Lifestyle content. What is it and why does it matter? Make sure you don’t overlook this important marketing strategy. Here’s what you need to know… Continue reading “Lifestyle Content Marketing”
Using a Company Mascot to Engage Customers
Whether your company mascot is fictional (Mr. Clean, the Michelin man) or real (the office pooch), your company mascot is a great way to personalize your business and engage customers.
Here are eight company mascot ideas worth considering.
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Website Tips: Give Some Love to these Forgotten Pages
No doubt, you and your team review certain pages on your website more than you do others. The home page, products and services pages, and FAQs immediately come to mind as pages that typically receive plenty of marketing love.
So now, it’s time to turn your attention to those “other” pages—ones that are easy to forget about, even though they are important.
Continue reading “Website Tips: Give Some Love to these Forgotten Pages”
What Makes a Logo Successful?
You’ll find plenty of blog posts that highlight a random selection of effective logo designs, but we thought we’d shake things up a bit and highlight types of logo designs that are effective and why. This will help you as you work on your own company’s branding efforts.
For the purpose of this post, we’re going to select one company logo that represents each “type” we’re discussing. From there, we’ll reference the many other logos out there that fall under this type.
Let’s get to it!
Real-Life Examples of Success with Repeat Business
As the marketing adage goes, it’s always easier to sell to past/current customers than it is to brand new shiny ones. The question is, how can you encourage repeat business, especially for B2C companies that depend on getting people into their stores?
Here are some examples of different brands rocking repeat business…and how your company can implement the ideas.
1. Ben & Jerry’s Free Cone Days. Ben & Jerry’s sets aside a day every year and gives away its frozen treats for free as a way to “thank our customers for their support and to celebrate over 3 decades of scooping.”
Why this idea works: Um, who doesn’t love FREE ice cream? And what a great way to get people into ice cream shops where they will get the full Ben & Jerry’s experience, see all the other flavors and treats available, and be reminded why they should visit again soon.
How you can implement this idea: What product or service can you give away for free? If you have a brick and mortar storefront, consider some sort of “free” day or free combo day (for example, if you own a salon, perhaps you offer a free pedicure with every haircut booked in June).
Continue reading “Real-Life Examples of Success with Repeat Business”
New Product Launch: How to Prep, Plan, and Implement a Sound Strategy
You’re excited about your new product. You’ve beta-tested it to the max, you’ve revised, you’ve tested again, and it’s ready. Now what?
The purpose of this post is to give you a basic blueprint of what you need to do in order to have a successful product launch. We’re going to assume the product is, indeed, ready (so if patents are needed or distribution agreements need to be signed, we’re going to assume that this is all set). We’re also going to assume that you’ve done your market research and that there is, in fact, a market for your product. Continue reading “New Product Launch: How to Prep, Plan, and Implement a Sound Strategy”
Case Study: What Pizza Can Teach Us About Branding
How Domino’s Reinvented Itself Using a Underused Tactic
The history: According to the Domino’s website, the Monaghan brothers bought “DomiNick’s” in 1960 and renamed it Domino’s in 1965. The company opened its 200th store in 1978 and its 5000th store in 1989. Its website launched in 1996, and by 2000, it 
had over 6500 outlets spread across the globe. It celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2010. Today, Domino’s has over 9000 outlets across 60 countries.
The challenge: Domino’s faced a classic “perception vs. reality” issue. Domino’s was often the butt of jokes, eliciting “tastes like cardboard” punch lines. Even its convenient “delivered in 30 minutes or less” promise didn’t help much. A consumer taste survey in 2009 had Domino’s coming in dead last, tied with Chuck E. Cheese. As a result, Domino’s announced its plan to reinvent itself in late 2009, starting with its pizza.
The process: Domino’s used something that’s quite unusual in marketing and advertising: honesty. Domino’s highlighted its own weaknesses and failures, with its affable CEO Patrick Doyle leading the charge. In fact, real people from inside the company — from the head chef, to marketing folks, to delivery drivers — became actively involved in the messaging that people began seeing in 2010, starting with the “Pizza Turnaround” documentary that was posted on Domino’s new Pizza Turnaround microsite. We’ve embedded it below.
As Doyle says in the documentary, “You can either use negative comments to get you down, or you can use them to excite you and energize your process of making a better pizza. We did the latter.” Continue reading “Case Study: What Pizza Can Teach Us About Branding”