For the first time in 25 years, Microsoft ditched its italic boldfaced font for a lighter straightforward type coupled with a group of squares reminiscent of its Windows operating system.

After 17 years, online auction powerhouse Ebay, calmed the overlapping uneven letters of its previous logo with thinner, aligned letters.

And in the biggest head scratcher, USA Today launched a new logo after 30 years.  A solid ball has replaced the blue globe with the intent is that the ball will be used as an infographic for the top news in that section.  Okay, if you say so.

Some people are up in arms over the changes.  Others embrace the new designs.   Then there are people who realize it doesn’t matter.  (Cue audible gasp here.)  Yes, fat letters, thin letters, italics, squares, circles….it just doesn’t matter.

• A logo doesn’t increase your visibility.  Your marketing does.
• A logo doesn’t increase sales.  Your people and your messaging do.
• A logo doesn’t build loyalty.  Your product quality and customer service do.
• A logo doesn’t build a strong corporate culture. That’s management’s task.

Now, granted a logo isn’t worthless when it comes to your brand image.  In fact, it is the visual representation of your brand.  Therefore, it should be memorable.  D’uh, that’s a given.  But it should be relevant to your corporate name, image or service.  For instance, if you’re a technology company, a pirate ship is not the best image for your logo.   Just saying.

• A logo should enhance your corporate image.  Translated, this means DO NOT USE COMIC SANS.
• A logo should work in all media.  What looks great on the side of a building may look like a Rorschach test on a business card.
• A logo should not be cliché.  Law firms should avoid using scales.  Medical practices, Caducei.   And Cinnabon, should avoid the EKG readout.

Once you logo has been selected, do not compromise its integrity.  Don’t change the colors for the holidays.  No one needs to see your logo in orange and black to know it’s Halloween.  If they do, you don’t want their business.

To view a selection of memorable, clean, images relevant to their industry, visit the Electrum Marketing logo portfolio. 

A blog can establish your business as a trusted resource in your industry.  A blog can give your business personality.  A blog can help you compete with businesses with marketing budgets exponentially larger than yours.

Raise Your Hand

By writing about your industry and providing useful information, you can, over time, establish yourself as a valued resource that people rely on.  By focusing on being helpful rather than selling, you can build a reputation as a trusted authority.   And, because it’s your blog, you control the content, the timing of its release, and its tone.  Even Control Top Spanx don’t offer you this much control, so take advantage.

Ditch the Beige

Your blog can give your business personality.  Perhaps you have a traditional product in a conservative industry.  There’s nothing that says you can’t inject a little humor into your blog as long as the content is accurate and useful.   Believe me; people will remember where they read a humorous take on asset management.   Keep in mind that you don’t always have to write about your services.  You can boast about an outcome you achieved, introduce your team, or rave about a client.  Just be interesting!

Use What Resources Are Available

Today, the internet has become the primary source for information.  As a result, ranking high in search results is crucial.  When done properly, search engine optimization (SEO) can level the playing field between a small business with a modest marketing budget and a regional chain with a marketing budget that makes Madison Avenue salivate.   Although search engines change the algorithms that affect their rankings almost daily, keywords, incoming links, indexed pages, and social media “likes” and “shares” continue to impact search results. A blog provides you with all of the above.

Don’t miss the boat on this valuable business tool.  Start blogging today.  Need help?  Electrum Marketing can assist you in creating blog content in addition to search engine optimization.

My mom gave my sister and me a red check for making our beds, brushing our teeth, putting away our toys and other good habits she wanted us to have.  Although I clearly remember the chart and the red pencil on its string, I can’t tell you if my sister and I were in competition or if we ever received anything other than the red check as our reward.  In hindsight, I certainly hope that I wasn’t duped into being an ideal child so cheaply.  Despite now feeling like an idiot, I am here to tell you that Mom’s red check challenge worked.    We learned good habits.  It was fun.  It was inexpensive.

Could your business learn something from my mom?  Promotions are a great way to generate excitement, teach new skills and build teams.  Friendly competition between departments or locations can knock the dust off of the daily routine that confines us to our cubicles.

A good promotion has:

• A clear goal – learn new skills, increase sales, build contacts, brush teeth
• A reasonable goal – Don’t create a contest that no one can win or one where everyone wins.  Leave that “everybody gets a trophy” hooey to little league.
• A fun theme – no one wants to participate in the Annual Sales Contest but everyone wants to play Big Buck Bonanza!  Hint:  the more fun the contest, the smaller the prize.
• Promotional materials – Make sure your team knows the details with creative fliers and posters.  Just look what mom did with a red pencil.
• An end in sight – don’t make the end date so far in the future that the excitement wanes before the big finale.  Remember that contest we started nine months ago?  Neither do we.

Need help generating excitement around a new product or service?  Want to build a more cohesive team?  Ready to add some fun to your office culture?  Contact Electrum Marketing for creative ideas for successful promotions.

But can the summer games influence our business as well?  Let’s take the Olympic motto: Faster, Higher, Stronger – how well does it apply to your business?

FASTER

How responsive is your team?  Do they respond to every call and email before the end of the day, even if it’s just to say they got the message?  Do you have service standards?  Are they followed?  How do you know?

HIGHER

Do you have goals in place and are they being met?  If so, is it time to raise the bar?  If not, what are you doing to identify the problem?  Are you measuring performance? Has your sales force been adequately coached?  Recognized?  Rewarded?

STRONGER

Is your business focused more on acquiring new customers or retaining existing customers?  The answer should be both.  Do you know what your customers are saying about your brand?  Would they recommend you to others?  By engaging your customers, you can turn customers into brand advocates that will remain loyal and do your recruiting for you.

Electrum Marketing can provide a variety of services that will make your brand faster, higher and stronger.

• Service Standards
• Mystery Shopping
• Customer Surveys
• Sales Training
• Business Development Strategies
• Acquisition Strategies
• Retention Strategies

Contact Electrum Marketing and get ready to go for the gold!

And while Electrum Marketing tends to avoid politics like Walmart on Black Friday, we salute the brave politicians, who forbade federal “gobbledygook” in documents such as tax returns and college aid applications.   And you thought Thomas Paine was brave for standing up to the British.  Poppycock!   Today’s bureaucrats stood up to jargon and run on sentences.

But even Thomas Paine knew to write his pre-Revolutionary War-era “Common Sense” in a style that common people understood.   He opted not to use the philosophy and Latin references that were popular with writers of the era and instead wrote “Common Sense” like a sermon.  Although he was not a religious man, he knew his audience was and relied on Biblical references to make his case to the people.  The result was not only a book with largest sale and circulation of any book in American history (in relation to the size of the colonies at the time), but a surge in support of the patriot cause.

There you have it.  Simple language written in terms that your audience can understand can instill passion and create loyalty.  What rang true for our forefathers can ring true for you as well.  Your brand message should be written for your consumers and not for your colleagues.  Do not promote content that is all about you, your business or your industry.  It should be about your consumer, their lifestyle and their aspirations.  Can you make their life better?  Can you play a vital role in their lifestyle?  Can you help them reach their goals?  If your response is a laundry list of product specs then keep moving.  No one cares about the technical specifications unless they sport a pocket protector and have a slide rule attached to their belt.

Need help with your brand messaging?  Is it written to impress your CEO and not your consumer?  Electrum Marketing can help.  By replacing jargon with benefits, we can create a brand message that resonates with your customers and incites action.

The key to establishing a strong brand with a loyal following is to differentiate yourself and engage your consumer.  So at Electrum Marketing, we are stupefied by how often clients come to us with their competitors’ ads, brochures, or direct mail piece and ask for something quite similar (if not the same).

When the atomic mushroom cloud radiating inside my head has dissipated, I slowly open my eyes – disappointed to see my client still waving the ad they so proudly clipped from the newspaper.  I calmly invite them to look at the About Us page on the Electrum Marketing website.  One of the first rules is “We refuse to make you look like someone else, so leave your competitor’s ads at home.”

In today’s world where technology makes customization affordable, social media makes customer engagement easy, smart phones and tablets keep people plugged in practically 24/7, and unconventional messaging is becoming more mainstream – there are countless opportunities to distinguish your brand and engage your customer.   It’s time to stop following the leader!

Here are a few exceptional examples for you to enjoy.

To let women know that they sell more than shoes, online retailer Zappos worked with InStyle and Real Simple magazines to create foldout ads in subscriber issues revealing “Personalized Closets” packed full of trendy fall items. On the front of each closet door, the magazine printed the subscriber’s name.  Plus, an online sweepstakes tie-in encouraged readers to tweet @Zappos for the chance to win a $2,500 gift card.  The result: more than 1,500 mentions on Twitter, and a 20 percent increase in consumer recognition that Zappos sells more than just shoes.

Kraft Foods is driving engagement for its Macaroni and Cheese brand via their “Dinner, Not Art” iPad app which encourages customers not waste their product on the practice of gluing dried macaroni noodles on paper to create art.  Kids can now create macaroni art via the app.  And for every digital noodle used to create art, Kraft is donating 10 real noodles to Feeding America.  Kraft is posting select artworks to its Facebook page.  This campaign engages future buyers with their brand, benefits a worthy cause and increases social media interaction.

In Montreal, an advertising agency took advantage of the current popularity with the ubiquitous photo app Instagram! and asked people to submit photos to help promote a new film, “J’Espère Que Tu Vas Bien” (I Hope You’re Well).   The movie follows two friends as they saunter around Montreal.  The Instagramers visited locations used in the film, and submitted more than 600 shots, 87 of which were selected to become movie posters.

Are you ready to stand apart from the competition, engage your customers, and create a stronger brand?  Contact Electrum Marketing and get creative in how you tell your brand story.

Oh the lazy days of summer. When kids shake off the shackles of scholastic advancement and revel in the irresponsibility of adolescent indulgence. What will it be today? A quick trip to Forever 21 followed by a Twilight DVD marathon while trying new nail polish strips as seen in Teen Vogue? Do you think having “haute and naughty” nails makes me more Team Edward or Team Jacob?

Or perhaps an intense 5-hour session of “Call of Duty: Black Ops” fueled only by a 32 oz. Monster energy drink and a handful of Slim Jims is more your speed. Bro, these shooting controls are wicked tight! Take that you un-American zombie!!!

Summer allows their parents to enjoy the many opportunities to obliterate obligation as well. With so many bosses, supervisors and clients on vacation, it’s normal for the office pace to slow. And, thanks to the internet, smart phones, social media and a multitude of apps, days spent creating sales strategies, making client calls and polishing sales skills may easily fall victim to Facebook updates, viral videos, online scrabble games, pin boards and sales on Etsy.com. Did you see the homemade test tube spice rack? It’s only $27, so I “Liked” it. And then I pinned it. You didn’t yet? Oh, you should although I’m not sure why. Just do it. Hurry!

And, just as kids must face the loathsome annual “Back to School” sales, I propose that adults realize the importance of Back to Sales School. By knowing the answers to the following questions, your business development team will be focused and polished when their prospects return to their habitats of conference rooms, corner offices and unspent budgets.

Have you reviewed the curriculum? Do you have a strategic plan that will outline the steps you need to take to be successful?

What courses will you need to take? Does your sales team have the skills necessary to communicate benefits, overcome objections, and close the sale?

What subjects are you good at? What products or services do you offer that sets you apart from the competition? If you don’t have any then it’s time buckle down, hit the books and get one or two.

What’s your major? Who is going to be your target market and why? Do they have a need? Are they under served? Are they in a position to purchase? Are they likely to be long-term stream of revenue?

What supplies will you need? Will you need an integrated campaign consisting of direct mail, print ads, website landing pages, online banners, emails or a combination of a few select items?

Are you an A student or a C student? What assessment or measurement systems do you have in place to track your progress?

Do you need a tutor? Are you ready to send your team Back to Sales School? Contact Electrum Marketing for strategic planning, sales training, 30 second commercial training, graphic design, integrated marketing, and campaign measurement.

Make sure that this sales season is a winning season for your team!

But, getting back to my point, in order to make Chrome the most reliable web browser, Google is sparing no expense.  The company is offering $1 million in prize money for hackers who can exploit any vulnerabilities or bugs.  Recently, a Russian student earned a cool $60,000 by revealing a security breach.  Prizes ranging from $20K and $60K are being awarded based on the magnitude of the breach identified.

If Google is willing to spend $1 million to ensure that they remain the most reliable and most secure browser, what are you willing to invest to ensure that you remain the best and most reliable option in your industry?   For a mere sliver of the tiniest fraction of Google’s $1 million investment, you can implement a brand assessment strategy that might identify a gaping abyss in your customer service delivery.

Through brand audits and mystery shopping, you can quickly assess if your receptionist makes a great first impression or is suffering from depression.  Find out if your sales team is helpful and knowledgeable or helpless and negligent.  Do they follow through or fall off the face of the Earth?

Contact Electrum Marketing and see how a customized assessment program can help you identify and close service delivery gaps with real time 24/7 online reports.