Archive for category Brand Building
The Building Blocks to a Better Brand
Posted by admin in Brand Building, Brand Positioning on July 27th, 2010
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During a meeting with a client, we noticed our Brand Building Process chart displayed on the wall of his office. Seeing this was wonderful enough, but it also reinforced the importance of brand building and marketing plan execution, for both Marion and our clients.
To the point, when you type the phrase ‘brand building process’ into Google, you notice that our brand building chart appears first. This result shows two things: Marion’s brand building and internet marketing prowess. The chart shows our brand strategy methodology and the Google listing shows our ability to achieve high rankings using our Internet marketing skills.
Marion offers a portfolio of brand building services to foreign and domestic companies seeking to optimize their brand management practices and develop powerful brand building methodologies.
For assistance with the brand building process and our brand consultancy services, please call Marion at 713-623-6444 or email us at info2@marion.com.
The Internet Can Make You Global Player
Posted by admin in Brand Building, Internet marketing on April 8th, 2010
If you think your company is regional player only, then you may be underestimating your role. Perhaps you can step onto the world stage and become a global player! Marion has done exactly that with websites and brand positioning services for companies and professionals that:
- Are restricted geographically in selling branded equipment, but have no such restrictions selling the parts for that equipment anywhere.
- Manufacture custom engineered products of branded equipment where the equipment unaltered has regional distribution only.
- Sell customized commodity products. (One of our customers has become global selling custom printed plastic bags.)
- Have a unique skill that people will travel for, such as revision rhinoplasty or all-on-4 dental implants.
And you have not missed the show! Global Internet usage is still in its infancy. According to Internet World Stats News, over 1.8 Billion people used the Internet last year. As you can see in the table below, the year 2009 ended with 1,802,330,108 Internet users. This represents a mere 26.6% penetration rate globally, making it apparent that there is a lot of room to grow across the world.
| Internet World Statistics Report Internet Users by World Regions – December 31, 2009 |
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| Region | Population | Internet Users | P. R. | % Users |
| Asia | 3,808,070,503 | 764,435,900 | 20.1 % | 42.4 % |
| Europe | 803,850,858 | 425,773,571 | 53.0 % | 23.6 % |
| North America | 340,831,831 | 259,561,000 | 76.2 % | 14.4 % |
| Latam / Caribbean | 586,662,468 | 186,922,050 | 31.9 % | 10.4 % |
| Africa | 991,002,342 | 86,217,900 | 8.7 % | 4.8 % |
| Middle East | 202,687,005 | 58,309,546 | 28.8 % | 3.2 % |
| Oceania, Australia | 34,700,201 | 21,110,490 | 60.8 % | 1.2 % |
| Total World | 6,767,805,208 | 1,802,330,108 | 26.6 % | 100.0 % |
| Source: Internet World Stats, estimates for December 31, 2009. Notes: a) Population data comes from the US Census Bureau; b) Internet estimates come from ITU, Nielsen Online, GfK, official telecommunications regulating agencies and other trustworthy sources; c) Mexico is included in Central America and Turkey is included in Europe, according to the United Nations grouping; d) P.R. means the Penetration Rate, in percentage. Copyright © 2010, Miniwatts Marketing Group. | ||||
Source: http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm
To go global you need do some brand building, particularly brand positioning, to reflect what services or products you can provide for customers all over the world. Then, you need a custom web site design that states your brand message clearly. The website must be Search Engine Optimized (SE0) and you must do some Internet Marketing.
Need help? Call Marion at 713-623-6444.
The Power of Brands
Posted by admin in Brand Building, Brand Positioning on April 1st, 2010
Are brand names still as important to consumers as they were five years ago? Previously, large retailers, like Walmart, did not think so. The assumption was that name brands were not as significant to the consumer in tough times, especially when saving more money really matters. What would you do if your favorite brand of shampoo that you buy without ever considering another was no longer on the shelf at your local store?
Over the years, more generic and store brands have flooded the shelves trying to compete with the name brands that have been pushed on consumers for as long as they can remember. These successful brand strategies are not easily forgotten. People have established a certain loyalty to these brands and when they are no longer available, customers can become very disheartened, as Walmart found out this past year.
Walmart believed they could improve margins by reducing the number of name brands they carried, but when traffic and sales fell for the first time in the retailer’s history, they realized the power that brands still hold. They are now in the process of returning about 300 previously eliminated items and are even returning branded point-of-purchase displays that were removed in their tougher clean-store policy. Walmart may still cut back on some products, but they have to tread carefully, as people except to find their favorite brands at lower prices at Walmart.
Remember, brands still matter.
If your brand disappeared, would your customers be upset? The Marion Group’s brand building services can help keep your brand strong among the masses. Check out our brand building strategy.
Need help? Call Marion at 713-623-6444.
Marion Designs 2009 Year-End Review for DISA, Inc.
Posted by admin in Annual Report, Brand Building, Brand Positioning, graphic design on February 25th, 2010
The Marion Group had the honor of providing our graphic design services for DISA, Inc.’s 2009 Year-End Review.
DISA is a leading provider of innovative employee screening solutions and third-party administration services. So, when creating this year-end review, Marion needed to be able to take technical information and graphically represent it in a creative and attractive way.
For the cover, Marion used a textured black paper called Classic Columns XL and applied a silver foil that was stamped and embossed with their logo. The contrast of the silver on the black, combined with the texture of the paper, creates a striking juxtaposition for the reader, even before they open the year-end review.
On the inside of the year-end review, Marion used a 100# gloss paper with dull text and applied a spot ultra varnish on various images and throughout the inside of the review. Like the cover, the contrast of the dull paper with the spot UV coating created a nice distinction that is visually stimulating.
Visit Marion’s graphic design portfolio to view more of our work.
This is the second year-end review that The Marion Group has created for DISA, Inc.
About DISA, Inc.
DISA has been providing full-service employee screening solutions for over 20 years. DISA offers a comprehensive line of employee screening services that are designed through experience and innovation, delivered with today’s most advanced technologies and with workplace safety in mind, including drug and alcohol testing, background screening, occupational health screening and online safety and substance abuse training.
For more information of how The Marion Group can provide your company with creative and interesting graphic design that showcases your corporate identity and brand position, call us at 713.623.6444 or email us at info2@marion.com.
Find Your Brand Identity, Don’t Let It Find You
Posted by admin in Brand Building, Brand Positioning, Brochure Design, Logo Design on January 27th, 2010
At the root of your corporate image and corporate identity is your logo, your single symbol to the world of what your company stands for. It is the foundation and the icon for your company. When your customers see your logo, they are reminded of all their experiences with your company; what they have seen, read, heard and felt about your company. It is critical then that your logo reflects the nature and spirit of your company in a positive way, and if you don’t clearly identify who your company is, you might get an identity that you don’t necessarily want.
Recently, The Marion Group designed a campaign for Venture Cotton Cooperative. We began with their logo design. In order to determine their corporate identity, we first looked at their business plan. We needed to find out who their target audience was – who they were speaking to – and what they wanted to portray as a company. What did they want their customers to know about them? Where did they want to go, as a company, in the future? These were things that needed to be identified before the “digital paintbrush” touched the canvas.
Finding Who Your Target Audience Is
We determined that their target audience was the independent cotton farmer. Contrary to the stereotype that the cotton farmer is simple and uneducated about concepts of “finance” and “world markets” and “cooperatives,” they are, in fact, hard workers and very intelligent, especially regarding the interests of their business and the world markets for their industry. They have to be. This business is their livelihood!
We also looked at their competitors. In this case, pretty much all of their competitors, for the most part, had the same look, used the same colors and had a generic feel almost as if no thought was put into it. It seemed that they were targeting the stereotyped farmer.
Implementing Your New Brand Identity
So, for Venture Cotton Cooperative, we introduced new colors, styles and concepts for their logo design. We supplied them with various options to choose from that were unique and different and expressed what their company was about.
Once they chose the logo, we then added to their brand identity with their brochure design and trade show display. In this way, their brand identity and message is consistently showcased throughout their marketing materials.
So, how can my brand identity be showcased? View our Graphic Design Portfolio.
For more information on how The Marion Group can help your company find and develop its brand identity, give us a call at 713.623.6444 or email us at info2@marion.com.
The Marion Group Completes Foodservice Distributor Site
Posted by admin in Brand Building, Brand Positioning, Uncategorized, Web Design on December 8th, 2009
Marion has completed the newly-redesigned corporate website for Jake’s Finer Foods at jakesfinerfoods.com. Marion was responsible for brand positioning, content development and custom web design. The site features a distinctive look for the Jake’s brand and an appealing, easy-to-navigate structural design that encourages new visitors to learn more about Jake’s diverse service offerings and provides a wealth of information and services to Jake’s existing customers.
In development for most of 2009, the new site highlights the varied benefits that Jake’s provides to its customers. The diversity of Jake’s customer base is reflected in four distinct business segment buttons, drawing retail customers to information that is most pertinent to them, while doing the same for multi-unit, independent and international customers as well.
According to Kevin Ullrich, vice-president of Sales and Marketing for Jake’s, “The site is designed to tie together all of our marketing efforts in other mediums and present it to our customers as a unified resource for servicing their restaurant operation or retail foodservice organization. We feature an online ordering interface, cross-promotion with our social media platforms such as our Facebook page, and links to valuable market information through our buying co-operative, UniPro. Our intention is to give operators a single source for product and industry information, bringing much more value than the typical foodservice distributor offers.” Additionally, the home page showcases a “feature button” directly in the center of the home page that attracts web visitors to the latest news and events at Jake’s.
Ullrich continues, “The addition of the feature button was a key distinguishing factor for our new home page. The button will be used to promote special offers and events, such as our annual Food Show. These are things we don’t want our customers to miss.”
Future enhancements to the site are planned to include a “Request a Culinary Specialist” form for private meetings with Jake’s on-staff culinary experts, the addition of an online Point-of-Sale collateral archive and an RSS feed that will link to real-time market updates and critical information for restaurant operators.
About Jake’s Finer Foods
Since 1946, Jake’s Finer Foods has been a family owned, full-line foodservice distributor and restaurant supply company delivering quality food, great value and exceptional service to foodservice providers and restaurants in Texas and western Louisiana.
For more information on how The Marion Group can help your company with custom web design, call us at 713-623-6444 ir email us at info2@marion.com.
A New Business Development Manager for Marion
Posted by admin in Brand Building, Brand Positioning on November 23rd, 2009
The Marion Group is very excited to announce that Prairie Koen has joined our team as the Business Development Manager. In this new role, Prairie will be responsible for promoting high-level market awareness, while developing new, lasting relationships with those clients interested in long-term strategies.
Prior to joining Marion, Ms. Koen was the Marketing Manager for an international engineering and corrosion control company. With over 8 years of experience in marketing and advertising, Prairie brings with her a wealth of knowledge and talent, which is certain to make an immediate impact at Marion and with our clients.
Talk to Prairie if you are interested in redefining your brand strategy and developing a new, ambitious marketing plan. You can reach Prairie at 713-623-6444 ext 108.
Please join us in welcoming this new addition to our team!
A Business Plan – The Must-Have Battle Plan for the Startup
Posted by admin in Brand Building on November 9th, 2009
A lot of startups come to us with big ideas and sometimes little strategy as to how they are going to win in the marketplace battlefield. The number one question we ask new entrepreneurs is whether or not they are armed with a Business Plan or are in the process of creating one. If they say no, we encourage them to start building one. The better the Business Plan, the better is the possibility for victory.
The Business Plan will help answer the questions of who, what, where, when, why and how about the new company and its products and services. It discusses the target customers and how the company will bring a unique solution to address their needs.
The U.S. Small Business Administration offers sound guidance on how to write a good business plan. They cover topics such as:
- Executive Summary
- Market Analysis
- Company Description
- Organization & Management
- Marketing & Sales Management
- Service or Product Line
- Funding Request
- Financials
- Appendix
Marion can help customers with certain elements of the plan such as:
- Market Analysis (Market Research)
- Product and/or Service Description
Out of the Business Plan springs the Marketing Plan. What the Marketing Plan is and how this emergence happens is discussed on our web page: Market Research & Development of Your Marketing Plan.
To the brave new captains of commerce: give your new idea a solid head start with a well thought out Business Plan. We want to help and see you win. After all, your success is our success at Marion.
Houston Billboards: Random Displays or Ingenious Marketing Strategies?
Posted by admin in Advertising, Brand Building on November 6th, 2009
Inbound: Houston Art Exhibit
Houston has recently showcased some intriguing billboards. One of these is the “invisible billboard” that features large photographic images of the sky and trees. If you commute into Houston from outside the Loop, it’s likely that you have come across some of them.
The Invisible Billboard
What the puzzled commuters probably do not know is that these billboards are the work of artist, Karyn Olivier. The title of her exhibit is “Inbound: Houston” and can be seen from October 26th to November 22nd. There are a total of 13 billboards across Houston featuring photographic images of what you would see if the billboards didn’t exist.
For more information on this artist, click here.
- The “You” Campaign
Another perplexing billboard that gave no indication about what was being advertised or by whom, was the billboard with a white backdrop and the word “YOU” in bubble letters. The non-descriptive billboards have recently changed to include the HTC TouchTM Pro2 phone as the “O” in “YOU”. This two-stage billboard campaign is an innovative way to capture consumers on the go. Your first reaction is confusion, which transforms into a memorable brand experience.
What will marketers think of next?
If you are looking to create a traffic stopping billboard campaign, contact Marion to get the creative wheels turning.
Are Display Ads Really Measuring Up?
Posted by admin in Advertising, Brand Building, Search Engine Marketing on October 5th, 2009
| Online display ads are paid ad placements that may include graphic elements, audio, video or animation and appear on web pages in a variety of sizes and formats. They are also referred to as banner ads. |
How do you know if your display ads are worth your marketing dollars? The standard metric for measuring this media has been click-through rates but according to a recent study by ComScore and Starcom, clicks are a poor way to measure what’s really going on. In fact, the number of people who actually click on display ads has dropped 50% in less than two years and 85% of all clicks are by 8% of internet users. Only 16% of U.S. internet users can be categorized as clickers. In July 2007, it was 32%.
Are internet users ignoring display ads altogether or just becoming savvier viewers?
The study also found that although clicks are down, brand-site visitation and trademark search are up. Internet users may not click on the ad but within one week of viewing, they are 65% more likely to visit the advertiser’s site than someone who’s never been exposed to the ad. Even after four weeks, they are still 45% more likely to visit the advertiser’s site.
Search and display are more effective together than apart. If you relate your display ads to television spots, it is about creating awareness in the prospective buyer’s mind. It’s about building brand awareness verses measuring display ad success through clicks.
Marion Display Ad Example
Some key points to consider when analyzing display ads are:
- How do they fit into the big marketing plan picture?
- How are display ads and search working together?
- How have results improved in brand-awareness studies, purchase-intent increases and engagement rates?
- How are display view-through rates panning out?
- And, if you really want to measure clicks, is your creative message strong enough to demand a click?
If you are considering an online marketing campaign, let Marion guide you in the right direction. We create search engine optimized websites and strategies for your search engine marketing.
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