But there is one exception.

When it comes to holiday promotions, and corporate Thank You Gifts, I start talking Christmas as early as July. Such an early time frame stems from my days designing products as early as six months ahead of time. When everyone else was shivering, I’d be creating posters and newsletters warning people about the dangers of heat exhaustion. And although in part it’s an old habit of mine, it is one I’ve kept because there is a certain amount of wisdom in thinking ahead — especially for the various end-of-year holidays.

Good Ideas Take Time to Percolate

While thinking on your feet is a good skill to have, the truly inspired ideas are most often given time grow. So instead of rushing around in a panic like a one-shoed shopper on Black Friday, take your good sweet time thinking of ways you can stand out this year from the rest of the crowd.

Planning Ahead is Cheaper than Rushing Forward

Many print vendors and mail houses get slammed, and the closer to Christmas, the worse it is. Especially if you’ve got a tight budget, you’re going to want to be early — July and August are two of the slowest months, so some vendors might just be willing to give you a little break on the cost of printing.

OH CRAP! It’s OCTOBER!!!

Okay, so you you’re reading this now, it’s October… so is it too late? No, not really. Although it’ll still be a crunch, coming up with a holiday promotion/gift/greeting is still very doable. Just don’t procrastinate any further.

What Do I Do If I’m Running Late?

But if you’re reading this in Mid November… well… now you’re really in trouble. If you put it together soup to nuts really, really fast, you might have a very slim chance to get your piece dropped in the mail, but you’ll probably miss Hannukah altogether and there’s a decent chance it won’t land on the intended desk until Christmas morning.

So what to do? Just switch gears from “Holiday” to “New Year.” You’ll buy yourself a couple extra weeks and as long as it lands in the first half of January, then you should be fine.

No matter what, don’t panic. Where there’s a will, there’s a way, it’s just that some ways are better than others. In the meantime, keep your eyes peeled for a future article with a seasonal production calendar that anyone can follow.

In short, your brand is the pattern that establishes your company’s identity.

So it’s more than a logo.

Brand is more than a color palette.

It’s more than a tag line.

Your brand is all of the above and far more.

So how to you, the business owner, marketing manager and company guru ensure that your brand is maintained?

The first step is to determine if you even have one, and if you do, figure out if you are being true to it. So how do you know? Let’s start with…

Your Logo

Your logo is the core of your brand. So ask yourself a few questions:

1. Do we have a logo?

2. Are the logo colors consistent?

3. Are the logo fonts consistent?

4. Does the logo appear in a predictable way on all our materials?

5. Do we have a logo file that will reproduce reliably on just about anything?

You should answer confidently “yes” to all five questions. If not, you need to find a way to answer “yes” in order to establish, maintain and or strengthen your brand.

Questions? Contact us for a free consultation!

Center: Logo

Ring 1: Colors and Primary Fonts

Ring 2: Secondary Fonts, Secondary Colors, Tagline

Ring 3: Logo Placement (Stationary), Logo Placement (Presentations), Logo Placement (Promotional Materials), Logo Placement (Electronic Communications), Document Fonts, Type Treatments, Secondary Image Marks and Icons

Ring 4: Photographic Guidelines, Graphic Element Guidelines, Editorial Policies, Catch Phrases…

…and so on.

As you can see, as the rings move out, more is added. While visuals are the primary elements in branding, sounds (music, voice and tonals) and even smells can also become a part of a brand. The more rings, the more detailed the brand becomes.

Not every brand is super-detailed, but the heavy hitters definitely are. For example, think about Coke®. Coke has a super-detailed, highly regimented brand standard. But… if I say “Coke Red” just about everyone know exactly what shade of red I’m talking about.

So should your brand be super detailed? Well, that’s for you to decide. However, no matter how simple you decide your brand should be, you should build it in an organized way (remember, think onion or solar system) so that should you decide to expand on it, the structure is already there.

What Now?

Now it’s time to write it all down in an brand standards manual. It can be a simple as a couple of pages of “this is the logo, here are the colors and the fonts that we used.” Or — it can be as extensive to the point where it includes diagrams for logo placement on everything from trucks to wardrobes, lists of approved soundbites and smells.

Either way, no matter how long or how short it is, it should function as a manual that anyone in the company can pickup and see how the company’s brand should (and sometimes should not) be represented.

And better still, it should be a manual that can be handed to any outside consultant (graphic, marketing or otherwise) so that they can either advise you in ways that can either compliment your brand, or even give you insights in ways that you can strengthen and improve the visibility of your company’s brand.

Not sure where to start? Contact us for a free consultation!

Now you need to think about collecting your resources and building your library.

So where to build it? There are a couple of good options.

For one, you can place it on a backed up server or desktop computer. And yes, BACKED UP. Not that any business should be running with out back-ups even to begin with, so a backed up computer of any sort isn’t a bad idea. And yes, back up… EVERYTHING. (If you don’t have a back up system in place, contact us and we can refer to you a couple of good vendors and IT companies.)

Another option would be storing a folder on your web server. This would be a reasonably secure option, and … it would be backed up.

And yet a third option would be utilizing a secure cloud service.

What’s the common theme here? You’re not relying on a medium that is likely to become outmoded quickly, and you have a recovery option should something go wrong. A big part of protecting your brand is protecting your critical files (not to mention protecting your business in general).

So now, what should be a part of your branding library?

Your logo…

In short, you should have it. It sounds like an obvious thing, but you’d be amazed how often I’d have a client who either never got their logo from their designer, OR they have it, but have no idea where it is. (Or its on a floppy disk from 1992.)

You should have every variation of your logo in the following formats:

• Print (CMYK), in vector (.ai, .eps, .pdf)
• Print (Spot Color), in vector (.ai, .eps, .pdf)
• Web, Word & Powerpoint (RGB Color), raster in a range of sizes (.jpg, .png)
• Bonus formats (RGB and CMYK) would be Photoshop and TIF files

Why? These formats and color modes more or less cover every possible way that your logo will need to be created. Any designer or print vendor would be thrilled to know that you’ve got them available ready to use?

Your branding guide…

It’s your rule book, the whole purpose of writing it is to give it out so that everyone knows how you want your brand represented. It should be one of the first things you hand any marketer, advertiser, designer and vendor.

Your professional portraits

You and your principals should have at least one, high resolution, professional portrait on hand digitally. These come in handy for articles, engagement or presentation promotions and other instances when you, yourself, are going to be the public representation of your brand.

Your arsenal of marketing materials

EVERY time something gets printed or produced, you should have a copy of the vendor-ready file stored. If for some reason the person who produced it goes out of business or otherwise disappears, you’ve got an excellent place to start from to either do a straight reprint or revision.

Just contact us and we’d love to clear things up!

This is because of a standard marketing approach that tries to reach you in as many different ways and as often as possible. The idea is that by exposing you to their product and service often and differently, you’ll remember it, and when the time is right, you’ll opt for their service rather than “the other guys” simply because you thought of them first, and you remember why they say they’re better than everyone else.

Just because these multi-million dollar efforts might be a little out of reach for your own budget availability, that doesn’t mean that you can’t apply the same theory to your own efforts. Let’s use an open house promotion as an example:

• Ad in local paper
• Blog on local website (like the Patch)
• Multi-piece Mailer to existing clients and potential clients
• Follow-up HMTL email reminder to the above list
• Ad in local paper

Are there costs involved? Yes, but probably not as much as you think. If planned well, it has the potential to be an effective strategy. Here’s another approach:

• HTML email to existing client base
• Blog on local website
• Radio spot
• Postcard Mailer
• HTML email reminder

Again, there are costs, but not out of reach for most small businesses. In both instances, one method is repeated, current clients are targeted and there is a new appeal to attract new customers. The success or failure of any marketing effort is never guaranteed (even the big dollar ones can fail miserably) but your odds of success are greatly improved if you think of incorporating different ways to touch  your audience.

Wrightbrain can help you with finding the right partners for marketing strategies and multi-media approaches to your next promotion.

“Nah. I don’t think we’ll need it.”

That response is becoming more and more common — and I can understand why. How many companies have boxes and boxes of old, outdated letterhead? To throw it out would be a waste, so instead many admins are stuck updating their letterhead with white-out, markers and labels. Back when all that letterhead was ordered, the only “economical” printing option was press runs of 10,000 and up. Besides? Why print letterhead at all? Less and less paper is being pushed through the mail, email is the thing these days.

And yet, you still need it. Just like the sign on the front of your office, your letterhead represents you to the world. So here are 3 economical re-imaginings of the traditional letterhead:

1.  Printed: Print isn’t dead, and probably won’t ever be, but it has changed drastically. Instead of the traditional press run, consider a smaller digitally-printed run of your letterhead. Bonus, you can get it in full color for a small fraction more than straight up black and white. This will leave with the flexibility to update your information and free up space in your supply closet.

2. Get it Designed in Word: Granted, most designers would rather gouge their eyes out than work in Word, but Word is a standard tool and most business communications are created in Word. There is a way to create good-looking Word files that will print well in an office environment (please don’t send it to a print vendor). So have a well-designed Word template on hand for when you need it.

3. Have Your Letterhead as an HTML Email Template: There is a very handy file format that Outlook supports that will allow you to have a pre-designed HTML email that you can edit. This goes beyond a signature or an attachment, fonts, your logo and other elements can all be replicated within reason inside the body of your email.

If you find yourself using those boxes of old, outdated letterhead as step-stools in your supply closet, or if you buy a pack of sharpies for the express purpose of keeping your letterhead relevant, contact us today so that we can talk about some “SmartArt” solutions to your letterhead conundrum.

Even straightforward decisions can be tough. Weighing the options, examining all the factors, finding the “right” choice can be difficult. Creative decisions can be just as tough if not tougher for the very simple reason that “right” and “wrong” are subjective — it’s not necessarily math with a definitive equation, it can be an opinion.

Because of this, especially when hiring a graphic designer, the decision-making process can get expensive. Unless you negotiated a flat fee, every revision will cost you more, and even if you have your designer on a retainer agreement or negotiated a flat fee you’ll spend time that you might not be able to afford.

Why can it be so hard to come to a design decision?

1. Not everyone likes it.
2. Not really sure if you even like it.
3. Not sure if you even know what you want in the first place.

Not Sure If You Even Know What You Want

This is the first thing that you should think about before you even call your graphic designer. You know you need something — a logo update, a flyer, a brochure, a website. It could be anything. The problem is when you can’t get past the “something” wall. This is when you will want to brainstorm with the following questions:

1. What made me think of doing this in the first place?
2. Who am I trying to impress/attract/speak to?
3. What do I want to say?
4. What impression do I want people to get from this? (High end? Good bargain? Great service?… etc.)
5. What do I like?
6. What do I think my audience likes?

From there, browse through magazines, websites, and other materials, and collect the things that you like, and the things that you really don’t like. Why? Because you can learn as much from what you’re not happy with as you can from what you are happy with.

After you’ve answered your questions and collected your materials, take them and sit down and chat with your designer (in person if possible). He/she should be able to help focus you and form a good idea of the first concepts to see in your design.

Not Really Sure If You Like It

This usually happens after the first couple of revisions, maybe the 2nd or 3rd round. You’re getting closer to making a decision, but it’s just… not… there… yet.

This is when you let it rest.

Just like painting a swatch to pick a new wall color, you might have to live with it for a little bit. Tack it up on a wall you’ll walk past during the normal course of the day. As you get used to seeing it without staring at it intently, you’ll find that you’ll start either liking it more, or liking it less as time goes by. Granted, you don’t want to wait too long, I recommend 2 or 3 days.

If after 2 or 3 days you like it more… go for it. Approve the design and move into the final proofing stages.

If you like it less, go back and do another revision. But don’t start over. You’ve gotten this far for a reason. Try to figure out what it is that bothers you about it, and tweak the design until works for you.

Not Every One Likes It

This one is tough. On the one hand, getting the options of others can be invaluable input. On the other hand…

Design by Committee is NEVER Pretty

Why? Because it is an opinion-based decision, and no two opinions are ever (okay rarely) alike. Those who try to get everyone on a committee to agree will find the process taking many times longer, absolutely draining on energy and resources and extremely frustrating.

So how can you avoid “Design by Committee” and take advantage of the valuable viewpoints of others.

1. Own the project. By this, you acknowledge that you and you alone (or the person you appoint alone) makes the final decision. You never put the designs up for a vote and you accept the fact that someone isn’t going to like it. It’s hard, especially when you’re not certain. But by having the project’s owner alone making the final decision, it makes “Design by Committee” virtually impossible.

2. Don’t call a meeting to collect opinions. Yes, it’ll take more legwork for you and it’ll seem like it’ll take more time, but in the long run it’ll prevent a committee from forming.

3. Choose your outside opinions wisely. You don’t necessarily want everyone’s opinion. But going it entirely alone isn’t a good idea either. So here are some ideas for how to choose the people whose opinions you might want to tap:

• A colleague who is not necessarily a close friend: Why? A close friend might not want to hurt your feelings, so their opinion may not be entirely honest. A colleague who is not also a close friend should respect you enough to give an honest opinion but without fear of damaging a good friendship with honest criticism.
• A “comfortable” subordinate: A comfortable subordinate is someone who works for you, but is unafraid of your authority. You respect and value them for how they perform, and they respect you and are able to be honest with you. You’ll know who they are because they are able to respectfully voice a dissenting opinion to your face. This person has a different perspective of your business (more a ground up view) and may be able to give you some insight that you don’t already have. If you’re the President/Owner, don’t just look to the VP’s and C-level executives. Other good people for this can be assistants, receptionists, warehouse/mailroom personnel, and lower-middle managers.
• Someone in your business’ demographic or target audience
• Someone you know, who doesn’t necessarily know or understand your business: This is an odd one, but there’s a good reason for it. The whole point of graphic design is to communicate a message in a visual way. So if you’re looking to produce a new piece, especially a logo, brochure or other promotional material this is especially true. So by showing it to someone who is not already familiar with your business, you’ll know if it works because the piece should tell them something about your company without you having to explain it. Depending on the piece they may not learn everything about your business, but you want to see something click.

A word of caution. Limit the numbers. One of each is good, two or three of each is fine too, but much more than that and you’re forming a committee. You’re not going to agree with every opinion, but listen. If you hear a suggestion for change from more than one source, then take that opinion seriously and really consider changing your mind about it.

Ultimately, remember the decision is yours — or, if you assigned the project to someone else, the decision is theirs. Either way, one owner. Listen to input, but don’t try to make everyone happy. Live with the design a little bit, but limit the time it spends on your wall (and in your mind) marinating. And when in doubt, talk to your designer, he/she should be able to help you focus your thoughts — and decide!

After all, between a website and social media marketing departments just don’t need that huge print budget anymore. Besides, now it’s easy to put your logo in Word and just print the stationary as needed. Why send anything to the printers anymore?

Here’s why:

• Never underestimate a tactile response. Having something in hand creates both a visual and a tactile memory in the brain, making you more memorable.
• Not everyone is connected all the time. Despite the glut of smart phones in the public not everyone — including some of your potential audience — will be able to scan your QR code, instantly add your contact info or bookmark your website.
• Electronic clutter is a fact of life. Even if your audience is wired all the time, you still have to find a way to break through the noise.

So ultimately, print is not dead. However, it’s been on a diet and will likely continue to slim down as time goes on.

As with anything, there is no perfect universal solution to the print/electronic ratio. Each company has to decide for itself where and how much to invest in which medium. Ultimately, marketing plans will have to find the perfect synergy between its printing and electronic components.

Wondering what print and/or electronic options will work best for you? Contact us for a consultation today!

In fact, usually when someone calls me about a logo design business cards are usually mentioned in the first sentence. And that makes sense. Logos are the cornerstone of branding. From that mark comes the inspiration and direction for every other material that a company prints or posts on the web.

But logos should not be pigeon-holed for company branding alone. Events, products, campaigns and anniversaries also are worthy of branding with logos of their very own.

Why?…

Confidence

You might have the best event in the world. You might have the best product out there. You may even have the absolute best message to spread. But if your materials promoting that event, message or product don’t look well thought out or cohesive, your viewer may have reservations about it, or worse, they may not think that you don’t have confidence in it.

By taking the time and the trouble to brand it — logo, font choices, color choices all working in harmony with your existing company branding — it says that this something that youbelieve in and care about, and worthy of paying attention to. If you’re willing to invest in it, then it might be something that your audience would want to invest in it as well.

Recognizable and Memorable

In a sea of media, getting lost is easy — too easy. By not investing in even a minor level of branding, getting the notice of your audience is going to be extremely difficult. Creating a strong visual, and repeating that visual as many times as possible and in strategic locations is an effective way to help people quickly recognize and remember your message.

What Now?

Once your company logo is designed and your business cards are delivered, don’t toss out your logo designer’s contact information. When you create a promotion or campaign, host an event, celebrate an anniversary or create a new product, call up your logo designer and create a “daughter brand” for that specific thing. Not only will you increase the odds of success for that particular event/promotion/product/celebration, but you will also strengthen your main brand.