry if that sounds offensive - but that’s just my FIRST impression. Of which, counts for a lot. (first impressions, that is)

HOWEVER!

High Performance Groove or Peak Performance Groove sounds way more intriguing, PLUS you can do a heck’uva lot more in your branding arsenal with the word “groove.”

• How We Groove
• Who We Groove With
• Why Your Employees Should Groove
• Groovy events, services, programs
• Become a Certified Groove-ologist
• Movin’ & Groovin‘ Newsletter
• Get Groovin’, and Stop Shmoozin’
• The Groove Philosophy
• 7 Habits of Really Groovy Leaders
• Why Great Leaders Groove
• Get it, Got it, Groove!

Participants would also be more interested in working with an individual from “that groovy company”… and just think of the office toys you could brand groovy as give aways. Shucks, you could even wear a tie-die suit if ya wanted to! Tres’ Groo-vay!

Just a few more thoughts… Microsoft(r) has a new office product for 2007 called Groove(tm) for collaborating work groups, hmm…

Plus what do you think of when somebody even says the word groove? I instantly want to chair dance. Grooving is good… people like it, it makes them FEEL good. Wasn’t there a movie titled, “How Stella Got Her Groove Back?”

So, consider this while I dance and get groovy around my office… (my web cam is turned OFF! ha!)

“Are you one-of-a-kind, or one-of-many? When you’re one of a kind, there is no competition.”

Donna Payne is the Chief Web Goddess of The Web Coach.net a web development, coaching and marketing firm, and is known as the gal to call when you’re feeling overwhelmed. Learn Money & Time Saving Techniques that everyone should know when working with a web designer or building a website yourself. Download your FREE “Quick-Start Web workbook” and accompanying MP3 at http://thewebcoach.net “No PAYNE - No GAIN!”

Over the years we have come to learn that development of a designed corporate graphic identity is much more than a mere benchmark denoting successful arrival in business.
A clearly defined and easily recognized identity has, in fact, become a critical success factor in today’s highly competitive business environment.

Here are 10 simple statements that briefly explain some of the primary benefits that can come from a thoughtfully designed and developed corporate image.

1. It’s easier to know who you are, which means:

2. It’s easier to know what you do. (Helps develop goals)

3. It’s easier to know how to do it. (Helps with implementation)

4. Less energy is expended overall. (Creates efficiency in communications)

5. Team building occurs naturally when staff can identify with a common symbol, common language and therefore common goals. (Sports uniforms are a good example. Every player feels part of the group)

6. You can match your image to your clients needs or view of his business. (A simple matter of “give’em what they want.”)

7. With a clearly defined identity you communicate more efficiently with your customers, and they remember you more easily. (Memorability is easier when everybody clearly knows who you are.)

8. Enhancements in the overall quality of your product or service. (Consistency always counts.)

9. Benefits and unique qualities of your business are communicated more clearly to your clients thereby increasing sales. (Marketing tool)

10. Helps set identifiable standards of quality in your product or service. Helps with a sense of reliability by developing a “brand identity.” (Brand names are trusted.)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
TIM KENNEY: Creative Director and CEO of Tim Kenney Marketing, has 33 years of experience in the design industry. Tim’s work has been published in two volumes of American Corporate Identity, Logo 2000 and Logo 2001 and, under his direction, his agency has garnered 100 prestigious design awards…and still counting

Copyright 2007. Tim Kenney Marketing Marketing, Advertising, Graphic Design, Web Design

Logos are everywhere to be seen… rather, we can even call them omnipresent! Wherever we go, we find ourselves literally surrounded by logos. Be it our homes, office, restaurants, market, shopping malls, roads……………. you name it and it’s there. Since the Industrial Revolution, there has been a sea change in the commercial outlook of the world. Rapid industrialization led to the emergence of corporate organizations and business houses; all striving to make their products popular in the common market. The present century is now confronting the outcome of the Industrial Revolution that began in the 19th century- the boom of numerous industrial products and their logos, all competing to create a niche for themselves in the market.

Regardless of the present scenario, have you ever wondered about the inception of these symbolic drawings, now called logos? Most of them have not even spared a thought about its origin. The logo history dates back to Greece in ancient times. The term ‘logo’ was coined to mean a trademark, name or symbol designed for easy recognition. The logo made its first beginning through a cipher of single letter, and later a design or mark comprising of two or more letters. It’s however, not known whether the cipher was used as the name of a person, or surname or stationary or business purpose. A number of early Greek and Roman coins bear the monograms of rulers and towns. The Middle Ages saw the abundant use of similar logos for ecclesiastical and commercial purposes.

In the thirteenth century, the logo remained in vogue as simple letterhead used by merchants in their trade. By 1700, every trader or dealer had a trademark or stamp. Marks for masons, goldsmiths, papermakers and nobility constitute the early examples of logo design. However, there was a major turn around in the late 1800’s with the emergence of Industrial Revolution in Europe. There was a dramatic gain in the importance and value of trademarks on account of the growth in the number of national and multinational corporations. There was an overall transformation in the relationship between the sellers and the purchasers. Prior to the Industrial Revolution, trademarks were used just to make the purchasers recognize their items of purchase. But the scenario after the revolution wiped out the identity of the purchaser, who was now an unknown mass of people. Hence, even the trademarks evolved into larger design or symbols to communicate the message of business organizations to the people at large.

As industrialization tightened its hold over most of the countries of the world, logo designing came to be recognized as an essential aspect for the success of a business. Logos served not only as brand ambassadors but also to differentiate different products. From the 1940’s to the present, logos have changed roles to express “corporate identity”, “brand essence”, “advertising and marketing tools”. Successful logos have come to signify a lifestyle; they set the trends for the masses to imitate. Today, a company logo design stands for not only its products but also its ideals. From a humble beginning, they have come a long way to become an integral part of the success of a business organization.

Suzanne Macguire is an Internet marketing professional with expertise in content development and technical writing in a variety of industries.
Small Business Logo Design

<Have you ever wondered why the other guy gets attention?

Could it possibly be that youthful exuberance and faith his client will buy his product shines across his face at the appearance of a live breathing body in his presence?

Just watch as a new marketer faces the challenge of selling his product to the first prospect. It’s obvious, he expects to sell a product. By the time he’s heard the forth or fifth excuse for not buying he’s lost part of his exuberance. His face isn’t as lively. His voice quiets. His demeanor becomes cautious and less assertive. He even steps back a bit, hesitant to approach the prospect.

How can you maintain enthusiasm about your products?

1 Realize each prospective client is a FIRST TIME Viewer of your product.

Once you realize that every one who views your product does it for the first time, you can hang onto that youthful exuberance because you realize you’re not being turned down over and over again, just once in a while by a new prospect. It isn’t what they wanted, but once you find your target audience, you’ll have plenty of buyers.

2. Market your product each time as if it’s the First Time.

Ummm, kind of like #1, but kind of not. This time, we’re looking at the product not the consumer. When you make an effort to see your product as a NEW PRODUCT each time you present it, you begin to recognize NEW features. As you find NEW features, you begin to get excited about the product each time you present it.

3. Concentrate on the VALUE of your product to maintain Enthusiasm.

When you focus on what a great value your client is receiving , and you know you’re giving them great benefits, the exuberance grows. You get excited about all the good things your clients are receiving and you can share that enthusiasm with them. The power behind transmitting value into emotion, increases salability of the product.

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© 2007 - Jan Verhoeff