May 18, 2005

Every employee of a business is in the business of fulfilling the promises made to customers and other corporate constituents, such as Investors.  The questions for most businesses are, ‘what should we be promising?’ and  ‘how will we fulfill those promises?’ …

Danner Consulting

In this issue: AbuLLard:Marketing on a Shoestring
Audhumbla: Interactive Web Enhancements
Brand Element: Legal Logo
Hayloise Reviews Three Books this month
Brand Tip: Be a Purple Cow

AbuLLard talks about Marketing on a Shoestring


Trying to save money by doing it yourself? Some tips to do it well:

Get a professional to design your logo in formats suitable for screen, print and projection.
Develop a consistent style for all your marketing materials -- documents, web site, presentations, flyers, brochures, etc.
Use a consistent style of clip art that is appropriate for your type of business.
Questions?
Call us: 215.732.1553
e-mail:
[email protected]

Marketing on a Shoestring

For small business, it’s a numbers game. You need to get the word out to as many people as you can, as fast as you can, and as consistently as you can. How do you do that when you don't have a large marketing budget?

Oddly, many secrets of creating a good brand are inexpensive and often just good business.  We have found that all too often companies jump into the aspects of the implementation without first figuring out what it is they really need to say or what the best channel of implementation is. This can result in spending a lot of money on inappropriate or ineffective marketing and advertising. 

Perhaps the hardest step is the first one: Create the brand vision and strategy. If you spend the time to do this - it will save you money and moreover any marketing will be much more effective.   

By developing a clear brand strategy and making sure that everyone in your company not only understands it but acts according to it, you will present a consistent “face” to your customers. A clear message makes it easy for you to develop a good brand reputation. It also makes it easy for your customers to become your sales people which is the essence of "guerilla" marketing.

Our second major finding is that small businesses try to save money by doing it themselves on the desktop. True, desktop publishing has made it easy for “everyone” to create their own presentations, letters, and other documents but it hasn’t given “anyone” the training in design principles, printing, and presentation techniques. These are the disciplines that are required to create a brand image that carries a clear consistent look and feel across all marketing materials.

The look of all marketing brochures, documents and presentations contributes to the overall “brand image.” A consistent, professional image helps establish your brand in a memorable way that will make it easy for people to remember you, and talk about you.

Get professionally made templates and build them in to your IT systems. Make sure everyone in your company understands how to use them and the importance of using them. Get some basic training on how to use them effectively. One company we worked with is showing about a 90% cost savings in the creation of presentations as well as significant savings in the creation of proposals.  

A third recommendation is that if you are going to work with a Branding and/or Marketing Professional, let them know what your budget is. This way they can make sure you put your dollars where they make the most sense. If they don’t know your budget, they can’t advise you wisely. So help them help you.


 Enterpreneur's Forum of Greater Philadelphia presents

Guerilla Marketing for Start-Ups and Small Companies or
Marketing without a Budget

June 14, 2005

This program will give you tips on how to establish recognition for your brand, to get your message heard and to stop spending so much time networking with no results. Be prepared to participate as the panel provides advice, tips, and exercises on how to get your name out there in a way that will be remembered and talked about.

Dr. Jean Wilcox, CEO of CattLeLogos Brand Management Systems LLC, will moderate the program. http://www.cattlelogos.com

The panel includes three entrepreneurs who have "been there, done that."

Edward DuCoin, President, Freedom Builders Philadelphia  www.fbphilly.com

Sandra Holtzman, Holtzman Communications  www.holtzmancom.com

Linda Lane, Financial Planner, Mass Mutual

Click here for a description;
Call 215.732.1553 for more information

 


Audhumbla's Eye on the Internet 


Adding Interactive Q&A to Your Website

Audhumbla admits it; she gets overwhelmed by the Internet at times.  There’s just too much information out there to remember it all or want to go looking for more. And that defines the big problem with internet marketing - how do you make a lasting impression on potential customers? And what makes them want to hear more from you?

An intelligent use of interactive Q&A is a great way to leave a positive and lasting impression on your customers. By helping them to clarify their own thoughts or even to teach them something new, you provide a service that they will value and remember. I’m not talking about a flashing red splash screen which provides no value other than to make them waste their time while they wait. Instead, I’m talking about actively involving your website in their decision-making process.

Recently, it was time for Audhumbla’s grand-dam out to move to greener pastures.  Life on the farm was too much and she needed senior care. While researching her options, Audhumbla happened upon one website, www.seniorhousingnet.com that made a lasting impression. 

Every site I visited provided a list of housing categories and their definitions, but this site also included a simple nine question quiz designed to help me understand what type of care would be best for my grand-dam. The questions were on target and reflected my concerns about her needs. It took no time to get an answer, and that answer was clear and relevant.

Audhumbla knows enough about the web to know this wasn’t a comprehensive or customized evaluation. But it served its purpose - it helped me in my decision-making and thus left a favorable and memorable impression. And that’s how interactive Q&A can help your website too. Just remember your rules for implementation - quick to take, on topic questions, and relevant results. 


Lectures

Think about what it’s like being lectured to - it can be a bore.  And boring things are easy to forget.  I’m sure we’ve all had classes or even business meetings like that. 

Interactivity

Now think about what it’s like when you’re an active participant - engaged in the questions, the answers, and the decisions, or on the spot to provide some much needed information.  I bet you remember what was discussed.

Websites can impress you the same way.

 

Brand Element of the Month:

 

A Legal Logo

 

 for Weintraub Legal Services

Pre-existing Web Site


An Approachable Look

Weintraub Legal Services provides friendly, responsive and affordable legal services to businesses throughout the mid-Atlantic region. Judy Weintraub, founder of Weintraub Legal Services, has over 20 years legal experience, and is a member of the Pennsylvania, Maryland and DC bars.

Judy had very clear desires for her business identity:

  • It needed to clearly express her profession - legal

  • It needed to fit in with her the look and feel of her existing web-site (image at left)

It also needed to convey that Judy is professional, fair, friendly, and affordable because much of her clientele is small business. She utilizes her legal experience, strong negotiating skills, business savvy and dispute resolution expertise to provide superior legal services to entrepreneurs.

She was giving a presentation two weeks from when we agreed to work for her, and she needed to submit the materials 3 days beforehand. She really wanted to use her new look for the presentation. She did!


New Logo:

 

PowerPoint Template:


HayLoise's Books of the Month

 

Are there any books that have given you important insights into branding?
Tell us about them.

Send HayLoise an e-mail.


Blink, by Malcolm Gladwell
The Wisdom of Crowds, by James Surowiecki
Global Brain, by Howard Bloom

This month I’ve read a number of books that on first glance don’t seem to be related, but may well be harbingers of the emergence of a deeper understanding of how we as humans think and respond.  As Branding and Marketing experts, any useful insights into how we respond to ideas, slogans, images, or even media increases our ability to zero in on effective ways to reach customers.

Blink delves into how we make decisions in an instant. Many experts do not make decisions based on hours of analysis of data, but in an instant based on the art of ‘thin-slicing’ separating the very few variables that actually matter from the vast number that don’t. Gladwell supports his thesis with cutting edge neuroscience and psychology. It’s an easy fun read.

The Wisdom of Crowds
Generally, we’ve been taught to place our trust in experts and not the in the wisdom of the masses.  Here  Surowiecki identifies four conditions that if met produce ‘wise crowds’ -- i.e. crowds whose  "collective intelligence" will produce better outcomes than a small group of experts.

"Wise crowds" need (1) diversity of opinion; (2) independence of members from one another; (3) decentralization; and (4) a good method for aggregating opinions. He offers a great introduction to applied behavioral economics and game theory. It’s a delightful read and great food for thought.  

Global Brain
Howard Bloom, a noted interdisciplinary scholar discusses how different species from bacteria to insects to humans communicate and make collective decisions. He provides numerous examples and documents his sources extensively. This book is not for the weak willed, but it provides ample food for thought. I found that it made me rethink much of what I had previously believed about how we learned, how we grasped ideas, and how we gave them up. A fascinating read.


Click on the book cover image to go to its page on Amazon.com

 
 

 

 

 


Brand Tip of the Month

Cows, after you’ve seen them for a while, are boring. They may be perfect cows, attractive cows, cows with great personalities, cows lit by beautiful light, but they’re still boring.

A Purple Cow, though. Now that would be interesting.

(For a while.)"  

Seth Godin, 2002

 


Stand Out from the Herd: Be a Purple Cow

How many meetings have you been to where several people stood up and said basically the same thing... probably lots!

How many meetings have you been to where people stand up for their 30 second or 1 minute "commercial" and after they sit down you're not sure what they do and you don't remember their company name? Also, a lot.

Develop something that makes you stand out from the others. For example, a memorable tag line that becomes your trademark. A colleague in web design used to say, "If your web site looks like everybody else's, we didn't design it!" Another says he can make your business "Stand out from the crowd" and stands on a chair as he's saying it. I'm sure some of you know who I'm talking about.

Another trick is to brand yourself by wearing a certain color or accessory. We usually wear red, and Jean has amassed a collection of cow pins (from e-bay) and always has one on. At a recent networking group meeting, a member of the group walked up to her, shook her hand and said, "You're the CattLeLogos lady!" Then he apologized profusely for forgetting her name.

She was delighted and  told him not to worry, because the way he remembered her demonstrated that our own brand strategy to "Stand Out from the Herd" was working.



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Copyright 2005 CattLeLogos Brand Management Systems, LLC. All rights reserved.

CattLeLogos is a Registered Trademark of CattLeLogos Brand Management Systems, LLC. AbuLLard, AbuLLard's ABC's of Branding, the CattLeLogos Method are trademarks and copyright CattLeLogos Brand Management Systems, LLC.


Published May 18, 2005

Contact us:
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