Marketing Munchies

Font soup

October 13, 2009 in Marketing Communications, design | No comments

fontimage1 Fonts come in all shapes and sizes. Add a pinch of Serif or sans serif, a dollop of roman, bold, italic, and then stir in a little condensed. You can assemble any combination of these like bold italic, condensed light roman…to get your perfect recipe. It’s wonderful, yes, but as you scan the list of ingredients and delve deeper into the pot, you quickly learn how complex, and unpredictable, fonts truly can be.

1. The first cut.

Imagine. You navigate the myriad of typefaces and find that perfect font, the one you absolutely can’t live without. It’s tall, trim, with just enough edge, but not too showy to take away from the message. But, hold on! Don’t get too attached to that pretty face just yet. Unfortunately, all fonts are not created equal.

2. Read the label.

You see, font designers, including those at Adobe, and Bitstream, personalize fonts. It’s like a signature. The serif turns up, it turns down, maybe it disappears altogether when it becomes italic. Or perhaps it is a bit fatter, squattier, or even thinner. Don’t assume your Century Roman is the same as client X, or client Y, or even mine. They may be subtle changes, but different nonetheless. Make sure we all have the same font, from the same foundry, so we see the same thing.

3. Salt or Pepper? Mac or a PC?

OK, so you chose the perfect typeface, you have the same creator, but wait, are you a Mac or a PC? That’s right, many fonts are platform specific-Postscript and TrueType on the PC, Postscript or T1 on the Mac. And they don’t like to talk very much. But you need a little of both, perhaps? Well, thanks to the recent collaboration between Adobe and Microsoft, thousands of fonts now work on both systems. This new cross-platform font file format, called OpenType®, makes translation back and forth between systems easy.

But, beware. Not all fonts are available in OpenType yet. The good news is that there are some great converters available, including one I particularly like called FontXChange® from FontGear.

Fonts. They’re enough to send any designer into a tizzy, never mind the average PC user! Happy Fonting!

Tags: design, Marketing Communications, typography

The Alphabet Soup of Naming

May 29, 2009 in Marketing Communications | No comments

Today’s Boston Globe has an interesting article about the renaming of Jurys Boston Hotel to The Back Bay Hotel, in an effort by its Dublin-based parent company to rebrand all of its properties to reflect their geographic locales. In a time when I often hear the lament, “all of the good names are taken,” and “you need to make up a name to stand out these days,” this article made me think. Are companies who might otherwise benefit from the use of solid, descriptive names missing out in their corporate and product naming efforts because of our own cynicism?

The last quote in the article should make any naming expert, corporate executive, or product manager take a pause. Stephen Johnston, general manager of the hotel stated it simply. “It’s kind of amazing that the name hasn’t been used before.”

Yes, many of the “good” names are taken, but as you venture into the naming game don’t get discouraged. Perhaps you may best be served by having a unique name created just for you. But the lesson learned is don’t discard any options in the early stages of development. Use all of the search engines to your advantage before you settle. Name development is a critical element of your overall brand and any effort should be conducted thoughtfully, thoroughly, and with the aid of experts who know how to sort through the alphabet soup of naming.

Advertising debate: The need for conversion data

May 15, 2009 in Marketing Communications | No comments

Last week I ventured out to sunny Santa Monica, CA to attend the Digital Hollywood conference in Santa Monica, CA with stellar marketer, Maura Welch from WeeWorld. Given the dreary weather we were having here in Boston, when I got the call from Maura to join her on this trip I said, “Why not!” Maura was on a panel discussing changes, challenges, and innovations in advertising and marketing to consumers with the advent of the web, social media, and e-commerce.

OK, that was a mouthful, but I will press on since the conference was chockfull of information about advertising, innovation, blogs, podcasting, broadband, mobile, in-video, in-game, social networks…the list goes on. New media has definitely made information more accessible but personally (my true confession), it has become a bane to my existence. As a marketing communications professional, keeping up with all of the new venues for spending ad dollars, coupled with the demand to prove a direct correlation between spending and sales, makes this job more challenging than ever. And that doesn’t just go for those of us who are going it alone. Any senior marketing executive faces the same challenges, whether he or she is in a corporate environment or working in an advertising, marketing or creative agency.

However, gaining conversion data that is real and adds value is not always easy. Too often useless numbers are thrown around to fool clients (or senior management) into approving a program that may or may not work. For example, if you use click-through data to measure the effectiveness of an online campaign that is being managed through your own site and shopping cart, you will get solid data. However, if you are trying to measure the effectiveness of an advertisement in a consumer magazine in the sale of products that are carried in thousands of retail chains (say for example, toothpaste) that’s a different animal. More direct research that may not, in reality, be worth the expense is the only way to get viable data.

The point here is that in some cases you just have to work with experience. A solid advertising campaign, designed for reach and awareness in a targeted market, is still a valuable element of your marketing strategy, and will help to drive sales even if not directly measurable.

Build a scanable path for optimum reach.

April 25, 2009 in Marketing, Marketing Communications, Writing/editing, design | No comments

anglesey-path2 Think about it. Consumers today are bombarded with information-online, in print, via email, on billboards and television. Advertisements abound with details about things we want, even more things we don’t want, and the all-important things we don’t realize we want. This abundance of information, coupled with the fact that we have less time than ever to read and digest it, makes planning your communications both visually and in terms of content, with this fact in mind.

So how do you break through the clutter? Build a scanable path for your readers through headlines, subheads, and imagery that visually sit on different planes. Regardless of the medium, following a few simple tips will make your communications pop and ensure salient points are visible in seconds.

Level 1: Write headlines to pique curiosity. Headlines are the first level of messaging that readers receive from you. A strong headline conveys the start of your story in a few simple words. Your objective is to move readers to the next level-your subheads.
Level 2: Use subheads to tell a story. Most readers scan subheads, first, so build a snapshot of your message here. Focus on the top level of your message here, to create interest and draw readers in so they want to read more.
Level 3: Supply supporting details on a sub level. You’ve created interest with your headlines, now it’s time to provide supporting details with short paragraphs under your headlines for those readers who require more information. Here you can use more words to get into the nuts and bolts of your offerings for those readers who are intrigued to move beyond the headlines.

To distinguish the information presented at these levels, how you design the content is just as critical. The best graphic designers I know truly make this an art and are a valuable resource in achieving optimal results.

Choose different fonts and colors to accent key information. Choosing different sizes, weights, and colors for your headline and subhead fonts will draw readers to this information first. However, be consistent to support the visual path you are creating for your readers.
Use photos as a visual storyboard. Images that support headlines and subheads as readers scan your information are powerful, visual reinforcements to the text to help the reader follow your message path.
Incorporate transitions strategically. Whether you use white space, folds, fades, light, or any other method, be sure to place these transitions strategically so they do not disrupt the flow you created, but enhance and support it.

If you have more thoughts to contribute, please comment or send me an email.

How does messaging affect color, type, and imagery in design?

April 14, 2009 in Marketing, Marketing Communications, design | No comments

I recently had coffee with one of my all time favorite creative guys, Paul Ciavarra. After meeting nearly 15 years ago, Paul and I ended up living in the same town. After catching up on each other’s lives and families, I asked Paul to lend some insight into the question: What affects your creative choices when working with a client? Without hesitation, “corporate messaging” was his immediate reply.

A company’s positioning, its core messages, and how it wants to be viewed should be the driving factor in all creative decisions. That includes color, type, and imagery, across any delivery medium—online, print, video, etc. Whether you have the benefit of working with a creative team or you need to “go it alone” as a smaller start up operation, here are some tips for making your creative execution work.

Before you begin any creative work, take the time to:

1.    Define your corporate positioning. Clearly communicate who you are, what you do, and where you fit in your market.
2.    Define your company’s personality. Are you aggressive or compassionate, youth-oriented or mature?
3.    Define your audience. Are you talking to financial executives, consumer gamers, or software engineers?

Once you know who you are and what image you want to portray to your target audience, then you can move onto developing a creative platform that can be used across the spectrum of communications tools:

1.    Choose 3-5 core colors that fit your corporate image. Don’t choose purple because YOU like it. Think about the look and feel you want to convey to your audience. Are you eco-friendly? Then you may choose browns, greens, and yellows. Financially-focused? Then perhaps darker, muted colors are more your style. Aggressive, hip? Then you’ll probably gravitate to clean, crisp, bolder colors. Regardless of your personality, sticking to 3-5 colors from a complementary palette that you repeat across the spectrum of marketing tools is a good start in designing a consistent image.
2.    Use 3 complementary typefaces that are applied consistently, for example, in headlines, body text, and accents. As a conservative company you may take a traditional approach and choose a bold, sans-serif font for headlines, an elegant, serif face for body text, and a simpler italic font for captions. But, if your business is more progressive, you may opt for a complementary selection of all sans serif faces. Note that if you are working with a designer he/she may take the liberty with more, but for the novice this will keep you out of font overload. With thousands of typefaces available, and the advent of desktop publishing it’s easy to mix and match and quickly distract the reader from your message.
3.    Select imagery that reflect your personality and supports your messaging. The choice between photography and illustration, stylized or direct approach, can sometimes be subjective. However, try not to influence image selection with your own preferences. Think about what would be best communicate your message to a customer. Is it important to show a piece of hardware or product packaging that will be recognizable to a consumer? Or, do you need to invoke an emotion with your audience that is best conveyed through artwork?

Regardless of the color, type, or imagery choices you make, the important thing is to remain consistent in your use of these individual elements across all of your marketing materials. And, be cognizant in your selection that all colors, and in particular, typography, translate well in traditional print, digital print, online, and video applications.

Thoughts, comments, any additional tips you’d like to share? Let me know.

Tags: color, corporate messaging, creative, design, typography

5 Surefire Ways to Maximize Partner Marketing Dollars

April 1, 2009 in Channel Marketing | No comments

The other day my friend and channel marketing maven, Jacqueline Franklin from Routes2Market, sent out an email blast addressing the state of partner marketing dollars. Given the current economic climate and trends, it’s a poignant and timely piece I am compelled to share with all of you. Following is Jacqueline’s message in its entirety:

Make ‘em stick!

cap2 A few days ago, I happened upon a gag gift that my husband and I received for an anniversary early in our marriage. As I recall, this gift was intended to bring humor and teamwork to our lives (likely given to us by one of our single friends). This ridiculous game requires each player to wear a colorful cap covered in Velcro. Players take turns throwing foam balls at one another’s heads in an attempt to get them to stick. While I cannot speak from personal experience, it turns out it’s not very easy to hit a bobbing head with a foam ball. As when throwing spaghetti against the wall, sometimes you have to throw a lot of pasta before something sticks.

So it may be no surprise that spaghetti thrown against the wall reminded me of partner marketing funds. Companies allocate a staggering amount of marketing dollars (be it market development funds [MDF] or Co-op) each year to help their channel partners market, promote, and sell their products and services. Unfortunately, some 25 percent of those funds (that’s billions of dollars) go unused. Flash to the head-scratching finance person (sans Velcro cap) trying to rationalize the return on the 75 percent that is utilized, and it’s all just a little confounding.

More often than not, when asked why they leave that “free money” on the table, business partners cite lack of time and resources to put those funds to good use. When you dig a little deeper, they often confess that it’s not worth the effort to comply with vendor restrictions or tedious claim processes. Translation: too much work; too little pay-off.

While re-engineering the MDF approval/claim process is outside the scope of this post (not to mention a real yawner), we offer the following practical ideas for maximizing the dollars you’ve dutifully set aside for partner marketing. (You have set aside dollars, haven’t you?):

1. Take it from the top. Build a snapshot of your company’s top initiatives for the year. When will you be announcing and releasing new products and services? What new markets will you pursue? When will important corporate marketing and demand generation initiatives hit throughout the year? What marketing themes, if any, will your company promote?

2. Identify how partners fit (or not). From this picture, identify if and how your different partner types plug into these objectives. What, if anything, can you package up and extend to partners in a “low-touch” manner? What opportunities are there for partners to participate in direct mail, advertising, and seminars (including web-based and social-networking media), effectively extending your reach into their customer bases?

3. Share the plan. Create a brief deck of slides to articulate these opportunities for your partners (10 slides max!). This creates a foundation for planning and starts the creative juices flowing. Presenting a picture of where you’re going and how you see them fitting into your initiatives goes a long way toward helping partners understand their role in the equation.

4. Identify the gaps. Once partners understand where you’re headed, listen to their objectives and jointly identify the gaps. At this point, you can decide if their marketing initiatives make sense in context of your plan, and entertain funding those as well. money

5. Enjoy a beautiful thing. The appeal of this approach is the ease with which both parties can rationalize direction, choose their participation, and get the most from their respective investments. It also eliminates the mystery around what you are likely to approve and hastens the process because you’ve agreed to a plan ahead of time.

Finally, make sure your channel account managers have the tools and skills needed to drive partner marketing planning. Oftentimes, channel account managers are focused on other operational and selling tasks, and don’t have the time or DNA for marketing.

Companies that master delivery of coordinated partner marketing treat their partner marketing funds as a strategic asset. They arm their channel marketing teams with the tools and information to optimize each dollar, and hold them accountable. If they lack channel marketing resources, they outsource the function (shameless plug here) to ensure every dollar is spent wisely…keeping them, of course, ahead of the curve.

Jacqueline Franklin, the founder of Routes2Market, brings over 20 years of experience helping companies solve their marketing and sales challenges.

Tags: Channel Marketing, MDF, partner marketing

5 Elements of Successful Case Studies

March 26, 2009 in Case studies | No comments

As you’ve seen in my previous posts on this subject, customer case studies can help to improve credibility, expand your reach, and shorten the sales cycle. However, for case studies to be effective they must be well-crafted and relevant.

The most effective case studies contain five important elements:

A good story. The story must resonate with your target audience. You may choose to write about customers by industry, business application, or an important niche.
A strong intro and summary. Don’t forget to summarize your story, including the important details you want your prospects to take away. Remember, many people only read the first and last paragraphs so put extra effort here.
Details, details, details. Be specific. Was there a technology that helped speed up turnaround time? A process that increased cost savings? Or a service that increased employee productivity? Please, don’t rehash generic solutions to common business problems. Explain, in detail, the challenge your customer faced, how and what you delivered, and the end success.
Scanable content. Make it easy for readers to get information quickly. Use subheads, short paragraphs, and bold type to accent key facts.
Keep it brief. Depending where your story is being used, you may need different versions, but in all cases it should be brief.

It’s time to assemble your anecdotes and start building an arsenal of solid, highly relevant customer success stories to bring to your next sales call. Whether online, in print, or communicated verbally, case studies will serve you well in all your business endeavors.

Tags: Case studies, case study, success stories

Shorten the sales cycle with customer case studies

March 24, 2009 in Case studies | No comments

So you’ve targeted your audience, you’ve identified their pain, and you’ve put together a solution that you know will be the answer to their prayers. Problem is, they’re still not buying. Why? Perhaps, unlike you, they haven’t recognized what ails them, or maybe they aren’t convinced that their issues are significant enough to require help. Another problem may be that they don’t see how your product or service will improve their business operations.

Enter the case study. This valuable sales tool can help shorten your sales cycle, by letting you quickly demonstrate your successes in addressing important customer issues, on specific topics, and in targeted industries, featuring real stories that are applicable to your prospects needs. Well-written case studies provide targeted and substantiated information to prospects as they conduct research about your business.

Case studies can help shorten the sales cycle by showing:

• Proof. Demonstrate your success in resolving issues by providing key customer problem/resolution information.
• Relevance. Highlight actual problems the customer may experience that show you understand their business, application, or industry.
• Credibility. Name names. I said this before but it is important. Identifying the customers whose problems you solved with your product or service is critical in supporting the authenticity of your story.

The final post in this series will focus on the 5 elements of effective customer case studies. Stay tuned…

Welcome to Marketing Munchies: A work in progress

March 19, 2009 in Case studies | No comments

I finally did it! After much debate with myself I finally launched my professional blog. Welcome to Marketing Munchies!

It’s not that I didn’t want to publish a blog. I did. Really. I delayed launching this blog, well, because I was scared. Yes, it’s true. I’ve been in marketing communications for over 25 years now so you’d think nothing in this business could scare me anymore. But truth be told, I’m a perfectionist. My close friends and business partners often say I’m too hard on myself because of this trait. However, it was important to me to be sure I could provide relevant, useful information to readers. I knew I needed to make the commitment to writing on a regular basis, which, as many of you know, is not easy when trying to juggle clients, kids, and the dog. So here I am. Ready to commit. Still a little scared, but facing this challenge head on and with a purpose. My goal is share my experience in simple, “bite-sized” pieces, to help others learn and improve their own skills across the broad spectrum of marketing communications.

Comments? I’d love to hear from everyone, but go easy. I know how heated the blogisphere can be, particularly when a new blogger hits the scene. Remember, this blog is a work in progress. I appreciate your help, support, and encouragement in making Marketing Munchies a success.

Repurpose case studies to expand your reach

March 11, 2009 in Case studies | No comments

As I mentioned in my introductory post about case studies, Build your brand with customer case studies, most sales start with prospective buyers conducting research about your company and products. We talked about the power of featuring real customers, with real stories to tell via case studies, or success stories, in my last post, Case studies increase credibility. Now, we are going to take that one step further and look at repurposing this valuable content to expand your marketing efforts and deliver it to prospects through a variety of vehicles. One size does not fit all so it is important to reinforce your message through a variety of mediums.

• Pitch a unique or interesting story to the press. Coverage in news and trade media not only provides powerful exposure, but lends credibility to your message since it is coming from an impartial party.
• Post on your Web site/blog to aid customers in their research. Seeing the story in multiple locations reinforces your message.
• Add to sales presentation. Add a printed copy to your sales proposal or speak anecdotally during your presentation. A series of short, targeted stories that relate to the prospect will open up conversations and energize your discussions.
• Feature at trade shows. Display key customer quotes from case studies in booth graphics and feature in advertising for the event to drive additional traffic to your booth. Then hand out printed copies of the case studies to visitors to deliver the full story.
• Promote through email/direct marketing. Design an email or direct marketing program around your successes. Feature key customers and their stories as part of a serial campaign.

Tidbit: If you have a good story to tell, then share it.

Next: How case studies can help to shorten the sales cycle.

Tags: branding, Case studies, case study, content, success stories, writing

Case studies increase credibility

March 10, 2009 in Case studies | No comments

Look at virtually any B2B Web site, from small consulting firms to Fortune 1000 companies, and you’ll find customer stories. The reason: they work. When you demonstrate your ability to successfully solve problems to real business challenges for real companies, prospects and customers listen. Moreover, when you hone your message to a particular audience, whether targeting an industry or reaching out to a broader segment of the population, clearly illustrating the problem, solution, and benefit to the reader will put your offering into consideration.

To build your business credibility through case studies, consider the following:

•    Identify the pain. Focus on the one thing plaguing your audience and structure the story around it. What is the problem your product or service solves? What can the customer do faster, better, or easier with your offering? What value-add do you provide to make them work smarter, be more efficient, or save money?
•    Segment your stories. When building your arsenal of stories, think about your target audience and segment your stories to focus on specific verticals or applications.
•    Name names. A case study that omits the company name often portrays the wrong image. It makes the reader stop and question whether this story is true or simply the imagination of someone in the marketing department. Identify your customer’s business name and those involved in the process to personalize and verify your story,
•    Add quotes. A short, poignant quote from your customer can be run within the text and/or used as a call out in the document to draw the reader’s attention to your strengths.
•    Stay relevant. Don’t stray into the past and get nostalgic. Keep your message current and on topic. Remember, the objective here is to solve real challenges customers are facing today.

Add credibility to your business today by sharing your customer successes. See what a difference a little storytelling can make.

Tags: Case studies, case study, content, customer stories, success stories, writing

Build your brand with customer case studies

February 18, 2009 in Case studies | No comments

A 3-part look inside this powerful marketing tool.

Let’s face it. In today’s wired world, most sales start with prospective customers conducting research about you, your products, and your services online. They visit your Web site to see what you have to offer. They look for reviews in trade publications and the business press. And, they seek advice from others across social networking sites—blogs, wikis, Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter—what top analysts Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff at Forrester Research call the “Groundswell,” a social phenomenon that is forever changing the way we do business. One way to ensure you make the short list in this raucous sales environment is to let your customers speak, praise, even enlighten prospects through customer case studies—comprehensive stories that demonstrate your ability to solve real life business problems. These are not fluff marketing pieces, but rather detailed accounts of customer challenges and the solutions you provided for successful results. Customer case studies can help you build your brand and grow your business in three distinct ways:

• Increase credibility. The more you demonstrate your success through actual customer stories, the more your audience will believe you are a viable problem solver. Customer testimonials woven throughout your case studies will support your message and identify you as a reliable source.

• Expand reach. Case studies can be repurposed to expand your marketing efforts. Use it to pitch a unique or interesting story to the press, reference during sales calls to reinforce your claims, use at trade shows to drive traffic to your booth, and post on your Web site/blog to aid customers in their research.

• Shorten the sales cycle. Potential customers can see a quick snapshot of what you’ve done for others and relate these experiences to their own situations. By illustrating the problem/solution cycle in advance with actual cases, you can highlight your expertise, often shortening the time it takes to close a sale.

In subsequent posts we will cover each of these topics in more detail, as well as get into the nuts and bolts of writing these pieces, to help you build your arsenal of effective customer case studies.

Tags: Case studies, case study, customer stories, success stories, writing

Do you see what I see?

February 4, 2009 in Writing/editing | 2 comments

For whatever reason I’ve been blessed (frankly, sometimes it feels like cursed) with eagle eyes. No matter where I go, or what I do I see typos, bad grammar, and misaligned words and images. I can’t remember reading a book where there wasn’t a typo. I drive down the road and see them on highway signs. I see more typos at the movies when the credits are rolling at the end. With all the people listed in the credits not one of them is a proofreader for what they’re scrolling on the screen? And, I see them on Web sites and in blog posts on a regular basis. Why is it that no one else seems to notice these obvious mistakes? Could it be that no one else really cares? If that were the case I would end this post now. But I do believe that most professionals do care. So, below I’ve provided 7 key proofreading techniques I use, to help you in your next written or graphical endeavor.

1. Step forward then back. Reading your copy from left to right, beginning to end, as your readers will helps to ensure your prose makes sense. However, reading that same copy from right to left and bottom to top helps keep you focused on individual words, rather than sentences, to ensure those words are spelled correctly and that punctuation is used properly. Start at the end of the document and work your way forward for best results.
2. Turn it upside down. If you need to align text, numbers, or images, a simple way to check the alignment is to view your page upside down and from each side. Think this doesn’t work for electronic documents? Well think again. Sure, you can’t easily turn the page upside down when viewing a Web page. But, you can print out the page (see step 6 below). By viewing the page from different angles it takes the focus off of the content and puts it onto the visual aspects.
3. Take it one at a time. Don’t try to proof for every type of error at once. Create a list of what you need to proof for and reread the document, watching for one type of error at a time. Look for spelling, then capitalization, punctuation, titles, subtitles, columns, math, and pagination. Check for line spacing, alignment of columns, captions, font sizes and styles, color use, and rules. Check that captions match their images. Then look at the document again as a whole to see that it all fits together.
4. Look it up. There are wonderful reference books and tools available, even for the novice writer. I never leave home without my Chicago Manual of Style, The Merriam-Webster dictionary, and The Associated Press Stylebook. These tools also have online versions that you can use to personalize for your specific needs. Don’t forget to use spell check in your word processing application too. Another nice little book you should have in your library is Strunk & White’s The Elements of Style. And, don’t forget your friends and colleagues. Another set of eyes is a great tool and asset to any proofreader.
5. Print it out. Whether you are writing or designing for print or online, always, ALWAYS print out your document to proofread it. Eyes get fatigued looking at words and images on the screen for an extended period of time. And while you’re at it, cover it up. Use a blank sheet of white paper to block out text and graphics to let you focus on one line or visual at a time.
6. Read aloud and slowly. Does your writing sound the same when you read it out loud as you thought it did when you wrote it? Reading your copy aloud and slowly calls attention to inappropriate wording, pauses, and punctuation. It lets you watch for little words that are easy to miss such as “to,” “in,” “it,” and “is.” It may help to identify misuse of a homonym too (i.e., there or their).
7. Got time? When you get ready to proofread, make sure you have adequate time for the task. Proofreading takes time. There is no way around it. If you rush it, you are sure to have mistakes in your materials. It’s that simple. Also, proofreading in the morning, after your eyes have rested overnight, gives you the best chances of success.

I’ve highlighted some of the top techniques I use for successful proofreading. Now it’s time for you to get to work. Take a look at your marketing materials, Web site content, and your past blog posts with fresh eyes and the above seven techniques for successful proofreading. What do you see? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Tags: content, copy, design, proofreading, writing