So you have an idea for a new business, you have worked through all of the kinks, sourced out all of the capital and are ready to hit the ground running. In short, you are ready to create your brand. The time has come to delve into the world of grapihc design. It’s time to design your logo, craft cards, and most importantly, build your brand guidelines. Your brand guidelines are the overall embodiment of every aspect of your company, so needless to say they are super important. Sounds Easy Right? One of the biggest mistakes new business owners make is racing through their branding process. There is a lot more that goes into developing a recognizable brand than slopping together a logo. There are several steps in brand development that many entrepreneurs gloss over which can end up sinking their success before they have even had a chance to […]
Imprint Your Brand In The Hearts Of Your Customers
When you watch a great film or read a great book it impacts you on a deeper level. It leaves you with something that you continue to replay in your mind and your heart. When you visit art galleries or museums you are usually drawn to a specific piece of art and after you leave it sticks with you. There are even those magical times when an advertising agency really nails it and you see an ad that has that same effect. Cool, But How Can I Do That? In a society bombarded by endless streams of advertisements, how do you weed through the clutter? How can a new business make a name for itself amidst the present glut of competition? Raise your hand if you know the answer. You Guessed It! Find a way into the hearts and souls of your prospective clients. The key to functioning in any […]
Five Deadly Sins Of Logo Design
Creativity is something unique to every designer, we all have a creative license so we should all be able to design whatever our hearts desire, right? Not quite, when you’re creating something that will be the face of your company, the thing that will represent your brand for years to come, it is best to rein in that creative freedom just a wee bit. Start Off On The Right Track Start off by teaming up with a graphic designer who can get on the same page as you and see your vision as clearly as you do, then take a big step back and ask yourself, ‘am I on track to commit a graphic design crime?’ If you do not know the answer to that question keep reading. Clean Up The Clutter Minimalism has become popular in all aspects of design, from interior to graphic to architecture. For good reason […]
Is your logo design killing you softly?
Take a long hard look at your current logo, or if you do not have one, take a look at some early concepts you created for it. Now ask yourself this one mighty question, does your logo look a little too familiar? Does it look like other logos? Does it look like a lot of other logos? If the answer is yes, it might be time to get in touch with a graphic designer and go back to the drawing board. Graphic Design, Warning Signs So, you have spent some quiet time alone with your logo, you have analyzed the shit out of it, but you are still not sure if your logo is a dud or not. Here are some things to look for: • Are you using a ‘swooping’ graphic to express a specific type of energy, with the aim of coming across as dynamic and aspirational? Does […]
Keep the Content Train Moving
It’s true, some days you don’t always have the time, energy or inclination to write anything whatsoever – much less content that is engaging, on-brand, and well written. So what happens when you are too busy to come up with a new blog post or you don’t have any current news to share with your followers in your newsletter? Let us let you in on a secret used by many marketing companies… You repurpose the shit out of it, that’s what you do! However, there are limits to what your audience can or will handle for repurposed content. Luckily, our team has a neat little list of tips and tricks to help you use your older information in a way that your audience will enjoy. Read on, friends! Evergreen The key to repurposing old content is to share content that is not outdated. Evergreen content is literally information that is […]
Influencers – Word of Mouth for the Digital Age
For as long as people have had language we have been using it to tell stories and share our knowledge with our community. Our histories were passed down orally in the form of fables with morals – these stories literally helped our species survive. Whoever was the keeper of this wisdom tended to be the most revered person in the community and people would flock to them to learn around the fire. Sound familiar? No? Replace fire with social media and keeper of wisdom with influencer and it will help you understand social media marketing a little bit better. The technology may have changed, but the premise hasn’t. There are people with a high level of trust in the community and others flock to their social media pages to learn all they can, in the form of the influencer’s recommendations. The holy grail of digital marketing is to get people […]
Quick and Easy! Tips to Help Boost Your Social Video Game
Social Media video. Did those words make your heart rate increase with anticipation or dread? If the very thought of video on social media makes your palms sweaty, don’t worry. You can stop stressing out now. Smartphones have made video content a lot more accessible to the average business and marketer. You don’t have to have Coca-Cola’s ad budget to create a compelling video anymore, you just need a little heart, a little can-do attitude and this list! Give It Some Thought Those viral videos of someone getting cracked in the nether regions with a football are shot without a plan, but that doesn’t mean great video storytelling can be told without one. Go into content capturing with a plan and not only will you save time, energy and money, but you will also come out with a more engaging story. Write down your vision frame by frame and if […]