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Credit cards
If gold medals were awarded for marketing consistency, the credit card industry would be the Sarah Hughes of the business world. Major players Visa and MasterCard, who have maintained their steady rates of spending and commitment to their...
Developing Your School Brand
A school brand can start off as an intangible positive image that attracts the public to enrol their children there. An example is the perceived high teaching standards or an impressive list of sporting achievements. Many school administrators do...
So you're thinking of having your own website?
If you’re daydreaming about having your own website and you’re reasonably new to the world of computers and the internet, there are a few basic things you really should consider first. I’ve listed 10 baby steps to take first that could possibly...
The Relationship Between Colour & Sales
Make no mistake that emotions are the driving force behind sales, and customers making buying decisions can be influenced through visual elements towards a particular behaviour or emotion that will encourage more sales.
Not convinced? Have you...
Using Seminars to Bump Up Sales
Many of my clients are turning to speaking at chambers and other networking organizations to generate business. This is a wonderful method of building credibility and gaining free advertising, especially when you are in a creative business that...
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What Does She Have That I Don't?
Copyright 2005 Karen Saunders
Have you ever asked yourself why a competitor's business gets
more attention than yours? The answer just may have to do with
the elements that go into how memorable the business is. And
that has to do with branding.
But exactly what is branding, anyway? Think of branding as
predefining what a company is all about in the minds of its
clients. Good branding differentiates your products and services
in a positive way that really sticks in the minds of potential
customers.
Let's say you have been traveling around town without your
morning coffee and are getting just a little cranky. Quick!
What's the first coffee shop chain that comes to mind? Chances
are, you thought of Starbucks. Why?
*Attractive and easily read logo; *Consistency of product,
décor, signage, and interior; and *A great product
Assuming your product is fabulous, it all comes down to image.
Graphic design can play a huge part in that image. But what are
some key things to consider?
A great logo is key.
You have already given a great deal of attention to your company
name and believe that it speaks to who you are and what you do.
Great! Now you need to wrap a graphic image around that name to
carve out a prime piece of real estate in the mind of your
target customer. That is exactly what a great logo can do.
Whether or not you eat fast food and regardless of your opinion
as to what might constitute the best in fast food, my guess is
that the name McDonalds conjures up an immediate image of the
golden arches. Those golden arches really work as a logo!
The McDonalds logo is a good example of merging a symbol with a
letter in the company name. It is also a good example of
simplicity, another key element to great logo design. A good
logo also:
* has a strong, balanced image with no little extras that
clutter its look; * is distinctive and bold in design, making it
easy to see at a glance; * has graphic imagery that looks
appropriate for your business; * works well with your company
name; * is done in an easy to read font; * communicates your
business clearly; and * looks good in black and white, as well
as in
color.
Consistent visual identity is also key.
If you are going to capture that prime piece of real estate in
the customer's mind, you must provide not only a compelling
image, but a consistent one. The Statue of Liberty just may be
one of the most compelling images in the world. But what if you
owned the rights to that image, put it on your business card,
then put the image of an American Bald Eagle on your stationery
and the Liberty Bell on your web site. The American Bald Eagle
and the Liberty Bell are also compelling images, but as a group,
each dilutes the impact of the other.
Each of the three images has its own distinct personality. You
may be tempted to give your stationery, website, business card,
brochures, and other marketing materials different visual
personalities, but to do risks the equivalent of having the
Statue of Liberty competing with American Bald Eagle and Liberty
Bell.
All of the materials that represent you, from business cards to
brochures, need to have image consistency in order to be
immediately recognizable by your customers...and potential
customers...as being related to the unique brand that is your
company. Logo, color scheme, fonts, and layout that are
consistent from letterhead to business card and from envelope to
ad suggest credibility and stability, in addition to taking up
more of that prime mental real estate by virtue of repetition.
Inconsistency of graphic elements among materials not only
suggests uncertainty and sloppiness, it is just plain
forgettable.
Creating a great logo and maintaining consistency among all your
marketing materials will take you a long way towards creating a
memorable brand that just might make your competitors mutter,
"What does she have that I don't?"
About the author:
Karen Saunders is the author of the book, "Turn Eye Appeal into
Buy Appeal: How to easily transform your marketing pieces into
dazzling, persuasive sales tools!" Karen has helped thousands of
small businesses to increase their sales over the past 15 years
using her award-winning marketing design strategies. For more
free tips by Karen, and to learn more about the book visit
http://www.MacGraphics.net
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| Brand - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
| The brand, and "branding" and brand equity have become increasingly important ... From the perspective of brand owners, branded products or services also ... |
| en.wikipedia.org |
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| Branding - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
| Livestock branding, the marking of animals to indicate ownership; Human branding, ... Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Branding" ... |
| en.wikipedia.org |
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| AllAboutBranding.com : Home |
| Provides resources and opinions on branding. Includes brand development, management and communications. |
| www.allaboutbranding.com |
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| brandchannel.com | branding resource produced by Interbrand | brands |
| An international online exchange and resource about brand marketing and branding. |
| www.brandchannel.com |
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| Branding Company Corporate Branding Internet Brand Identity ... |
| Brand Identity Guru Inc. creates, develops and promotes powerful brands. Our clients enjoy an array of innovative, creative and powerful branding solutions ... |
| www.brandidentityguru.com |
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| Branding Blog |
| Branding and positioning news and opinion. |
| www.brandingblog.com |
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| Branding Asia |
| Free articles, news and columns on branding in Asia. Market research and Asian marketing. |
| www.brandingasia.com |
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| Pages tagged with "branding" on del.icio.us |
| All items tagged branding ??? view popular ... industrie./design and branding consultant specialists./ · save this. by kittim to design branding graphic ... |
| del.icio.us |
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| The Brand Called You |
| Big companies understand the importance of brands. Today, in the Age of the Individual, you have to be your own brand. Here's what it takes to be the CEO of ... |
| www.fastcompany.com |
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| Branding: See what people are saying right now on Technorati |
| See all blog posts tagged with branding on Technorati. |
| www.technorati.com |
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| Mozilla Branding |
| The purpose of this document is to describe mozilla.org's branding strategy during and after the release of what has generally been called Mozilla 1.4. ... |
| www.mozilla.org |
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| What Brand Are You? A branding viral by The Design Conspiracy |
| What Brand Are You? has since been picked out as Site Of The Day by the likes of the Financial Times, Yahoo, USA Today and BBC News, and has received more ... |
| www.whatbrandareyou.com |
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| Julie & Company: Affordable branding, web design, graphic design ... |
| Julie & Company creates stellar branding, integrated marketing, advertising, web design, web development, Flash, trade show booths - all at affordable ... |
| www.julieandcompany.com |
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| Forty Media - Web Design, Web Development, Branding, Great Websites |
| a professional web design agency based in Phoenix, Arizona. |
| www.fortymedia.com |
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| Branding - Yahoo! Small Business |
| Find information to help grow your online business with business plans, Thomas Register, news articles and more. |
| smallbusiness.yahoo.com |
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| Lexicon |
| Lexicon Branding appears on KTVU News; Lexicon Branding creates Ridgeline for Honda, Viiv for Intel, and GameTap for Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. ... |
| www.lexicon-branding.com |
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| Branding and Usability |
| We're finding that a site's usability can dramatically affect branding. ... There are two basic techniques for branding: direct experience and indirect ... |
| www.uie.com |
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| iMedia Connection: Research & Metrics - Branding |
| Majority of marketers feel branding opportunities -- online and offline -- aren't ... IAB case studies prove real-world power of online in branding mix. ... |
| www.imediaconnection.com |
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| Small Business Marketing And Branding |
| Small business marketing and branding advice and how-to guides for small business owners. Learn how to start and grow your own successful business. |
| smallbusinessbranding.com |
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| Beyond Branding |
| Beyond Branding, published in hardcover in 2003 and paperback in 2005, presents innovative business models for the survival of 21st century organizations. |
| www.beyond-branding.com |
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