posted by Nicolette Beard @ 9:52 AM
Pantone has set the industry standard for color since 1963 when it created its 500-pigment matching system. In 2010, you can find 5,000+ colors represented.
Consistently pushing the envelope and guiding designers in graphic arts, fashion, industrial design, cosmetics and more, today they launch the birth of new colors with its Pantone Plus Series.
Their mastery at producing the precise hue, tint or shade is critical to its customers, who have called Pantone the “universal color language.”
The Pantone Plus Series is their response to designers worldwide saying, “We want more color.” Creatives can now enjoy 224 (!) new colors including neons and metallics with a digital representation of all color decks. The software applications can push color into all design applications.
Color accuracy is really important; consistency is a measure of a brand, said a designer interviewed in the following video.
We couldn’t agree more.
Source: Cool Hunting is a daily update on ideas and products in the intersection of art, design, culture and technology and features weekly videos that give an inside look at the people who create them.
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4.26.2010
posted by Robin Tooms @ 10:13 PM
I love innovative technology, and I especially love when new technology mediums force us as communicators to challenge the norms and think differently (Apple reference intended).
Apple’s iPad is not a digital reader, it’s an interactive storyteller. Here’s why.
Publishing on Apple’s iPad won’t be about re-purposing existing print content, but rather developing new ways to communicate that take advantage of the medium. As an example of this, view this video from Wired Magazine – they demonstrate the possibilities of an immersive experience with a publication.
Think about how social sharing has changed reading articles online – the ease of sharing means that interesting content is virally spread. The form factor of the iPad will affect branded content on the same scale – anytime access to a large screen of full-color moving content encourages information display using motion and interactivity.
Everything from “magazine” articles to advertisements will become more about storytelling through rich, interactive media than reading. Ultimately, as the Wired video points out, this really will change the relationship a user has to brands.
Personally, I’m excited for the chance to experience this new medium, and as a designer, ready for the opportunity to create for it as well.
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4.16.2010
posted by Nicolette Beard @ 3:57 PM
Every business who invests in paid search advertising intends to drive traffic to its website. A secondary objective of search marketing, especially for household names or large brands is, well, branding. Research shows, however, that many well-known brands are failing to measure up when it comes to managing their online presence. A number of superbrands are relying too much on brand-led terms in search, according to Epiphany Solutions, a search marketing firm in the U.K.
Recently I conducted my own research in a super competitive vertical where the incumbents have a distinct advantage: household name, customer loyalty, embedded infrastructure, etc. My conclusions were similar. The #2 brand in the market was spending 3x that of its competitor, but 92% of their budget was spent on brand name terms (and that was for just one search engine). That leaves a lot of search space to be filled up by competitors who know which keywords to target and who measure conversions rather than clicks.
Not only are big brands cannibalizing their organic search traffic through poor keyword choices and campaign monitoring, they’re letting their competitors encroach on their territory without a fight.
Epiphany’s Director of Search, Andy Heaps, seems to agree:
It’s not necessarily that big brands are complacent when it comes to search – it’s more that the potential of search isn’t always understood, so it isn’t seen as a priority. Brands are also often blinkered by the comfort that comes from the brand traffic they receive, that they often neglect the fact that larger exposure is available through more generic search terms.
For me, the greater pity is knowing that they are throwing thousands of dollars away on paid search when applying strategic, on-page search engine optimization (SEO) would generate more traffic lowering their cost-per-acquisition.
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3.10.2010
posted by Nicolette Beard @ 1:05 PM
As the economy starts to perk up, more visibly in Houston then in other parts of the country, it may be time to measure your customers’ perception of your company. Most companies will know whether they’ve gained or lost market share. But do you know if you’ve lost “mindshare?”
Knowing where you’re positioned in the marketplace relative to the economic recovery is critical to determining how to shift a brand or if any change is needed at all. This is where a brand audit can help.
A brand audit is a holistic way of looking at your business and how your company’s value proposition matches the way it interacts with the rest of the world.
Essentially, brand audits are designed to sort out perceptions about what your company stands for from both internal (your employees) and external customers. Often, the company President or head of HR is too close to the situation to remain objective, so it’s wise to consider an unbiased third party. (hint.hint.)
Mark Healy, partner at Satov Consultants, identifies 4 key components of a basic brand audit:
- Know what’s included in the scope and what’s going to be left out.
- Design study areas and questions that will yield results (data).
- Decide who conducts the interviews and get going.
- Analyze results. Are there themes or gaps?
The fifth step (which is mine) is assess your company’s brand strengths and weaknesses accurately from the data gathered and apply that knowledge consistently across every communication touch point. Your brand audit is only as good as the strategic thinking behind it.
The complete article can be found at The Globe & Mail.
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3.08.2010
posted by Nicolette Beard @ 5:43 PM
Five years ago Kodak sold $15 billion of film. This year consumer film sales will be less than $200 million, according to Jeffrey Hayzlett, CMO, speaking at a recent Houston Interactive Marketing Assoc. (HiMA) luncheon. How does a 100-year-old company make a comeback when it was identified with a dying consumer product?
Hayzlett started with their core brand message: trust and reliability. He fused that with their historically superb science to a new mission – delivering the soul and science of imaging.
Hayzlett called it “Emotional Technology.”
Their’s a resonance behind that phrase that people can feel. With that value proposition, he captured the hearts and minds of his customers. From there, his team’s purpose was to engage, educate, excite and evangelize its product through every marketing channel, but particularly through social media.
This brand strategy has paid off. With Hayzlett’s laser focus, Kodak has reduced its product-to-market cycle to five months, and 13 of their products rank #1, #2, or #3 in their respective categories, half of which didn’t exist two years ago. One product was launched solely using Twitter at a $70 higher price point and there’s a waiting list to purchase.
Hayzlett said that there’s a lot of talk about ROI when using social media, but his definition is a little different. He measures the “Return on Ignoring.” There’s an old saying, “If you continue to do what you’ve always done, you’ll continue to get what you’ve always got.” Hayzlett, a supreme marketer to be sure, understood that he had to radically re-engage his customers using technology as his driver.
Ironically, having reinvented itself as a digital imaging firm, 80% of Kodak’s business comes from B2B companies today. Consolidated Graphics, a long time client of Savage, is one of their success stories.
Hayzlett admitted that he has “a seat at the table” and his job is “to create tension inside the company,” so you may be skeptical about your ability to create structural change within your B2B organization.
But, if you knew you would enjoy $10 billion in sales, see record profits and double-digit growth, then would you pursue a bold re-branding strategy? Because that’s exactly what Hayzlett got.
Hear Kodak’s Marketing Transformation talk with Jeffrey Hayzlett. Starts about 19 minutes into the video. (Registration’s required, but the video is free.)
