Have you ever watched one of those home makeover shows? You know the scenario. The homeowners have decorated or remodeled their house all by themselves. After awhile, they realize that what they did is unprofessional, it doesn’t work, it’s not what they want, it’s not what they need, it’s ugly, or they just flat out despise it. So, they hire an expert designer to help.

After meeting with the family to find out their wants, needs, desires and dreams, the expert takes that information and goes to work, completely making over the house.

The final results are amazing. The differences are like night and day. The homeowners are surprised and utterly astonished. Some laugh and some even cry, because right in front of their eyes, they see what they never imagined possible. It’s what they want, it’s what they need, it’s what they were trying to do themselves, but simply couldn’t.

What does all of this have to do with graphic design and marketing?

Unfortunately, most small business owners, like the homeowners, do all their own graphic design and marketing themselves. They design the logo for their small business…themselves. They design the stationery for their small business…themselves. They write and design the brochure for their small business…themselves. They design and build the web site for their small business…themselves. Typically, they do ALL of the graphic design and marketing for their small business…you guessed it…themselves.

It’s unfortunate. Because the results of doing all of this…themselves…is similar to those experienced by the homeowners in the makeover shows. The graphic design and marketing materials they have created look unprofessional, they don’t work, they don’t get results, they look homemade and they aren’t functional. Simply put, they’re amateurish.

Sound familiar?

What should you do? Let’s reconsider the home makeover shows, and determine what the homeowners did right. You can learn something from the homeowners and apply this to your small business.

First. They realize that what they have done themselves, simply isn’t working. They’re frustrated that what they have done does not work anymore. They know that they need a change.

Second. They realize that they are not the experts in this particular area. They know that they need expert designer help to fix what they have done to make it functional, appealing and successful.

Third. They meet with the expert designer to discuss their wants, needs and desires. They express exactly what they want to accomplish. They also admit that what they have tried to do…themselves…doesn’t work.

Fourth. They let the expert get to work. They trust that they will get the results they want and desire. They know the finished product will far exceed what they could have ever done themselves.

Fifth. They get to see and experience the finished result, which is a beautiful, functional, valuable, contemporary, awesome solution that works and gives them the results they wanted to accomplish in the first place.

When it comes to creating and executing the graphic design and marketing materials for your small business, the same results can and will happen for you. But, you have to hire an expert to give your business an extreme makeover.

When the expert is done, the graphic design and marketing materials for your small business will be attractive, professional, beautiful, successful, what you want, what you need and it will accomplish the goals you are trying to achieve.

There is only one catch: you have to stop doing everything yourself.

If you are doing or have done all of the graphic design and marketing materials for your small business…all by yourself…it’s time to call in an expert.

Like the homeowners, chances are you’ll be surprised and completely amazed. Right in front of your eyes, you will see results that you always wanted, but could not achieve yourself.

Jeanna Pool is President of CATALYST creative, inc., located in Denver, Colorado. She
helps small business owners who are really good at what they do, but struggle to
market their services effectively to attract more clients on a consistent basis. She
can be contacted at http://www.catalystcreativeinc.com or 303.380.9100.

Last week, I wrote about packaging and the environment. Since then I have been flooded with a host of interesting new packaging and product introductions. Surprisingly much of the packaging innovation is coming from outside the U.S. than from our own national companies.

It seems that there is much more going on in environment legislation about packaging in other countries. In fact, at the World Packaging Organization meeting in Beijing last week it was announced that China is working to develop “green packaging” as part of its efforts to build an environment-friendly society. I also have had the opportunity to read some very interesting facts including this tidbit: the world consumes 25 billion pizza boxes annually. So, if your pizza box is “green” you can save the world.

Seriously, it’s great to make an announcement and to get the word out about all new packaging innovations, but the real test is integrating your “green” packaging products into your brand.

People are jumping on the environmental band wagon because it’s a hot topic right now. The recent Earth Day activities made people think about things that have to do with the environment. Global warming issues are on the news daily and people are looking for scapegoats as the cause. The packaging industry is often chastised for having unfriendly environmental policies. I’m not here to debate this point, but to talk about using environmental issues in a positive manner.

Let’s take the word “green” as an example. Obviously, we think of the color first.
But what about the variations of the definition that relate to packaging? How green is your packaging world?

•    Green could mean less damage to the environment;
 •    Green could be producing packaging from renewable resources;
 •    Green could be designing products for environmental sustainability;
 •    Green could be the use of less material and recyclable and degradable materials.

So “green” can be maximized for branding purposes in a host of different ways.

If you have a “green” packaging product what ways are you capitalizing on the current media exposure (in addition to send out a press announcement)? Here are a few points to consider:

•    Did you support or promote participation in any Earth Day activities?
 •    Do you belong to any one of the many organizations that support "green" and the environment?
 •    Did you orchestrate your new packaging introduction to coincide with Earth Day or other environmental events?
 •    Have you submitted your green product to the numerous packaging associations' opportunities for environmental awards?
 •    Have you submitted your package to any of the non packaging related organizations that have "environmental" awards?
 •    Do you have a plan in place that your entire staff understands and utilizes to build your "green" brand?
 •    Do they believe in being "green" (very important)?
 •    Have you looked at any websites such as treehugger.com (great site with lots about packaging) to see what they are doing?

I just saw this:
“The last day to enter our “Unexpected Green” Contest is quickly approaching - this Friday, May 5th. Just as a quick refresher, we are looking for green items you have found in normally not so green places, big box retailers, mall stores, the Exxon-Mobil gift shop (OK that might be a bit of a stretch). Send your “unexpected green” items to: CONTEST@treehugger.com and tell us that the product is, where you found it, and why you think it was an unexpected find. So, if you want to get your hands on the contest prize, a $350 gift certificate from Earth, be sure to get your entries in pronto to contest@treehugger.com”

Sure it seems a bit far fetched but Treehugger lives in the blogosphere world and we all know how important blogging is to the media. Try a quick GOOGLE search for “green packaging.” Yes, there are a few products listed but what is more important is what is not there. A huge area of untapped marketing potential is available for increasing the visibility for your packaging products.

No matter how unusual or “out there” the opportunity seems you cannot under estimate who will see and read about your “green” brand. Let me use a personal experience as an example: I wrote two e-zine issues entitled “Earth Day Battle: Packaging VS the Environment.” I received lots of new inquiries from all over the globe with a simple headline.

The branding issue I want you to think about is: (1) Is your “green” packaging product is a flash in the pan? (2) Has there been serious brand integration of the “green” message throughout your company? (3) Are you using your “green” message in all the promotion, literature and media exposure? Remember it’s never too early to plan your “green” branding campaign for Earth Day 07 and to maximize your brand.

Packaging Experts, Packaging Consultants, Packaging Speakers:

The Public Relations Department at Packaging University can connect you with the country’s top leaders, experts, consultants and speakers, in packaging and related industries. Our experts work in all facets of packaging and they will speak with you about new innovations, trends, legislation, technology, and other packaging news. Contact us if you need experts to interview, article ideas, news, hot topics, or quotes, opinions, and insights from prestigious sources.

Go to PackagingUniversity.com and get your free special report: “Why Packaging Fails” by JoAnn Hines Packaging Diva.

Attention inventors! Look for our new white paper “Packaging Your Invention To Sell” available soon at PackagingUniversity.com

According to branding guru, Jerry Robinson, creativity, profitability and morale all rise when the large file in branding projects are available to everyone involved.

Robinson has been a creative director for 20 years and has managed countless projects for countless companies (Revlon, Marriot, and Citicorp Global Payment Products, to name just a few). Operationally, one thing has consistently driven him crazy: effective management of the files used to create and support brand identity. These files include advertisements, radio and TV commercials, photographs, and design assets like logos and fonts.

“If I had a dollar for the number of times clients have called with the following request,” said Robinson, “I’d be rich. It goes like this, ‘Hi Jerry. Do you remember that logo you configured for the new product roll-out last year? Would you please email it to me? I have a deadline this afternoon.’”

Robinson said that he gets ruffled for a couple of reasons. First of all, why doesn’t the client have a copy of the logo? The client paid for it. It’s an integral part of its brand asset base. Why isn’t the company taking better care of its brand assets? Does it leave its other assets strewn about with venders around the country?

Secondly, someone at his firm has to stop what he is doing and hunt for the logo. That person has to put aside paying work and search for something that was last seen 18 months ago. “Of course, I have no choice but to charge the client for looking for an asset that rightfully should be in its possession, but I risk angering the client. Why, the client reasons, should I pay for something that I already paid for last year? Who can blame them?” he said.

Here’s another scenario. The printer has set an absolute deadline for an eight-page positioning brochure at eight a.m. tomorrow.

“My designer is in St. Petersburg, my writer is in Cincinnati, and my client is in Dallas,” said Robinson. “Everyone wants to make last minute changes. The only way I can aggregate the files that the printer needs along with everyone’s input is to spend a fortune on overnight delivery fees (most likely private couriers).”

Finally, workflow can be a nightmare when part of the team is off-site, which occurs more and more with the increasing effectiveness of the internet. If more than one person is working on a file, is it the most up-to-date version? Who has access to it? Who is authorized to make changes?

Sending these files via email can spoil a nice day. According to Robinson, many if not most megafiles are too large to make it through ordinary email channels. And internal networks are hyper-security conscience and can halt a project for a day or more while someone figures out why a file cannot be accessed by the designer from his home.

The solution is online storage, a hard drive on a computer (server) with access to the internet. Anyone with access to the internet theoretically has access to the storage. In actual fact the storage is protected by user-names and passwords.

Robinson said that in order to be effective as a project management and a brand management tool, the storage must possess several features.

First of all it must have a flexible access capability. Say your company is working on an annual report with Ad Agency A and a catalogue with Ad Agency B. What you don’t want is for Ad Agency A’s work to get mixed up with Ad Agency B’s work. Consequently, you want Agency A to have access to certain folders and sub-folders and nothing else; same with agency B.

Second, you want both agencies to be able to upload and download into their respective folders.

Third, team members must be able to see at a glance what the files and folders are. Legible descriptions and thumbnails pictures for graphics are a must.

Fourth, the company needs a place where it can archive it’s brand assets where they will be easy to find and available for future projects as needed.

Finally, the system must be economical.

After exploring the market, Robinson found that some of the digital asset management, licensed- software solutions would work, but were very expensive, well out of the reach of most businesses. Other online storage solutions are cheaper, but don’t offer the features necessary for best practices brand management.

“With a backlog of frustration and a passion for eliminating it,” he said, “I worked for several years to create a solution for managing brand asset and came up with MyBrandVault.com. For the last year MyBrandVault.com has done a great job of making brand management easier for companies and allowing branding professionals to do their job of promoting brand identity rather than functioning as digital asset file clerks.”

Harry Chittenden of Chittenden Communications promotes ideas and companies in the media and on the internet. His a frequent user of MyBrandVault.

As any young freelance designer in Paris will tell you, you must approach design houses in Europe with an answer to their plea for something new and different, innovational and having never been done before. It makes one question weather beauty and wear-ability is no longer important so long as the press makes a comment or two even if those lines in the press are unflattering. After all, there is no such thing as bad press, right?

Interestingly enough, it seems the streets resonate a different attitude as reflected on the bodies of the people who are actually buying the clothes. By in large, it appears people want to look attractive and feel comfortable even as the fashion houses struggle to give the public exactly what they don’t even know the want yet. In fact, society may never want it.

The profession used to dictate what the public will wear. But the times, they are a changing. The public will not bend to fashion rules set out by creative directors tucked away in their ivory towers. The power has shifted, and the educated masses are interrupting a long held pattern. They want us to listen. They know what they want. They want to be surprised each new season, but pleasantly; as a thoughtful lover who remembers you love yellow roses, not an angry slap in the face from someone who is trying to convince them that they “love it”.

It is our job to find out where the key to their hearts is tucked away, find it, interpret what we find inside, and then entice the fashion disciples to choose what they will define as the look of any season. The trick is to interpret the social energy and create a fashion philosophy which reflects the wearers own. That means designers and trend reporters have to tap into every trend from music to the economy to politics with a global perspective. Clients are no longer buying into the “emperors’ new clothes” doctrine; “just trust the experts and wear it weather you like it or not” philosophy. They want real clothes, and they want their attire to reflect their beliefs without having to utter a word. They want their garments to live in synchronicity with their core values.

It is a big job, and finding the synchronicity between the trend setters and the old-school fashion houses is not an easy fit. Luckily, as people begin to discover and trust their own intuition, there are more choices for shoppers to adopt a personal representation. With the interesting new “non-trends” emerging on the horizon; consumers will have even more choice as their buying power increases.

As fashion creators in the world, it is our job to do more than cover bodies so they don’t get arrested in countries where garments are required. It is our duty to listen, hear, and let the public know we understand them and care about what they think. Not just in words, but through our gifts and offerings to them each season.

Jennifer Marvin is an American born Parisian fashion and accessories designer whose impeccable reputation is supported by international devotees. Her exclusive handbags, wedding gowns and made-to-measure pieces are hailed as rare treasures. Her work has been featured in British Vogue, auctioned by Sotheby’s, and sold on the worlds most fashionable streets. Jennifer Marvin serves an a consultant in fashion branding, market, color and trend forcasting globally.

There has been a lot written about branding, but I thought I’d take a fresh look at the subject and ask the simple question, “Why are buyers attracted to brand names?”

Five basic reasons come to mind:

(1) Brands imply safety. If a name is recognizable, it doesn’t sound experimental. For example, which firm would you trust to provide a drug for your rare medical condition, Goodman Pharmaceuticals or Abbott Laboratories?

(2) Brands imply widespread distribution and acceptance. Lots of people have purchased, and lived to tell about it!

(3) Brands command higher prices, and profits, because we expect their costs to be higher, especially those invested in quality control.

(4) Brands, of course, imply distinctiveness. Bayer Aspirin may contain exactly the same ingredients as a generic, but at least unconsciously, we sense there must be something extra or special in the recipe.

(5) Brands seem big and successful, and most people want to identify with this. It lends them a feeling of strength.

I’ll never forget when I was bidding on a large consulting contract against a division of Xerox, which was known at the time for excellence in sales training. I lost out to this company, partly because their rep asked our prospect “What would happen if Gary gets your business and is then hit by a truck?”

Actually, unknown to the buyer, this is an insurable risk. Moreover, and this is one of the ironies you come to relish in business, the division of Xerox that I was bidding against “died” before I didit was sold off.

Not only that, but Xerox went on to invest a ton in MY sales training, shortly thereafter.

Still, the prospect I didn’t sell, took the “safe” route, and went with the bigger name at the time, demonstrating the power of branding.

Dr. Gary S. Goodman, President of Customersatisfaction.com, is a popular keynote speaker, management consultant, and seminar leader and the best-selling author of 12 books, including Reach Out & Sell Someone® and Monitoring, Measuring & Managing Customer Service, and the audio program, “The Law of Large Numbers: How To Make Success Inevitable,” published by Nightingale-Conant. He is a frequent guest on radio and television, worldwide. A Ph.D. from USC’s Annenberg School, a Loyola lawyer, and an MBA from the Peter F. Drucker School at Claremont Graduate University, Gary offers programs through UCLA Extension and numerous universities, trade associations, and other organizations from Santa Monica to South Africa. He holds the rank of Shodan, 1st Degree Black Belt in Kenpo Karate. He is headquartered in Glendale, California, and he can be reached at (818) 243-7338 or at: gary@customersatisfaction.com.

For information about coaching, consulting, training, books, videos and audios, please go to: http://www.customersatisfaction.com

How do automotive detailing companies start? What makes them work and how do they grow? How do they choose which services they will offer? This is an interesting case study about a test market of a franchise company in the cleaning business and how they went about setting up Auto Detailing Shops. It maybe of interest to your business study and research; I am familiar with this story because it is one of the companies that I founded.

It all started in Reno, NV where we had set up a mobile car wash franchise of the Car Wash Guys for a franchisee there. www.CarWashGuys.com . Because we have significant market share in Reno NV, we wanted to expand into different lines. So we looked at co-branding with Ziebart, yet their corporate culture did not mix with our Entrepreneurial Fiber and the cost of their franchises were quite high. On top of that they had sold so many franchises in the US, there would be a problem later if we decided to roll out our system nationwide or continue buying their units to expand with our current franchisees, still we felt this might be worth pursuing. So instead going thru all the mistakes, which had already been learned we wanted to buy into a proven system and wanted to exhaust this possibility first. They turned us down. So we have decided to take the market, city by city. But first we needed to establish a prototype unit and this is where our Reno Franchisee came into play. Ziebart instead of partner would become a challenge, as they had 216 units already up and running. We visited many of their locations including Hilo, HA at the time.

We decided we would put in co-brands at car washes as well, express detail centers. Also at Park and Flys and High End Parking Structures. These permanent Detailing Centers would provide a wide array of services. We are detailing for large dealerships, adding oil additives, which are guaranteed by Lloyds of London for 100,000 miles, bed liners, gold plating, window tinting, auto accessories, pin striping, Gold Plating, Dent Repair, Windshield Repair, Wood grain and Interior Paneling, Vinyl and Leather Repair, Paint Touch-Up, Engine Steam Cleaning, Rust Proofing, Odor Elimination. The business plan
is extensive, and the training intense.

We determined to be able to handle all the services we wished to provide the Centers would have to be 8 bay Detail Shops the largest of all organized Detail Shops. By having other WashGuy.com franchise systems customers to draw from there would be enough
customers to allow maximum synergy. This is where the tires meet the pavement. The Super Centers are exactly that. The smaller co-brand version was tested at our fixed site car wash franchise prototype in WA. Now realize we have been in the detailing business for years, www.detailguys.com and we know what we are doing and we are good at it.

This company was founded out of necessity to service the customers. Paul our franchise in Reno of the car wash guys kept getting detailing offers from the dealerships he was washing. One offer led to an onsite takeover of their in-house detailing facilities; a four-bay detail shop, which he grew out of in less than three months. Then he moved into an 8 bay detail shop keeping the four bay for a total of 12 bays in two shops. Before his second year he was on pace to do about $600,000.00 this year. He had only been in business 18 months. He was so busy trying to divide his car wash with all his detail work he had decided to sell part of it. We wanted him to be successful so we allowed the partial transfer and he will be using the money from the sale of one of his car wash guys franchised territories to fund his new detail center. He maxed the old center out and had to move into a bigger shop, and then at one point even that was not enough so he had to keep both. The next year we had set up smaller Detail Guys Centers in other parts of the country and established co-brands in WA, OK, OH, TN, and CA.

The entire business grew out of a mobile car wash operation, without any detailed advanced strategic thinking on our part until we had the customers breathing down our throats yellowing “We need more services” and that folks is how many opportunities are found in the market. You get into business and get tough and follow opportunity, this is why all the text books and business plans are not all they are cracked up to be and why reality based entrepreneurship come from the real world where people can. Not from the academia world where all they know how to do is teach. If you want to go from 0-60 in four seconds sure it is nice to have a venture capital bankroll, but all the real companies I know about started from scratch and then became built to last. From starting small to finishing big is all in the market place and minds of the greatest people on Earth, the Entrepreneurs.

“Lance Winslow” - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/

We Are All Outspent
Most brands face daunting tasks in preparing marketing communications to steal
market share. If you have unlimited budgets and are capable of out-spending the
competitive set, your job is that much easier. For the rest of us, we have to learn
how to win without the largest ad budgets and without dominating share of voice
(SOV).

There are some rules that Stealing Share has discovered in our quest to be the
authority in stealing market share. In marketing, advertising, brand development,
and the rest of one’s life, focus and clarity always lead to better results. How do
you know when you have such focus? That is the subject of this short article.

More Than The Category

First, you must make sure that your brand was built, not just for clarity and
simplicity (both are vital) but also for persuasion. If your brand symbols and brand
equity markers are clear but static, you have some serious and immediate work to
do (take our Evaluate You Brand test (www.stealingshare.com/brand_quiz.asp).
When we ask companies to tell us what their brand means, more often then not we
hear a litany of category descriptors like convenient, effective and value. Even
Nordstrom could claim those brand values in the department store category. So
could TIDE detergent and Apple Computer. In order to persuade, your brand must
have, within its definition, the core “life” beliefs that propel your customer to choose
not just products and services, but life choices as well. They need to see your
brand as an important touchstone for people who define themselves as they do.
You want them to look at your brand and see it as such a powerful self-descriptor
that to choose a competitor would be akin to emotional suicide.

What Is Your Brand’s Permission?

In addition, brand is the permission that your advertising and marketing of your
product or service is built upon. If your brand does not foster that permission, if in
its woven fibers your customer does not find an illumination of their own self-
description and the language of personal importance, your advertising and
marketing is wasting most of its budget. A great adman once told me that the
enemy of great advertising is not bad advertising, anyone can spot bad advertising.
No, he told me, the enemy of great advertising is good advertising and he was
right! The same is true for brands and the underlying permission that forms their
foundation.

Customers Have Choices

All choices in this world are attempts to self-define, even B2B choices. The brand
mix, the “recipe,” for your brand definition and resulting permissions, consists of
both left-brain and right-brain elements. For the left-brain, your brand must
include the logic and reasoning that conveys importance. It must be built upon a
foundation of believable truths. But, oddly enough, truth is most often a right-brain
perception and PERMISSION comes from a belief in a truth. As a result, your brand
recipe must include the ingredients of motivation and esthetics, and they must all
be mixed together into something that “tastes” satisfying and substantial.

If your brand is build upon such a foundation and its permissions are persuasive,
then your marketing strategy needs to be altered. The media wisdom of the day
always talks in terms of reach and frequency, and these are both important… but
they are not science. They are based in part on the experience of ad agencies and
most of that experience is founded on mediocre brand definitions and forgettable
advertising executions. The goal, if you are being outspent, is to out-reach your
competition with less frequency. This means that you need to ignite the right and
left-brain responses of more people with fewer impressions.

A properly defined brand creates that space and it defines your executions in the
same way that your eye color was defined by an allele on chromosome 19. If your
brand is differentiated from the competitive set by customer precepts the core
“life” beliefs that propel your customer to choose then the resulting marketing
and advertising, if it is true to the brand, will be by definition different and better.

Choose Your Agency

All too often we see brands choose and ad agency because of personality and
reputation. They assume that bigger is always better and that you must “get along”
to be effective. If you are going to steal market share, one rule to remember is that
it is folly to copy the market leader. This includes looking for ad agencies that
“specialize” in your category or have experience in your category. If an agency has
had previous category experience but no longer has a client in your category, then it
is imperative to ask the agency why the previous client fired them. How they answer
will tell you a lot about the agency. Were they quick to blame the client? Was there
some mix-up? Do not rest asking this question until you are completely satisfied
with the answer. It is important the client/agency relationship begin on the right
foot.

Our clients come to Stealing Share® because they want to win it is as simple as
that. We counsel them to be more dispassionate when choosing an ad agency. We warn them to listen carefully, judge objectively, and be careful not to hear what they want to hear. How much you like an agency may have nothing to do with their
ability to be effective for you. Remember, with the exception of an “Effie”, winning
“Ad” awards have nothing to do with building great brands. They are self-serving
aggrandizements judged by other ad folks. Today, the advertising world is
crammed with delightfully entertaining ads that become the fodder of conversation
for everything other than the brand they are intended to propel upward.

How To Succeed

The moral of this story is that if you want to steal market share you need to think
outside of the current box. If just changing ad agencies was the best solution, most
brands would be successful every 2.5 years (the average ad agency tenure). If just
spending more money was the solution, then we would all know the price of
success. At Stealing Share®, we believe that building a brand infused with the DNA
of the target customer is the best solution for stealing market share. A great brand
can level the playing field, making you more relevant to your target market and help
you WIN.

Become your customers top-of-mind choice.

Some of these snapshots of real life SmartPartnership success stories can be adapted to help your kind of business (or non-profit or government agency) thrive…

1. *Offer Special Touches That Your Competition Doesn’t*

That’s how guests at the Holiday Inn Express enjoy the opportunity to try Kohler’s
new multi-function showerhead and spa bath.

Families staying at some Holiday Inns featuring Nickelodeon Family Suites get to
play in a water park and arcade.

Who knows how many people chose to stay at the Ritz Carlton during one Fall,
rather than at another luxury hotel because of an added thrill, complimentary use of
a brand new Mercedes during their stay?

2. *Trade Benefits to Lower Your Overhead - While Attracting Attention with a “First
Ever”*

That’s how T-shirt designer Tami Minatelli could exhibit at nine street fairs last
summer without paying for her booth space. A manufacturer of a new, unique, no-
stain suntan lotion paid for Tami’s booth. Because she wore their lotion and her T-
shirts, with a sign above her head, describing her original painting-on-cotton
method and the lotion’s “do no harm” guarantee. Next to burn protection, that’s the
biggest concern of people who use suntan lotions.

3. *Co-Create Products That Provide Another Reason to Buy - and Attract Media
Coverage*

That’s why Volkswagen’s Beetle and BMW are creating an in-car adapter to accept
iPod music players by Apple Computer Inc.

Spectacularly expensive iPod minis, decorated by Swarovski with 1,000 crystals (one
for each of the 1,000 songs it can store) are attracting priceless publicity, as have
some cell phones and pianos, also “Crystallized with Swarovski”

That’s how the new Acer laptops look ever more elegant now that they are packed
into a candy red casing, designed by Ferrari 3400, complete with the sports car’s
logo.

That’s why this summer you’ll have another reason to buy Adidas’ trendy new
walking shoe. It will sport striking-looking and cushy Eagle F1 tire treads from the
tire giant Goodyear.

4. *Get Introduced to Prospective Buyers Where Your Competition Isn’t Even in
Sight*

That’s why those who fly on Delta Air Lines airline, Song, will see cabin interiors and
flight attendant uniforms created by clothing designer Kate Spade.

5. *Become a Bigger Customer Magnet by Joining Forces to Offer More Helpful Tips *

That’s why, when pillow-maker, Leo Hollander decided to drop private labeling work
in favor of launching his own brand, he recruited complementary partners. On his
“Live Comfortably” web site, he provides articles by a feng shui expert, a
chiropractor, and a color specialist. Result? He boosted all partners’ visibility and
credibility - in front of their mutual market of customers.

6. *Give Your Niche Market Something They’ll Want to Talk About*

To reach men in bars, sports arenas and restaurants, advertisers used the Wizmark,
otherwise called an “interactive urinal communicator.” As men step up to the urinal
they activate, with the slightest movement, a sensor that prompts red lights to flash,
crunchy guitar chords to sound and a 30 second commercial to appear. Yes women,
the male response has been positive.

7. *Let Your “First-Ever * Story be Optimally Timed for All Partners*

That’s why Oprah Winfrey and General Motors could *make dreams come true* for
audience members and reap millions of dollars of free media coverage. Women were
escorted out to the parking lot where they saw rows of beribboned Pontiac 6Gs to
drive away. What a way to kick off the new TV season and be top-of-mind for car
buyers.

That’s why this summer you’ll have another reason to buy Adidas’ trendy new
walking shoe. It will sport striking-looking and cushy Eagle F1 tire treads from the
tire giant Goodyear.

8. *Give People Another Reason to Try Your Product*

That’s how Applebee’s and Weigth Watchers attracted new customers without
advertising more. When Weight Watchers designed and branded several low-cal
menu items for Applebee’s, followers of their diet program (and those thinking of
losing weight) could eat out without guilt, at Applebee’s. And Applebee’s fans got a
first-hand introduction to the flavor of Weight Watchers.

Bottom Line benefit:

SmartPartnerships generate a profitable payoff for all partners because, at the very
least, they get a credible introduction to each other’s customers.

You don’t have to go it alone any longer. The “feel good” truth is that, with the right
partners, the sum is greater than apart.

Here are some low-risk and high-opportunity ways
to jump-start your first consumer-attracting SmartPartnership

1. Print joint promotional messages on your bills.

2. Offer a reduced price, special service, or convenience if customers buy services or
products from you and your partner.

3. Hang signs or posters promoting one another on your walls, windows, or
products.

4. Mention one another’s benefits when you speak at local events or are interviewed
by the media.

5. Show the joint use of your services and their benefit on the health of patients

6. Pool mailing lists and send out a joint promotional postcard.

7. Promote your partners’ products during their slow times, and ask them to do the
same for you.

8. Share inexpensive ads in local shopping papers or a nonprofit event program.

9. Give a joint interview to local media.

10. Put one another’s promotional messages on Lucite stands on counters or floor
stands in waiting areas.

11. Encourage your staff to mention how your partner’s products can be used with
yours.

12. Give your partner’s product to your customers when they buy a large quantity of
your product, and ask your partner to do the same.

13. Use door hangers, posters, flyers, or postcards to promote special offers for one
another’s products.

14. Co-produce an in-store or other event, demonstration, celebrity appearance,
free service, or lecture.

The BIG Benefit:

Together the partners in each of these real life success stories generated far more
visibility, value, money and goodwill than they could have accomplished in
traditional “solo” promotions, fundraising or advertising.

Kare Anderson is the author of SmartPartnering, publisher of the SayitBetter
newsletter reaching 32,000 people, speaker and Emmy-winning former NBC and
Wall Street Journal reporter.

1. Corporate identity.

Corporate identity is a company’s visual presence, which involves the corporate logo and design strategy for corporate marketing collateral. Corporate identity does not encapsulate brand identity, which is best defined as the soul of your company. However, a corporate identity may, and often does, reflect a brand identity. But some ad agencies, marketing companies and graphic design agencies would have you believe that brand identity is the same thing as corporate identity and that changing a logo or design strategy will change the brand identity. However, this is not the case.

There are many intangible factors that weigh in on a brand identity. Such cosmetic changes can help a brand identity by making it evident to customers that a company cares about its appearance, but that’s about the extent of its power. A corporate identity does, however, need to evolve with the times. Failure to do so can negatively affect a company’s brand identity, but care must also be taken to not overly revise the presentation of a brand, lest customers be concerned about the state of a company. Corporate identity, along with organizational culture, product quality, service reputation, features, benefits, performance and value, are some of the key factors of brand identity.

2. Brand Identity - It’s the essence of your company.

Brand identity is the complete package of a business to its customers. It includes the company’s service reputation, product quality, features, benefits, performance and value. It is the summation of all these things, which create brand identity.

3. Brand image.

Brand Image is the market’s perception of your brand identity, which may or may not coincide with your intended brand identity. Companies must work hard at the daunting task of getting brand identity and image to align…or hire a true branding company.

A branding company can show you how success starts with the brand identity. Do you have a branding strategy? Are your employees aware of it and able to be ambassadors for your company’s brand during interactions with the outside world? Are you making the most strategically sound decisions for your brand? Do you know your customers’ perceptions of your brand?

If your answer is “no” to any of those questions, take the first step in being able to answer yes to all of them and success.

Scott White is President of Brand Identity Guru a leading Corporate Branding and Branding Research firm located in Boston, Massachusetts.

Brand Identity Guru specializes in creating corporate and product brands that increase sales, market share, customer loyalty, and brand valuation.

This Article may be freely copied as long as it is not modified and this resource box accompanies the article, together with working hyperlinks.

Color is a highly personal experience - everyone has favorite colors, and other colors that they absolutely don’t like. So, how do you determine which colors that will work for your business identity, and that will send the right message to?

We have developed several methods and approaches for determining successful color palettes. For your corporate identity, you should choose colors that:

• Have a positive meaning in your industry - Think about things that you come into contact with in your industry or emotions that are very positive in your industry, and choose colors that associate with those accordingly. For example, red is a great color for a flower company, since it is the color of roses, but it is a poor color choice for a health care professional, because of the association with blood. Contact us to inquire about color significance for your industry.

• Reflect the emotion of the experience your clients have when working with you. If you have a high-energy business, consider using bright, clear colors. If your services are more complex, consider choosing “complex” colors, like sage green, slate blue, maroon, or another muted tone that speaks of the intricacies of your work.

• You like - You live with this logo and look at it often, so pick colors that excite you. Also, colors you like tend to have commonalities with your personality, so your color palette will begin to speak to your potential clients about who you are and the way you work.

• You wear - Especially if you are a consultant or a sole proprietor, use your personal color palette for your business as well. That way, what you wear will reinforce your brand and will be a constant, subtle reminder of your business to people you meet. Or, if you’re running a larger business that will include uniforms for employees that mirror your logo design.

• Match or complement each other - Eye-catching color palettes that are made up of colors that match or complement each other will be more pleasant for your customers to look at.

• Contrast each other - You will save money if you use a limited color palette (one or two colors) in your printed materials, so choose colors for your logo that contrast each other. That way, you can design your materials in just a few colors, but they’ll still be legible and eye-catching.

If you use these guidelines, you will be able to devise a strong color palette for your business to use both online and in your printed corporate communications. Your color palette is an important aspect of your corporate identity, as it contributes to your visibility, credibility, and memorability.

About the Author

Erin Ferree, Founder and Lead Designer of elf design, is a brand identity and graphic
design expert. She has been helping small businesses grow with bold, clean and
effective logo and marketing material designs for over a decade. elf design offers
the comprehensive graphic and web design services of a large agency, with the one-
on-one, personalized attention of an independent design specialist. Erin works
closely in partnership with her clients to create designs that are visible, credible and
memorable - and that tell their unique business stories in a clear and consistent
way. For more information about elf design, please visit:

Logo designat http://www.elf-design.com