Mad 4 Blog

Your company’s identity is absolutely vital to its success. Its image, reputation and aesthetics are all about as important as services rendered. And the very first point of contact that a prospective client or customer has with your company is the logo.

On “America’s Next Great Restaurant,” contestants vying to open three branches of a brand new food-service chain devoted one episode to putting their logos to the test. They had an objective audience vote on where they’d pay cash to eat based on the look of the logos alone. Contestants learned a fast lesson about how important this sort of choice can be when it comes to starting a new business. Other image-related challenges included designing uniforms, menus and restaurant decor. All of these things, the celeb judges asserted, were just as important to the potential chains’ success as the food, name or location.

As a society, we’re very visually oriented. People are quick to make a decision based on their first, entirely sight-based impression–and then they just as quickly move on. So having a logo that packs a wallop with one solid, clear thought is necessary. Imagine it as your company’s firm handshake. You can convey a sense of sincerity, energy and longevity with the right look.

Think about it: What colors, fonts and symbols represent what you do? More importantly, how can you tie a sense of personality (that’s unique to your brand and “voice”) into a singular image that also stands for your company’s name? Plus, you want to be memorable. If your logo shows up next to a list of your competitors’, you want yours to be the one that stands out.

When designing your logo, Mad 4 Marketing takes into account all of your brand’s key messages. What are the thoughts you want to convey? Although these won’t literally translate into your logo, they can affect its design. Are you all about being modern and edgy? Maybe a chic and bold font is right for you. Are you aiming for a low-key, tropical vibe suitable for South Florida? Perhaps a sea blue is a better choice than boring old white for framing your logo.

Whether you’re handing out pens at a trade show or having individuals step in the front doors of your office (your outside signage and reception area should not be overlooked), any first encounter with your logo can impact your chance of success. Even if you have a logo that’s suited you well, maybe your customers are too used to it; you can grab some new attention with a slightly tweaked, fresher vibe. Retooling your logo is also a wonderful excuse to reach out to colleagues and customers alike to let them know about the change and send over some promotional materials.

Don’t hesitate to ask how Mad 4 Marketing can integrate your brand and business goals into a new logo that really makes your audience stop and take notice.

When preparing for a new marketing event such as a sales pitch, convention, seminar, trade show or demonstration, it is always a good idea to pause about three-quarters of the way through (when you still have time to make significant changes) and reevaluate your ideas. You’ve already brainstormed once, when you chose to attend your event and began planning your marketing strategies. However, once you’ve begun plotting your presentation and ordering materials, it’s important to take a step back and ensure that you’re staying on target to meet goals along the way. The worst thing you can possibly do is invest your time, effort and money in an event, only to find out on the last day that you’ve managed to lose sight of your entire marketing agenda.

When building a plan of attack over the course of several weeks or months, it’s easy to exhaust your perspective. As you progress, the ‘why’s and ‘how’s of your initial concept might be compromised, edited or even discarded. In fact, you may even lose your most valuable strategizing tool: objectivity. Suddenly, ideas that would have seemed laughable last month have found their way into your opening lines!

The way to avoid this potential catastrophe is to workshop your event. This means gathering together a group of team members who have been tasked with preparing for your event in addition to those who will be staffing it. Then, you’ll also want to invite outsiders who have nothing to do with your project. Respected industry professionals may offer valid insight, as may organizers or fellow participants of the event you’re planning to attend. Acting as a comprehensive survey group, these contributors should all take part in assessing your current status as well as your ultimate plans. You’ll want to show ideas or samples of your displays, giveaways and other promotional materials.

One good way to test your strategy is to compose a blind presentation; this is also a good time for staffers to practice speaking. Afterward, you should interview your workshop attendees to see what they would guess for your key messaging, intended outcome and prospective audience. If these assessments aren’t matching up with your goals, you’ll want to discuss how changes can be made to better present your business. Transparency is vital when attending an event for the first time; now is not your window to be clever or coy about what you have to offer.

Once everyone is on the same page, now is the time to invite your workshop to assess the outstanding weaknesses in your event presentation. That’s right; as hard as it may be to shoulder, now is the time to hear all of your potential vulnerabilities from a myriad of critics. The harder they are on you, the better. No matter what they say, it will be easier to suffer brutal honesty at this stage than to wait until you’re up in front of a panel or crowd, with your business on the line.

Don’t be scared of your workshop outcomes. Remember: everything at this point is constructive. There’s still time to tweak your presentation and discover new solutions. You’re not expected to start all over again, but conducting a workshop will give you the fresh perspective and honest analysis you need to succeed at your upcoming event.

Skyline Trade Show Tips offers helpful studies, suggestions and guidelines for optimal performance at trade shows. One article explains how you can have fun when presenting at trade shows. Although frequent trade show attendees may find the process rote, there are still a few ways to keep trade shows upbeat and exciting. Here are just a few tips from Skyline, expounded upon by Mad 4 Marketing. Because after 18 years in business, we certainly have a history with trade shows!

Guess the Hottest Booth Trend
Before entering your trade show, everyone on your team should pick a trend that they predict will be the hottest trade show trend. You can bet on types of candy being handed out or the most popular colors used in trade show displays. There are endless variations! To make your bids, you’ll be forced to consider previous trade show experiences. This will help you get into the right mindset to attend, while allowing you to reflect on prior experiences. In turn, this can help you brainstorm your own unique ways to stand out from the crowd. Once everyone has submitted their bid, you can spend the day figuring out the most popular trade show trends. One person will be declared the winner! And you’ll also gain plenty of notes about the hottest and most successful trade show trends.

Add Key Words to Conversations
Skyline suggests playing a word game where you challenge your co-workers and fellow booth staffers to interject silly or obscure words into conversations with visitors. Mad 4 Marketing thought of a way to improve upon this game. Before attending a trade show, itemize your company’s key messaging. This can be anything from a business slogan to power words that are relevant to your industry, such as “customer satisfaction” or “first in service.” Each time someone on your team uses one of the phrases in conversation, they can collect a point or cross their phrase off a bingo chart. Whoever wins receives a prize!

Count Engagement Timing
This game can be played two ways. You can walk down the center of an aisle at a trade show and count how many steps you can take before someone makes the effort to directly address you. Or, you can approach a booth and begin to pick up pamphlets or fiddle with the display while counting how long it takes for a staffer to come speak to you. The biggest advantage to trade shows is the ability to engage with your colleagues and customers. This game allows you to learn the tricks and techniques of other businesses while figuring out what will and won’t work for your own company in the future.

Ask the Hard Questions
At a trade show, it may be fun to visit rival booths and ask them questions such as ‘What are your business weaknesses?’ and ‘Why are you better than your competitors?’ (You can even interject your own company name for the second one!) Being able to freely engage with the competition is an advantage you should never pass up. This is your opportunity to find out everything you can about the companies with whom you compete–often, under the cloak of anonymity. Just be prepared to have your own answers in case they turn this fun little game back on you!

Typically, when companies are putting together a campaign to pull in new business, they want their brand to be at the forefront of their efforts. They not only strive to promote their iconography and key messaging, but also want to provide plenty of “about us” details so that potential clients or customers can make an informed buying decision. This is especially true for new or rebranded companies trying to step into the public spotlight.

However, in many cases there is a cost for this kind of dedicated brand promotion. And it is often the expense of conversion. Although you may accomplish the brand awareness that you set out to achieve, it doesn’t mean that you’ll convince each informed viewer to buy your product or services. This vital element of marketing is too often overlooked when companies are busy emphasizing their own self-promotion. When doing so, it’s important to ensure that all copy and materials relate information to incentives.

A key strategy for smart marketing is noting that your audience never wants to be told what to think. Instead of stating who you are and why you’re the greatest at what you do, you’ll want to help potential buyers come to such conclusions on their own—simply by explaining how your products and services can help them. Smart marketing actually ties these two concepts together; for example, pointing out what sets you apart from your competition while simultaneously explaining why the customer wants or needs it. Tell them what you can do to solve a problem or make their lives a little easier in terms of cost, quality, special services, etc.

You must ensure that each selling point addresses the consumer perspective, targeting any perceived concerns or interests from this point of view. Once you drive home how the customer will benefit, a strong call to action should seal the deal. And then you can tell them how to access more information. By then, if you’ve done your job right, they will be more than willing to find out more about your company by calling or visiting your website. All you need to do is point them in the right direction.

With a comprehensive marketing campaign that points out your company’s strengths while highlighting features that are relevant to the desires and needs of your audience, you will successfully achieve both brand awareness and customer acquisition.

Television advertising is far from dead. Although viral marketing via website banners and streaming video is the new bandwagon in media placement, a well-executed TV commercial is still a guaranteed way to increase your company’s sales while expanding brand awareness. But only if you do it right. Here are five tips for successful television advertising:

1) Entertainment is essential. Let’s face it, no matter how smart and practical your products or services are, when people are facing the television screen, they’re expecting some form of entertainment. This doesn’t mean comedy; serious spots work just as well. But from start to finish, it’s important to keep a viewer engaged so that they’ll remember your message and absorb all of the information your commercial is seeking to convey.

2) Be brief. Televised ads traditionally average 30 seconds in length. Identify a key message or a few main points and make sure that your advertisement explicitly features these elements. Because television ads aren’t something that prospective customers can reference at their leisure, your message must be clear-cut and easy to understand on the first viewing. Clouding your message with too many other details or off-topic iconography can strongly undercut your ROI. However, even the most concise commercials may take several impressions per viewer to create a lasting, measurable impact, so be patient rather than worry that your message didn’t take hold.

3) Visuals are vital. While print advertising allows you to outline facts about your business, and radio focuses on speaking directly to the potential buyer, television is about conveying a message primarily through pictures. Your goal is to create visual impact that enforces your key messaging and leaves a strong impression with the viewer. Advertising agencies that specialize in storyboarding and graphic messaging will help elevate your commercial content; you’ll also want a knowledgeable director on your set when filming.

4) Call to action is critical. Give your captive audience a valid reason to call or visit your website to make further contact and begin developing a relationship. Provide viewers with a strong impression of your brand and let them know what sets you apart from the competition—this will serve as a reminder when they’re ready to commit or seek more information. Remember, if a television viewer goes to bed humming your theme song but doesn’t know what you do or how to reach you in the future, then even the biggest blockbuster commercial won’t actually improve your bottom line over time.

5) Seek out specialists. Consult with an experienced media buyer to help you ascertain the correct locales, stations and times for airing your ad within your budget. Media buyers have access to comparative data about viewer demographics and reactivity, and they can offer valuable insight to the logistics and statistics of when and where your ad would make the greatest impact. Then, of course, they can help you purchase those time slates. Working with a comprehensive advertising agency that has plenty of experience with purchasing, designing, creating and tracking commercials is the best way to ensure that you’re on the most surefire path to successfully advertising on television.

Creating a brand isn’t all about research, analytics and strategy. In fact, defining your brand is a lot like creating a persona or character. This can be a daunting task if you let it, but it can also be a satisfying process—and it might even be fun. The most important aspect to keep in mind is that your brand has to be a three-dimensional, complex character with a fully developed personality. No one likes one-note characters, no matter how attractive the note. Once you’ve identified the characteristics of your brand, it makes the process of promoting your business and expanding brand awareness that much easier.

Here are some helpful characterization notes for brand development:

• Own all strengths and weaknesses. You won’t do your brand any justice if you only identify positive traits and pretend it has zero flaws. No company, product or service is perfect—and trying to sell yours as such can come off as static or insincere to an impartial audience. Acknowledging flaws is also the only way to improve upon areas of weakness before your brand hits the market. Only by fully exploring all of your brand’s good and bad traits internally can you create outgoing campaigns that truly do your brand justice and highlight its assets. Over time, you will learn new flaws and eliminate others—this process signifies your brand’s maturation, which is easier to identify and accomplish if you start out by admitting your brand’s complete character.

• Stand out from the competition. Another important set of traits are those that set your brand apart—what makes your brand unique. Even if they aren’t the most important facts you’d like to convey about your product or service, they may be the most compelling. Qualities that make your brand special are the very things that will catch audience attention and leave a lasting impression. Most companies are not offering a completely novel concept or product, but instead are tasked with demonstrating why their option is a better choice than all alternatives. The best way to make this argument is by including—if not featuring—all interesting and unusual facts when promoting your brand.

• Put together a spec sheet. Once you’ve identified all of the strengths and weaknesses and special qualities of your brand, characteristics should be organized in an easy-to-reference fact sheet. One of the most important aspects of advertising is maintaining a consistent image for your brand, and an organized fact sheet will help you keep tabs on key messaging over time. Much like a ‘cheat sheet’ this chart will allow current and future promoters of your brand to get a quick, clear overview at a glance. If you’ve successfully created a comprehensive brand, there will be many different ways to interpret and expose different aspects through creative campaigns—and this chart will serve as a concise and complete foundation. It can also be modified in the future as the brand grows and matures.