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Late last year, Coca Cola pulled their white “polar bear” cans from the market after only a couple of weeks and after a tremendous backlash from retailers and consumers. The white and silver cans, featuring silhouette polar bears, were supposed to remain on store shelves throughout the holiday season and raise awareness of and promote the protection of arctic habitats.

 

The off-color cans received a lot of attention, but for all the wrong reasons. The white polar bear Coke cans were too similar in appearance to the silver cans of Diet Coke. Retailers and customers were confused by the change from the traditional red, and had trouble finding the regular formula Coke. Some even complained that the taste of the soda was different—all because of the color of the can! It was arguably one of the worst missteps by the infamous brand in almost thirty years.

 

So how important is your brand’s color? The answer, as evidenced by Coke’s folly, is: Very Important. Color is a powerful signifier of a brand. When customers visually scan store shelves, they look first at color clues, then at shapes, and finally at the label or name of the brand.

 

Color differentiates.

In every industry or category of product, brands “own” certain colors. Coke is identifiable because of its red can; Pepsi, from its blue ones. John Deere tractors wouldn’t be the same without their green and yellow paint scheme. Brown has become synonymous with UPS.

 

Color expresses.

The most popular color in the world among adults, male or female, is the color blue because it connotes strength, solidarity, and serenity. Among children, red is the preferred color because it’s passionate, exciting, and aggressive. Yellow is sunny, cheerful, and luminous, and tends to draw the attention of young infants.

 

Color communicates.

When used properly, color can be a highly effective tool for communication. Although sometimes cultural differences exist, for the most part color meanings are universal. In the color chart below, learn what your brand’s color says about your product, service, or organization.

 

 

Red is the most passionate color, and tends to excite and get adrenaline pumping through the body. It is associated with both love and anger; it can mean good luck; or represent lust, danger, and aggression.

 

Blue is the most popular color, and also the most widely specified color in corporate identity programs. It symbolizes serenity and tranquility, the sky or ocean, and has a calming effect if used in moderation. Blue is often associated with things that are cold, as well as quality and expertise.

 

Yellow is the most luminous color with the highest visibility. It is the most cheerful color, representing the sun. If used too much, it makes people more irritable. Yellow has also become synonymous with greed and cowardliness.

 

Green is a very relaxing color associated with growth and prosperity, as well as health and wellness. It can also suggest envy and jealousy.

 

Orange is suggestive of fire and good things to eat. It is the most edible color, which explains why many fast foods chains use it as part of their color scheme.

 

Purple is associated with both royalty and spirituality because in ancient times, only emperors or kings could afford garments made of purple dye. Naturally occurring Tyrian purple dye is extremely rare—it takes 9,000 mollusks from the Mediterranean Sea to yield 1g of purple dye.

 

By: Ryan Hembree, Principal | Brand and Creative Strategy, Indicia

The holidays are rapidly approaching, and with them, the annual frenzied rush to find, sign, address, and mail holiday cards. There are countless sources for pre-printed “Seasons Greetings” or “Happy Holiday” cards, even ones that will print your company’s logo on the inside. While this may seem like the quickest, most cost-effective way for companies to send out the obligatory holiday card, they are missing a great opportunity to reinforce their brand image.

 

The holidays are the one time during the year in which people are actually receptive to the idea of not only receiving more snailmail or email, they are more likely to open it as well. It is the perfect time to thank your clients and customers for their business. But what type of holiday greeting should you send? In addition to the pre-printed variety, custom designed cards, email greetings, and even animations are available to help build your brand.

 

Depending on the number of cards your company intends to distribute this year, it can actually cost less to create your own branded holiday card instead of buying pre-printed ones. Besides having a look and feel that is consistent with your other collateral, messages can be tailored to your unique needs and are less generic. Printers that have in-house mailing capabilities can print addresses from your mailing list, saving you countless hours addressing envelopes or printing and adhering individual labels.

 

If you want to save money on printing and postage, sending out a Holiday Email blast is a cost effective and “green” option. These graphic html emails are custom designed to be consistent with your brand and sent out through email marketing programs like MailerMailer, MailChimp, or Constant Contact. Holiday animations can also be an effective way to build your brand’s image this holiday season. It’s been our experience that people want to be entertained, and with one of these “eCards” that link to a short 20-30 second animation, you will be able stand out from the rest of the holiday greetings. Often, the cost to design and code these holiday “eCards” or animations can be less than the cost of ordering and mailing pre-printed or custom cards.

 

Regardless of which method you choose for connecting with your customers this holiday season, the important thing is that you use this opportunity to enhance the perception of your brand.

 

By: Ryan Hembree, Principal

The Internet is simply one tool by which to get consumers’ attention. While the web offers an immediate way for customers to learn more about your product or service, it takes more than getting people to visit a web site to get them to open up their pocketbooks. Print, on the other hand, helps enhance your brand by offering customers a more tactile, intimate and memorable experience.

 

Brochures, catalogs, or direct mailers make the intangible more real when potential customers can hold printed collateral in their hands. They keep your product or service top-of-mind when making buying decisions, or give people something to look at while waiting to speak with a representative at a tradeshow or convention. There is a reason why companies still spend millions of dollars on printed catalogs and car dealerships are stocked with hundreds of glossy brochures.

 

The key to developing print collateral that will support your brand (and help drive traffic to your web site) is to evaluate your sales process to determine the various touch points you have with your customers. Some of the items that we consistently develop for our clients include the following:

 

Tradeshows:

If your company attends tradeshows on a regular basis, a large pop-up display might be a good investment. While hardware can be expensive (up to a few thousand dollars), they are easy to ship and have the capacity for interchangeable graphic panels. Bannerstands (fabric panels that work much like old-fashioned projector screens) are a less expensive option that still have the ability for customized graphics. In addition to your backdrop or display, it is important to have some sort of printed handout; this provides attendees something to remember you by, as well as give them information about your product or service should they have to wait in line for a meeting with your representative.

 

Sales Kit or Leave-Behind:

There is often a gate-keeper between your sales team and the decision maker at a prospective customer’s office. Taking a packet of information about your brand to leave with them is one way to make a favorable impression; that is, if your collateral is unique and professionally developed. A small brochure espousing the benefits (NOT features) of your product or service is one approach. A customized pocket folder containing not only a brochure, but also case study or informational insert sheets, is another effective printed piece that will help your brand get noticed.

 

Direct Mailer or Follow-up pieces:

Conventional wisdom dictates that direct mail is usually ineffective at driving traffic to a web site or increasing brand awareness. While this might be true with MASS direct mail (a shotgun approach sending unsolicited pieces of mail to thousands of people), developing a highly targeted campaign to valuable customers or prospects can be effective. The secret is to develop a list of fewer recipients that share a similar problem or interest, and then send only those prospects a series of 3-4 mailers that address those pain points and offers a solution.

 

Print and interactive can work in tandem to build your brand. Printed collateral such as direct mail can help drive traffic to a unique, web landing page for your product or service, where results of different marketing campaigns and messages can be tracked. Tradeshow handouts or sales brochures may contain “call to action” statements or incentives to also drive traffic. Despite what some may say, print is most certainly not dead, and it won’t be going away anytime soon—together with the web and other interactive technologies, it is a powerful way to reach customers, increase brand loyalty, and promote purchases.

 

By: Ryan Hembree, Principal, Brand & Creative Strategy

Search Engine Optimization, or “SEO,” has become the new marketing buzzword. As a way to drive traffic to a web site, increase awareness of a brand, and increase consumer sales, it has risen in prominence on many companies’ “must-have” lists. Unfortunately, this powerful marketing tool is often misunderstood, and as a result, can cost companies a lot of money for questionable results at best.

 

Traditional and Internet Marketing companies, many promoting the benefits of paid search and optimized web sites, have sprung up like weeds to take advantage of this lack of understanding of SEO. It seems like there is no escaping the constant barrage of emails that promote “guaranteed placement” or “top rankings on major search engines.” Of course, it doesn’t help that Google sends every registered company a $100 coupon for free AdWords advertising.

 

In my opinion, some of these Internet Marketing companies are offering the equivalent of a “Yellow Pages” approach to promoting brands: remember when it was considered smart to place customized ads (costing thousands of dollars every month!) in the Yellow Pages? The rush for paid search results reminds me of this mentality, and can be epitomized by the following quote from Navin R. Johnson, Steve Martin’s memorable character in the movie “The Jerk”:

“The new phone book’s here! The new phone book’s here! … I’m somebody now! Millions of people look at this book everyday! This is the kind of spontaneous publicity–your name in print–that makes people. I’m in print! Things are going to start happening to me now.”

 

This is not to say that SEO is not worth doing. In fact, the opposite is true. There are a number of companies offering SEO/Internet marketing services that can add value to your business. However, instead of paying them thousands of dollars every month on a long-term and expensive contract, there are other ways to increase your rankings on major search engines. Companies and brands seeking to drive traffic to their web sites in order to build brand awareness or increase sales can do the following to improve search rankings organically, and without much expense.
1. Develop a list of keywords that you wish to be found through on search engines. Be specific, as the more generic the keyword, the lower your initial rankings will be. Trying to pay for placement using generic terms will also require greater amounts of advertising dollars.
2. Use these selected keywords throughout your site; when naming each page, link names, and for image filename and descriptions (using the “alt” tag).
3. Provide a lot of relevant content on the web site, using keywords as much as possible; the more a certain keyword appears within your site, the higher your organic search results will be.
4. Register your web site with all of the major search engines, not just Google. Registering your URL with Yahoo!, Bing, Lycos, Ask.com, and others will help create more connections and relevance for search results.
5. Be patient. It might take a few months for you to notice movement in search rankings, especially if you are planning on organic search results.
6. Start a small, limited budget campaign using AdWords, for no more than three- to six-months. When you do this, sites will start indexing you.

 

There is a fallacy and misconception that Internet search is all you need. Ultimately, companies need to understand that SEO is simply one tool of many when marketing their brands. In addition to an SEO campaign, print collateral can also help drive traffic to your site and increase web traffic (which helps increase relevance and rankings). Be wary of anyone who promises you that they can guarantee a number 1 or number 2 placement in SEO. Sure, they might be able to do so for some obscure keyword or terms that no one would ever search for; or it might end up costing you more than you thought.

 

By: Ryan Hembree, Principal and Creative Director

Customers today have too many choices, regardless of the type of product or service they are shopping for. Often the differences between them are indistinguishable, and as a result, companies tend to compete based on price (even though they might not admit it). When the biggest difference standing between you and your competition is price, then branding must become your key differentiator.

 

To be successful, all brands must tell their customers a story. No matter the company, industry, or product/service, all brands have a story to tell. As long as it connects emotionally with customers by telling them why your product or service is better, or how it will impact theirs or others’ lives, it is possible to demand higher or premium pricing. Customers will pay more for something that they believe in.

 

A classic example of this principle in action is the (PRODUCT) RED initiative, started by Bono to raise money to eliminate AIDS in Africa. Consumers will pay premium prices for red-colored products from various brands, such as Apple, Nike, and Starbucks, and 50% of profits go directly to the Global Fund.

 

 

The idea of telling a brand “story” is not new: business and marketing gurus such as Jim Collins (Good to Great) and Seth Godin (Purple Cow, All Marketers Tell Stories) have written about this concept for years. The problem is that brands have a hard time discovering what their “story” should be. Here are some ideas to help get you started:

 

1. Is there something unique about the history of your brand? For example, what trials and tribulations have you overcome? Have you been in business longer than any of your competitors, and why?

Indicia is celebrating our tenth anniversary this year, but the more compelling story is how the business partners met. Over 15 years ago they were introduced to each other by a high school art teacher and started a t-shirt company together. The resulting business lasted throughout college, and after going their separate ways they reunited four years ago.

 

2. What “pain points” does your brand address? In other words, is there a particular problem that your product or service solves? Does it make peoples’ jobs or lives easier, and in what way?

Herb Kelleher started Southwest Airlines because regional flights between Houston, San Antonio and Dallas, Texas were too expensive for most travellers. In doing so, he launched a revolutionary, low-cost, no frills airline that gave people “The Freedom to Fly.”

 

3. Are there any social or environmental causes that your brand is participating in? How are you helping the local community or giving back?

We already discussed the (PRODUCT)Red campaign to fight the spread of AIDS in Africa, but other companies are “going green” and trying to lessen their impact on the environment. Target’s story of social responsibility is evidenced by the fact they donate 5% of their profits to the communities surrounding their stores. Walmart now has recycling centers near most stores, and is trying to reduce their impact on the environment through conservation efforts.

 

These are but a few examples of the types of stories brands can tell. The secret to your brand’s success is to discover what it is about the company, product or service that makes it different. The next challenge is to tell that story in a compelling way to connect and resonate with your customers. Finally, following up on the claims you make is critical. If your brand’s story is not genuine, confidence in the brand’s authenticity will falter, driving customers away and into the wallets of your competitors.

 

By: Ryan Hembree, Principal | Brand and Creative Strategy, Indicia