Posts Tagged Brand Building
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.
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.
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!
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.
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