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Breaking Down Branding – Part 3: Your Logo

July 27th, 2011

In part one of this series we began by explaining how a brand is not just what you see but how you see it.  We followed up in part two by discussing how all of the different visual components, from the business cards you hand out to the apparel that your employees wear should complement each other in order to strengthen your brand.

Today we break down those visuals even further into one single image that encompasses everything about your brand.  A logo is essentially your entire brand summed up into one mark, emblem, symbol or icon.

Your logo is the ultimate face of your brand.  It is intended for identification and it certainly shouldn’t be taken lightly.  This is why a logo shouldn’t be designed for 50 bucks and a case of beer by your buddy who works at a sign shop.  If that’s all that your brand is worth to you, then don’t expect your audience to get much more than that out of it either.  Your logo should invoke the same feeling that your brand represents.

Again with the feelings... are you warm and fuzzy yet? FEEL IT!

It’s true.  Think of your friends and let’s consider their names or nicknames to be their brand.  You don’t refer to your friend as “Hi, dark haired guy who always stays at my place till 3:00 in the morning because he has no job, no life and no credentials.”  You refer to him as Rick or Jordan, or Tom.  The same idea can be applied to a logo.  It should symbolize and reflect what you want your brand to mean to your audience.

Let us be critical of our own logo for a second.  What would someone envision or feel when they see the Point Click Media logo?  Well, we would hope that they would see a youthful, clean and fresh approach to design with creative and imaginative flare.  When someone sees our logo we hope that they would think “Cool. Those guys know what they’re doing.”  Try this same exercise with your own logo.  Also try it with other people and see what they tell you.  Maybe your logo isn’t representing your brand in the way that you imagined.

This concludes our three part series.  If your brand could use a spark to get the motor running, contact Point Click Media.

 

Posted in Branding Tips

Breaking Down Branding – Part 2: Visualizing Your Brand

July 13th, 2011

In part one of this series we examined the definition of a brand and how it’s not just what you see.  In part two however, we break down branding into visual aspects.

To achieve the positive emotional goal that you desire from your audience, your brand likely relies on a series of visuals.  These visuals can be considered your brand identity.  Your corporate identity should not be taken lightly either.  After all, it’s this identity that allows people to recognize you.

Oh, hello tasty apple. I almost didn't recognize you without Steve Jobs' hands in my pockets. How's the wife and kids?

An identity consists of a long list of visual accessories that are designed to reinforce your brand.  This includes logos, promotional materials like brochures and websites, packaging, business cards, envelopes, storefront signage and the list goes on.  Even the things that aren’t literally seen with one’s eyes, like radio commercials or distinguished scents, are still considered part of your identity.  The goal of all these items is to cohesively support and strengthen your brand – which, as we discussed in part one of this series, is the initiation of an emotion in your audience.

In order for these visuals to be effective, it’s also important that there be some form of unity between them.  The ‘look’ of your brand allows a person to become familiar with your business.  Colors, slogans and various forms of advertising are again all part of the repetition to get people accustomed to your brand and enhance those perceived emotions.

In part 3 we’ll look at summarizing your brand into one entity – your logo.

 

Posted in Branding Tips

Breaking Down Branding – Part 1: What is a Brand?

June 29th, 2011

There have been many endless debates over what a brand entails.  Hundreds of books, articles and theses have been written on the subject.  There exist all kinds of groups that view branding in a variety of forms.  Most commonly, there is large group of people who view a brand as simply as a logo, some colors, a slogan and maybe the look of a stationery package.  But while those things do indeed fall under the category of branding, there are also those who see a brand as so much more.  In fact, as we see it, a brand isn’t necessarily something you can hold.  It’s what you feel.

Great. He's been into the moonshine again. Who left the barn door open?

No, really.  A brand can be described as the emotion one feels when recognizing or acknowledging your company.  For example, this could be a typical conversation:

JIM: “Hey Bob.  How’s that new truck working?  You know, I’m thinking about buying myself a Toyota…”

BOB: “Don’t do that, Jim.  Toyota sucks.”

The fact that our friend Bob doesn’t like Toyota means he doesn’t care for the Toyota brand.  There could be a variety of reasons.  Maybe he doesn’t like the look of their vehicles or the fuel mileage, or maybe he doesn’t like the service he gets at the dealership.  Maybe he’s a little paranoid about his car driving off a cliff and bursting into flames Bonnie & Clyde style because of that huge recall on brakes recently.  It’s likely not just because Jim hates the Toyota logo.

Shoulda bought American, Bob.

Any of these reasons are related to an overall brand.  It’s not just about the pretty pictures and taglines you see printed on brochures and the logos you see plastered on every second page of your daily newspaper.  A brand can’t be designed per se.  It’s the way you’re perceived by your audience.  In the end it’s the people who decide what your brand is, and in case you were passed out during Economics 101 in high school, making your customers happy is kind of important in business.  If you’ve ever wondered why corporations spend millions of dollars for what seems like an insignificant tweak to a logo for instance, it’s all because they want to keep that public image positive and if it keeps people coming back, it’s worth every penny.

In part two we’ll take a look at the visual aspects of a brand.

 

Posted in Branding Tips

Is Your Site Social Media Friendly?

February 9th, 2011

Looks like the 50s were right all along.

Looks like the 50's were right all along.

Our insatiable hunger for information has only grown exponentially with the advent and evolution of social media. It’s true, society has become the Blob – a giant Jello-like amoeba slurping through the streets feeding on any sort of information it can get from politics to sports to this. Quicker. Faster. More!

So how does your website fit into all of this social media buzz? Here are a few things to consider:

Content

How fresh is the content on your website? In order for there to be an interest from search engine or any form of social audience your site must be publishing new content on a regular basis. Your new content doesn’t need to be elaborate either. If you aren’t up to publishing regular blog style content, consider syndicated content or even simpler, a Twitter feed. Frequent updates encourages search engines to index your web pages and you’ll be keeping those ever-roaming web bots busy, improving the organic ranking of your website.

Interactivity

Social media is all about discussion, conversation and interaction between people.  Giving your customers the ability to create Facebook style profiles on your website might be a little over the top, but allowing simple interaction between business and client or client and client can help with the buzz surrounding your website. This can be achieved through the ability to review or rate your content, post comments, or even forum discussions.

ibtl

Share This

How accessible is your content? Is it locked up like the Caramilk secret? Unless you’re trying to hide the launch codes for a nuclear submarine within the content of your website, you’ll want to make sure it’s easy to find and easy to share. You’ll notice that many websites have a “Share This” option that allows users to spread content via Facebook, Twitter, Digg, etc. Remember, word of mouth is your friend, and when people are talking online it all gets indexed by search engines.

Social media has indeed changed the way that we absorb information online. The tools now exist for businesses to interact closely with client and prospects and give them the best opportunity to capitalize on their wants and needs. The greatest challenge for any business, however, is to figure out just how social media fits into their overall marketing and business goals.

Posted in Branding Tips

3 Things To Live By With Social Media

October 13th, 2010

By Matt Cook
Point Click Media

There’s a good chance that by now you’ve signed up for a Facebook profile, Twitter account or MySpace page at some point. Heck, maybe you’ve been enlisted to all of the above. If you’ve recently decided to take your business into the social media world, you’ll notice that there’s a lot to sink your teeth into, and without prioritizing your efforts you can quickly become overwhelmed and have your whole social media business plan crumble out of the sky in flames like the Hindenburg.

hindenburg

“Oh! The humanity!”

There are some very important steps to account for in the planning and execution of any of your social media plans. By performing these exercises before and during your social media endeavours, you stand a much better chance of reaching your goals.

1. Goals

Let’s focus on that first of all. Goals. Without a goal, what is your purpose of getting involved in social media? Any proper business plan should have well-defined goals attached to it, and social media is no different. Your goals don’t need to be pie-in-the-sky ideas either. Your main goals will likely be to increase company exposure and build customer relationships that will yield sales in the present and/or future, but a goal can be also be as simple as clarifying one customer service question per week, for example. Without goals or any intentions of sticking to your goals with social media, you may be inclined to focus your efforts elsewhere.

2. Listen and Observe

Remember the movie Short Circuit? You know, the 1986 Comedy/Sci-Fi flick featuring the lovable robot named Johnny Five that was heinously pillaged and plundered by the pirates at Pixar for their WALL-E franchise? Well, before he was crushed down into an earth saving, space traveling, pint-sized version of himself by Disney, Johnny Five occupied himself by satisfying his cravings for “input” by taking in all the information he possibly could. We can all learn from Johnny Five. By listening, reading and observing the people who are interacting with you and your business you can better gauge the effects of your efforts, properly identify your demographics, and effectively improve your customer relationships.

Number Five is Alive! - Graffiti

photo credit: emilydickinsonridesabmx - "Remember when Johnny Five and EVE were identified as rogue robots and were chased all around the Axiom? Wait a minute..."

3. Create and Communicate

Without original content and without communication and interaction, what makes you different than every other marketing scam out there patrolling the interwebs for their next pigeon? Creating content creates buzz, yes, but with that content comes a responsibility to back it up. Don’t just spam Facebook and Twitter with anything and everything. Choose your topics carefully, and most importantly, don’t let those topics sit. If people are asking questions about your business – good or bad – don’t ignore them. Contrary to popular belief, customer service is not dead. It’s just been sitting in the back room banging its head against the computer monitor because it can’t find the ‘any’ key. It’s up to you to use it.

There’s no exact science to social media. For the most part, it’s still just a hugely diverse group of people lolling with their bff’s and riding in their roflcopters. Still, by utilizing these three priorities for social media you stand a much better chance at making it work to your advantage. If you’re looking to save time by managing all of your social media accounts at once, I recommend Tweetdeck. It allows you to post updates to your Facebook, Twitter and all of your whatchamacallits all at once!

If you’d like to chat about your social media goals, contact Point Click Media.

Posted in Branding Tips, General News

Dealing with Negative Comments on Your Website

August 4th, 2010

By Matt Cook
Point.Click Media

The old adage that there’s no such thing as bad press isn’t entirely accurate in today’s world. Look no further than Apple’s recent antenna problems with the iPhone 4. Just ask Steve Jobs and the Apple shareholders what the cost of bad press is. You thought you were insane for remortgaging your house to buy an iPhone? Just wait until the next version is released and you have to sell your family and both kidneys to help recoup Apple’s losses. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Branding Tips

Part 2: Driving Traffic to Your New Website for Pennies a Day

June 23rd, 2010

Obsolete Book - 5/365

photo credit: Jamiesrabbits - "Hello? Operator? I'm looking for someone who can point me towards the 21st century..."

By Matt Cook
Point.Click Media

Last week, in the first half of this 2 part series, we offered a few ways to help you get your website off the ground by providing free methods of driving traffic to your website to help your organic search engine rankings. This includes updating your website with regular content and link building with your closest business partners and associations, among other things.

All of our provided free methods work great, however they can take a significant amount of time to produce results. Now, we’re not all perfect – often, when we don’t see results right away we’re bound to fall off the wagon eventually. There’s no real reason to fret over it though, because unlike those 10 unsightly pounds you have circled in red permanent marker on the top of your New Years Resolution list every January, your immediate problems can be resolved with only a pocket full of change. We’re not talking thousands of dollars or even hundreds. You can essentially purchase extra traffic for the cost of a ham sandwich. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Branding Tips, General News, Tips and Tricks

Part 1: Driving Traffic to Your New Website – For FREE

June 16th, 2010

141 Little Suamico House 26

photo credit: MorrowLess - Corn on the Ty Cobb anyone?

By Matt Cook
Point.Click Media

It’s the nature of the entrepreneur. You’ve invested some money into your website, giving it a fresh new look and all kinds of great new features that are going to have your customers drooling and itching to throw fistfuls of cash at you like Steve Jobs at an Apple Developers Conference. Now you want to start cashing in a return on your investment.

Alas, you’ve launched the website and not much is happening. You’ve built it, so why aren’t they coming? Well unfortunately, unlike the vast cornfields of Iowa that are inhabited by hoards of dead baseball players just waiting to flock to Kevin Costner’s house for a game of poltergeist stickball, search engines don’t give you that automatic drawing power just because you’re there. You need to earn their respect. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Branding Tips, General News, Tips and Tricks

So What’s the Deal With Vector?

May 5th, 2010

This type of Vector - although delicious and high in fibre - is not what were talking about

This type of Vector - although delicious and high in fibre - is not what we're talking about

By Matt Cook
Point.Click Media

If you’ve ever gone to a sign shop, cresting/embroidery shop, or any design and printing house to get your marketing materials designed or printed, there’s a good chance that one of the very first questions you’ll be presented with is, “Can you supply us with a vector of your logo?” Your first instinct may be to reply, “A logo? Sure! I’ll send a JPEG over as soon as I get back to the office.” But do you really know what you are providing? Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Branding Tips, General News

Part 2 – Old fashioned Public Relations: The Press Release

March 31st, 2010

We cant all be as awesome as Billy Mays...

We can't all have a PR guy like Billy Mays at the helm...

By Matt Cook
Point.Click Media

As we outlined last week in Part 1 of this series, a press release can have a profound effect on your public relations. They are the most traditional method of getting your business name some ‘air time’ in the public eye. Anytime your company has some worthwhile news that may garner some interest from your demographic, a press release can certainly achieve that goal.

So what does a 21st century press release look like?

Remember, the goal of a press release is to interest, educate and in the end, engage your demographic. The interest part can be taken from the event itself, for example, if your company is writing about a new product that may be launching.

The education process is important in describing the new product to the consumer. Of course, I’m not just talking about the physical description of the product, but also what makes it attractive to potential customers. Here are some questions you can ask yourself:

  • What is it?
  • What does it do?
  • What are the benefits of having this product?
  • What makes this better than a similar product?
  • Where can I get it?

Enhancing the education process will also help your customers realize the need for your product. With so many people being more susceptible to visuals, adding photos, video (or audio) clips and links will allow people to get a much clearer picture of what the product and your company are all about. In addition, adding quotes from the company owner, customer testimonials and even product reviews will all give extra credibility to your press release.

Finally, engaging your reader with a call to action is the ultimate goal. Be sure to provide plenty of contact information, not only for your readers but for media outlets as well. If someone has taken the time to read your press release, chances are there’s something there that has peaked their interest, and you want to be able to provide them with additional information if they choose to seek it. A call to action can be as simple as saying “For more information, call 1-888-8888” or “Visit www.newproduct.com to learn more.”

Note: Be sure to use proper formatting when writing a press release. A press release should have a clear headline, summary, location and dateline, a body and contact information. Some media outlets require a certain formatting as a sort of ‘screening process’ in accepting press releases, so it’s important to take the time to cover everything.

A great example of a press release with proper formatting can be found here

What you do with your press release after you write it, and who you contact is up to you. Your business may decide to distribute the document to a variety of local or national media outlets, or you may choose to just keep it brief and post it on your website or Facebook group. In any case, make sure that your readers can get a good sense of what you’re trying to accomplish with the press release and offer them the best information possible. If you’re in need of some direction, a starting point for establishing good public relations, or even some expansion on the few points we’ve made here, contact Point.Click Media.

Posted in Branding Tips

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