Archive for category Brand Positioning
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 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.
Champion Brochure Design Wins Award – A Case Study
Posted by admin in Brand Positioning, Brochure Design on January 12th, 2010
Marion has created thousands of custom brochure designs over the past 27 years from simple and cost effective to elaborate and high-end.
The positioning brochure Marion designed for Champion Technologies is an example of a completely custom, high-end piece.
Champion Brochure Cover Design
Goals
The goal for this brochure was to create a positioning piece that would put Champion Technologies in the same playing field as other larger upstream chemical companies such as Baker Hughes, Nalco… etc. Although Champion Technologies is the world’s largest privately owned upstream chemical company, many in the industry have been unaware of Champion’s presence or have been under the impression that the company was not competitive with large, publicly traded firms.
Champion’s challenge was to position the Champion brand as one of the “Big Players” within the industry and to have their technical capabilities and global experiences stand out from their better known competitors.
Strategy/Tactics
The strategies used to accomplish the objectives were to:
- Determine an overall structure and layout for the text and images, showcasing an overview of company capabilities
- Illustrate each page layout by hand to create unique imagery and diagrams of processes
- Select images that capture Champion’s brand and capabilities
- Lead a custom photography session with hired models and selected props for additional original imagery that would enhance Champion’s new positioning within the industry
- Showcase Champion’s high level of sophistication, technical know-how and global reach to again enhance their positioning, by utilizing high-end printing and binding techniques including:
- Spot dull varnish
- UV coating throughout
- Custom die cut pocket
Results
The end result showcased a full-color, 8-page brochure that encompassed the company image and qualities of leadership and innovation.
Once the brochure was delivered to its intended audience, the awareness of those unfamiliar with Champion Technologies rose significantly. This was determined by an increase in the unaided recognition rating measured from a pre- and post-brochure survey. This positioning brochure has proven to have played a part in the new recognition and awareness of the Champion brand and capabilities.
Additionally, through the use of the selected photography and illustrations, the piece successfully conveyed that Champion is a worldwide player, a technology pioneer, a proactive leader and a people- and service-oriented company in the upstream chemical industry.
The Champion brochure received the Communicator Awards Gold Award of Excellence.
To see other examples of recent brochure designs, check out Marion’s portfolio.
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!
Keeping Your Brand Consistent
Posted by admin in Brand Building, Brand Positioning on August 5th, 2009
Every company has a brand. But it’s important to remember to keep your brand consistent as long as your customers still view your brand in a positive light.
Image Courtesy of Image Shack
Notice the image to the left. While both of these brands create positive feelings about their brand in the minds of their loyal customers, only one brand has remained consistent – Coca-Cola.
The problem with changing you brand image is, not only sinking tons of money into the rebranding (to replace your company trucks, reformat your website, replace all of your stationary and business cards and even your email signatures), but that it alters the perception of the brand in the minds of your customers.
By keeping your brand and your branding message consistent through your marketing and advertising, you can strengthen your brand identity within your industry and in the minds of your customers.
In 2001, the US market share for the soft drink industry was:
Coca-Cola – 43.7%
Pepsi Co. – 31.4%
Cadbury/Schweppes – 15.8%
The Marion Group specializes in Brand Positioning and Brand Building Services to help foreign and domestic companies build a foundation for their marketing strategy and marketing mix.
If your company is just starting out, Marion offers Logo Design Services to help your company find its image. Visit our Graphic Design Portfolio to see some examples of our work for some of our clients here in Houston and around the world.
New Web Designs Reflect a Changing Economy
Posted by admin in Brand Building, Brand Positioning, Web Design on July 22nd, 2009
Check out these new website designs developed by Marion for some of our Houston customers. Note how their business models and positioning are in-sync with the new economy. All are graphically appealing (of course), clear on messaging and easy to navigate.
Turner Bros. Web Home Page Design
“Lifting and Transportation Services for the North America Industrial and Energy Marketing.” Turner Brothers is riding the green wave with Wind Energy Solutions – an uplifting site.
BA Urban Solutions Web Home Page Design
BA Urban Solutions is an REO (Real Estate Owned) Asset Management Company dedicated to “Bringing the Dream of Home Ownership Back to Urban Communities” by making banks and prospective home buyers happy.
Hoffer Furniture Web Home Page Design
Instead of purchasing furniture for a new office in an uncertain economy or to stage an empty home for sale, try “Furniture Rental for Homes and Offices” from a firm “Serving the Greater Houston Area.” Ever heard of the “Hoffer Offer – You Just Can’t Beat It?”
Is your company in-sync with the new economy? Learn more about how The Marion Group can help your company find your brand positioning in this new economy.
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