Tag Archives: Branding
Branding and social media, Part 2: Brand experience, the stronger animal
Posted on 29. May, 2010 by Kelly Hobkirk.
Brands are designed to connect with people in direct and meaningful ways. The experience of connecting is among the most powerful ways your business can start a long-term relationship with people. Social media, on the other hand, is made to create indirect experiences.
Why rely on the weaker animal? Try as you might, you cannot dictate which social media tools your audience will use. Sure, you can guess that facebook and twitter might be…
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Branding and social media, Part 1: Set it and forget it
Posted on 12. May, 2010 by Kelly Hobkirk.
Unless you’ve lived under a heavy rock for the last few years, you probably know that social media is now considered an essential part of a marketing plan. You may have a thorough understanding of social media, or you may be a little confused by how to incorporate it into your marketing without wasting enormous amounts of time. After all, you already have a full-time job and managing several social media profiles can feel…
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5 Steps to branding your social media profiles
Posted on 24. Apr, 2010 by Kelly Hobkirk.
It’s well-known fact that the current generation was brought up using facebook and LinkedIn to find each other. My brother used facebook as his phone book when he was in college. Now it’s how his family stays in touch with friends, in an indirect way of course. Large businesses know that the best way for them to connect with customers is still through large-scale media, but small businesses can connect with potential customers on…
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More baby talk: Your brand is your business language
Posted on 07. Apr, 2010 by Kelly Hobkirk.
You may be scratching your head about my babies to branding analogy, or you might just think I’m nuts for making this connection, but this is important because it drives home the very reason why branding is so critical to business success – why it is so important to undertake the process of branding right from the moment of immaculate business conception.
See, we humans have an innate need to categorize and…
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Brand love: we are all a bunch of babies
Posted on 05. Apr, 2010 by Kelly Hobkirk.
Imagine you are a baby. You are sheltered in their mother’s womb for nine months. Everything you need is provided in a warm environment. When born, you transition from everything you need being completely taken care of to 100% needy in the span of just a few minutes. If that’s not a shock to the system I don’t know what is.
What happens next? You are cleaned off, checked over, wrapped in a…
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What happens when you skip branding?
Posted on 17. Mar, 2010 by Kelly Hobkirk.
Branding is hard work – no two ways about it. It’s a never ending effort that pays off in more ways than most people realize. Your brand effects your daily motivation, your approach to your work, and your overall success. It drives your marketing, and ultimately it is one of the two strongest forces driving your business.
Businesses who skip branding often fail because they lack the basic definition of who they are and…
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Quick brand naming tip, or how the blue and red Buddhas got a hearty laugh
Posted on 10. Mar, 2010 by Kelly Hobkirk.
One of the most important first steps in the branding process is brand naming. It can be a tricky equation. You have to balance your desire with practicality, availability, meaning, the catchy factor, and other considerations. Spelling is kind of important too.
Several years back, a long-time client of mine with a penchant for brainstorming at 1:00 a.m. decided he wanted to create a nebulous product called either Blue Buddha or Red Buddha.…
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Finding a great graphic designer, part 2: Goal Setting
Posted on 08. Mar, 2010 by Kelly Hobkirk.
A wise friend once told me: If you always do what you have always done, you will always get what you have always got.
If you have been dissatisfied with the work your graphic designer has done, you probably do not know how amazing it feels to experience outstanding design when it is created just for your business.
Communication is key
If you want a big change in the perception of your business,…
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Finding a great graphic designer, part 1: Budgeting
Posted on 04. Mar, 2010 by Kelly Hobkirk.
One of the most common questions I receive at speaking engagements is, “How do I find a great graphic designer?” Finding a graphic designer who fits your needs can be a complex equation, but knowing what you need and having a set of important questions to ask prospective graphic designers can shorten the process by leaps and bounds.
Budgeting for graphic design often draws a question mark for people new to hiring a designer.…
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What is Brand Positioning?
Posted on 01. Mar, 2010 by Kelly Hobkirk.
I gave a talk on branding last Friday at the beautiful new Bellevue City Hall. One topic that spurred many questions was Brand Positioning. It is difficult to explain such an important step of the branding process in roughly ten minutes, so here’s a little more detail. I’ll be visiting this topic often.
Brand positioning is perhaps the most shunned part of branding that exists, especially for small businesses. Creative professionals don’t like it…
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