At Pemberley branding and rebranding is a large part of what we do. Image is so important to businesses and it follows that from time to time companies want to tighten their look. Below are some examples of rebranding from some popular companies. Are they successful or not? You decide.

Source 1 Source 2

What are some reasons companies rebrand?

• as a discussion point (social media)
• to stay fresh
• to show customers that they care about their image (and their products)
• to announce or launch a new product
• to go along with an upgrade (new building, new owner, new website)

 

Some tips for rebranding/branding:

• make sure the new design ins timely and relevant
• be consistent- brand every facet of your company
• be thoughtful
• follow up- talk about it (social media, networking)
• to go along with an upgrade (new building, new owner, new website)

 

A recent Pemberley rebranding project?

Fairfield County Economic Development asked that we rebrand their logo and create a tag line to brand all of their offerings. Below is the before and after.

You are probably always looking to increase your visibility online, but maybe you have little to no design or coding experience. Below are 3 simple steps that can increase your online visibility. Best of all, they require no web design or coding skills!

1.) Business Listings - Submit Your Site to Local and National Business Listings

There are quite a few of these listings out there. A simple Google search will help you to find your local list sites. The 3 national listings that you should be most concerned with are Google, Yahoo and Bing. These sites incorporate business listings along side their search engine options to give you a twofold advantage.

2.)Website Submissions - Submit Your Site For Indexing

Each of the top three search engines (Google, Yahoo and Bing) also provide a place for you to submit your site to be indexed by them for free. Periodically, search engines send out programs called bots or spiders to catalogue your site for indexing in their database. This allows them to correctly organize your business site with in a search string. You can speed this process by entering your website on these sites manually. You should do this at least once a month or whenever you add new content to your site.

3.)Site Links - Get Other Websites to Link to Your Site

Every time another website links to yours you add to your site’s credibility with search engines and you lift your search ranking. You can ask customers and vendors to link to you within their sites or buy online advertizing but the easiest way to do this for your self is to create some social media pages. Create a Facebook, Twitter and/or You Tube page for your company. It will not only give you added marketing exposure but it will provide much needed links back to your website.

Keep in mind that the very best way to optimize your site for search engines is to hire a web designer to optimize the site for you. There are many tricks and formulas to attract search engines to your site and your designer will walk you through what is best for you.

For a free white paper on do it your self SEO and for the links to  Google, Yahoo and Bing’s submission pages please contact Pemberly via the contact section of this site and put Simple SEO in the subject line.

 

What do you want to say?

We spend a lot of time here talking about the importance of branding and logos. As an identifier of your business, a logo is vital but not more important than the message. When used properly, your logo can bring recognition to an advertizing campaign without being the center of the piece.

In order to identify the correct design hierarchy for your piece you must decide your goal. What is your call to action? Do you want people to call your phone number or visit you website?  Are you promoting a sale? Or, do you simply want to remind them you exist?

It is essential that you keep your goal in mind when considering your advertizing options. A trap business owners often fall into is trying to do or say too much in a single piece. Ask your self, “Would I read this much text? If I knew nothing about this product/service would I be compelled to find out more?” Most often less is more.

While many scenarios exist, let’s explore 3 of the most common.  Typically the goal of a piece of marketing is do one of 3 things:

1. Announce a Sale or Promotion
2. Call the Consumer to Action (call a phone number, or visit a website)
3. Create or Continue Brand Awareness

So how do you order the hierarchy of each piece? While there is no scientific formula, some basic principals apply for each scenario.

 

Announce a Sale or Promotion

Here you would lead with the hook, a percentage off or a free gift, whatever catches the customer’s attention. The logo, tag line, contact info and photo would be secondary.

Call to Action

Here the problem is the main focus. What problem does your product or service solve? Provide a solution and have them call your number or visit your website to get help.  Again your logo is secondary.

Brand Awareness

This is one of the only times a logo and a tag line with out much else is acceptable. Here the function of the piece is only to keep your brand at the front of the customer’s mind.

The goal of every marketing piece out there is to grab a customer’s attention and hold it. Make sure that your message hits home with your target audience!

As a small business owner you are not a passive observer when it comes to your business marketing. It is up to you to drive your company’s marketing efforts just as you drive the other aspects of your business. As difficult as it is, especially when you are a one man show, you should devote at least several hours a week to your business marketing.

The successful strategy in 3 parts:

The Advertising Campaign:

One off advertising efforts usually just waste money. It is imperative for a small business, with limited advertising dollars, to create plan for their advertising. It is easy to be drawn in by ad sales men who promise you will “have to hire new people” just to keep up with sales. The truth is he has no idea what kind of support you have for your ad. Does it lead people back to your website? Is there a recognizable logo? Does it offer a sale? Is it part of a cohesive effort? The point is that advertising in one place with no plan for continued advertising in other mediums is detrimental because in no way does it reinforce your identity or your message. People are bombarded with advertising all day everyday. Repetition and consistency win every time.

Self Promotion:

If you have never heard of Company X before how likely are you to call them because of an ad you saw on the back of your Kroger receipt? Not likely, right? (Especially if that company doesn’t have a website you can research.) Now then what if you met the owner of Company X at a Chamber Event? And then again at a local trade show? Would you look twice at his ad? Perhaps give him a call? More likely, right? Exactly. Before your company can be a regional or national powerhouse it must become a local one. The best way to do that? Network, promote, create buzz. Be at the local tradeshows, shake hands at chamber of commerce events and pass out your business cards and brochures and flyers like they are going out of style!

Brand Consistency:

It can’t be said enough; your business branding should be consistent across the board. Have you ever seen an ad, a sign and a business card that looked completely different and was surprised that they were all for the same company? Remember, you are fighting for space in the mind of your customer. If your marketing is not consistent then you have just bombarded them with, what looks like, 3 different companies! Unless repetition comes into play, your customer’s mind overloaded with the day’s onslaught, will simply dump the information. In order for them to hang on to the information, your message and look need to be consistent across all of your marketing efforts.

Alone, any one of these strategies can offer a boost in your business. Used correctly and together however, these powerful measures can propel your business to new heights!

At Pemberley we have made no secret about how important a logo is for any business.
This icon describes your business and reserves a place for you in the mind of your customer.

Recently, there has been some curiosity about how a logo is created. We have outlined our steps in logo development below.

PHASE 1 THE CUSTOMER MEETING

IDENTIFY THE TARGET AUDIENCE:

To whom do you market your product?

Who buys your product?

Who would you like to buy your product?

OUTLINE YOUR VISION FOR THE LOGO:

What qualities symbolize your company?

What would you like to communicate about your company?

DESIGN OF YOUR LOGO: HOW DO YOU WANT YOUR LOGO TO LOOK?

Font style?

Colors?

Graphics?

Examples of logos you like- why do you like them?

Finally, we discuss your budget and how many initial sketches you would like to see. We often remind our clients that the design of their business material is centered around their logo. So, with that in mind, if we give the logo development it’s due time the rest of the design will fall into place more succinctly! In other words the more time you spend on your logo the less time everything else takes.

PHASE 2 LOGO DEVELOPMENT

Here we take the logo from conception to the final product with steps that have produced many successful logos over time.

RESEARCH: We research the clients industry and become familiar with the audience of the client.

SKETCH: This is the pencil and paper (and eraser) phase. Many drawings are made not only of the logo’s symbol but also of the font and ideal overall structure.

COMPUTER SKETCH: The images are then scanned into the computer and enhanced in graphics programs.

PROOFING:

First Proof: We create a grid of 2, 4, 6 or more initial logo concepts. These usually are black and white unless colors ahave been discussed.

Second proof: The customer chooses one or two logos from the sketch to take to the next level. They make edits to the logos and might ask that we take elements from two or more of the previous concepts to create a new logo that utilizes their favorite parts of each.

Final proof: There may be some tweaking required before the final proof is submitted. Here we send one logo of the clients choosing for their final approval.

 

These steps and best practices ensure that your logo is what YOU want, and that it communicates YOUR message.

Pemberley polled local consumers and found that, when it comes to the decision to buy, consumers are heavily influenced by graphic design.

Recently Pemberley polled local consumers to find out how they really felt about design, branding and buying local. We found that design makes a definite impact on consumers and how they make the decision to buy.

How likely are you to buy from a company with no logo?
While 18% replied that they were no more or less likely to buy, a large 73% margin stated that they would be “very unlikely” to buy from a company with no logo! One of the consumers wrote that, in his opinion, the lack of a logo, “Shows that they [the company] are not serious.” We couldn’t agree more. To a business a logo is just as important as your name or business card. A logo acts as a stamp that imprints your name in the mind of your customer.

How likely are you to buy from a company with no web presence?
Many consumers do quite a bit of research online before they buy. So it came as no surprise that only 27% of our pool were likely to buy from a company with no web presence. One person wrote, “Most of the research I do is on the web. I do not understand companies without [a web site].”

How important is a company’s appearance to you when making the decision to buy?
Three fourths of the polled participants said that that when it comes to making the decision to buy, a company’s appearance is extremely important. “A professional look says [I will have] a professional experience,” wrote one consumer. Whether this is true or not perception is half the battle when attracting new clients. Another person wrote that, “If a company does not take pride in how it presents itself, then a company will not take pride in its work.” What a powerful statement!

So what does this mean to the local business owner? If you do not have the strong foundational combo of a logo and website you are missing out on business! 100% of the participants polled said that they look for local companies to purchase their goods. Meaning that your client base is ready and willing to buy from you if they can find you.

It is clear that consumers place the appearance and the overall presentation of a product or service very high on their list when it comes to purchase. Design plays a large part in the mind of your customer and is an essential part of any business branding package.

Yes Even Design Companies Re-Brand

We have a new logo! After three amazing years Pemberley had outgrown our logo. It just did not describe us any more. While we are still design focused and capable, our logo did not reflect our other services and capabilities. As an icon we can address a far greater range of products and services and with the addition of the tag “Design Brand Print,”  Pemberley calls attention to our three main service areas.

We hope you enjoy the new site and new look. We expect that it is only the beginning of a successful future for us and, of course, you our customers!

Check out our Brand evolution.