Help me help you
I had a fascinating kick-off conversation with a new client today, Jim Israel formerly of Culinary Concepts in Philadelphia, PA. He is starting a new consulting company aimed at the hospitality industry. Usually, my clients struggle with their identities, their mission and their unique selling points. Jim had all of that in spades. I was actually a little embarrassed that I had started him with the basic brand development questions.
Jim was on point and had the following questions answered fully:
- Who are you?
- Why should I listen to what you have to say?
- What can you do for me?
- Do you have the expertise to back up your claims?
- What can I expect when working with you?
Many companies can’t answer those questions right off the bat and it’s up to the creative strategists like me to help them discover those answers and figure out ways to deliver that message to their intended audience.
It’s a lesson for creatives and small business owners alike that getting to the heart of the “why” is crucial to the success of any brand, advertising or marketing project. When a client comes to the table with those questions already answered in a clear, compelling way, then they are truly helping me help them.
Look for more info about this client coming soon!
rose
You know, we humans have a peculiar habit: we like to name things. They give us a sense of order in a chaotic world. Look at the title of this post…it brings an image to mind. A smell. A memory. A Golden Girl. A connection. It’s the same with naming products. Companies have spent millions… More
rules of the road
You know what’s fun? Brand guidelines. Seriously. It’s cool to take a design and develop a system around it. Right now, I am working on brand guidelines for a client that is undergoing a complete rebrand. It started innocently enough…”Hey, can you whip up a sales video for us?” “We need a new white paper… More
Welcome, Denver Post and Denver Business News
Just a quick shout out that an actual news agency is following yours truly at M19 MEDIA. We count @denverpost (The Denver Post) and @denverbusiness (Denver Business News) as our followers! My only question: where is the Delaware News Journal?
Let’s Dance
New client meeting tonight in Bear, and it is a dance of peacocks, preening, spitting and strutting their accomplishments. Each person trying to one-up the other and demonstrate their knowledge of the best way to promote the business in question. Enter the owner, who has spent months or years in the trenches. Enter the marketer,… More
It’s a knockout
An often overlooked logo design element is the knockout version. The knockout is the version of the logo that would appear on a dark background. There are many times when a logo cannot be reproduced in full color due to the environment where the logo will be placed or the costs associated with printing in… More
This is a must read for everyone in the design field and those that work with designers. It’s not a power struggle unless you make it one. http://lnkd.in/dhABgnu
a little something interesting I found: http://lnkd.in/dhABgnu from LinkedIn via IFTTT
I couldn’t have done it without you
I am addicted to Facebook. Twitter, not so much, in that the opportunities for feedback are limited and a tweet is just that-a short little burst that gets lost in the cacophony of other tweets. I like having followers, no doubt about that, but I think that in the social sphere, my money is on… More
latest blog post: Some great message gamification. Well executed and extremely customer centric. Try the quiz! What kind of procrastinator are you? check it out.
a little something interesting I found: http://ift.tt/1spo1Oe from LinkedIn via IFTTT
Branding Brilliance
Brilliant.
The business case against Groupon
So, upon closer examination, Groupon is not the deal that I thought it was. I read an article about restaurants having bad experiences with Groupon and thought that it was bad business on their part; they gave away too much to the digital coupon clippers. Up until a few weeks ago, I thought Groupon would… More
Understanding culture
Part of my goings-on about the user experience include knowing your audience and understanding what makes them tick. A huge part of the behavioral information that you can glean about a particular audience segment is culture. I came across an article on Business Insider that represents visually how cultures around the world negotiate. Why should… More
How close is too close?
So here is a client relations issue that many of us small business-facing creatives have: Getting too close to your client. Generally, my small business clients are usually run by a single person. That person usually has the chops to run a business and sell him/herself to the general public. One of the reasons that… More
new logo
Heya guys! Here’s a logo that was just approved for a massage therapist client. In my research, I found lots of massage logos to be a little on the heavy side. This logo is meant to convey health, cleanliness and serenity. Tell us what you think.
The mee goreng principle
A lot has been said about User Experience and how critical it is to the success of any web site. I couldn’t agree more. Here is an example of what I mean: I’m in an Asian restaurant for the first time today. I’ve been past it, looked at the menu in the window but never… More
Facebook microtargeting
One of the goals of marketers is to create a message that the viewer believes is meant solely for him/her. Considerable time, money and effort is spent developing the right message for the right audience. The smaller the audience, the more specific and compelling the marketing message can be. The practice of delivering messages to… More
Book Review: About Face: The Secrets of Emotionally Effective Advertising by Dan Hill
I am an avid reader of design and advertising books. As geeky as it sounds, I read those types of books as my pleasure reading. I always want to know more about how to excel at my craft. Every so often there comes along a book that completely changes the way that I think about… More
Brand Culture: Creating a community around your small business brand…a primer
Years ago, when the web was relatively young, I remember business owners asking me to build them a website with the rationale that “they just needed one.” There was no more discussion than that. Me, being young and hungry, built them a site that, for the time and my skill level, looked great. But then… More
be brief, be bright, be gone
Check out this article on the length of emails: (It’ll open in a new window) I check most of my emails to get information about the state of the medium. I have found that emails are getting longer and longer and LONGER. They present so much material that my eyes glaze by the first scroll.… More
