If you are wanting to incorporate social media in your next marketing campaign, take a look at the Social Media Marketing Exampleslist from former analyst at Forrester Research Peter Kim featuring over 300 companies and how these companies are using social media.
It features brands such as Acura, Adidas, Ford, IBM, JC Penney, Nike and Pizza Hut and you'll find a host of additonal resources:
A friend of mine shared a great story on the importance of fully understanding a brand.
He was part of a team that made a presentation to a major manufacturer of soccer equipment. They put together a thoroughly comprehensive plan — thoughtful research, attention-grabbing ad creative, and a public relations plan that included a barnstorming tour by the national soccer team from Cameroon.
They would arrange for top high school teams from around the country to scrimmage the Cameroonians. The national team would also put on skills demonstrations, including shooting, dribbling and various tricks such as a bicycle kick, where a player kicks the ball in mid-air backwards and over his own head.
They called sports editors at targeted cities, who confirmed that a visit from the Cameroonians would be big news for them, practically guaranteeing coverage.
They even created a mock television sports story, featuring a favorite local sports anchor, to show the prospective client what they might expect, as well as demonstrate their strong media connections.
After they proudly concluded the presentation, they asked for feedback. The company’s CEO, a Frenchman and soccer aficionado, had just one comment. He sniffed and said, rather smugly,
“You can’t stage a bicycle kick. It is an improvised move on the soccer field.”
And they lost the pitch right there.
Because of a small detail, the CEO didn’t believe the team knew enough about his brand. To him, the company represented all things soccer, expert in every nuance of the game.
What can be learned from an experience like that? Obviously, never underestimate the importance of thoroughly understanding a client’s brand.
That said, however, clients always know far more about their brands and their businesses than their agencies do So the trick is to engage clients early and often in the creative process.
That will help ensure the work remains consistent with the brand and agreed-upon marketing objectives. And it’s the best way to avoid a bicycle kick.
What’s in a color? Well, a lot really. It’s not about choosing a color for your brand that you LIKE but choosing a color that is RIGHT. As I often say to marketing directors, your personal favorite color is irrelevant but the right color is completely relevant to your company, your audience and your brand.
The use of color can be so powerful that your brand presence can be recognized at a glance, such as identifying your rental car shuttle from a distance or the fast-food restaurant of your choice from the highway. It can evoke powerful emotions for customers and help them choose your brand over others.
Any of these colors look familiar?
Getting a gift in a Robin’s Egg Blue box, shopping for tools at the Orange store or receiving a package delivered in a Brown truck all evoke personal, emotional responses for customers. Choosing the right color is also critical in differentiating your brand from others in sometimes crowded fields.
Generally, warm colors are more passionate and emotional. Cool colors are solid and trusted. The subtleties of these colors are what make the difference in successful marketing.
Choose a color carefully. Colors mean different things in different cultures. Once you’ve decided on the right color, use it everywhere, not just in your logo.
Make that color your identifying mark. Use it in your products, on your vehicles, in your office design, your packaging, your memo pads, your e-mail announcements, your giveaways.
The more consistently you use your color, the more powerful your brand will become.
“Playful,” “quirky,” YouTube, and Facebook are not typically associated with the Nashville Symphony, but our series of unique, 15-second commercials produced for the symphony and marketed online got the attention of The Tennessean, Nashville’s daily newspaper. On the front page, no less.
The commercials show new conductor Giancarlo Guerrero directing an orchestra of bubbling fountains, at Tootsies honky-tonk, speaking Spanish at a local Mexican restaurant, and directing traffic.
“We needed to use (Guerrero) to reach all those customers who may not be usual symphony-goers,” Locomotion partner S.A. Habib told The Tennessean.
The quirkiness worked. So did marketing on YouTube and Facebook, as well as traditional newspaper and television ads. The symphony sold $130,000 worth of single-concert tickets on the first day of single-ticket sales for the new season — up from $80,000 from the previous year.
It’s getting harder every day. With the proliferation of web-based companies, start-ups and the “hold that name for $24.99” mentality of GoDaddy.com and others, finding a name for a real business is daunting.
However, the basic principles of developing a great name and taking it to market haven’t changed. You’ve still got to ask yourself the same questions:
Should the name clearly tell you what you do or suggest an idea?
Should it romance the brand or evoke a value message?
Should it describe a benefit or leave you guessing?
Does it have a broad scope or a narrow niche?
Is it a new idea or does it have equity in its heritage?
Are you going to spend money making it mean something or will it have to communicate on its own?
Once you’ve answered these questions you can start developing names organized into six naming styles. These categories will serve you well when you begin eliminating names based on your answers to the above questions.
Categorizing names in groups like this will help you weed out names that don’t work for you. You’ll be that much closer to finding that perfect name!
