Archive for Branding
What Physics Can Teach Us About Marketing
Posted by: | CommentsI never thought about physics and marketing in the same breath. But Dan Cobley, a marketing director at Google, is passionate about both, using the principles of physics to explain the fundamental theories of branding. For example, a larger particle, a larger mass, requires more force to change its direction.
It’s the same with a brand, he states. The more massive a brand, the more force is needed to change its positioning. And, Cobley says, that’s one of the reasons why Arthur Andersen chose to launch Accenture rather than try to persuade the world that Andersen could stand for something other than accountancy. It explains why Hoover found it very difficult to persuade the world that it was more than vacuum cleaners.
In physics, you can never accurately and exactly measure a particle, because the observation changes it, he says. The message for marketers is try to measure what consumers actually do, rather than what they say they’ll do. He gives the example of the group of moms who talk about their wonderful children in a focus group, yet buy lots of junk food, helping McDonald’s to sell hundreds of millions of burgers every year. These are among the gems in this talk “What Physics Taught Me About Marketing” that Cobley gave at a TED conference in July.
Rebranding My WordPress Blog
Posted by: | Comments
If they can rebrand, so can I
If you’re a subscriber, you may have a noticed a change in the look of Write Speak Sell. You would be right. I have changed templates from the Red Essence to the Flexx theme, which, as it indicates, is a flexible theme with more options.
Why did I do this? I advise clients on sharpening their brands. But I felt my own was a little fuzzy with my old theme. A tab in the navigation bar for “Business Writing” was just too generic. My business has evolved over the past year and I’ve been gravitating to three focused offerings: blog and web copy, employee engagement and branding. Now even the term branding is a little broad, but it’s such a recognized term that I think people will get it. The top three widgets with these services tell visitors right away what I do – and they are “above the fold.” That is, they are visible even on the small screen of a laptop.
If I can get it working properly, I’ve also added a new podcast product called audioboo, which allows me to create podcasts on my IPhone and they are published directly to my blog. Neat. It’s a small technical problem that I will get worked out shortly.
My categories and blog role are now on my home page and I’ve added a search box. I still need to add content to my right sidebar on my home page because there is quite a bit of white space there. I’m open to suggestions.
It’s a constant process – tweaking, trimming, adding to – and hopefully — improving a business. That’s why I thought I’d share my process with you. Any thoughts about how you’ve adapted and changed your brand or business model? Would love to hear from you.
Simplifying My Brand was So Easy – for Someone Else
Posted by: | Comments
It took a perfect stranger to simplify my brand. I mean that’s what I do for a living: help individuals and companies with their brands – the words they use in telling their stories.
I was at a networking event last evening, and took the opportunity to do a little tweaking of my message as I circulated among the guests when I first walked in. I tried a few versions. Here is one of my openings: “Hi, I’m Jeannette Paladino. I’m a business writer. I help individuals and companies to sharpen their brands and shape the key messages they communicate to their target audiences.” Then I proceeded to tell the little group gathered around the bar that my focus was on writing web copy and blogs, branding and employee communications. Read More→
Annual Report Time: Don’t Forget Your Employees in Communication With Shareholders
Posted by: | CommentsWell, PR Departments in public companies are surely beginning work on their annual reports. They can smell spring in the air – when these symbols of capitalism come rolling off the presses once more. In a reprise of my past admonitions, with a few additions, I implore writers and designers to keep a few things in mind.
- Please make the report more exciting. Notice I did not say interesting. Splash some color on the pages, use a large typeface so oldsters can read the copy, especially if you’re using reverse type. Use bold, brash headlines. Most readers will be viewing the report online so make it compelling and dispense with flash and any other doohickey that slows down loading or distracts the viewer.
- Remember the company has employees. Yes, many fewer of them, but they still are the backbone of the company. I was shocked last year when I perused the annual reports of several of the largest Fortune 500 companies and found they had not a single photo or story about an employees. It is disappointing to think they merited so little recognition.
- Make it sell. The report should very strategically position the organization as the leader in its space, developing new paradigms of products and services.
- Use Testimonials. Words out of the mouths of your customers and employees can bring the vision statement to life. Let them tell the reader what a great company this is.
So, if you’re assigned to create this year’s annual report, how do you ensure it accurately represents the organization and has a long, active life after it’s been printed and distributed? Here are my suggestions:
- Get the CEO involved from the get-go. Do not even think of hiring a writer or design firm until you have met with the CEO to understand how s/he wishes the organization to be positioned in the document. S/he cannot delegate this discussion to someone else.
- Write a creative platform that describes the overall theme and tone of the annual report, its content and “look.” Get the CEO to sign off on it.
- Solicit in-put from the key people in your organization who would most likely use the annual report throughout the year such as the head of sales, director of development, director of public and community affairs, and so on. What do they want emphasized in the report? Find out what would make them use it during the year to help them achieve their goals.
- Make a mock-up of the report, page by page. It doesn’t need to be fancy. Take some legal paper and fold the sheets in half. It’s essential to know the content of every page and ideas for photos, charts, etc.
- Now you can meet with your design firm and writer, if that’s not you. Everyone should be working from the approved creative platform and mock-up. Believe me, they will love you for it.
- Show two to three designs to the CEO with the mock-up. If you’ve done your job right, s/he will have a tough time picking out the winner, because s/he will love them all.
- Be true to the creative platform as you go through the process of developing the report. Be excited as it begins to unfold as a living, breathing document that will take on a life of its own for a year. Don’t be afraid to be a little gutsy with the copy and design. You’re not creating the next Bible, after all.
So, with these humble bits of advice, good luck and go forth!
