Brand Design Blog, News and Ideas

Smashing magazine have released another great article regarding color in corporate branding and design.

They point out the significance of colour in web design especially, where the feeling your site portrays in the first 3 seconds effect the visitors experience of your brand.

They also explore the differences large corporate companies are using on their websites in relation to their traditional corporate colours.

You’ll notice that when many of the companies explored are using non traditional colour schemes.

Are they testing the market or are they using colour to appeal to you on a different emotional level?

You’ll have to read to find out. You can read the full article here at colors in corporate branding and design.

Have a read and then let me know your thoughts by leaving a comment under this post.

We’ve just launched the all new Michael Butera website at michaelbutera.com.au

Michael is an up and coming singer/songwriter from Melbourne Australia who contracted Crimson Fox to help create a more central online presence for his music releases and event schedules.

The custom web design we’ve created, matches the funk, pop styles of Michael’s music, while delivering a dynamic launching pad for listening to his music through the flash controlled music player.

We are currently working with a number of musicians who are serious about taking their careers to the next level. So if you have any ideas about how we can be of service to you, please let us know.

For news and music releases from Michael Butera sign up for his updates at www.michaelbutera.com.au

Well, we’re over a month into 2009 and it’s time to take stock of our Branding Messages and Presentations to make sure they fit this new economic climate.

Customers are now putting greater consideration on spending money, often looking for a cheaper option if they can’t see the value in your brand.

Other considerations touch on the technology front. Social Networks, Mobile phones and online marketing are taking even greater strides in 2009 and need to be considered in your marketing approach.

Below are the our Top 5 considerations when branding your business in 2009.

Social Networks

Social Networks such as Facebook, My Space and Twitter have finally made real impact with the public in general over 2008 and it’s time to start leveraging them.

As of September last year Facebook had over 90 Million active users which is a growing number that can’t be ignored.

Creating a company profile on any of these networks can be a great way to begin conversations with your clients and keep up to date with changing trends and customer opinion.

Consistency

Making sure that your brand message is consistent across all forms of media and customer interaction is important for customer loyalty and trust.

It’s much easier to trust someone if you have consistent positive communication. The same thing applies to your business communication with its customers.

Change scares many people. Knowing what to expect will enable customers and clients to feel comfortable when dealing with you.

Value Propositions

Now more than ever, value for money is a must. With the media screaming economic turmoil, customers need to see that they are receiving a valuable product or service for their hard earned money.

So make sure that you express the benefits of investing in your product when ever possible. Cheap does not equal value, but if the customer does not see value in your presentation then cheap is an easy alternative.

Relevance

Knowing your customers and their current situation is key in speaking to their hearts and minds.

Economic and personal situations are changing faster than ever so in order to keep up we need to be opening conversations with our customers today.

Whether through social networking, online and offline community interaction, email marketing or simply phoning to following up on a customer purchase, we need to listen to what our clients have to say, then act on any major trends we find from the feedback.

Email Marketing

Email marketing is a great way to keep existing and potential customers up to date.

But the key is not to ‘Spam’ people. Making sure that your emails are welcome is incredibly important part of this strategy.

First, make sure you only send email to existing customers or people who have expressed interest in receiving more informtion about your product.

Secondly, the customer needs to be in control. Making it easy to unsubscribe to your email newsletter is key to establishing trust.

Third and finally, make your email content interesting, useful and valuable to the customer receiving it.

Again, if your message is not one of value, people will stop listening.

There are many things to consider when branding your business and I only have time to cover my top 5 here.

If you have more suggestion feel free to let us know through the comments or send us an email at: admin@crimsonfox.com.au

If you would like more information on branding your business we are ready to help you on: 03 8562 2239 or admin@crimsonfox.com.au

Lately, I’ve had many small business owners asking me what they should consider when branding their business and products.

As we know, branding is more than just a logo or business cards.

It’s all the little details of business life that contribute to how the public, your customers and even your staff, see, interact with, and talk about your business.

So I’ve put together a list of the various areas of your business that require branding attention.

The checklist recommends that you tick off each area once you decide a direction and then when you put your decisions into action.

Click this link to download the Branding Checklist.

Branding your business is more than just a logo or a corporate image.

Everything your business does equates to it’s overall personality.

We can externally project an image to the buying public. But keep in mind that everything we say, promote or advertise about our business becomes a promise with our customers.

If we don’t keep those promises when interacting with these customers, before, during and after sales, that image becomes tainted and our brand takes on a life of it’s own.

You can read my article on branding your business externally vs internally here.

Feel free to lave a comment regarding your thoughts on the topic.

Colour is a very important element in the overall personality of your company.

It plays a major part in brand recognition it can influence new customers and it can even have an impact on the mindset of our employees.

I’ve written a short article for you on the power of colour and it’s place in our perception of the world.

Click here to read …Is colour important to your business and brand?

Fell free to leave a comment and let me know how colour has effected your business.

Following some criticism regarding the ‘Fat Nano’, released last year - Apple has made a return to form with the new Nano for 2008.

While the ‘Fat Nano’s’ exterior was a departer from apples classic streamlined look, it does have some amazing features which have been included in the newer version.

One such feature is the two inch liquid crystal video display which can now be watched in landscape or portrait formats.

The addition of apple’s accelerometer technology, now making it all possible.

The Nano now has more colour options, which is nice, as is the even slimmer form factor.

It will be interesting to see how the new curved screen effects sun glare, but reports so far have sai that the viewing experience hasn’t been damaged by this introduction.

All in all, the new Nano design is a return to what makes the ipod great.

It’s unfortunate that this new version of the device wasn’t last years release, as many people who bought the 2007 Nano won’t upgrade simply due to the exterior design change.

What do you think?

Click the image above to see the latest advertisement for Nintendo’s ‘Wario Shake it”.

Make sure to watch more than just the first few seconds.

You’ll begin to see how you can use popular online media such as YouTube but take your ideas about online marketing to a whole new level.

Let me know what you think.

Over the last few years, the Console and PC Gaming industry has become big business.

With PC gaming alone, making over $10.7 Billion in revenue for 2007.

While those playing Computer Games on a regular basis have been watching this trend rise for some time, the world at large is starting to pay attention with Brand names such as Grand Theft Auto, Halo and World of Warcraft hitting prime time news this year.

With the increase in revenue, there has been an increase in spending in the marketing space.

Companies such as Blizzard (World of Warcraft) has been spending time and money on amazing trailers and pre-promotion for some time - but with their success (over 9.3 million payed subscribers last year), other game creators are starting to see the light.

The up coming ‘Rock Band 2″ is one such example. A game intro and promotion definitely worth watching (Not your average commercial).

The Computer Game industry is starting to take it’s strides up along side the Movie industry in revenue and the audience is growing so it’s certainly worth keeping your eyes on.

You can view the Rock Band intro here.

I’d love to read your thoughts about the trailer or your impressions of the gaming industry as it is today and in the future, so feel free to leave a comment.

As the post on toxel.com shows - logo design does not need to be complicated to be effective.

You can see all the logos here.

In fact I would suggest that if you look at the majority of high profile brands their logos are actually quite simple.

That doesn’t mean that no effort needs to be applied to the design. In fact, it often takes more effort to remove the unnecessary elements of a design to find the core design that will be the most effective option.

Simplicity, also allows a logo to be positioned easily on promotions and printed cost effectively.

Check out the full range of high profile logos here.