Some say there is a “New Normal” and that business has changed in a profound way from the beginning to the end of the first decade of the 21st century. If so, then what are the implications for the concept of BRAND — is it more or less important than it was? Should more thought go into proactively creating and managing the brand experience? Should more resources be expended in shaping and defending the brand? And if the answer is yes to one or more of these questions, then by what means can we achieve this control and what can we expect as a return on our investment? These are important questions for marketers of all stripes — from agency denizens to company product managers to entrepreneurs launching new brands.
Gwen’s Girls gives young women in our area the support they need to overcome their challenges and become healthy, confident and successful. The services this organization offers change girls’ lives, and, by investing in the promise and potential of girls, also change our society for the better.
In building a brand from the ground up, I don’t believe there are any fatal decisions that should paralyze you from the beginning. Let your gut guide you toward making decisions that propel you forward. You can always rationalize later. One example is in picking a name for your company. This important symbol, although primary, can be changed if necessary or desired. Changing a name is always an opportunity for publicity. But a name, does not a brand make. It is, in the beginning, an empty vessel that must be filled with a collection of promises, experiences, packaging, friends, products and most of all feelings, before it has meaning or equity. Therefore, charge ahead! Pick a name and never look back. Start telling your story and make sure that you and everyone associated with your brand does your name proud. To get over that lump in your throat, knot in your stomach or whatever particular body part of yours gets involved, remind yourself that some of the most successful brands (Virgin, Google, Apple, Teva) have names that might easily have been tossed on the basis of logic or fear or worst of all…market research.
New Fitting Group creative services intern, Beckie, blogs about her experience with handling culture shock.
In my opinion, I’ve lived a sheltered life. I grew up in a rural area, two hours from any major city, fifteen minutes from a decent-size town in Maryland and forty-five minutes from my 600-student high school in Pennsylvania. Up until this past December, I had never been further than Orlando, Florida, and I had never been on an airplane (yes, we drove for 15 hours).
But I finally got my chance to break these boundaries. My fiancé’s sister, Ashley, is currently living in Honduras teaching math at a bilingual school. His family invited me to go with them for two weeks to visit her and sightsee. We flew out of Baltimore on December 18th to the capital of Honduras, Tegucigalpa.
Walking around Tegucigalpa and our second destination, Juticalpa, nearly everyone stared at me. I also knew very little Spanish. It was extremely unnerving. I was prepared to stick out like a sore thumb, and I knew I would have trouble communicating, but I was not prepared for the overwhelming feeling of panic.
Let’s talk about web sites — or more to the point, web development and the transparent integration of web technologies. Sounds like fun, right? Well, as anyone who’s had a conversation with me will tell you, I’m a fan of analogies. So let’s skip all the tech jargon and internet whoodoo-voodoo, and begin with something we can all relate to.
Not a pretty picture, now is it?
Imagine for a moment that your web site is a work of art. No, literally — a painting, a meticulously crafted and refined masterpiece. Let’s say you have the perfect place on your wall to display it, somewhere your audience can view it in all its glory.
Now, this is where I come in. I’m the guy in charge of hanging paintings.
There are many different ways I can go about mounting your artwork. I can stand in front of it, holding it against the wall. I could crouch under it, resting it on my neck and shoulders. I might be able to stand next to it with my arms around it. All of the above get the job done but they all suffer from the same problem: The audience can’t enjoy the work because I am literally in the way. My presence is a distraction from the experience.
When GeoSonics and Vibra-Tech, sister companies who have united as one, decided to demonstrate their union on the World Wide Web, they needed a site that was chock-full of technical information, but still easy to use and awesome to look at.
RiverLift Industries is a logistics, transloading and trucking company that really knows how to deliver. They came to Fitting Group in need of a website that would send a very important message: you can count on RiverLift.
Fitting Group met with the Comcast folks last week and learned all about the cool stuff coming down the pike for advertisers — both online and on cable TV. What we learned was that upcoming innovations clearly point to Comcast’s understanding that in today’s world, TV must learn to play the instant-gratification game in order to keep up and attract young audiences.
Most advertisers are familiar with Comcast’s On Demand service, which was its first attempt at providing subscribers with more in-depth information on a product or service. This was a good start, but it didn’t compare to the “seek-n-find” capability of the Internet. Well, in the very near future, subscribers are going to be able to push a button on their digital cable TV remote when they see an advertisement to instantly (with a double opt-in “yes” feature) request that coupons or additional information be sent to them via snail-mail or email.
This capability will open up endless possibilities for advertisers — if subscribers actually do it. As with anything else, it will take time to catch on. But, when it does, it will become as second nature as setting your DVR to record The Bachelor (by the way, you will also be able to hit a button on your remote when you see a promo for The Bachelor to signal your DVR to record it for you — instantly!). Technology and advertising — I LOVE IT!
When I was growing up in the 1960s in Philadelphia, PA, almost everything my family bought was from a small shop, usually a family-run business. Quality was important. Everything had to last. Basically, we could barely afford what we bought once, much less the expense of replacing it.
Others who had more money were also accustomed to this “conscientious shopping,” but for other reasons. Perhaps they were more aware of where the money was going, wanting to support the local economy. Or, perhaps they were more focused on contributing to the greater good.
In building a brand from the ground up, I don’t believe there are any fatal decisions that should paralyze you from the beginning. Let your gut guide you toward making decisions that propel you forward. You can always rationalize later. One example is in picking a name for your company. This important symbol, although primary, can be changed if necessary or desired. Changing a name is always an opportunity for publicity. But a name, does not a brand make. It is, in the beginning, an empty vessel that must be filled with a collection of promises, experiences, packaging, friends, products and most of all feelings, before it has meaning or equity. Therefore, charge ahead! Pick a name and never look back. Start telling your story and make sure that you and everyone associated with your brand does your name proud. To get over that lump in your throat, knot in your stomach or whatever particular body part of yours gets involved, remind yourself that some of the most successful brands (Virgin, Google, Apple, Teva) have names that might easily have been tossed on the basis of logic or fear or worst of all…market research.
Fitting Group met with the 
