Posted by DMD in Business Planning, Marketing, Marketing Idaho Falls, Marketing Planning, Web Development, brand identity on January 21st, 2010
“I’m not a big city business!” was the response of a business owner in Idaho Falls, Idaho when asked if she would provide an email address to a consultant for one of the phone directory companies in the area. Surprised by the reaction, and not quite sure how to respond, the yellow pages consultant tried to educate the customer that the industry was turning to email to speed up the process of getting ads proofed and approved for publication. This, however, did not seem to persuade the customer as she re-enforced her previous statement of how she is a small business in a small town.
It’s unfortunate to see so many small businesses rejecting technology advancements like this, as they are really what drives the overall success of our economy. With Google and Bing, Facebook and twitter, and YouTube and I-phone applications changing the way consumers are getting the information they need to make purchase decisions – the Internet and all that it has to offer are no longer just for big businesses, rather the standard of doing business.
Last year, at the 3rd Annual Media Convergence Forum in New York, they played this video that illustrates the impact technology is having and forcasts the impact it will have in the way we do business and communicate in the near future.
Small businesses, especially, will suffer if they do not embrace the changes in technology and begin incorporating them into the way they do business. As print, television, and radio are all going to the Internet your opportunities of maintaining exposure to your target audience will diminish, unless you are developing a strong presence online for your business.
As a marketing company, we are familiar with both the traditional methods of advertising as well as having the tools to propel your business forward into the modern and developing methods of marketing. Our consultants can develop strategies to help your company maximize the opportunities available to effectively promote your business.
Posted by DMD in Advertising, Logo Design, Marketing, Marketing Idaho Falls, Marketing Planning, Web Development, brand identity on January 16th, 2010
Think back to the 90’s when soda manufacturers were adding flavors to their popular drinks to try and attract new consumers or even provide change to their existing consumers so they wouldn’t get bored. I’m sure you’ve heard of Cherry Pepsi or Cherry Coke or Cherry Seven-Up, but did you ever hear of Cherry Mountain Dew? While all the other drinks seemed to be following the same pattern in naming their cherry concoctions of their drinks, Mountain Dew looked at the brand identity associated with their drink – outgoing, outdoors, sports, energy, tough – and their target audience – teenagers and college students – and named their cherry version Code Red. Would their consumers have been as attracted to the new flavor had it been called Mountain Dew Cherry? The marketers of Mountain Dew didn’t think so, and neither do I.
What about the hemispherical combustion chambers engines? As if that isn’t a mouthful. Dodge prefers to call it a HEMI; a name that is associated with power and high performance. By simply taking the first four letters of the full name of the engine, Dodge has provide consumers with something they can easily say that refers specifically to everything their engine means. HEMI implies tough, fast, envied and is far easier and funner to say than the technical name.
It isn’t just the name, but also how the name appears that matters when a business is considering how to brand themselves to the public. How you choose to create your logo can impact the perception of your company positively or negatively. As an example, see how the logos of these well known companies have influenced consumers ratings on their businesses:
If you want your business to have a recognizable brand identity, especially one with a positive response, a name that speaks to your potential consumers and a logo that strengthens the impact that name has are critical to your success.
- The examples shared in this post come in large part from Consumer Behavior: Building Marketing Strategy, 11th Editionby Hawkins/Mothersbaugh. -
Posted by DMD in Advertising, Business Planning, Marketing, Marketing Idaho Falls, Web Development on January 8th, 2010
Headlines ending the year 2009 included those of people being extremely glad the year marking down employment, down economy, and down spirits is finally over. Other than a new month and a new year, has anything really changed though???
Many of us would like to think that the new year is like the spring washing away the effects of a harsh winter and bringing back life. It is a time celebrated by many throughout the world, during which people make resolutions and set goals to change and improve our situations. But, has our tone or attitude towards the economy, politics or life in general changed?
Not only is 2010 the start of a new year, it’s the start of a new decade. The last decade started with a dot com bubble burst, shortly followed by acts of terror and stocks falling. Our attitudes throughout the decade in general were not of optomism, and even now pesimism seems all to prevelent from almost every source we look towards: business, government and media. Even individuals aren’t being very positive. An example is a friend of mine who responded to a facebook post on my wall saying that it is nice to be optomistic, but said our choice is really limited to our discretionary funds. Really? Our happiness is determined strictly by how much money we have? Our ability to make dramatic changes in the economy and positively impact 2010, rather than be negatively impacted by 2010 is determined by how much discretionary funding we have? If that is so, how has society ever overcome depressions or recessions or high inflation before in the past?
True change comes once the people as a whole have something to rally around and be positive about. If society focuses on the negative going on, more negative comes. Focusing on the positive that is to be found, will surely bring more positive. When we’re aware of the bad, but our mind is focusing on the good things we can do, the solutions to the bad can be found.
What we really need in 2010 are innovators who can show us that great things can happen while so much is going against us. The attitudes of these innovators will be optomistic and will be contageous. We are only as good or as successful as we tell ourselves we can be. The solutions aren’t to be found through politics, media or corporations; the are to be found in individuals . Individuals like you, me, your neighbor, your spouse, your friend; In 2010, we need individuals to be bold, be seen and succeed.
Posted by DMD in Advertising, Marketing, Marketing Idaho Falls, Marketing Planning, brand identity on December 25th, 2009
As the legend of Santa Claus developed over time, so did his various protrayals. From images of the late St. Nikolas, to the traditional Santa Claus we’ve all come to know, there have been many influences put into how we imagine the jolly old elf, but none more influential than the results of a marketing effort in 1931.
A well known beverage company at the time, Coca-Cola, set out to do the same as everyone else in using St. Nick himself as a posterboy in their magazine ads, only they did a much better job at it than any other company. It started in 1931, when Haddon Sundblom used one of his friends as a model to create a new approach to the big man. The result was incredible. For 34 years, Haddon continued the annual tradition of painting his iconic version of Santa Claus drinking a Coke while doing one aspect or another of his Christmas duties.
Visit Direction Marketing and Design, to begin your own success story!!!
Posted by DMD in Advertising, Business Planning, Ecommerce, Logo Design, Marketing, Marketing Idaho Falls, Marketing Planning, Web Development, brand identity, print design on December 23rd, 2009
“No! No! I want an Official Red Ryder Carbine-Action Two-Hundred-Shot Range Model Air Rifle!”
“You’ll shoot your eye out kid!!! Ho, Ho, Ho!!!”
Brett Parson – brettp@directionmd.com
Posted by DMD in Advertising, Ecommerce, Marketing, Web Development on December 23rd, 2009
While December 19th was a huge day this year for internet shopping for the holidays, December 15th was the day that really turned heads. According to Reuters, “December 15, was the heaviest online spending day ever, with $913 million in transactions.” The story begins with a heading : Shoppers were online, not at malls, last weekend
The trend is being set by technology, and the only thing keeping small businesses from the success they can acheive is themselves. Don’t fight the change, embrace it! If you’re not online yet, get there, and get there with a great website!
Posted by DMD in Advertising, Business Planning, Ecommerce, Marketing, Marketing Idaho Falls, Marketing Planning, Web Development, print design on December 18th, 2009
Did you know online marketing grew 33% from 2006 to 2007? As major companies and even smaller businesses have been directing their efforts to a better online presence, money has been taken from other marketing media and directed to online ads. In 2007 alone, $1 Billion was taken away from TV and Newspaper advertising and put online by the Top 100 Businesseswhich make up 41% of all advertising according to Erick Schonfeld in his article posted on TechCrunch.com.
While online marketing is growing stronger than ever and will most likely continue having the highest rate of increase over other forms of media, it still represents only a small portion of the dollars spent on advertising. Meaning, while it is becoming increasingly important to gain a solid online presence, there are still other highly effective forms of media still being used by advertisers and consumers alike. Here’s how Advertising Age broke down the ad spending in the U.S. for 2007:
This pie chart shows there are still several mediums being used by the consumer that influence their purchase decisions. Aside from Outdoor advertising, each of these media outlets are also establishing their own web presence by having articles published online or TV shows and movies played online. These are also contributing to and encouraging the growth in online marketing as a significant form of advertising.
Being online is viewed by many small businesses as being a trend or big city, but from New York City to Idaho Falls, ID, marketing online is becoming more and more of the norm and a necessity in doing good business. In order to produce a successful online marketing campaign, the following are essential:
Directing consumers to your website. Even the customers you’ve already established need to know you have a website. Encourage people through your radio, TV, outdoor, etc. ads and customer letters or thank you/holiday cards to go to your website. A website is today, what a phone book was yesterday. Only you are not limited to what you put on your website as you are in a printed ad in the phone book.
The website can’t just be built for the sake of having a website. There needs to be a clear purpose in your website with calls to action to drive the customer a certain direction to result in a call or a purchase. Having
If your website isn’t attractive in look and in navigation friendliness, you will create an unecessary expense for yourself in the development of a website. Demming said of quality control in manufacturing that there is not cost in quality and that cost is real when quality is ignored. Of course, you will be spending more money to get a website to look good, however, Demming’s point was that a certain level of quality will always require a certain level of investment by everyone. Oddly enough, with web design, sometimes the worst designs can be the most expensive. High quality videos, Flash interaction, photos and – above all – rich content will all make your website effective in bringing customers to you.
A utility phone book, doesn’t list cell phone numbers unless it is requested by the owner of the cell phone. Similarly, Google and other search engines don’t recognize websites unless certain measures are taken to make a website known to them.
Having a website with these elements all take time and planning. It also takes time for a website to rank well on the search engines, so the earlier you begin your online presence, the better. As you are considering your marketing plans for 2010 and beyond, remember: While traditions are important and good, marketing will only continue to be profitable for your business if you stick with what is effective and not just keep doing what you’ve traditionally done. Your business will grow best with the forms of media that are growing and are most effective. Right now, internet is the medium to watch.
Posted by DMD in Uncategorized on December 15th, 2009
In almost any article about mistakes businesses make you could find in a Google search, lack of planning occurs over and over again. Lack of planning definitely includes your approach to marketing, advertising, website presence and anything else that has to do with your image. Whereas, businesses who have included effective marketing planning in their overall business plan have been more likely to succeed. Ever notice how Kleenex is what almost everyone asks for when they need a tissue? If you saw dandruff on some body’s shoulders, what would you think of? What comes to mind when you see these following images?
We have become so used to seeing these images, that we don’t even need to see the rest of the logo or the name of the company/organization to know what they are associated with.
I doubt these are logos that were just thrown together. I would bet some one took their time to create these images that have become so much more than just brands; they are household names. The branding of these, and many other companies that were well thought out, took more than just creating a logo in Microsoft Word and converting them into jpeg images in Paint. While you could go that route, you’re usually left with a dull and flat image that doesn’t have the best resolution.
A wonderful article from the New York Times, The Importance of Branding Your New Business from AllBusiness.com, discusses the pros and cons to effectively branding a new business. It goes as far to say that the initial branding of the company will determine its success. Here is my favorite excerpt from the article:
“A brand is a kind of promise. It is a set of fundamental principles as understood by anyone who comes into contact with a company. A brand is an organization’s reason for being and how that reason is expressed through its various communications mediato its key audiences, including customers, shareholders, employees and analysts. A brand can also describe these same attributes for a company’s products, services, and initiatives.”
If you are starting a new business or find that your brand isn’t communicating effectively to your potential consumers/customers, it is imperative that you invest in building a strong and compelling identity. Failure to get your message across to your prospective customers through your image and through your business description will keep your business from succeeding. The identity you put our for the public to judge you on has to prove that you are unique from other businesses and relevant to the consumers’ needs.
Posted by DMD in Advertising, Business Planning, Ecommerce, Marketing, Marketing Idaho Falls, Marketing Planning, Web Development on December 14th, 2009
As newspapers across the country are reducing print and going to a more internet dependent form of providing their services and advertising to the public, so are the Yellow Pages industries. Because indications are that print will eventually fade away entirely for these two industries, your business needs to be establishing a web presence more now than ever before.
Using email and having a website are not just big city ways of doing business anymore. They are becoming the standard in attracting and retaining customers. Added to these are the various social mediums to get your business message out in public view: YouTube, Facebook, Twitter - to name a few. The majority of consumers already do their research online before making a decision to purchase an item during the holidays, and many actually complete their purchases online. It won’t be long before consumers depend on the internet throughout the year as much as they do during the holidays. Can your business really afford not to catch up with the internet this next year?
Many know the name Kodak. It’s synonymous with pictures and memories. What most don’t know is this once dominating company in photography was predicted by MSN MoneyCentral to be one of a few that may never see hte year 2020. So, what happened to this once great company? In short they were oblivious to the need to keep up with the advances in digital photography. The leader of the photography industry, fell way short and lagged behind most companies when it came to the development and perfection of the digital camera and the software technology backing it. In the beginning, they were correct in their statements that film was a much better quality. Where they were completely wrong in was their attitude that digital would never be better than film. It took nearly 12 years, but Eastman Kodak has recently announced they will no longer continue producing Kodachrome film. Thus ends an era in photography and catapults the new era of digital photography even further into the forefront.
Unfortunately for Kodak and its employees, they waited far too long to recognize the signs of changes coming. One can also jump the gun, and abandon working models in business and marketing too soon. While there has been impressive growth in the use of Internet and Phone Application technology by both consumer and business, use of other forms of media are only slightly decreasing. Indicating there is an overlap of usage still between traditional print, TV and radio and the Internet in consumers determining their purchases. Similar to film, it will take some time before market demand will make print and other non-digital forms of marketing pretty much irrelevant. A mix of traditional marketing and digital marketing is going to be needed until there is a significant downward trend in the traditional.
While the future success of your business will depend highly on an online presence, there’s a double edged sword in going online with your business. On one side, you will gain a world-wide presence becoming accessible to anyone anywhere in the world. On the other side, you will need to compete with the world in terms of image and content to attract people to your website. Simply putting up a website without rich, search-able content and using sub-standard design is no longer sufficient. Calls to action are a must. Interaction, high quality Flash, video and photos are more often than not the standard, than just options to consider. But you can’t just throw these things in for the sake of having them there. Above all, the website has to be user-friendly and easy to navigate with a clear hierarchy in terms of purpose of the website.
With all the many factors included in designing and developing a website, it would be time consuming and in most cases difficult to accomplish on your own. The designers and developers with Direction Marketing and Design are a great resource to you. We allow you to keep doing what you do best and provide you with an effective and appealing website for your business to be able to feel confident in moving forward with. We offer free quotes and initial consultation to determine your needs and requirements. Call us today!
Posted by DMD in Advertising, Business Planning, Marketing Planning, Uncategorized, brand identity on December 7th, 2009
I picked up a business card today from a business finance consulting firm. On the back, I found something unique to any other business card I have ever seen before: Rockefeller’s Rules.
#1 Work to build financial independence.
#2 Give away at least 10% of your income.
#3 “Pay yourself first” – Save at least 10% of everything you earn.
#4 Live on the rest! We must learn to live on a budget, not on our income.
#5 Account for every penny!
My high school teachers and college professors never taught me this about Rockefeller. Most people learn only of his shrewd business tactics and battles against labor complaints. Other businesses had issue when he started a frieght cartel that benefited its members, but raised rates for his competitors. Even the press began vilifying his part in the industrial revolution. I was left with the impression after a college history class that it were his raw business dealings that lead him to his success. Then, years later, I come to find the principles behind Rockefeller’s success.
While planning and strategy are important in leading to the success of a company, it is the core principles that drive the company that determine it’s success. Of course, these rules do require some action be taken. And, if well measured, this action will lead to positive results.
These fundamental and core principles, if forgotten, can lead to failure in areas business and personal finances. With the down economy in the media so much lately, and the jobless rates as high as they are, businesses that take this time to re-evaluate their position in these 5 rules and what they are actually doing to become a more solid business, are going to see a much better 2010 than those who walk blindly into the market place.
Develop a plan, re-brand if necessary. What ever your business does, don’t ignore or overlook the opportunities a slow economy brings it to grow and expand in market share. Don’t forget the principles that have proven to make others in your industry success.
