Success Is Written in the Stars and Creative Brand Consulting
Can a business guarantee its own failure before it even opens? Absolutely. Poor planning and strategic misjudgments can end any prospect of success before the doors open. Yet more aesthetic decisions — such as designing a logo — can also play a critical role in long-term success. That’s one reason why creative brand consulting is such a valuable service for many of today’s fledgling enterprises. Why the right logo makes all the difference Some new business owners view the creation of a logo as a second-level task. If they can devise a clever one, great, but if not, no big deal. You’d never find this kind of indifference in the C suite of a Fortune 500 firm, however. The most successful companies understand that their logo is the core of their visual identity and a cornerstone part of the overall brand. Research has shown that logos can impact not only the public perception of a company but also its performance. A logo is often the consumer’s first impression, for better or worse, and the first thing that comes to mind when a company is named. These perceptions are so powerful that even the mere shape of a logo can elicit powerful feelings about a brand in the eyes of consumers. If you’re skeptical, just think about the cultural cachet carried by the golden arches, the Nike swoosh, or that famous apple with one bite removed. A logo, when executed properly, is everything great about a brand compressed into one brilliant signifying image. All of which raises a key question: How do you create a logo that truly stands out? Creating eye-catching logos Great logos tend to have shared attributes, and these common features can serve as a road map of sorts for the creation of your own standout logo. Being a creative brand consulting agency, we have narrowed down some of the most important design principles in logo creations include: Originality. In order to stand out a logo needs to separate itself from the routine visual imagery we process every day. Simplicity. An overly complex logo turns viewers off. The best logos are elegantly simple and instantly recognizable. Connection. A logo doesn’t have to directly represent what’s being sold (Nike doesn’t sell swooshes, after all) but it should bear some connection with the company’s brand and story. Colors. As we’ve written before, color is critical to marketing. Different colors evoke different emotional responses. Understanding this is key to developing a striking logo that elicits the response for which you’re aiming. Flexibility. Today, logos appear in a large number of contexts (social media, TV, print, billboards) and devices (phones, tablets, laptops). A great logo should work well across any context and on any device, regardless of size or background constraints. How creative brand consulting can help create the perfect logo Developing a logo that meets all the necessary design elements is no small task for most business owners. A top Florida advertising agency like BIGEYE, however, has the necessary expertise and experience to create visually arresting logos that immediately stand out to consumers. By applying our insights into design aesthetics and color theory, we can help you craft a logo that instantly conveys your brand story, forging an immediate connection with your desired audience. Connect with us today about refreshing a previously existing brand or developing a new logo!
Leverage Brand Messaging Services to Increase Email Subscriptions
People who are interested enough in your products or services to sign up to receive your emails are often just one small step from becoming customers (if they aren’t already). Consequently, the size of your email subscription list is a good measure of your marketing success. Is it the only measure? No… quality counts, too. But (email list) size does matter! How can you grow that list? One of the best ways is to take advantage of brand messaging services from an experienced agency to ensure you’re saying what prospects want to hear. Strategies for increasing your email subscriptions Use these seven proven brand messaging services tips to add depth to your email subscription list. 1. Be likable Sounds like something your grade school teacher would tell you, right? But it matters in business, too. With all the marketing chatter out there, people are much more likely to read something from a company whose messaging is friendly and appealing. 2. Keep it concise Consumers today have lots of demands on their time. The more quickly and concisely you can express yourself the better. Some companies think that as long as all the important stuff is in the first paragraph or two, it doesn’t matter how long an email is. This is not the case at all! Think about it… how often have you opened a marketing email, seen that it was multiple paragraphs of text, and immediately deleted it? (Lots of hands are going up on our side!) 3. Make the benefit of reading obvious Again, consumers don’t have a lot of time. The more quickly you get to the specifics of “why you should read this” part, the more likely they are to sign up. 4. Tease future emails In some cases, the information a prospect has received from you may not be of value to them. But, some of the topics you have planned for future emails will be. A “preview of coming attractions” may just be the nudge they need to add their name to your list. 5. Entice readers with subscriber-only benefits Whether it’s helpful information like white papers and case studies, or coupons for significant savings on products and services, consumers are more eager to share their contact information if there’s something in it for them. 6. Share “social proof” How have other subscribers benefitted from their email subscription? Sharing their stories can encourage people who are on the fence to sign up. 7. Create serial messaging If the material you want to share is too long for one email, spread it out over two or three emails. The desire to see the next installment is a great incentive for signing up. Just be clear at the start of each email that it is “1 of 3” for example. Not only do expert brand messaging services help you grow your email list, they help you communicate more effectively and more profitably with your audience in general. Contact our team today to get details on our full range of services, from digital to branding and more.
You Need More than a Logo, You Need a Brand Development Company
You’ve got a cool company name. You’ve got an eye-catching logo. From a branding perspective, your company is good to go, right? Not so fast! You’re only just getting started. Brand definition is about much more than a name and a logo. In fact, at our brand development company we advise all our clients — large and small — that there are many elements to a fully defined brand. They include: Brand identity: This is the unique look of the brand, and the place where many companies incorrectly feel like their work is done. Brand messaging: Beyond the way your brand looks, there’s also the way it sounds. Having carefully selected brand messaging is crucial. Brand positioning: What segments of the market are you after? Once you’ve answered that question, you need to align your brand with those segments. Brand strategy: Creating a brand and launching a successful brand are two very different tasks. You need to have a plan for drawing attention to your new brand identity. Brand style guide: Even the most well-defined brands can end up diluted if you don’t have a document your staff can refer to for rules about brand usage. That funky font the sales team wants to use in their email marketing campaign? No can do. Consistency is one of the keys to a strong brand. How you benefit from the services of a brand development company Developing and launching a successful brand takes time and effort. Is it worth it? Oh, yes… your brand matters more than you think! There are many ways to collaborate with a brand development company to help create a unique brand identity for your business. For example: Branding increases awareness Even if they aren’t yet ready to become a customer, just making prospects aware of who you are and what you’re offering is helpful. Branding differentiates your company Your brand can help set you apart from the competition. And, in an ever-more-competitive business landscape, your ability to differentiate yourself can make a huge difference in whether you succeed or… don’t succeed! Branding creates trust The more your prospective customers are exposed to your brand, the more they believe you’re the “real deal” and are a company they can trust. Branding can increase company value The evaluation place on your company by outside experts is about more than just your assets. There is tremendous value in having people know who you are and what you stand for. Branding increases customer loyalty “I use that company for all my ____________.” Customers who have good experiences with a company that has a strong brand are the most loyal customers anywhere. Yes, you have to have good products and services. But back them up with a memorable visual identity and you’ve hit the jackpot! Branding inspires your team Not all the benefits of a strong brand are external. Your strong brand can serve as a rallying point for your employees, as well. The skill and experience of your brand development company matter No disrespect to that friend of a friend who creates logos as her side gig, but you want to work with a top Florida advertising agency with a proven track record in branding. There’s too much at stake. Brand development is an art and a science, and both skill and experience are critical. Looking to brand or rebrand your company or a product/service offering? Talk with us about how we’ve served as the brand development company for businesses of all sizes in a wide variety of markets, and how we can craft a brand for you that gives you a competitive edge.
Advice on Social Media Stories from a Brand Positioning Agency
Social stories have only been available for a few years, but as a brand positioning agency, we quickly recognized their marketing potential. Today, our expert storytellers use social stories to put a relatable human face on the clients we work with. Humanizing an organization makes it much easier for potential customers to develop a strong relationship and affinity for their products and services. Why stories sell Behavior experts tell us that humans are wired for story. We have what’s been called a “story drive” that makes us hungry for information presented in this format. In fact, we know that storytelling was the primary way that our ancient ancestors communicated. You might say that cave paintings were the first Instagram! Stories are just as important today. They are the best way to sell a product or service because we connect with them at a deeper level than we do simple information. This is extra important in a generation where our attention span has dropped below that of a goldfish (that’s a little embarrassing). People want to know at a glance what you are offering, and stories give them that information in a very quick, visual, and scannable way. 5 tips on using stories to connect with your audience As a brand positioning agency, we’re sharing insider knowledge on leveraging social media stories: 1. Start slowly Rather than diving headfirst into being storytellers across the social spectrum, you and your team should pick a platform and get a good feel for the medium. Instagram is a great place to start, in part because it has an excellent set of tools for creating social content. 2. Make the most of the tools available to you Many companies get stuck using just the basic functionality on a platform. If you want to create engagement with your audience, it pays to learn about all the features a particular service has to offer so you can make your stories stand out. 3. Work up to using multiple platforms Once you’re comfortable creating stories on one platform, start reworking and repurposing the content you create there in other places. Doing so saves you time and provides consistency for your audience. 4. Create stories that exhibit both passion and practicality While a story that is simply entertaining will get some attention, one that also provides practical, usable information will be much more widely shared, and we can tell you just how much with our social media monitoring services. 5. Be human The “story drive” we have makes us want to hear stories from other humans. Content that looks and sounds like it was produced by a robot won’t engage people and may turn them off. Utilizing content that is relatable and organic will draw more of a crowd. How can our brand positioning agency help you get the most bang for your buck through the use of social media stories? The best place to start is to get in touch with our branding experts and tell us your tale.
Decoding a Hidden World by Using a Pharmaceutical Naming Agency
When is the last time you heard someone ask a pharmacist for a refill on N-methyl-3-phenyl-3-[4- (trifluoromethyl) phenoxy]propan-1-amine? How about fluoxetine? The answer is probably more common than you think. While the scientific and generic names for Prozac aren’t particularly memorable, they do provide a revealing look into the byzantine world of pharmaceutical naming. Many small and medium pharmaceutical researchers and producers don’t realize how important naming is until the FDA rejects their patent and sends years of research and clinical trials back to square one. A pharmaceutical naming agency can help decode the mystery and ensure your work makes it to market. Why pharmaceutical naming matters The FDA strictly regulates and subsequently rejects between 20 – 25% of drugs’ generic and brand names to avoid confusion that might lead to misdosing, confusion over a drug’s efficacy, or that might lead to patient stigmatization and privacy violations. Once approved, the naming process continues to play an important role in a drug’s success because a pharmaceutical company may only market their drug under a brand name, rather than a generic or scientific name, once it has been patent protected. Competing companies may market the same generic drug under a different name to make the market more competitive. While Advil and Motrin are both brand names for ibuprofen, their name, positioning, and marketing plays an important role in which the consumer ultimately chooses. How a pharmaceutical naming agency can boost your success The average pharmaceutical naming agency creates between 2,000 – 5,000 names for each drug before beginning the FDA screening process and march to patent protection that will allow brands to compete in the market. A top Florida advertising agency like BIGEYE can help kick off that process by vetting names that may raise flags for the FDA or that will not stand out from the competition. By partnering with a creative team, your brand can focus on the science and success of your product while your agency ensures your research and work does not get delayed because its name sounds too similar to another drug or accidentally includes the common shorthand for another scientific component. Contact us today to learn more about how we’ve helped other drug producers enter the market and break through the clutter of competition from big pharmaceutical companies.
Why preparing your Christmas marketing strategy in July is imperative
The holiday season is of great importance to just about every retailer. In fact, it often makes the difference between a profitable year and one that falls short of expectations. The raw numbers illustrate the scope of the opportunity: In 2017, U.S. retailers reported their largest holiday sales increase since 2011 — 4.9-percent. In total, U.S. consumers spent roughly $680 million during the holiday period. To ensure that your business receives a sizable slice of that pie, it’s imperative to get an early jump on your Christmas marketing strategy and efforts. In fact, the most successful firms take a “Christmas in July” approach to seasonal marketing. Prepping your Christmas marketing strategy five months early The pre-holiday duties for retail marketing are as vast as they are important — holiday decorations, outdoor marketing, merchandise layout designs, the designation of door busters and loss leaders. The key to success in all these activities is simple: Allowing your business sufficient lead time to hit the holiday season running, armed with fully-realized visions and thoroughly-tested tactics. Mobile marketing presents one good example: The rise of mobile has had extraordinary impact on how consumers navigate the process of shopping. Today’s consumers use their mobile devices to check and compare prices, purchase items, redeem coupons, etc. Just as importantly, these coupons (and other promotional messages) are seamlessly delivered via mobile device. Even if your customers don’t redeem a particular offer or engage with a promotion, you can still glean key business intelligence by analyzing their behavior. Metrics such as the number and type of messages opened, the time spent engaging with each message, and amount of social sharing can all offer a window into consumer wants and needs. To get the full advantage of this kind of data, it’s important to start engaging early. If a business begins running A/B testing in July to determine which kind of Christmas marketing strategy works best, they can enter the all-important holiday season armed with the most relevant and engaging content to share with customers. In the context of mobile messaging, this kind of advance work is critical in terms of developing the kind of holiday marketing content that will get people into stores, and ultimately deliver the kind of ROI you’re looking for. Finding the right partner If your business is seeking to raise its game during the upcoming holiday season, now is the time to begin preparing a comprehensive and forward-thinking Christmas marketing strategy. BIGEYE is a leading Orlando marketing agency with extensive experience helping clients create compelling seasonal marketing campaigns that truly move the needle. Contact us today and let’s get your business ready for this holiday season.
4 steps You Need to Take to Nail Your Brand Positioning This Year
A staggering 64% of consumers cite shared values as a reason to choose or stay with a brand, which is why clear and effective brand positioning can make or break your organization’s success. Whether you have a strong position within the marketplace, or are a budding entrepreneur building your brand, these four steps will help you nail your brand positioning as you grow. 1. Understand where you’re at today Partner with a top Florida marketing agency like BIGEYE to audit your digital presence and tell you what’s working and where you can improve. Chances are, how you think you’re positioning yourself may not be as clear to your target audience as you think. Getting a fresh, outside perspective will allow you to step back and objectively confirm how you want to be seen is how your brand is being perceived. 2. Know your audience Start by creating a mission and vision statement as part of your brand foundation that clarifies who your audience is and what you want to help them achieve. Clearly define how your product provides value and stands out from the competition. Next, set short and long term goals that track your customers’ responses — not just your bottom line. Target specific success criteria such as NPS, engagement, or repeat customers to ensure your brand is resonating with your audience. 3. Learn everything you can about your competition Identify direct and indirect competitors, then map out their strengths and weaknesses. Think beyond your obvious competition to draw inspiration from related industries and success stories. As an example, an all-inclusive resort might look to similarly priced AirBnB properties, hotels, other all-inclusives, or cruise lines as each of those alternatives offers overlapping features and benefits that the all-inclusive resort hopes to use when engaging their ideal customers. And remember: you can learn something from even your least successful competitor. 4. Create your value-based positioning strategy Once you know what you’re trying to achieve and for whom, you can start implementing a strategy that will help you achieve your goal. Use your mission and vision statement to create a multi-channel marketing strategy that exposes your brand to your audience at every stage in the customer journey. A holistic brand positioning statement can help you ensure your messaging is consistent across channels and inspires action. Once you have a strategy in place, you can begin testing what works and refining your brand positioning over time. Contact us today to learn more about how we have helped brands like yours refine their identities and make a splash in the marketplace.
Color theory’s critical – but often hidden – role in marketing
If you haven’t thought deeply about the relationship between color and branding, a quick look around any retail environment will be an eye-opener. Consider the rich red tones used by Coca-Cola, the warm pink hues of Victoria’s Secret, or the bold green colors used by BP. Color theory within the context of advertising and marketing plays a key — but not always obvious — role in how consumers perceive and understand these brands. Before we begin to process a marketing message (whether through advertising or by viewing a simple logo), we first experience the color in which that message is embedded. How we relate to that particular color often sets the tone for everything that follows. Using color to connect with audiences Satyendra Singh, an academic researcher at the University of Winnipeg, published results from a study that showed two very interesting things. First, people make up their minds about brands or other people within 90 seconds of meeting them. Second, between 62 and 90-percent of this assessment is based on color. The choice of color plays an instrumental role in influencing moods and feelings — and ultimately attitudes. Given this importance, a strong grasp of color theory can help support marketing efforts by making messages more resonant and powerful. Choosing the appropriate primary colors, secondary colors and tertiary colors can also make messages much more readable and help with comprehension. By failing to grasp the importance of color, the effectiveness of messages can be significantly diminished. With that in mind, here are some key things to understand before choosing your own color schemes: If you’re looking to maximize conversions (and who isn’t?) choose bold and bright primary colors. Primary colors, such as blue and red, are those which can’t be created by the combination of other colors. Darker colors typically have lower conversion rates. Consider the benefits of blue. Look around at corporate marketing and branding and you’ll see that no color is as popular as blue. Facebook, IBM, American Express — the list of prominent firms that use blue is a long one. In fact, 51-percent of Fortune 500 logos contain some shade of blue. Choose simplicity over complexity. 82-percent of Fortune 500 firms use two or fewer colors in their logo. By keeping your color scheme simple, you encourage immediate brand identification (Coca-Cola and red, Facebook and blue, etc.). Red delivers a message of energy. Blue evokes feelings of trust and placidity. Green generates feelings of naturalness. Orange and purple are “fun” colors. Black suggests luxury. If you understand the specific feelings and mood each color evokes, you’ll be on your way toward successfully applying color theory in your advertising and marketing. Finding the right partner There’s no need to type “top Florida advertising agency” into a Google search; BIGEYE is right here and we’re ready to help. We’ve helped countless clients understand and apply the insights of color theory for their own benefit, and we’d be happy to do the same for you. By creating sophisticated and highly compelling content — and pairing it with an innovative and data-intensive approach to distribution — BIGEYE is able to deliver exceptional marketing ROI for all of its clients. Contact our team today and let’s spin the color wheel together.
How sequential marketing makes property management more profitable
In previous blogs, we’ve detailed the benefits of sequential marketing. By crafting multi-part content that can be delivered across a variety of devices, advertisers can increase engagement, limit fatigue and significantly increase sales –as demonstrated by the Facebook-sponsored study. Consumers move seamlessly across devices, and advertising should follow their cue to be truly effective. One example of how this works can be seen in the property development sphere. If you are a property developer or a multi-family manager, sequential marketing can help you meet your objectives with greater efficiency. To better illustrate this, let’s take a look at a hypothetical scenario that outlines how this innovative technology can be used to identify and attract potential renters. Using sequential marketing to make property ownership more profitable Finding and retaining high-quality tenants is a perennial challenge for property owners and managers. Difficult or slow-to-pay renters can make property ownership less profitable (or perhaps even unprofitable in the worst cases), so effective tenant acquisition is a critical task –and marketing can play a key role in effecting this. Consider the case of a property owner who has a 500 unit residential development. Occupancy rates have been consistently lower than desired. Additionally, the rate of tenants violating the terms of their leases for non-payment or other issues has been consistently elevated. To help get occupancy rates up and payment issues resolved the property owner decides a marketing campaign is necessary. Here’s how that scenario may play out. A conventional approach First, the owner runs a conventional campaign featuring TV ads (expensive, so purchased during off hours to lower costs), advertisements in the local newspaper and some routine social media marketing. None of it proves effective, so the owner seeks the assistance of a local marketing agency. The agency informs the property owner that the previous campaign failed because if used a scattershot approach that wasn’t tailored for the right audience. This time, the property development will create a compelling brand story then distribute that message directly into the hands of prospective renters by using sequential marketing. Developing a compelling, targeted sequential marketing plan Deploying this new strategy, the agency uses data analysis to create ideal buyer personas for the campaign, so the property owner now knows who to target. Content development then gets underway, and the agency crafts a deeply relevant and compelling brand story. In this case, the story is a three-part series of episodes. The first shows a woman unhappy in her existing apartment; it’s too cramped, the children have to share a room and the furnishings are somewhat dreary. The second episode shows the woman searching for a new apartment and coming across the property owner’s development, where she receives a walk-through of what could be her new home. She enjoys bright, open spaces. The concluding sequence of the story shows the woman in her new home, smiling and celebrating a birthday party with her family. The scene fades out and the development’s tagline and contact information are revealed. Choosing the most effective distribution points After the content is created, this brand story is then delivered across multiple devices in perfect, sequential order to people who have been pre-identified as likely, possible renters. The end result? The campaign significantly improves occupancy and default rates because it uses sequential marketing to deliver a resonant and deeply relevant marketing message across multiple devices to a target audience. Prospective tenants can be engaged multiple times across a variety of devices without inducing fatigue. The takeaway If you’re a property developer or manager dealing with tenant acquisition challenges – or you simply aren’t getting sufficient ROI on your current marketing approach – consider the power of sequential marketing for your next campaign. The above example represents just one way this highly effective technique can be deployed to pique renter interest and secure new tenants. Contact our digital marketing gurus for more information on how to merge sequential marketing into your business plan.
Our most valuable customer service is: Brand naming
You have an amazing idea for a new app, you just got your first prototype back on a product design, you’re excited to hit the market and your customers are ready… ah, the excitement of a startup. There is an almost tangible, electric buzz in the air when a brand is ready to launch. And there are a million decisions to make between when you hatch an idea and when it hits the streets. The most important decision a business can make is brand naming. In the excitement of a launch, naming can either become an afterthought with too little strategy too late, or a gridlock of decision paralysis. That’s why it sometimes helps to call in a third-party point of view that can guide you through this process. Here are just a few of the things we encourage our clients to think about when it’s time to name their products and brand. Do Your Homework: As soon as you think you have a name that works, do a little research. When you put it into Google, what are the first search queries that populate? Are there social media hashtags, handles, or personalities associated with or similar to your proposed product name? What corresponding URLs exist? Your goal isn’t simply to ensure your brand name is free, but to evaluate any preexisting associations with words related to your budding business. As an example, in 2014 the frozen pizza company DiGiorno used the hashtag #WhyIStayed (presumably the pizza) in a product campaign. Only later did the organization find out that #WhyIStayed was hashtag often used by domestic abuse victims to share their stories. What was meant to be a lighthearted new product plug quickly became a public relations nightmare. Do your best to understand the ways in which your brand and product names can be interpreted before committing. You’ll thank yourself later. Tell Your Story: We are rolling our eyes just thinking about the number of startups that use obscure names and nonsensical words in their product and brand names. While this can be an effective way to infuse your company with a little mystery and marketing mystique (honestly, what does a fruit like a blackberry have anything to do with smart phones?), it isn’t a safe bet. You risk customers forgetting or misinterpreting your brand name, or seeming too obscure to matter. Your name is your customers’ first impression of you and should tell part of your brand story. When “ShoeSite” was founded in 1999, the owners knew they would need to come up with a better brand name to capture what they were selling – shoes. Can you guess what ShoeSite settled on? Zappos. Zappos plays off the Spanish word for shoes, zapatos, offering a playful way to explain what they do, while differentiating the brand from the competition. The brand name is straightforward, creative, but helps tell the Zappos story. In other words, it’s perfect. It sounds simple, until you try to do it yourself. Consistency is Key: No matter what you choose as your brand name, it should serve a keystone for all future releases and iterations. Whether you are versioning products, or releasing something entirely new, use your brand name as inspiration and an anchor for future decisions. For example, the Swedish furniture company IKEA has over 9,500 products, all of which have Scandanavian-inspired names paying tribute to the company’s roots (all the way in suburban America). While the Kivik, Karlstad, Klippan, and Vimle collections may not necessarily tell consumers what those brands look like, the underlying brand values of streamlined Nordic simplicity and price value echo within these categories. The company’s values are reinforced with each product iteration that adheres to these naming principles. Just think how out of place Restoration Hardware’s product categories would sound knowing their emphasis is on artisan craftsmanship and materials: Gramercy Metal, Weathered Oak, Printmakers Collection, to name a few. No matter how small these details may seem, your customers will subconsciously absorb them. Let us work with your brand to craft the perfect naming strategy or refine the brand and product structure you have today. Like we said – no detail is too small for your customers. Check out our website to learn more about our services and contact information.