Join the W.I.F.M. It's the most important radio station that I know of for smart marketers. And it stands for "What's In It For Me?" That's what you must always consider as you think about the reasons for sending out brand communications. Waste your possible customers' time and you may not get another chance to have their attention when you really do have something relevant to say. The most welcome communications offer valuable information that help people do their jobs better, more efficiently or more happily. Offer one of those things as part of your message and you will be welcomed back with open arms next time you reach out with a brand communication.
Join the W.I.F.M. It's the most important radio station that I know of for smart marketers. And it stands for "What's In It For Me?" That's what you must always consider as you think about the reasons for sending out brand communications. Waste your possible customers' time and you may not get another chance to have their attention when you really do have something relevant to say. The most welcome communications offer valuable information that help people do their jobs better, more efficiently or more happily. Offer one of those things as part of your message and you will be welcomed back with open arms next time you reach out with a brand communication.
3D Is The New Black
It's early days in 3D yet the trend is clear. We've come to expect not just viewing but experiencing. The use of color, sound, motion and now, dimension, bring us right into the story.
As you move through strategic marketing planning leading to brand communication tactics, consider ways to insert your brand's constituents into the experience rather than just communicating at them. Interactive technology allows a two-way engagement. Holographic images allow us to walk right into a scene. Multi-sensory theaters like those at Disney World allow audiences to feel their seats move in a thunderstorm and feel the moisture of rain on their faces. Many small brands cannot afford these high test luxuries. But are there less expensive ways (scratch and sniff, moving pieces, textural components like cut-outs, pop-ups or imbedded sound chips, to name a few). Well placed, these types of tactics can breathe new life into an otherwise tired piece of brand communication and are well worth considering.
MTC Equipment Finance is now Connext Financial
Brand Development is one of Element Three’s business disciplines, and it’s always an exciting experience when one of our clients moves into the implementation phase of launching their brand. On March 1, Connext Financial unveiled their new brand identity to their customers. Formerly known as MTC Equipment Finance, Element Three worked with the company to rename and develop a new corporate identity, which included a new logo and tag line. 
Clear identification of key audiences and messaging strategies to each of those audiences formed the foundation of the launch strategy. A series of key communications incorporating print, email, and person to person contact is currently underway. The company’s new website, www.connextfinancial.com is now on line. Take a look: 
It's Nice To Feel Appreciated
In brand communications, I'd compare this to thinking only about making the sale instead of enjoying the actual interaction or the followup. Building customer relationships, enjoying the experience with clients, getting to know what matters most to those you serve and taking the time to find out...these are all actually smart marketing integration tactics. One of the simplest ones is just saying "Thanks" to clients who have been loyal to you or who have just bought from you for the first time. If a customer has been a pleasure to work with, tell them. In the end, goodwill comes back in many forms.
Pepsi Goes Social
The good news is that Pepsi instead is giving $20 million away in a social media project called Pepsi Refresh. Some of my design students have already entered their project work for not local for profit agencies hoping to receive funding. It's a smart move on Pepsi's part. My students and their generation are among the most involved generation of socially conscious and engaged people in recent memory and they're more likely to align with a brand that actively supports their causes than one that throws big money at television conglomerates.
What have you done through your brand communications lately to make the world a better place AND align with your brand's constituents?
A Great Creative Brief Makes Great Creative
Some tips:
Demand focus in the objective for the communications.
Demand that a specific audience be outlined in the brief. You cannot speak effectively to everyone.
Expect to see specific, salient insights into that audience's lifestyle, values and demographics outlined in the brief.
Insist on a single-minded, unique main message. You cannot make great brand communications without it.
We like to agree on where and how the communications will show up. We also like to assure that there will be a specific call to action for the audience to make sure your brand communications get a real response. Contact Tiffany Sauder at tiffany@discoverelementthree if you'd like us to craft a powerful creative brief for your brand communications! It will make all the difference in the creative you hold in your hand in the end.
Can Creativity Be Learned?
Listening to this discussion of creativity made me squirm in my chair. For over 20 years, I've essentially been teaching professionals and students to be more creative....successfully. In fact, Jonathan Plucker, Educational Psychology professor at IU in Bloomington, teaches and studies creativity. He says that there are many myths about creativity and that there are a number of things we can all do to boost our creativity. In fact, his students DO learn to be more creative. Plucker says, "If you believe that creativity techniques will work for you, they probably will."
Quirky creativity? That's one way of looking at it. But for those of us who make our living being creative on budget, on time and on strategy, it's anything but quirky. The creative problem solving process can be tracked (and has been: see Min Basadur's Simplex creative problem solving process chart).
Our brains, in this age of information, must be kept flexible, just like our bodies. Tom Monahan, founder of Before and After, is a brain trainer. He regularly teaches methods for stretching your brain to be more flexible and creative. I teach some of his techniques to my students at Herron School of Art and Design and I see many wonderful results from students – who often amaze even themselves.
So no matter what you do, whether it involves creating brand communications or doing tax consulting, you CAN learn to be more creative!
The Two Steps to Great Advertising: What To Say and How To Say It
Bernbach went on to develop advertising that started what became known as the Creative Revolution of the 60's and 70's by using insights into human nature, emotions that created the desire to purchase. His was not a scientific method but rather one based in artistry, creativity and brutal honesty. Brand communications that were developed as a result included the famous Volkswagen campaign in which the car was shown alone on a white background with headlines like, "Lemon" and "Think small." For 40 years, DDB built the brand with myriad simple, compelling messages. Other groundbreaking campaigns include those for Avis ("We try harder."), Alka Seltzer ("Thatsa spicy meatball.") and Levy's ("You don't have to be Jewish to love Levy's.").
When I was a kid, I know that seeing these TV spots inspired me to later choose to work in advertising. My career started in Minneapolis during its creative heyday in the 80's (see Fallon McElligott, Carmichael Lynch) and I can attest to the legacy of Bernbach's creative approach there. It lives on still in work done in New York, London, LA, Minneapolis, Chicago and Indianapolis.
Element Three's Brand Chemistry Process, our unique deep dive discovery of the emotional core of your brand, is firmly based in the belief that, before we can create powerful brand communications, we must not only fully understand your brand's unique offering, we must also know your customer's intrinsic reasons to buy. Once we have this knowledge, we can develop advertising that I hope even Bill Bernbach would approve.
Two Way Conversations Are So Much Better
Just a few days later, the president took part in a gathering of Republican House members Friday in Baltimore that brought some conciliatory words from both sides, but also some pointed complaints and accusations. See more about this by clicking here.
According to Maureen Dowd of the New York Times, this was the most meaningful exchange yet between the two parties and it was what could be the first real step in having Democrats and Republicans working together for the good of the nation.
What's the point in all of this? Communication is so much more meaningful when it's two way. Let's translate this discussion to your brand communications. Are you allowing your brand's constitutents to respond to your products and services? Social media allows dialogs to develop that can inform your product or service development, even your brand itself. Knowing where and when to have this two way conversation is key. As part of our and marketing and brand positioning strategy, we can recommend the most fruitful places for your brand's two way conversations to take place. So you get as much out of them as your customers.
Logos R Us
A logo is like shorthand for the essence of your organization's offering. It's the flag at the top of the mountain that is your brand. Because of this, it's the most obvious thing that everyone (marketers and consumers) think of when they think of your brand. Your brand, on the other hand, lives and breathes in the minds of your customers, your strategic partners, your competition and your internal audiences. It is the promise your organization represents.
Your brand can be brought to life through a myriad of things including your logo, your communications, your employees' actions and attitudes, your physical structure, products, signage, vehicles, buildings, interiors, clothing, services and systems. Take this altogether and you have what Tom Peters calls "The Brand Experience". This is a more holistic way to think about your brand. Everything your brand does and says affects the brand in the mind of your constituents. So hire us to design your logo. We'll be happy to do it. We'll also ask you about what it actually stands for.
hhhhmmmmm.....
"You must have long-range goals to keep you from being frustrated by short-term failures"
First of all, I'm a sucker for a good quote, but I liked this one for other reasons. I like it for what it told about what was valued and important in their organization.
- I learned they value long-range planning. Long range planning takes discipline, foresight and communication to maintain and implement. Clients with those attributes are successful in marketing.
- I learned this organization values risk. Any company that acknowledges there will be failure, is a company that embraces calculated risk. Successful marketing and brand development requires companies take on calculated risk.
- I learned this company understands there is not a straight line to success. Marketing is based on testing, testing, testing - and measuring response. There is not a straight line to lead generation, but rather a process of hypothesis, execution, evaluation, adjustment, execution, evaluation, and on and on.
Are these characteristics present in your organization?
Indiana. Yes, it's a brand.
It got me thinking about Indiana and even Hoosiers as a brand. States definitely need to clearly articulate their unique selling points when pitching themselves as a place to do business to the outside world. I imagine the average Hoosier, if asked, would describe Hoosiers as hard-working, value-centered, and relatively conservative. While that may or may not be an accurate description, those are not the unique selling points that differentiate our great state. At least not in terms that matter when pitching Indiana to newcomers.
From an economic development standpoint, what I heard about Indiana is:
- Affordable housing
- Fiscally sound
- Progressive posture on taxes
Mac, PC or something else entirely?
My answer: I've worked in advertising and brand communication since before computers existed. The Mac interface is frankly more fun, more visual and more intuitive and as a creative thinker, I'd rather be looking at it all day than at the other choice. Mac also seems to be the common platform for those like me who work in brand development and marketing creativity so using this platform lets me speak the same language as my colleagues.
What are you and why?
Defer Judgment When You're Generating Ideas
Generating ideas is a key skill for developing brand communications. So here's a simple tip: don't stop and judge too fast. Come up with lots of ideas first. Work fast. Let yourself come up with as many ideas as possible. Think quantity, not quality. Later, go back over your ideas and judge them. Most of your ideas may not work but you'll have more good ones to choose from, too.
Really Doing Things Differrently...What's At Risk?
I see the same thing in organizations. A marketing director may come to the table expressing great enthusiasm for doing something really different in the marketplace to gain awareness and to drive the market and the brand forward. This is music to any brand consulting group's ears. Typically, creative teams thrive on this sort of directive and will deliver their very best work. Yet if the brand organization doesn't make any internal changes in how it approves or accepts creative work or marketing thinking, the same old comments get made and the work, in the end, can be more of what the market already has.
What's at risk if your brand communications are truly 'stand out' in your market? What's at risk if you create an internal process that allows for new ideas to be tried, even if only in some test markets? What's at risk if you don't?
I Feel The Tide Turning....Some Good, Some Bad
What's your experience?
Checkpoints Make For Great Creative Executions
To make things easy, we take a step-by-step approach. Once the key differentiators of the brand are identified, we create a series of potential brand boards that show how your brand might look and sound in type, copy, image and color. Once a directional board is chosen for the brand, everyone feels more confident as we develop brand identity. Next, for instance, many Indianapolis marketing firms may jump right to tight, comprehensive layouts to show creative concepts. We prefer to show several rough sketches so that the client has an early chance to give feedback. Once a rough sketch is selected and feedback is given, the entire team has a plan of attack agreed upon before moving into a tighter executional stage.
Checkpoints are good because they offer a chance for communication and clarity for the marketing partner and for the client. They also make for great creative executions.
How vs. What
It's the same when you're thinking of hiring a creative resource company. Make sure the work is quality. Then make sure the people are quality, too. You'll change agencies less often, build a long term relationship – and get better brand communications.
It's The Happ-Happiest Time of the Year
Here's another idea: instead of saving up the cheer for the holiday season, find ways to bring cheer to your brand's fans all year long, a little bit at a time. If you spend, say $5,000 at the holiday season (a small amount for most brands), you might create a number of meaningful events during the year in which you bring experts in to speak on a relevant topic Or you might spend the money creating content on your Web site and inviting special guests in with a password. Because content, to many, is more important than a box of flavored popcorn or a slightly drunken party. And in the long run, it brings more value to your brand.
Christmas and Holiday Cards: Make it Personal
Unfortunately, the 'to-do' of getting a Christmas card out the door or a small gift of appreciation is thrown in among the other million things that must be accomplished at year end.
Here are a couple of points to remember when sending out your company card
- Make it personal. Keep the correspondence as personal as you can. If you are sending out a card via mail, have the person who works most often with that client add a personal note. It doesn't have to be long, just relevant. If you choose to send out an email, use personalization strings to individualize the mass communication and add a video element from your CEO. This can be done very inexpensively with a Flip video or partnering with a company like Cantaloupe.
- Keep it on Brand. Your holiday card is part of your brand image and should reflect the personality, values and essence of your organization. It is important that this touch-point build upon the visual and verbal branding of your company as well.
Keep in mind these two simple rules and you will have greater impact with your 2009 Holiday/Christmas card.
I would love to see your company's card - upload a .pdf or link and we'll be sure to take a look!

