Posts Tagged ‘branding’

I always enjoy an evening with the members of the Rockies Venture Club, especially when there are investors speaking on panel.  Last night was no exception:  in a version of funding lightning-round, three companies seeking funding presented and were followed by notes and suggestions from three investors.

Lorenzo Carver, CEO of bpCentral’s Liquid Scenarios, was up first.  I loved his “aim small, miss small” philosophy for market share and his product, which provides deep analysis of financial information.  Frank Mendincino of Access Venture Partners had some great insights on Lorenzo’s presentation:

The three things he thinks about when considering a deal:  What problem is being solved?  How does the company in question solve it?  Why is their solution better than the other options?

Why companies need to break the rules and include a feature matrix comparing their companies against the competition:  Because it allows them to show why their company is better, not just state that it is.

Focus on conquering one market segment…then move on.  Keeping your initial segment small can allow you to have less initial competition and show your mastery more quickly.

Next up was Eric Remer, founder and CEO of PaySimple, a company that helps small businesses process payments.  He was able to sum up his business model (simplify and empower small business transactions) succinctly.  Jim Conboy of Wolf Ventures critiqued his presentation.

There’s nothing better than results.  Everyone talks about serving small businesses…it’s a very different thing to actually do so.

Your credibility is only as good as your communication.  Show how you nailed a particular market segment and whether you know when to cut your losses and move on.

Toot your own horn.  Your audience of investors will be skeptical.  It’s your job to win them over by pointing to your successes.

Keith Mountain of Spatial Corp. was last, but not least.  His story of a software company with a complicated past was a great view into the challenges that face a company seeking independence from a corporate entity (and the ups and downs any skilled management team will face).  Seth Levine of Foundry Group admitted he specializes in early-stage and seed investing, but was up for the challenge of critiquing Keith’s complex presentation:

Sometimes the cultural aspects of your firm are as important as monetary and management issues.  Still, focus on what makes your company unique.

Look forward, not backwards. Investors are interested in movement and momentum.

Highlight your competitors, even if it hurts.  Show their strengths and their weaknesses, then offset them with your company.

Look for what’s bright and shiny.  If it doesn’t belong to the exciting part of the story, don’t include it in your presentation.

Read more about the event at Rocky Radar.

Photo via eurleif

Um, how’d it get to be the end of February already?

Here’s a quick roundup of what’s what in the world of marketing, media, and brand strategy:

• Death to buzzwords.  Finally!  Someone else is taking up the anti-buzzword buzzkill.
• Crocs CEO resigns, is replaced.  Not news to many who have been following the ups and downs of this early-stage success story.  My prediction:  Crocs will get worse — way worse — before it gets better.  It’s dealing with oversaturation, intense competition and knockoffs, and some sad brand stigma.
• LinkedIn is not Twitter. I repeat, LinkedIn is not Twitter.  [Via Deb Kolaras]
• Wait, what?  Pepsi is starting throwback branding in addition to its lame new branding?  Color me confused.

Where does the time go?  Our Google Analytics series will be back for the attack later this week…in the meantime, here are some marketing and branding-related links to whet your appetite:

• How on earth do you monitor social media?  Social Media Explorer shows you how.
• Some most excellent facts and figures on the effectiveness of different marketing channels…hint: e-mail wins [via AAF SmartBrief]
• Oldie but goodie on using Google Alerts to track information about your business
• They’re getting real about marketing messages at Women’s Wear Daily

Over the years, I have come to realize that a good massage isn’t a luxury…it’s a necessity.  Unfortunately, the pocketbook of a small business owner (especially in this climate) does not always agree.

Enter Mary Koziol, a Boulder-based masseuse who specializes in women’s massage.  She’s offering an economy-bashing half-price sale for all of her massages…only $30 for 60 minutes or $42.50 for 90 minutes throghout the rest of February and March.  What an opportunity to support a local entrepreneur and rub out the kinks and miseries of being a local entrepreneur…all at the same time!

Reach Mary at 720.934.5730 or email mkoziol04@gmail.com

Photo via apdk

• My current obsession, Help A Reporter Out, is hosting a conference call on “How to Pitch a Reporter” that is promising to be a goldmine (and for just $50 it’s pretty much a steal).
• Here’s a quite comprehensive article on finding the tweet spot and using Twitter to your advantage.
• SmartBlog asks:  “Are you getting in the way of your customers?“
• Celebrity magazine circulation is down? Say it ain’t so!

In the crowded world of jewelry and crafting, differentiation is key.  It seems like jewelry designers are a dime a dozen…and let’s face it, there’s a lot of crap thrown in the mix.  Today’s favorite woman-owned business, however, manages to stand out from the crowd with some awesome branding and a real quality product.

EveAndOdd Designs is the brainchild of Olivia McPherson, a brassy, sassy scientist living in Cambridge, Mass.  She creates these clever earrings in her gorgeous studio and really puts some thought and intention into every pair of earrings.  I have four pairs of hers now, which are set to “heavy” in my earring rotation.  They’re the perfect weight, hang beautifully, and are a conversation piece wherever I go.

One thing I love about Olivia’s branding is her product descriptions.  She thinks long and hard about each piece, names it, and carefully photographs it.  The presentation when you get the piece in the mail is breathtaking, and the price is right…a nice splurge item that won’t break the bank in a teetering economy.

It’s not enough for darling Gwynnie to document her Spanish food road trip with chef Mario Batali (truly one of the world’s more unexpected pairings).  The former better half of both Ben Affleck and Brad Pitt, Gwyneth Paltrow is pursuing personal branding in an unexpected…and quite weird fashion.

Enter GOOP, Gwyneth’s sporadic lifestyle newsletter.  In GOOP, Gwyneth does everything from interview her friends (Deepak Chopra appears frequently) to sigh over her favorite five-star hotels and restaurants to instruct her presumedly worshiping fans on a low-cal detox diet to get over the holiday slump.

In the process, oddly, she has been associating herself more and more with a ridiculously upscale yet surprisingly near-to-down-to-earth lifestyle that is at once vague (she prefers to eat macrobiotic yet loves to indulge in oily paellas and sushi; her religious views seem to waver between pop psychology and Kabbalah luv) and extremely specific (you can find the girl in Hermes, Barneys, and Chanel, everyone).

I still can’t figure out what brand she is trying to personalize, or what her ultimate goal is (tomorrow’s Martha Stewart, perhaps?), but I am finding her progression through some very aggressive personal branding to be amusing at the very least.

More on GOOP:

Back In Skinny Jeans’ awesome sendup, BOOP

Goop or Poop?  RealityRant

Jezebel on GOOP

You’ve learned how to assess your brand’s strengths and weaknesses.  What now?

Remember the DEVO song “Freedom of Choice”?  People can get really overwhelmed at the embarrassment of riches that is free choice.  I encourage my clients to start SMALL.  Eensy-weensy, tiny even.  Know why?  Because small = manageable in a real world full of real-world distractions and setbacks.

It can seem like a huge bummer to think small when you’ve just gotten the macro view of your brand health.  However, small steps are what will bring you to your destination.

Example:  You’ve discovered that while your Web presence rates a 95%, your sales is coming in at a mere 25%.  You’ve delved into the details and realized that your sales and marketing need to be better integrated, perhaps through the use of a CRM system, a double sales/marketing plan, or a weekly check-in meeting.

Instead of plunging in and doing all three, prioritize.  Which one looks like it will have the biggest return on investment?  How quickly can you get going?  Can it be broken down into manageable tasks?  Who will take care of each one?  Most importantly, how will you measure and evaluate your success?

If you repeat this process, calendar in hand, you should quickly get a feel for which baby steps you’ll take first.  Voila — a direction for your brand!

This sounds simple, but it’s really as complex as you make it.  Go focus on the here and now…just make sure you check in with reality and strategy on a regular basis.

Happy New Year!

Now that you know where you are, it’s time to move forward and actually use that data to analyze your brand.

Problem is, you can’t know where you’re going until you know what you want.

What do I want? is a huge question, but it’s one you’re going to have to answer in specific terms if you want a good picture of your brand’s strengths and weaknesses. Yes, it is time for The Question Game.

In playing the question game, think of your average four-year-old.  Why is the sky blue?  Why do ants march?  Why did you just tell me I have to go to bed?  Why why why?  This might seem uber-simple, but it’s actually a pretty effective way of mining down through your meta-desires to specific action items.

Be relentless and aggressive.  Here’s a sample of the process in action:

VOCO Creative:  What do you want?

Client:  I want to make more money in 2009.

VOCO:  How much more money?

Client:  Well, $25,000 would do me.

VOCO:  What’s the best way to get an extra $25k?

Client:  Get some new clients?

VOCO:  How many new clients?  What kinds of clients?  Etc., ad infinitum.

Once you’ve mined down to specifics — I need 30 new paying clients for my Brand Miracle Service — get even more specific.  Where are these clients?  What strategies do you need to use to reach them?  What resources have you already got?

Here’s where the real fun starts.  Once you know what you want and whether you have it or not, you can assess your brand’s ability to meet those needs and get you where you want to go.  If you’ve decided you need clients who are female and who love the mall, you can then decide whether you have the collateral you need, the Web presence you need, the contacts at the mall you need, the reputation you need.

For each area, assign yourself a percentage.  Pretend you’re a high school teacher grading yourself on preparedness to go after your goals.  If you want to reach out to the Mall Ladies but have no contacts and a crappy reputation, you might be at about a 20% — a failing grade.  If you have all of the resources but one, you might be at 90%.

Do this for each of your goals and you suddenly get a much more realistic picture of your brand’s health.  Are you constantly missing your Web-based goals or failing to increase traffic?  Problem area.  Are you rocking the printed collateral and sticking to your marketing plan?  Great news.

It can seem intimidating to assign numerical values to different facets of your brand identity, but guess what?  You can’t progress until you decide where you are today and what kind of equipment you have going forward.  If you fail to plan, your next year might feel a lot like going for a camping trip with a can of Pringles and a pair of hiking boots.  Will you have fun?  Maybe.  Will you succeed?  Probably not.

In our next edition, we’ll make some real-world decisions based on our brand assessment.  See you then!

Image courtesy of woodleywonderworks

Pepsi just revealed their new logo. A couple of comments on their new look. Some blogs I have read were trying to figure out why pepsi spent a million dollars on a logo that look quite similar to their diet pepsi logo from long ago. And they were also commenting on how the apple-inspired minimalist look is influencing everything and does it have staying power.  

My thoughts on the matter.  First a critique:  

The Good:  I like the fact that they did in fact pull the text treatment from past logos, it lends some weight and history to their story.  The sans-serif, rounded font is in fact very appropriate for the design climate right now.  Simple, clean, appleish.  

The Hmmm:  There is not really an integration of the text and the logo.  In fact, it could be two separate elements.  If their intention is to use them separately then that is okay, but pepsi is planning on redoing everything with this logo and it feels disjointed.

The Ewwww:  This pepsi logo must be on people’s mind because I saw a cartoon where someone did a little sketch (see below)

Since seeing this I haven’t been able to look at it the same.  But the biggest question I have with pepsi is that, if you are going to throw $1,000,000 behind a rebranding, new logo process, shouldn’t they be shaking up the design world, introducing something new, something ground-breaking. Being trend-setters?  Instead of just responding to a trend, as Jim Edwards says, is already kind of aged and may lack durability?  

I would love to see the market testing on this logo.