Posted: November 29, 2010 at 9:36 am
“Blessed are those who can laugh at themselves, for they shall never cease to be amused.” -Anonymous
I never expected this old adage to be so prevalent in marketing these days, but why should your marketing strategy be any different than real life lessons? Case in point- Sir-Fix-A-Lot. When Doug Zborowski, a husband and father, decided to launch his own handy man business in late 2006, it was immediately apparent that we should pull from his boisterous personality and translate it into the branding of his new company. It was imperative that we communicated the level of personal care he was bringing to the trade as well as his level of professionalism and utmost attention to details, but in an unexpected way.
For Sir-Fix-A-Lot, clever, sometimes humorous copy that reveals a unique brand personality and the use of typography as the primary design element were used to generate interaction with the public from the get go. Starting with the logo, the ad campaign, electronic marketing and uniform shirts, everything stays true to this philosophy and reinforces the direction of the brand strategy.
There’s a lot here we can learn from Sir-Fix-A-Lot about being able to laugh at ourselves and turn it into positive marketing. Think about it- what are your customers already saying about your company/brand? Using humor to turn it into something positive and more memorable is a good thing. For the most part and although this rule doesn’t apply to every industry, people like funny things. They relax and pay attention when they know you have a sense of humor. It puts them in a good mood, and it creates a more comfortable atmosphere and a more positive image for your company. It makes you easy to approach, and easy to remember.
Posted: October 12, 2010 at 5:11 pm
Founded by Dr. Jeffrey S. Penner, Atlantis Orthopaedics has been serving Palm Beach County and its surrounding areas for over 30 years and has expanded to include four doctors as well as an extensive array of Orthopaedic specialties.
When they approached Square One Branding, the challenge was to refresh their look without losing the brand equity they had built over the years. Following the “You’re well connected” slogan and using their iconic AO -which besides meaning Atlantis Orthopaedics also references their specialty in Arthroscopic techniques which helps patients recover from surgery in a matter of days, rather than weeks- a central figure was added to the logo to communicate forward motion and freedom. The colors were also changed to give a warmer, more contemporary overall feel. Additionally, a new ad campaign was developed using smart and engaging copy that speaks of their “humanity” and an x-ray of a hand giving them the ok for a little tongue in cheek humor. Now, they finally have a presence in the marketplace that speaks of their capabilities as well as their personalized care.
Posted: October 5, 2010 at 9:07 am
We all face challenges in life, sometimes personal, other times professional and when we do, we tend to retreat to what is familiar and comfortable instead of thinking things through and trying to move past them.
The Perczek Approach offers customizable programs for creating and sustaining momentum towards an individuals’ highest vision. It helps them develop the somatic intelligence necessary to achieve their goals and launch them into “The Zone”—that place where thoughts, emotions, and instincts are aligned as one. They work with high performance athletes, head coaches, community leaders, sport teams and corporate institutions with a common goal: to achieve the unprecedented.
Square One Branding was contracted to develop a brand and website that would help communicate the uniqueness of the offering in a very dynamic way and immediately represent the forward motion its clients would experience once engaged.
A strong and precise logo was developed and a contemporary and energetic color palette was chosen. For the website, a simple but polished design was implemented. Text effects such as colors and fonts were carefully chosen. For the main headings, bold and prominent graphics were created. A mix of Multimedia like text, images, animation and a blog were used to convey the message and promote interactivity. And since speed is king, precautions were taken to ensure speedy loading of all web pages.
The result is a sleek and contemporary website where anyone visiting would find themselves engaged and motivated to learn more towards the realization of their dreams. Something that for the most part is, well, unprecedented.
homeinthezone.com
Posted: October 4, 2010 at 3:17 pm
Many people use words like advertising, branding and marketing interchangeably when they actually mean very different things. Today’s post is an effort to clarify these differences.
Marketing:
Marketing is usually the first step in the process of getting a product to market and promoting it. It’s the process by which companies create customer interest in products or services. It generates the strategy that underlies sales techniques, business communication, and business development. It is an integrated process through which companies build strong customer relationships and create value for their customers and for themselves. It’s used to identify the customer and to address the customer’s needs in order to keep them satisfied. With the customer as the focus of its activities, it can be concluded that marketing management is one of the major components of business management. The adoption of marketing strategies requires businesses to shift their focus from production to the perceived needs and wants of their customers as the means of staying profitable.
The term marketing concept holds that achieving organizational goals depends on knowing the needs and wants of target markets and delivering the desired satisfactions. It proposes that in order to satisfy its organizational objectives, an organization should anticipate the wants and needs of consumers and satisfy these more effectively than competitors.
A strong marketing strategy dictates the direction for the brand. It strives to create a product that is coveted for its function as well as creating an emotional connection that will result in brand loyalty.
Branding:
A brand is the personality that identifies a product, service or company (name, term, sign, symbol, or design, or combination of them) and how it relates to key constituencies: Customers, Staff, Partners, Investors, etc.
Thoughts, feelings, perceptions, images, experiences, beliefs, attitudes, and so on are all part of the psychological aspect of brand associations. The experiential aspect consists of the sum of all points of contact with the brand and is known as the brand experience. The psychological aspect, sometimes referred to as the brand image, is a symbolic construct created within the minds of people and consists of all the information and expectations associated with a product or service.
People engaged in branding seek to develop or align the expectations behind the brand experience, creating the impression that a brand associated with a product or service has certain qualities or characteristics that make it special or unique. A brand is therefore one of the most valuable elements in an advertising theme, as it demonstrates what the brand owner is able to offer in the marketplace. The art of creating and maintaining a brand is called brand management.
Careful brand management strives to make the product or services relevant to the target audience. Brands should be seen as more than the difference between the actual cost of a product and its selling price – they represent the sum of all valuable qualities of a product to the consumer. There are many intangibles involved in business, intangibles left wholly from the income statement and balance sheet which determine how a business is perceived. The learned skill of a worker, the type of metal working, the type of stitch: all may be without an ‘accounting cost’ but for those who truly know the product, the difference is incomparable.
A brand which is widely known in the marketplace acquires brand recognition. When brand recognition builds up to a point where a brand enjoys a critical mass of positive sentiment in the marketplace, it is said to have achieved brand franchise. One goal in brand recognition is the identification of a brand without the name of the company present. For example, Disney has been successful at branding with their particular script font (originally created for Walt Disney’s “signature” logo), which it used in the logo for go.com
Consumers may look on branding as an important value added aspect of products or services, as it often serves to denote a certain attractive quality or characteristic. From the perspective of brand owners, branded products or services also command higher prices.
Brand Promise
The marketer and owner of the brand has a vision of what the brand must be and do for the consumers.
Brand Awareness
Brand awareness refers to customers’ ability to recall and recognize the brand under different conditions and link to the brand name, logo, jingles and so on to certain associations in memory. It helps the customers to understand to which product or service category the particular brand belongs to and what products and services are sold under the brand name. It also ensures that customers know which of their needs are satisfied by the brand through its products. ‘Brand love’, or love of a brand, is an emerging term encompassing the perceived value of the brand image. Brand love levels are measured through social media posts about a brand, or tweets of a brand on sites such as Twitter. Becoming a Facebook fan of a particular brand is also a measurement of the level of ‘brand love’.
Global Brand
A global brand is one which is perceived to reflect the same set of values around the world. Global brands transcend their origins and create strong, enduring relationships with consumers across countries and cultures.
Global brands are brands sold to international markets. Examples of global brands include Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, Marlboro, Levi’s etc.. These brands are used to sell the same product across multiple markets, and could be considered successful to the extent that the associated products are easily recognizable by the diverse set of consumers.
Advertising:
Advertising is a form of communication intended to persuade an audience (viewers, readers or listeners) to purchase or take some action upon products, ideals, or services. It includes the name of a product or service and how that product or service could benefit the consumer, to persuade a target market to purchase or to consume that particular brand. These brands are usually paid for or identified through sponsors and viewed via various media. Advertising can also serve to communicate an idea to a mass amount of people in an attempt to convince them to take a certain action, such as encouraging ‘environmentally friendly’ behaviors, and even unhealthy behaviors through food consumption, video game and television viewing promotion, and a “lazy man” routine through a loss of exercise. Modern advertising developed with the rise of mass production in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Mass media can be defined as any media meant to reach a mass amount of people. Several types of mass media are television, internet, radio, news programs, and published pictures and articles.
Commercial advertisers often seek to generate increased consumption of their products or services through branding, which involves the repetition of an image or product name in an effort to associate related qualities with the brand in the minds of consumers. Different types of media can be used to deliver these messages, including traditional media such as newspapers, magazines, television, radio, outdoor or direct mail; or new media such as websites and text messages. Advertising may be placed by an advertising agency on behalf of a company or other organization.
Non-commercial advertisers that spend money to advertise items other than a consumer product or service include political parties, interest groups, religious organizations and governmental agencies. Nonprofit organizations may rely on free modes of persuasion, such as a public service announcement.
When you are ready to start promoting your product or service the Square One team is here to help you do it professionally, ethically and successfully!
Posted: September 2, 2010 at 11:44 am
We’ve all heard the phrase “Life is but a dream…” However, no one takes this more to heart than the team at Fiction Events.
For Fiction, it’s all about creating a surreal experience for each and every one of their clients. Unexpected concepts, rich textures and interesting color combinations that transport you into a theatrical world of fantasy and multi-sensory delight. Square One Branding was presented with the challenge of capturing this unique point-of-view and translating it into a brand that would communicate its essence.
A characteristic logo and color palette were created that informed everything about the direction for the look and feel. Vintage images were married with modern aesthetics and a well branded website and blog were developed using a myriad of technologies that deliver an online event in itself. In addition, a seamlessly integrated back office functionality was put in place that allows the client to update content easily and effortlessly, allowing them to focus on what they do best. Create.
fictionevents.com
Posted: August 23, 2010 at 5:21 pm
It’s no secret that private label products are those manufactured or provided by one company for offer under another company’s name, and are available in a wide range of industries from food to cosmetics. These, also known as store brands, private label, or private label goods were often considered to be lower cost alternatives to major brands, but many private brands are now showcased as premium and compete with existing products.
There are numerous advantages for retailers to promote private label products. The packaging and labels can be custom tailored to meet certain needs, including a specific target audience, name, description, logos, etc. Private labeling allows retailers to have more control over pricing strategies. There is also more freedom for retailers to create their own marketing strategies and to control their own inventory. Overall, with higher margins possible, there is a greater opportunity for profit.
Additionally, private labeling allows retailers to create a personalized and unique image, which promotes stronger customer loyalty.
With private labeling, retailers can acquire products that are already developed, or that can be changed and re-branded in an individual fashion. Basically, retailers can control many business aspects and create their own unique product. They can personalize the products, add their own information, additional materials, logos, titles, etc. This can all be done in a lot less time than it would take to develop the product from scratch.
In recent years there has been a significant increase in the number of private label brands on the market. This is particularly true in Europe, where private label goods account for almost half the products sold in stores. This figure is closer to 25% in the United States, and the trend appears to be increasing.
The team at Square One Branding can help you develop your own private label program. Give us a call and we can get started.
Posted: July 16, 2010 at 4:34 pm
If there is any one single characteristic and attribute of a brand that provides sustainable competitive advantage, it is heritage. We all know, buy, and experience brands that have a great heritage. For some of us, it is Mercedes, Sony or Disney. For others, it is McDonalds, Heineken or Gucci.
What makes these brands great, what they all have in common, is that they have had the time to build a meaningful and relevant past. Heritage is born in, and nurtured, over time. It speaks of status, character, social class, and a history. It speaks of a traditional way of life that is of value to present and future generations. It speaks of inheritance, of shared experiences, and of a common history. For the Fontainebleau, the brand story is about glamour, luxe and happy times well spent with family and friends. These memories stand the test of time.
Using this understanding, the Square One Team inspired by vintage travel posters and resurrecting the hotel’s original logo, developed “Vintage Bleau”, a standalone sub brand for the Fontainebleau that speaks of its glorious past in a crisp, meaningful, relevant, and memorable narrative.
Posted: June 17, 2010 at 7:48 am
Everyone gets them. Lots of people profess to not like them, they even say they’re an annoyance… still, email marketing, if handled properly, can be a very effective tool for promoting your brand. This cost effective way to reach your audience can be addressed to the exact target market you are trying to reach.
Along with the targeting that can be done with emails, email marketing also helps drive direct sales, it can build customer relationships and loyalty, and it supports sales through all of the company’s other channels. The right content in an email, put forward the right way, can bring in immediate action such as sales, downloads, registrations and inquiries. You can also send out newsy, informative “newsletter” type emails to inform customers about upcoming events, new editions of catalogs, new products and services and any number of other things that help build awareness and strengthen your brand’s presence.
For Samantha, of Best of Weston Hair, this approach to getting her name out has worked spectacularly well. Since the campaign started, Sam has experienced the two most successful weeks of bookings in her entire career.
Posted: May 17, 2010 at 2:28 pm
Another creation from the masterminds at CMC Group in conjunction with Lionstone and Ponte Gadea, EPIC rises at the edge of the Miami River where it comes to meet the bay.
The team was looking for a fresh set of materials that would highlight this urban-chic property’s unique location, lifestyle and culinary offering.
Pulling from the well established EPIC logo and its graphic components, Square One Branding developed a new ad campaign, email marketing strategy and collateral that convey a high level of elegance and sophistication while showcasing the inspiring works of art that live alongside its residents.
Posted: April 7, 2010 at 12:19 pm
Whether little or all grown up, at work or on vacation, candy has the power to bring on a smile. To that end the Fontainebleau Hotel’s team commissioned Square One Branding to design a line of private label candy for their retail stores. The Fontainebleau Candy Shop was created. In developing the line, only the highest quality candy was considered and the most popular flavors researched to ensure the success of the new venture. For the packaging, pattern, bright colors and foils were used for a fun yet sophisticated design that would entice adults and kids alike while staying within the hotel’s now well established brand.
