Hairy No Sexy

Sometimes I just can't explain how or where nuggets of ideas are born. I'm convinced they all come from the creative intelligence of a higher power. But if you don't believe me, then can someone please explain how I dreamed this one up...

Twins win. And so does Quintuplet-type branding.

After relying on the generosity of family and what was a friend of a friend to get into a major league baseball game (c'mon! who can afford these games anymore???), I nestled into my seat...and after a $6.50 beer and some decent baseball (11-0 in favor of the Twins vs. Indians), I noticed the lack of creativity running wild out in right field. But that's the reality of marketing/advertising. It only works if it "works". And in this case, it working is being measured by pure brand exposure. Stanley is such an established company, they can afford to stand on what "most" consumers already know about them (that they sell decent hardware/tools), and just plug plug plug away at showing their logo. It's that crappy old saying that was floating around the marketing industry years back and unfortunately probably still yet today - Top Of Mind Awareness (TOMA). But just so folks know, I am not sold on "TOMA" being for everyone. Like I said, Stanley is established. They've put in the time...proven their brand through decades of a decent product...and service behind it. So they can stand on that foundation and, with a bit of confidence, just remind the world "who's da man" when it comes to powertools, hardware-kinda stuff.

not exactly targeted email marketing

oh boy. i had to write about this one. a "shotgun" type (in essence it 'tis SPAM) email campaign to promote what a company prides themselves on - "...delivering the right message to the right people." hmmm? it's right there in the very first sentence. they're boasting about how great they can nail down a target market, a message to that market, yet they're sending me a SPAM email from the UK....with a DEAR (NOTHING OR NO ONE). how wonderfully hilarious is that!! something in my ol' common sense corner tells me they "ain't so great" at what they claim to be so great at. can't blame 'em for trying. i'm sure their tactic will attract at least a handful of folks who just so happen to be in desperate need of a UK-based SPAM email marketing campaign. (UK) hats off to you for making me chuckle, bowden publishing!

A "Whole" New Ritz

Life has a way of blessing us despite our "bus(y)ness". Once again I've had the good fortune of working with a wonderful client, also a great friend and fellow entrepreneur. Owner of the all new Ritz Hair Studio and Whole Body Retreat, Jen Petersen trusted Identity Engine's team to bring her passion for quality and craftsmanship alive on the ol' internet. In the end, I do think Jen (the client) is smiling as much as we are. Such a natural extension of her brand! The main design utilizes natural elements from her actual "studio" - tile (the header), frames around the mirrors at each hair styling station (the vertical border/design), and vanity counter tops from the massage rooms (the main copy background). Of course, I do believe that was all Jen's brilliant idea. But we'll of course take the credit for it! Bonus...all built with an intuitive admin tool allowing Jen the ability to edit the site as needed with ease. Sweeeeeeeet! Click on the image above to take a gander and form your own opinion on the sweetness of this project.

somewhere over the rainbow

i finally had to snap a photo of the ol' rainbow car wash sign. it's one of the handful of slap-on-the-letters-with-a-ten-foot-pole signs remaining these days. everyone thinks they need a fancy schmancy, super duper expensive digital display to get their message across to folks. i have to say, especially since the family of a good friend of mine are founders of daktronics, pretty much the world leader in digital display boards, digital signage is no doubt flashy and attractive. only problem is, it's gonna all come back to creativity over time as more and more people will sadly realize "hey, now my digital display board isn't so novel".

but let's talk reality for most. and that's the reality that not all businesses have thirty grand or more at their disposal for outdoor digital signage/promotion. some businesses don't even have half of that for an annual marketing budget. thus surfaces the all-powerful-ever-so-loaded question, "so where and how should we spend our money?". ugggh is all i can say in answer. until we get to understanding all the realities of their business anyway. the basic who, what, when and how have to be analyzed before we start trying to discover the pot of marketing gold at the end of the strategic marketing plan rainbow.

to keep this simple, and to return to what inspired this post in the first place, let's consider the case of this car wash in a decent midwest college town. whether they have plans to invest in a daktronics digital display board i have no idea. but i'd tell 'em it's not necessary. because i look at their sign every time i go by it. why? because whoever is the creative wizard behind the phrases that are being manually changed at least once a week, has found a technique, a tactic, a marketing approach that works! the messaging i read on the rainbow marquis is always creative, always fun, and guess what? i always look to see what's new. so in this case, creativity and frequency (of a new message) seems to be the pot of gold we marketers strive to discover for our clients.

will it always work like this? will the blend of creative and "fresh" messaging always equal getting the attention of potential customers? absolutely not. it depends on mucho mucho variables. in this case, we're dealing with an outdoor sign on a heavily used street in the city. and it just so happens to work.

as a copywriter, however, i'd love to go out on a limb and say even if your sign was way out in timbuktu, if you have a solid creative message, it will get talked about. but then we could get into the longer discussion of "well that's great, but who's talking about it and most importantly is their talking converting to cha ching". the bottom line is just that. to go from "i need a brand" or "i need marketing" to finding marketing that actually gets attention...to finding marketing that ultimately converts to a sale...well, that's why we in the marketing world know it's not a perfect science. it's trial and error...and a blend of art and science in fact.

and at the risk of darting off in an entirely different direction than the theme (what was that again?) of this post, digital marketing is indeed allowing for much more science to determine what creative messaging is resonating with people and even where, why and how it's resonating, to the point they are deciding to invest (fancy word for buy!) in a product or service.

if it sounds complicated, that's why marketing is a profession. then again, you don't have to be a tried and true professional to pull off your everyday creative genius like i enjoy seeing over at rainbow now and again. so yes. be creative. that's a good start to finding your businesses pot of gold;-)

why oh why do we do what we do

to say i'm "guilty" of marketing, of a brand that seems to speak to me, ever-so-silver-tonguely causing me to pluck it off the shelf of hundreds of other "things" i could buy, conveys a tone of "i've been tricked into buying something i don't even need." and i guess therein "lies" the rub between me and my apparent love, and dare i immodestly say, talents for branding.

i love it. i hate it. i especially love it when i sense i'm able to use my abilities to help folks out who seem like genuinely good-hearted people who have a great product or service and are in search of a brand, a user experience, an identity in the marketplace to help attract attention with "consumers". and therein 'tis another issue. for my passion with brand to truly take root, i feel that which i'm trying to create a brand for must be adding to what this world needs versus just another way for someone to sell some mindless gadget in effort to make a buck.

you may ask who am i to be able to cast judgment on whether a product or service is needed in this world. but hey, it's my business. and my branding abilities. and i'll focus them where i darn well please. and yes, the soup nazi is a friend o' mine.