When you manage a brand, you have an image to groom. This is especially true online, where people from all around the world are constantly scrutinizing your brand. What’s more, it takes a very long time to create a positive brand reputation on the Web, but it takes just seconds to ruin it.
What, then, should be monitored to protect your brand’s image and prevent any mishaps? Any posts, feedback, mentions, reviews, testimonials, comments, links and more containing the following should be monitored closely.
Monitoring can be done quite easily by using tools such as RSS
Feeds, Google Analytics/Alerts, Hootsuite, and Twitter Search. If you see any
flags, respond in a timely manner, while being courteous and professional.
Likewise, if you receive positive feedback, show your gratitude- a few words
can go a long way and this will help in spreading a positive online image of
your brand.
Regardless of our culture, gender, or age, we can’t help but be drawn in by the colours surrounding us. Indeed, colours are everywhere, all the time, and they are one of the first elements our brains process when we notice something. Colours are so powerful that they stimulate our nervous system and evoke physiological and emotional states.
Of course, our unique experiences influence how we perceive colours as individuals. This is why the same colour can often mean different things to different people. For example, writing one’s name in red ink may mean nothing to a Norwegian, but it is condemned by a Korean as red is linked to death. So, it should come as no surprise that colour can be part of your marketing strategy to influence your customers’ purchase decisions.
Let’s take a look at some of the most common colours in business and how they are interpreted in North American culture.
o Commands
attention
o Stimulates
senses
o Symbolises
energy, excitement and passion
o Encourages
action; thus, a selling colour
o Represents
cheerfulness and playfulness
o Uplifts
people’s moods
o Stimulates
mental activity
o A
fun, happy colour
o Creates
a sense of calm
o Associated
with nature, environment, vitality, and health
o Soothing
on the eye
o Colour
of money
o Most
popular colour in business and in general
o Implies
loyalty, trust, and conservatism
o Reduces
tension and fear
o A
reliable, responsible colour
o Suggests
authority, boldness, and stability
o A
classic, luxurious feel
o The
ultimate power colour
o Can
add seriousness or weight to a brand
o Colour
of new beginnings
o Symbolizes
simplicity and organization
o Associated
with innocence and peace
o Adds
purity and transparency to a brand
Now, take a look at the colours used in your business’s brand
assets: your logo, brochures, business cards, office, website, and so on. And remember to take into account your
target market. Are your colours painting the picture you want reflected in your marketplace?
Achieving great results from a marketing agency has two parts to it. Here is the obvious part: you should hire a company that best fits all of your requirements. The second and often neglected part is being a good client to work with. Without both parts of the equation, the work that comes out won’t reach its full potential. So, keep the following simple tips in mind when hiring an agency’s services.
Adopting these traits will help you get the most out of your
relationship with your agency – and optimum results from
your branding and marketing programs.
Packing up and moving usually inspires and requires us to sift through all sorts of boxed away bits and pieces from the past. And that's exactly what we did during our recent move to our new Yaletown office. And guess what we found: a picture from the 80s of our old, burned-out office - now the Yaletown Galleria building.
On July 1st of 1981, as owner of USA - Ullrich Schade and Associates, I was at the cinema with my wife Robyn, watching Das Boot - a chillingly realistic WWII movie with lots of burning and torpedoed ships. On our way back home, we smelled smoke, but didn't give it much thought. The next morning, my friend Derek Murray, who owned a photo studio in the same building, called me with the bad news...his office had burned and my office was completely smoke and water damaged. It all started with a fire originating in the clothing importer's space down the hall - and something to do with getting rid of a large quantity of non-licensed kids' Disney clothing they couldn't sell due to copyright infringements. All my work was destroyed. My bookcases, design books, work samples, layouts, advertising memorabilia, graphic camera - the list goes on and on - was gone. In the end my company lost over $100,000 - which was a very large sum in the early 80s. From there, we moved to West Georgia...and now, we have traced our roots back to Mainland Street.
Image of the burned out building.
Ullrich and his wife, Robyn, in the office after the fire.
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