Photography and your brand: Do you have a unique, recognizable style? Tips to ensure you don't look like everyone else. Especially competitors.

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2007 Newsletters

	Typography: Often invisible, always essential Issue Number 25 \| December 2007 How do you know when typography is doing its job? When it allows you to focus on the message, rather than the presentation of that message. Skillful typography doesn't call attention to itself or get in the way. It enhances legibility and showcases content. In both digital and print media, skillful typography is essential for strong marketing. Typography should "induce a state of energetic repose, which is the ideal condition for reading," says Robert Bringhurst in The Elements of Typographic Style. When reading is not ideal, typography may be the culprit. We've all visited websites that require too much work to read — or look amateurish because of unsophisticated type. We've all picked up a capabilities brochure only to put it down because it's just not inviting. We've all seen brand identities that, despite the stature of the organization, lack polish and prestige. So what is it, exactly, that skillful typography brings to communication? Read the Full Story

	Storytelling: Using narrative to build your brand Issue Number 24 \| October 2007 Looking for ways to capture an audience? Try telling a compelling story. Human beings are hard-wired for narrative. It starts with the nursery stories and fairytales we hear as children. By the age of 4, most people understand the basic Aristotelian arc: beginning, middle, and end. We know to anticipate — and yearn for — the moral or the happily-ever-after. According to business experts such as Stephen Denning, author of The Leader's Guide to Storytelling, we never lose that yearning — which means narrative is one of the best ways to convey information, even in the business world. "Leadership involves inspiring people to act in unfamiliar and often unwelcome ways," Denning says. "Mind-numbing cascades of numbers or daze-inducing PowerPoint slides won't achieve this goal. Even the most logical arguments usually won't do the trick. But effective storytelling often does." Read the Full Story

	Time for a checkup: Is your brand bland? Issue Number 23 \| September 2007 How long has it been since your brand had a checkup? When was the last time you put on your official-issue marketing lab coat and gave your brand a full-scale physical — from top to bottom? If it's been a while, you may be in for a surprise. Symptoms like low energy, loss of interest, and lack of focus may indicate a serious marketing malady. Forgive us for being the bearer of bad news, but your brand may have simply gone bland. See if the following scenario sounds familiar: Your customers are no longer as excited about your company or its products. Your sales have gradually become sluggish. Your marketing efforts haven't been as consistent or on-target as you'd like. If your brand fits this profile, it's time for an injection of new ideas. Read the Full Story

	Your Campaign: What's the big idea? Issue Number 22 \| July 2007 You're rolling out a marketing campaign. Launching a product. Revitalizing your brand. What's the big idea? Not to sound flippant, but you need one. Because without it, it's likely your campaign, product launch, or brand repositioning won't be memorable — or particularly effective. "Today, it's economically crucial to create something that's beautiful, whimsical, or emotionally engaging," writes Daniel Pink in his influential book A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future. Whether you're just starting out or farther along in the creative process, ask yourself the essential question: What's the big idea? If the answer requires you to think too hard or explain too much, the idea probably isn't there. You can fix that. Read the Full Story

	Headlines: Read all about writing them Issue Number 21 \| June 2007 Often formulaic, frequently unimaginative, and sometimes just plain terrible, headlines are among the most underappreciated of marketing communications tools. Of all the words on your Web site, brochure, print ad, packaging, or sales letter, the headline is unquestionably the most important. While there are times an arresting visual is enough to convey the desired message and leave the audience with the impression you want — in an image ad, for example — studies show that the majority of people only read headline copy. And just a fraction of those readers actually continue reading the body text. So if your headline doesn't sing, you've lost more than a reader. You've also lost your opportunity to turn that reader into a customer. Read the Full Story

	Personas: Using fiction to inspire fact Issue Number 20 \| May 2007 Richard and Linda Ames run a real estate company out of a south Florida bank building. Their teenage children, Carl and Sara, are into video games, music, and instant messaging their friends. Every Sunday night they all settle in with some popcorn and a rental movie. Sound like people you know? They might, but the Ames family isn't real. They're personas: fictional characters created to make a company's marketing communications more effective. Your communications must speak to audiences in terms as familiar as an instant message, addressing their unique priorities and needs. Otherwise, you'll never motivate your desired response. Don't know your audiences that well? That's where personas come in. Read the Full Story

	Brevity is beautiful Issue Number 19 \| April 2007 In 1603, Shakespeare wrote, "Brevity is the soul of wit." No slouch with a quill pen, the Bard realized early on that brevity is truly the soul of effective communications. Despite our best intentions, we too often forget about brevity when we write on topics we care about. Who hasn't plowed through the three-page, single-spaced holiday letter or vacation recap? It's easy to confuse quantity with quality, stuffing five pages of company information into a tri-fold brochure. The result is a missed opportunity. Brevity isn't only beautiful aesthetically; it can also affect the bottom line. If your company's communications aren't hitting their intended target because they are wordy, vague or too detailed, they could be costing you business. Read the Full Story

	The Long Run: A marathon approach to marketing Issue Number 18 \| March 2007 Whether it's preparing for a forthcoming product launch or the industry tradeshow of the year, creating successful marketing campaigns often requires the effort and endurance of an athlete. No wonder so many marketers collapse after the mad dash that carries them across the finish line. They're exhausted, sure. But they're also losing out on incredible opportunities to communicate their message to the most important audience of all: those people they missed in their big push. Sprinting from one short-term finish line to the next is one way to outpace your competitors. Another is to view the challenges ahead of you, then develop a marketing campaign with, forgive us, "legs" effective enough to set your business apart in the long run. As in a real marathon, strength and strategy make all the difference. Read the Full Story

	Creativity at Work: Leave your competitors in the dull Issue Number 17 \| January 2007 Creative accounting is certainly an ill-advised proposition, but in most other areas of business, from manufacturing to marketing to management, creative thinking often represents a valuable, viable opportunity to differentiate your company from the competition. Creativity is the key to any innovative idea, product, or service. Approaching your audience with creativity will always deliver more effective results — no matter how large, small, serious, or clever your business objective. With indistinguishable offerings saturating many industries, creativity might even be your most important asset. That's why it's worth examining creativity and what the creative process requires. Read the Full Story