May 18, 2005
May 18, 2005
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Every employee of a business is in the business of fulfilling the promises made to customers and other corporate constituents, such as Investors. The questions for most businesses are, ‘what should we be promising?’ and ‘how will we fulfill those promises?’ … Danner Consulting |
| In this issue: | AbuLLard:Marketing on a Shoestring Audhumbla: Interactive Web Enhancements Brand Element: Legal Logo Hayloise Reviews Three Books this month Brand Tip: Be a Purple Cow |
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AbuLLard talks about Marketing on a Shoestring
Trying to save money by doing it yourself? Some tips to do it well:
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For small business, it’s a numbers game. You need to get the word out to as many people as you can, as fast as you can, and as consistently as you can. How do you do that when you don't have a large marketing budget? Oddly, many secrets of creating a good brand are inexpensive and often just good business. We have found that all too often companies jump into the aspects of the implementation without first figuring out what it is they really need to say or what the best channel of implementation is. This can result in spending a lot of money on inappropriate or ineffective marketing and advertising. Perhaps the hardest step is the first one: Create the brand vision and strategy. If you spend the time to do this - it will save you money and moreover any marketing will be much more effective. By developing a clear brand strategy and making sure that everyone in your company not only understands it but acts according to it, you will present a consistent “face” to your customers. A clear message makes it easy for you to develop a good brand reputation. It also makes it easy for your customers to become your sales people which is the essence of "guerilla" marketing. Our second major finding is that small businesses try to save money by doing it themselves on the desktop. True, desktop publishing has made it easy for “everyone” to create their own presentations, letters, and other documents but it hasn’t given “anyone” the training in design principles, printing, and presentation techniques. These are the disciplines that are required to create a brand image that carries a clear consistent look and feel across all marketing materials. The look of all marketing brochures, documents and presentations contributes to the overall “brand image.” A consistent, professional image helps establish your brand in a memorable way that will make it easy for people to remember you, and talk about you. Get professionally made templates and build them in to your IT systems. Make sure everyone in your company understands how to use them and the importance of using them. Get some basic training on how to use them effectively. One company we worked with is showing about a 90% cost savings in the creation of presentations as well as significant savings in the creation of proposals. A third recommendation is that if you are going to work with a Branding and/or Marketing Professional, let them know what your budget is. This way they can make sure you put your dollars where they make the most sense. If they don’t know your budget, they can’t advise you wisely. So help them help you. |
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Audhumbla's Eye on the Internet
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Adding Interactive Q&A to Your Website Audhumbla admits it; she gets overwhelmed by the Internet at times. There’s just too much information out there to remember it all or want to go looking for more. And that defines the big problem with internet marketing - how do you make a lasting impression on potential customers? And what makes them want to hear more from you? An intelligent use of interactive Q&A is a great way to leave a positive and lasting impression on your customers. By helping them to clarify their own thoughts or even to teach them something new, you provide a service that they will value and remember. I’m not talking about a flashing red splash screen which provides no value other than to make them waste their time while they wait. Instead, I’m talking about actively involving your website in their decision-making process. Recently, it was time for Audhumbla’s grand-dam out to move to greener pastures. Life on the farm was too much and she needed senior care. While researching her options, Audhumbla happened upon one website, www.seniorhousingnet.com that made a lasting impression. Every site I visited provided a list of housing categories and their definitions, but this site also included a simple nine question quiz designed to help me understand what type of care would be best for my grand-dam. The questions were on target and reflected my concerns about her needs. It took no time to get an answer, and that answer was clear and relevant. Audhumbla knows enough about the web to know this wasn’t a comprehensive or customized evaluation. But it served its purpose - it helped me in my decision-making and thus left a favorable and memorable impression. And that’s how interactive Q&A can help your website too. Just remember your rules for implementation - quick to take, on topic questions, and relevant results. |
Lectures Think about what it’s like being lectured to - it can be a bore. And boring things are easy to forget. I’m sure we’ve all had classes or even business meetings like that. Interactivity Now think about what it’s like when you’re an active participant - engaged in the questions, the answers, and the decisions, or on the spot to provide some much needed information. I bet you remember what was discussed. Websites can impress you the same way. | |||||
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Brand Element of the Month:
A Legal Logo
Pre-existing Web Site |
Weintraub Legal Services provides friendly, responsive and affordable legal services to businesses throughout the mid-Atlantic region. Judy Weintraub, founder of Weintraub Legal Services, has over 20 years legal experience, and is a member of the Pennsylvania, Maryland and DC bars. Judy had very clear desires for her business identity:
It also needed to convey that Judy is professional, fair, friendly, and affordable because much of her clientele is small business. She utilizes her legal experience, strong negotiating skills, business savvy and dispute resolution expertise to provide superior legal services to entrepreneurs. She was giving a presentation two weeks from when we agreed to work for her, and she needed to submit the materials 3 days beforehand. She really wanted to use her new look for the presentation. She did! |
New Logo:
PowerPoint Template: | |||||
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HayLoise's Books of the Month
Are there any books that have given you important insights into
branding? Send HayLoise an e-mail. |
Blink, by Malcolm Gladwell This month I’ve read a number of books that on first glance don’t seem to be related, but may well be harbingers of the emergence of a deeper understanding of how we as humans think and respond. As Branding and Marketing experts, any useful insights into how we respond to ideas, slogans, images, or even media increases our ability to zero in on effective ways to reach customers. Blink delves into how we make decisions in an instant. Many experts do not make decisions based on hours of analysis of data, but in an instant based on the art of ‘thin-slicing’ separating the very few variables that actually matter from the vast number that don’t. Gladwell supports his thesis with cutting edge neuroscience and psychology. It’s an easy fun read. The Wisdom
of Crowds "Wise crowds" need (1) diversity of opinion; (2) independence of members from one another; (3) decentralization; and (4) a good method for aggregating opinions. He offers a great introduction to applied behavioral economics and game theory. It’s a delightful read and great food for thought. Global Brain |
Click on the book cover image to go to its page on Amazon.com
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Brand Tip of the Month
“Cows, after you’ve seen them for a while, are boring. They may be perfect cows, attractive cows, cows with great personalities, cows lit by beautiful light, but they’re still boring. A Purple Cow, though. Now that would be interesting. (For a while.)" Seth Godin, 2002
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Stand Out from the Herd: Be a Purple Cow How many meetings have you been to where several people stood up and said basically the same thing... probably lots! How many meetings have you been to where people stand up for their 30 second or 1 minute "commercial" and after they sit down you're not sure what they do and you don't remember their company name? Also, a lot. Develop something that makes you stand out from the others. For example, a memorable tag line that becomes your trademark. A colleague in web design used to say, "If your web site looks like everybody else's, we didn't design it!" Another says he can make your business "Stand out from the crowd" and stands on a chair as he's saying it. I'm sure some of you know who I'm talking about. Another trick is to brand yourself by wearing a certain color or accessory. We usually wear red, and Jean has amassed a collection of cow pins (from e-bay) and always has one on. At a recent networking group meeting, a member of the group walked up to her, shook her hand and said, "You're the CattLeLogos lady!" Then he apologized profusely for forgetting her name. She was delighted and told him not to worry, because the way he remembered her demonstrated that our own brand strategy to "Stand Out from the Herd" was working. |
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Do you like our newsletter? We would love to work with you on developing a newsletter for your business. Give us a call: 215.732.1553 or contact us by e-mail. | |||||||
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Copyright 2005 CattLeLogos Brand Management Systems, LLC. All rights reserved. CattLeLogos is a Registered Trademark of CattLeLogos Brand Management Systems, LLC. AbuLLard, AbuLLard's ABC's of Branding, the CattLeLogos Method are trademarks and copyright CattLeLogos Brand Management Systems, LLC. |
Published May 18, 2005 Contact us: | ||||||
