When you
see McDonald’s golden arches, Nike’s
swoosh or Tiffany’s distinctive blue packaging,
you immediately know what company you are dealing
with. These brands all have very strong and well-known
images. However, even small companies should make
the effort to create a brand image for their organizations.
Luckily, it doesn’t take a big budget to
create a recognizable “look and feel”
for your company – just some foresight and
planning!
As always, please feel
free to forward this newsletter to anyone who
may benefit from it, and give me a call if I
can help you with any of your marketing writing
needs.
Linda Coss
949-699-2749
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Can
Your Customers Recognize You? |
Get
out all of your company’s printed materials
– your business cards, letterhead, brochures,
fliers, ads, newsletters, etc., as well as a
printout of your website’s home page –
and spread them out on your desk. Take a good
look at what you see and ask yourself: Is it
visually obvious that all of these items are
from the same company?
If
not, why not?
A
big part of branding is recognition. Having
a “look” that you use across all
of your marketing materials makes it easy for
your customers and potential customers to recognize
that a message is from your company. So what
are the elements of this “look”?
4 Important Elements of Your Brand's Visual
Image
1.
Your logo symbolizes your company.
Make sure it is easily recognizable and works
well in a wide range of advertising media.
2. Your color scheme should
be uniform throughout all of your materials,
and appropriate for your goals. Some color combinations
are relaxing and soothing, others suggest excitement
and enthusiasm, while others project a very
“corporate” image.
3. Your overall “look”
(including colors, fonts, pictures, layout,
etc.) needs to visually reinforce the feeling
that you want your product or service to convey.
For example, a company marketing “mom’s
apple pie” to senior citizens will have
a much different look than one selling the latest
electronic gadgets to teenage boys.
4. Your printed materials need
to reflect important elements of the “look
and feel” of your website (or vice versa).
Remember,
it often takes multiple exposures to an advertising/marketing
message before a consumer will decide to make
a purchase or inquiry. If your materials are
a mismatched hodge-podge of colors, designs
and messages, it will be very difficult for
you to build a recognizable presence in the
market place.
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Customer
Spotlight: M&T Industries |
AM&T
Industries manufacturers a unique commercial
waste container (i.e. garbage dumpster) using
one piece structural foam injection molding
technology. The EcoBin™ is an ecologically
friendly product that eliminates all of the
problems associated with metal waste containers:
It won’t leak, dent, warp, rust, scratch,
rot or attract rodents, and is exceptionally
quiet, graffiti-resistant (paint won’t
stick to its surface) and virtually maintenance-free.
To emphasize
the EcoBin’s “green” characteristics,
all of the marketing materials feature a bright
green color. Take a look at the website
and brochure
which I wrote for the EcoBin, and see how the
graphic designers on this project created a
recognizable look.
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| ©
2008 Linda Marienhoff Coss |
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About Linda |
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Linda Coss is a freelance marketing writer who helps businesses become more profitable by writing persuasive, targeted and effective messages for their brochures, websites, letters, ads, fliers, press releases, newsletters and other written materials.
Whether you need something written "from scratch" or want a professional to edit what you've created, Linda is your on-call marketing writer.
For more information
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