Archive for the ‘branding’ Category
Why fonts matter
Wednesday, November 9th, 2011
Marketing manhood
Thursday, July 21st, 2011
My 18 year-old son got this package in the mail the other day. I almost threw it out, but thought maybe we could use it in the guest bathroom or for emergencies.
Imagine my surprise (and my marketing mom pride) when he seemed as excited about his new manhood kit as he was his new computer. ”This is an awesome idea,” he mumbled (even when they are excited, teens mumble). ”Look at this stuff!” He began pulling out cute little bottles of shaving cream, deodorant, body wash, cooling gel, coupons, and, the piece de resistance, a Gillette Fusion razor.
And then, my little 6′ 1″ about-to-go-to-college-peanut said the most profound thing I’ve ever heard. “This is chill! I can’t believe they’d send me these things for free! I will buy from this company for life for doing this. Mom, look at this. Isn’t this a good idea for them? All companies should do this, huh?”
Beaming with pride, I agreed. In addition to my astonishment that he said more than 5 words to me in one day, my head was spinning. He has my marketing gene! He actually gets it! All of the time, sweat and tears spent applying for business schools paid off in that one moment.
As he heads off to college next month, Gillette products along for the ride, I now have confidence that he will succeed as an adult in his chosen path. He feels like a man because Gillette confirmed it, and he ate that message up. More importantly, he instinctively understood marketing basics such as brand loyalty, lead generation, and customer retention.
Wonder if Tide has a “College Kids for Clothing Cleanlinesss kit” they could spare?
Do we take design seriously?
Friday, October 8th, 2010We’re in awe (and horrible shock) that something so hideous could come out of an iconic company. I’m talking about the new logo of GAP, the clothing company. Who would let this happen? Umair Haque, of the Harvard Business Review, takes a stab at the trainwreck in his article, “The Gap Logo Debacle: A Half-Brained Mistake“. Below is our response to his five questions to gauge whether you’re taking design seriously enough:
• Do designers have a seat in the boardroom — or just in the basement? How often does your CEO ever talk to a designer?
Counterintuity’s foremost goal in any endeavor we undertake is creativity. That means creativity in design, creativity in thought, creativity in writing and creativitiy in implementation. We are always having discussions about the look and feel of anything we develop.
• Are designers empowered to overrule beancounters — or vice versa?
Our most recent staff meeting included the importance of empowering everyone, including designers, by asking the question, “I don’t know, what do you think?” It’s played a key role in how we approach problem solving.
• Is the input of designers considered to be peripheral to “real” business decisions — or does it play a vital role in shaping them? Is design treated as a function or a competence?
The aesthetics of a website, of print material, of a logo are the first impression one has about a business. Since that is the case, design is key and we strive to create fresh material that reflects the businesses we represent in a helpful and meaningful way that is unique to them. No one business is the same, and no one look is the same. A cookie-cutter approach doesn’t work in this day and age. Counterintuity’s President, Amy Kramer, has often said to clients, “If you want to look like everyone else, then use someone else.” We approach each project uniquely because no one is the same.
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• Are designers seen just as mechanics of mere stuff — or as vital contributors to the art of igniting new industries, markets, and catgeories, sparking more enduring demand, building trust, providing empathy, and seeding tomorrow’s big ideas?
Take a look at our business card, you’ll realize that our design is much more than mechanics. We used our creativity in design and in actionable writing to create an effective business card that would start a conversation, drive business, and create a lasting impression.
• How much weight does senior management give to right-brained ideas, like delight, amazement, intuition, and joy? Just a little, a lot — or, as for most companies, almost none?
Creativity is key and the only way to produce creativity is to encourage it. In some way or another, we all get kicks out of the little things we see out from others and inside our office. Including… GAP’s new logo.
Does your business take design seriously?
Tracking your reputation online for free
Friday, September 3rd, 2010My favorite line (which our social media clients will attest to) is: “The conversation about your brand is happening online whether you want it to or not. The only thing sticking your head in the sand does for you is breed ignorance and cede the floor to the naysayers.”
With the advent of services such as Yelp, Twitter, Facebook and other social media platforms, customers no longer have to wait to get out the door to write a letter of complaint or praise via snail mail. They can–and will– do it right there under your nose. Anyone at any time can generate a social media post that describes you inaccurately or criticizes your performance, service or product. Social media sites make it easy to to trash everything from bad food to slow service, and that is not what you want potential clients to find online. If you’ve spent any time making a good name for yourself, keeping it so online is a priority.
We recommend you track what people are saying about you online at least once a week. Here are our favorite free tools (there are many good paid services, as well):
Social Mention This real-time Internet tracking aggregates mentions about your brand from across the web (and the universe, they proclaim) to give you a snapshot of who is talking about you and what they are saying. While it’s not 100% accurate (we find it sometimes pulls in other accounts if you have a common Twitter or Facebook name), it does a great job of finding blog forum and Twitter mentions. While it dishes out some questionable metrics (Passion? Sentiment?), the lists of top keywords, top hastags and top users it returns is invaluable information for your social media monitoring.
MonitorThis is another easy search tool that feeds mentions from 26 various search engines like Google Blogsearch, delicious, MSN, Yahoo News, Flickr and many others. What’s particularly nice here is that it features a ‘Get as RSS’ button that lets you directly subscribe to a list of feeds it pulls up.
Board Tracker watches conversation in discussion forums and keeps you up to speed on mentions. Just set alerts based on your specific keywords and you’ll be notified any time your brand’s name is mentioned in a forum.
TweetBeep is a Twitter tracker that keeps track of conversations that mention you, your products, your company, your brand–and gives you frequent e-mailed updates.
Google Alerts are regular email updates of the latest relevant Google results (web, news, etc.) based on your choice of keyword or topic.
The real answer to online reputation lies in constantly building, updating and maintaining your online brand. This way, any negative commentary is automatically countered by positive news and information you’ve already put out.
Counterintuity’s founders are profiled in September’s Inc. Magazine!
Wednesday, August 25th, 2010Pick it up at your local newstand or read it here!
“What distinguishes us as an agency is that Amy and I are using new technology to facilitate what are actually very old, longstanding means on communication,” Wochner explains. “Word-of-mouth is what really drives any campaign today, so social media was invented for what we do. We take social media and turn it up to 11. We use it to create word-of-mouth buzz and bring that buzz to what our clients are doing.”
Social media marketing is no business for teens
Friday, May 7th, 2010Seems logical. When you can’t set your TIVO, you call your kid into the room. Twelve or twenty-two, he’ll have you watching last Sunday’s episode of Desperate Housewives in no-time. Can’t add a contact or download an application to your iPhone? Ditto. The younger generation just “gets it.” But do they?
We’ve encountered many firms that boast about their “genius” nineteen year-old social media hires. “They get this Facebook stuff,” we’ve heard. “They understand how to network through the Internet.” True. My older teen has hundreds of friends on social networks. He can easily find out the questions on the history test and where the best Saturday night party will be. He can connect girls to boys, not unlike traditional networking.
But what he can’t do—because he doesn’t have business training—is strategize, monitor and analyze a social media campaign. Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, and other social media platform use is a skill most teens and college grads have. But putting a tech-savvy teen in charge of your $30,000 website redesign and social media campaign is like asking my husband to do the laundry. He’ll gladly wash clothes, but they won’t be sorted, he’ll forget the fabric softener, and assuming they get folded, they’ll end up in the wrong person’s drawer.
A social media expert is much more than someone who knows how to use Facebook. We are like custom builders, creating a blueprint for your entire campaign. From audience analysis and content goals to editorial calendars and professional monitoring with ROI tracking, firms that specialize in social media have both the knowledge and expertise to make your online campaign successful.
Anyone can get your business pages followers and likes. The question is: Do they know how to attract the right people, and do they know what to do with them? Can they track real-time and trending results—and do they even know what that is?
Nothing against teens. I have a few myself. And they are experts at socializing. But please, for the sake of your online reputation and your hard-earned dollars, leave your all-important social media marketing to the experts.
It’s all in how it’s packaged
Tuesday, April 27th, 2010With the regular mail bills moving to e-bills, paper newsletters moving to e-newsletters, newspapers becoming an extinct news source, and receiving e-cards rather than regular cards, it seems that “new” marketing is all on the internet. WRONG.
I loved typing that just now, and here’s why: the other day I received this envelope.
What could it be? And who from?? (Lee hypothesized a secret admirer.) I guess I had to open it to find out! Oh the suspense! Oh the glee! It was my very own…marketing material from Staples sales rep Jairo. (Hi Jairo!) Definitely surprised, Jairo’s personally written introduction card made a positive impression on me. Soon after, Jairo followed up with an e-mail and phone call requesting the foot in the door sales pitch meeting that all sales reps would love to have. Granted.
Surprisingly, the next day, I received this other letter:
I received this letter soon after receiving a call in which I notified them that we were not in need of their services. Not only was our business name blatantly misspelled (Counter-Ntuity), but their generic mail merge document was horribly written with many grammatical errors (and poor wording choices).
Obviously, I’m thinking of switching to Staples now. Jairo is creative, smart, and has what it takes to get me to be a Staples customer. My reasoning? Staples is going to make my job easier by saving me money (covered in the sales meeting), saving me time (notice how he saved his own time), and providing creative solutions to any needs we may have (demonstrated by the personalized print card solution, other marketing materials, and general creativeness in using snail-mail).
Choosing the right color palette for your website
Thursday, April 1st, 2010The basics for every website start with choosing a color combination that works with what you are trying to sell or market. Choosing the right color scheme can be crucial to selling a product, as you don’t want the buyer to get turned off and not make a purchase.
When choosing a color combination for your website, you should refer to a color wheel, available online or at any art store. Graphic designers live and die by this color wheel. As you can see below, the color wheel splits into two equal sections: warm colors and cool colors.
Warm colors are based on reds, oranges and yellows:
Cool colors are based on greens, blues and purples:
Exploring warm vs. cool colors for your website is important. When choosing colors, keep in mind that cool colors recede and warm colors advance. Depending on the color scheme you choose, your website will give the viewer different feelings, such as calming (warm) or refreshing (cool). Remember that the human eye is immediately drawn towards bright, warm colors and white.
Warm color palette:
The Royal Palms color scheme makes the viewer feel warm, cozy, and comfortable.
Cool color palette:
Wrigley’s color scheme provides the feeling of cool, fresh and clean.
For a dramatic and eye-catching effect, you can mix the two color palettes. Using two complementary colors—those that are immediately opposite one another on the wheel—invokes more than one emotion from your viewers.
For example:
Betty Crocker uses different shades of cool blue as the background, and a very powerful warm red as the foreground. The viewer is drawn to the red links and buttons, which helps navigate through the site in the manner intended by the company.
Another contrasting yet user-friendly color palette is green and orange. Notice how the green relaxes and recedes. The vibrant orange pops.
Start your website palette with the color or color combo of your logo. To make the site visually stimulating and flowing, use no more than two colors (although you can use different shades of those colors) plus white and black.
By using color to influence your viewers, you have the power to guide what your visitors see first and how they navigate your site.
Don’t shoot the medium
Thursday, March 18th, 2010
photo by Gideon Tsang
I understand the point the article is trying to make — Where are the results? I was promised if I engage in social media, I’ll be successful. Where’s my pot of gold?
Marketing and advertising are the means to gain awareness of you, your brand or your product. Yes, opinions are made on marketing alone but it’s highly unlikely that just marketing and advertising close sales. That’s the job of your website, sales people, store, phone reps, sales process.
You can have an incredible campaign (social media or otherwise) that drives traffic and grows awareness but if you can’t seal the deal, you’re out of business. If you’re using social media or email marketing get traffic from them, be sure to measure your results. What percentage of visitors are converting into customers?
What can you do to increase this rate? Look closely at your product, sales process, website, follow through. What can be improved? How do you share your benefit and value? Could your website landing page use some optimization? Does your online form look unwieldy? Are leads getting followed up on quickly enough.
If your traffic is growing but your sales aren’t, don’t shoot the marketing medium. Look in the mirror and see how you can take advantage of your traffic win.
How are you taking advantage of your social media marketing?
The color psychology behind logo design
Monday, March 8th, 2010
Color is a major factor in design. The color decision-making for your branding, products or website is very important. Choosing the wrong color can mislead the buyer or reader. Every color has a meaning, symbolism and psychology behind it. Counterintuity’s logo uses two expressive colors: blue and orange.
Meaning of the color BLUE:
The color blue is the most favored color. It means strong, important and intelligent. It is seen in our everyday lives, in the sky and the ocean. This is why researchers have found that people are more productive in blue rooms. Seeing the color blue actually causes the body to give off chemicals of calming and direct.
Meaning of the color ORANGE:
Orange is the combination of red and yellow. Red gives off energy while yellow represents happiness. Together creating orange symbolizing enlightenment, energy and warmth. Seeing the color orange draws the viewer’s attention (i.e. traffic signs). The color orange is always in-style and is associated with new creations.
As you can see, colors have a lot of meaning and can really impact. Counterintuity’s colors are counterintuitive. One represents calm while the other is nothing even remotely calm. So these two colors define the Counterintuity team: we are creative, exciting, trustworthy and we think and work from both extremes.
