It all starts with the customer

All facets of your brand strategy must address the needs and desires of your customers–take these into consideration before beginning.

Be clear and concise.

Just because you may be able to approach your branding from numerous directions – don’t – you’ll only confuse your audience.

Chart new territory.

Don’t try to emulate your competitors, dare to be different. No one’s remembered for being an imitator.

Simplicity sells.

Leave out industry jargon or techspeak. Distill your message down until it’s simple enough to reach everyone.

Avoid trends.

Don’t tie your messaging into whatever’s popular at the moment. Keeping the focus on your core brand strategy will help you achieve long term success.

Mull it over.

It takes time and money to implement a brand strategy. Before falling in love with a particular strategy, take time to think it over to determine if it aligns with your company’s direction.

Heed customer feedback

Your branding process started with customer opinion, it should also end with it. Ask your customers what they think of your new message. What may sound great in your office may be confusing, boring or both to your customers. Always listen.

Spread it far and wide

Once you’ve decided upon a message, make sure it makes its way throughout your company. From the boardroom to the mailroom, all employees should be aware of the company’s message. Customers like consistency and will take notice.

That question-- purportedly first posed by "Good to Great" author Jim Collins--is still relevant. The traits that make a company memorable--innovation, distinctive products & services, a compelling vision--seem to be in short supply these days. Perhaps it's always been that way, with the only difference being that now economic conditions don't reward mediocrity the way they once did. In her book "Different", Harvard Business School professor Youngme Moon writes that most companies suffer from tunnel vision, going after and missing the same opportunities as everyone else. In this mindset, no organization stands out or makes a real difference. According to Professor Moon, "companies have gotten so locked into a particular cadence of competition that they appear to have lost sight of their mandate–which is to create meaningful grooves of separation from one another. Consequently, the harder the compete, the less differentiated they become.…Products are no longer competing against each other, they are collapsing into each other in the minds of anyone who consumes them." Conversely, successful companies and brands create what Professor Moon calls "idea brands"; products and services who shake up the marketplace, challenging the idea of what a brand can be. She goes on to say "Idea brands are not perfect brands, far from it. They are polarizing brands. They are lopsided brands. They are brands devoted to the skew. They may not make much sense on paper, but they make perfect sense to us (consumers)." Idea brand or also ran--which one is your company?

Clever, well executed marketing campaigns are utilized to sell everything under the sun. But when it comes to worthy, perhaps even life saving causes, the marketing is often nonexistent or subpar. For the organization, charity:water, founder Scott Harrison was determined his branding wouldn't suck. Read more.

Researchers at Southern Methodist University and the College of William and Mary conducted an experiment where subjects where shown print ads. Some where shown an ad featuring vivid high resolution photography, others shown an ad with a low resolution photo. The results may reinforce the idea that print isn't dead, and also point to the power of suggestion in the reader's mind.

Digital is immediate, it's now–surely print must be dead or the very least on its deathbed. Not necessarily. A recent study of MRI brain scans shows that our brains process paper-based and digital marketing in different ways, and in particular that paper ads caused more emotional processing. Read more.

With smart phone ownership skyrocketing (it's up 60% from a year ago), mobile has become a viable marketing medium with its own rules, standards, technologies and challenges.  Mashable discusses how marketers are working with designers and developers to optimize content for this exciting platform.

Since we've just finished a corporate rebranding for The List, a company offering marketing sales leads, it's a good time to discuss the process of designing a company's logo. Because it's such an important part of a company's image, it's essential that attention be paid to the details that go into a logo. Heeding these details can make the process more productive and results in a logo that effectively represents your company.

Meeting with the Designer During your meeting, the designer should ask you about your likes and dislikes related to color, typography and perhaps, other logos that appeal to you. One of the most important questions is “what impression should your logo convey?” Is your company's image traditional or unconventional, ying or yang, etc? Without this information, a designer can't create a logo that accurately reflects the character of your brand. It Takes Time Logo design is a meticulous, detailed process. Sometimes “the” logo appears in the first round of designs, but this is highly unlikely. Our experience is that you can expect at least three rounds of revisions. Make sure your designer has included revisions in the estimate. It will take time before you, your team and–God forbid–the entire company has agreed on the final design. Keep it Simple and Avoid Trends Keeping a logo simple is a must for legibility. A logo that's too ornate or cluttered won't reproduce well-either on paper or onscreen, especially at smaller sizes. Trends are short lived and should be avoided. Your logo will have a longer “shelf life” if the typography and graphic elements are rooted in sound design/communications principles and not the “flavor of the month.” Works Well in Black & White A logo needs to work well in black & white since there will be times when it may be required to do so in an ad or other printed material. In the early stages of logo development, it's a good idea to view the designs only in black & white so as to better determine their effectiveness without worrying about a color scheme. Experienced logo designers know it's best not to introduce colors until typography and design have been refined and are close to completion. Color Palette The role of color in logo design can't be understated. Colors elicit different feelings and emotions–many dependent upon age, gender, and culture. Consider your target market when choosing colors. Also, try to keep your selection to two or three colors as more can increase production costs. Give Me a Vector Victor Make sure your designer or firm gives you a vector file of your logo. A vector format (such as one created in Illustrator or Corel Draw) offers unlimited scalability and a sharp, clear display for print applications. A vector file can easily be converted into a jpeg, png or gif file for web usage. A bitmapped format (such as a photo or anything created in Photoshop for example) looks jaggy when enlarged and should only be used at its original size or smaller. Another drawback to using a bitmapped format is that it's hard to change or control its color. We've had to recreate numerous logos because the vector file was lost or the client never got one from their designer. If you have a vector file, all other needed formats can be created from it but not vice versa. Don't Try This at Home-Hire a Professional Logo design is a skill honed through experience. A professional knows what questions to ask, the technical pitfalls, and delivers a better product.

It's close to the end of the year, that time when everyone and his brother comes up with a best of, worst of or whatever list. We came across this listing and were intrigued, as it's not often one comes across a "freakiest" category. Enjoy, we certainly did.

Google marketing director Dan Cobley discusses "what physics taught me about marketing." Click here.

The proliferation of social media and smart phones is changing the way business and marketing is done. Here's information on software and add-ins to help with your marketing efforts. www.businesspundit.com/using-apps-in-web-3-0-marketing/