December 2008
1 post
My new blog is at TheBrandDharma.com
I’ve moved over to WordPress to create my new blog. It’s The Brand Dharma where I’m posting stuff on branding and marketing to support the design professionals I collaborate with.
Please check it out!
November 2008
2 posts
“When you start your new business, especially one in an area of high competition...”
– Harry McLeod in his Men with Pens blog entry
October 2008
10 posts
“Marketing is everything you say to customers, whether you say it in words,...”
– Sonia Simone in her always-insightful blog, Remarkable Communication.
Four steps to persuasive branding
At a recent conference, Cheryl Heller of Heller Communication Design reminded her audience that a good brand expressed an identity - it communicates who we are and what we do. But GREAT branding should convey a promise.
Heller said that brand promise “indicates to your audience what they can expect to get from your company in exchange for their money and time — whether they are a customer,...
“Marketing is never about a hammer hitting plate glass. It is almost always about...”
– The so-often eloquent Seth Godin in his blog.
“A really good idea is simple, unexpected and relevant. And it unites extremes:...”
– Nadja Schnetlzer, co-founder of BrainStore,
“Having great taste is one of the most important characteristics of designers,...”
– Igor Asselbergs in his blog entry for 37signals
No more brochures
Most small businesses don’t need a brochure at all.
That’s the take of Sonia Simone of Remarkable Communication who rants about the ”things big dumb companies do that you can’t afford (especially now).”
“Brochures are typically “me-me-me” communications that talk about how great your business is. No one cares.” she writes. “They are inherently...
“Collaborating with others brings out the best in us. We spark off one another...”
– Mark McGuinness in his blog post, the latest in his “Creative Rock Star” series.
“Where will your business be when the market (finally) recovers? Get back to...”
– The always positive, always thoughtful Tim Sanders in his blog today.
Do we really need an iPhone grocery list?
OK, maybe things are getting pushed a bit too far. This week, iPhone developers have released an application called Grocery iQ that “makes grocery shopping easier, saves time, and helps organize the chore.”
Makes grocery shopping easier? Easier than pushing a cart down an aisle? Easier than reading off a handwritten list of items? Or simply using the Notes function on the iPhone?
Ah,...
September 2008
10 posts
Start with the physical
Like so many good ideas, this one sounds obvious — once you’ve heard it.
Blogger Steve Pavlina suggests that when you’re faced with many improvements that you’d like to make in your life — whether career, health, relationships — it’s smart to begin with your own body.
“Improving your diet and level of fitness will produce positive results in every...
Create a mantra, not a mission statement
I rarely read old blog entries — especially my own — but one from Guy Kawasaki in 2006 sticks with me. In it, Guy argues for organizations to develop mantras instead of mission statements, which tend to be wordy, and lack relevance or impact.
“A mantra is three or four words long. Tops” he writes. “Its purpose is to help employees truly understand why the...
“A logo derives its meaning from the quality of the thing it symbolizes, not the...”
– The late graphic-design king Paul Rand, from a 1991 piece for AIGA that I ran across.
“Marketing storytelling is not about doing everything differently. You do many...”
– More wisdom from Seth Godin
“In a sense, we are the story of the brands we use. A brand is a reflection of...”
– Marketing guru Karen Hegmann of K-Vision Communications.
“Training is a tax you pay for a lousy hiring environment…Marketing is a tax you...”
– Robert Stephens of Geek Squad
“If you don’t want spam in your inbox, never respond, never buy anything....”
– Seth Godin on why we get what we pay for.
August 2008
11 posts
“What you have doesn’t make you unhappy. What you want does. And want is...”
– The latest wisdom from Seth Godin.
How do you sell premium vodka for 10 bucks?
Sobieski vodka is is the top-selling premium vodka in Poland, the birthplace of vodka, and one of the fastest growing brands in the world.
Haven’t heard of it? Maybe because it sells for about $10 for a 750 ml bottle and $19 for the 1.75-liter. Such low prices aren’t in sync with the Grey Gooses and Belvederes that go for more than twice as much.
Imperial Brands launched an...
“Researchers found that the more options offered in a company retirement plan,...”
– Guy Kawasaki, sharing insight from “Yes! 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to be Persuasive”
How waiters should give candy
Guy Kawasaki raves about a business book called “Yes! 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to be Effective” by Robert B. Cialdini.
“In a nutshell,” Guy says, “the book truly does explain how to persuade. Here are some illustrations that you can probably immediately use in your business.”
He cites various case studies, including this one — my favorite:
In an...
“Are consumers responsible for the behavior of marketers? Why does spam exist?...”
– The always insightful Seth Godin.
“It seems that every conference I go to some company thinks it hip to use USB...”
– David Heinemeier from 37signals.com
What do you expect from clients?
The guys at 37signals.com point out the familiar scenario: “We get it. But our clients will never understand.” Matt Linderman writes in their recent blog entry:
Read between the lines and there’s a disturbing undercurrent to that message. It’s really saying, “I get it but these other people could never understand. They don’t have the wisdom and the understanding that I do.” It’s like...
July 2008
11 posts
“Brands are not made, they ripen….And just like the banana, the way brands...”
– Anna Farmery of TheEngagingBrand.com, quoting one of her clients.
“What is your product or service? Who are your customers? When will things get...”
– The four simple questions that should be asked to develop an initial business plan, according to the folks at wisebread.com. For the complete post, click here.
How best to use testimonials
I go back and forth on the value of testimonials in your marketing efforts. At times, I find them so self-serving as to have no credibility at all. Other times, I believe that prospects still enjoy reading them, and are curious as to their sources.
Dean Rieck of copyblogger.com offers some tips to make the most of your use of testimonials — if indeed you’re so inclined. Here are...
“This is the first mass marketing medium ever that isn’t supported by ads...”
– The always-insightful Seth Godin, discussing the Net’s key difference.
“Some people dislike texting. Some are bemused by it. But it is merely the latest...”
– David Crystal, author of “txting: the gr8 db8”
To text or not to text?
Those who text text a lot. But the surprising-to-me news is that most Americans don’t text at all.
The New York Times reports this week that 82 percent of cellphone owners surveyed said that they never used text messaging, 3 percent said that they used it monthly or less, and 15 percent said that they used it every week or even more.
This is timely news to consider as we await...
“You are not in control of your brand anymore, those people you thought about as...”
– Valeria Maltoni, in her ConversationAgent blog entry.
“The internet is full of vapid words and catch-less phrases, but one that I’ve...”
– David Heinemeier in his blog entry at 37signals.com
June 2008
14 posts
The backlash to branding builds
As the practice of brand building grows ever more sophisticated, it’s natural to see the start of a backlash building.
In his new book, “Obsessive Branding Disorder,” Lucas Conley writes: “Branding is corrupting our culture by heralding emotion over reason, surface over core substance, and packaging over experience.”
Branding blogger Russell Fisher agrees. “This is...
“Storytelling allows you to prick the interest of prospects who might not...”
– James Chartrand, in his latest entry on CopyBlogger.
“There’s a lot of verbiage out there about productivity, but most of it...”
– Sonia Simone, in her Remarkable Communication blog entry.
Is the Kindle really revolutionary?
I’ve been thinking quite a bit lately about the Kindle, Amazon’s book reader that quickly and easily downloads digital books. It just may make readers (well, me anyway) change how they think about books and reading.
Seth Godin bought a Kindle two months ago, and shares some observations in his blog. He says that while it’s a fine book reader, it doesn’t improve the act of...
“We get bored doing the same thing over and over again and eventually resent the...”
– Tim Sanders, writing in his blog SandersSays, on the importance of creatives and other entrepreneurs putting their time, effort and money into the activity that pays the bills — rather than just those things we love to do.