creative branding & marketing

Web design, graphic design, SEO, SEM and creative brand strategy thoughts to help you gain market share authored by the Metropolis Creative team and industry leaders.
12/16/09
Color Envy: Does Your Website Have It?
Graphic Design Color TheoryColor is a powerful web design tool, and it should be harnessed wisely or your website may lose potential customers. Color can talk to your readers before your content has a chance to speak. What is it saying?
  • Find the meaning. Colors hold certain meanings and emotions. Look at how your culture, state, community, etc. uses and thinks of color. Use this for your own means and incorporate them through your color palette.

  • Use color intentionally. At first glance your webpage should convey your brand clearly and not create confusion as if you landed on your page by accident. Well-known brands use color very well, and people remember color combinations. Consciously applying color through all of your marketing campaigns can achieve similar results.Graphic Design Color Theory

  • Be different. It is tough to be successful in a competitive marketplace. Color can be an effective mode of creative differentiation — think purple window cleaner in a sea of blue products.

  • Functionality reigns supreme. Above all, color should be functional, plain and simple. It is an important visual cue for visitors — it signifies headers and sub-headers, navigation bars, links, and more — so use it clearly. Also, be ADA compliant. Keep a high contrast between the background and foreground, limit the overlapping of red and green colors for colorblind individuals, and keep readability high.

So whenever making a web site, the goal is to create a dynamic, functional, and brand-appropriate design. What sites do you think rock at color — or should just stick to black and white?

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posted by Kristen_Sapowicz at 9:56 AM

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9/13/09
Tickle Pink with Colorful CTA’s and You’ll Stimulate Leads
Force yourself to design each and every page with one and only one primary objective.
- Seth Godin

That’s right! At a quick glance, your website visitors should know what you are selling (or service you’re providing) and take action. A call to action (CTA) is a simple and clear step to tell your web guests what they can expect and what you want them to do.

Done right, CTA’s work 24/7 and deliver leads. Every visit to your website could be a lead. Without well positioned, consistent, specific and engaging CTAs, your website could be turning away business.

Does your website have at least one call to action? If so, look to see if these points are addressed:

Why Now

Have a compelling and maybe even time sensitive reason for visitors to do more then just look at your site. Have them take action (try, buy, sign up, download, etc).

Position

Create a ‘clear and visible’ CTA. Make sure it’s not hidden behind other information that perhaps only you or your internal staff find important (a common mistake).

Consistency

Place your CTA on every page. If visitors are not convinced on the first page and are looking for more educational content, flow them to next page but keep a CTA available on all pages. This way, visitors can click when something does tickle them pink.

Color

Use consistent color on the CTA’s so that visitors identify and recognize the CTA like a stop sign on every page.

Be Specific

Tailor your CTA’s to your audience's interest. Always consider your target audience’s interests, buzz words and pain points.

Get Engaged

Use wordage that is very engaging. Action words like Try, Hear, Join, Start are short, to the point and inviting. Phrases like Click here to learn more or Contact us for more information seem long winded and very yesterday.

Examples of CTA’s that tickle me and surely stimulate business:

Call to action buttonStrong and powerful. The white lettering and slight bevel with a shadow pops out from the rest of page.

Call to action button3D-look gives the viewer the impression that they should be depressed.

Call to action buttonStraight forward and simple black and white. Then suddenly a vibrant green attention grabber.

Call to action buttonThe sign up stands out as a result of nice breathing space and unique illustration. A fun approach.

Call to action buttonA ‘web 2.0 badge’ in the very center of the page that surely says click now. My favorite.

Want another opinion about your CTA? Ping manager@metropoliscreative.com.

PS. So what’s the most or least compelling CTA you've seen? Do share.

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posted by Howard_Davidson at 2:50 PM

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3 Comments:

Blogger SEO Consutlant said...

What is CTA?

September 25, 2009 7:36 PM  
Blogger Howard_Davidson said...

Response to "What is CTA" question: As the article explains, a CTA is a call to action.

PS. I'm sure you're told this all the time, but consultant is misspelled on your site. Is it intentional?

September 26, 2009 7:45 AM  
Anonymous Gifts said...

I think that Use consistent color on the CTA’s so that visitors identify and recognize the CTA like a stop sign on every page.

October 12, 2009 1:01 AM  






6/17/09
Expose Your Brand and Reap the Benefits of Social Media
Social Media CommunitiesIt's very trendy. Companies of varying size and type are exposing their brand and messaging via social media marketing. These organizations are having cocktail parties online! They are establishing and maintaining real-time conversations with customers, colleagues, industry peers, thought leaders and management. Throughout the conversations, brand loyalty is being garnered. Messaging is being spread. Stories are being told. The exposure is immediate, smart, savvy and contagious. "Social media creates a solar system for a brand with multiple satellites of interaction channels, some large, some small." - Derek Showerman, Director of Social Media, Authority Domains.

Use your website to first explain your message/brand and then have direct links to your social media sites (i.e. Facebook, twitter, online community, etc). But be sure to keep the design of your messaging, and overall identity consistent!

Expose your brand to social media and reap these benefits:

Online conversations and increased SEO
Thought provoking and news worthy content is contagious. People tell people. Conversations will build a community of loyal followers (customers).

Immediacy
Hitting a front page of major social video, news and bookmark sites will send you large amounts of instant traffic while simultaneously building your keyword optimization.

SEO
Conversations and linking will dramatically boost your rankings in search engines.

Peer Power
Gain peer recommendations, attract influencers, comments from bloggers, etc. Initiators and influencers decidedly play an important role in decision making.

All Natural
Receive natural links without any discernible pattern! Your website will be exposed to large groups of people in a spontaneous fashion. This differs from paid advertising which can be conceived as commercial efforts.

Quite Complimentary
Social media optimization and marketing is usually community-specific. It doesn't interfere with any other methods of getting traffic to your website. It can and will fit perfectly with an advertising campaign targeting other websites or search engines.

The bottom line is social media has created a way for people and businesses to become transparent. Social media can be a great way to find and establish followers, but like in real life, friendships require time, understanding, honesty, and the occasional greeting card. Before exposing your brand via social media, step back and take a look at all of your marketing components (logo, website, calls-to-action, etc). Make sure that all of your messaging is consistent and accurate before you expose your identity. Ask for help.

In the spirit of being social, join us for a live presentation about social media communities. A complimentary and informative networking event with appetizers, drinks and even pool. June 30, 2009, FELT Boston, 6-8:30PM. Sign up here.

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posted by Howard_Davidson at 11:22 AM

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3 Comments:

Anonymous Jeff Cutler said...

Howard,

You've hit on most of the elements. The only one you didn't mention - but implied the use of it - was listening.

As we both know, it's vital to listen to the activity of your communities (audiences) and your industry to see what's being talked about.

Once you've given a listen you're better poised to formulate a marketing strategy that will reach the people you're targeting in the place where they're most apt to respond and act on your messaging.

Keep up the good work.

Jeff

June 20, 2009 10:58 AM  
Anonymous Kate Brodock said...

Great advice Howard. I couldn't agree more on the need for consistency at home before you enter the social media world.

We actually highlighted a few non-profits that are doing all of these right, and bringing the consistency from "home" into the social media space: http://www.othersidegroup.com/adcomments/2009/06/5-non-profits-who-know-how-to-do-social-media/

Cheers,
Kate

June 22, 2009 11:36 AM  
Anonymous J Murphy said...

Howard,

The topic of consistency is so important and underrated in social media in today's world of publishing: "But be sure to keep the design of your messaging, and overall identity consistent!"

People often forget how quick and easy it is to publish something online which makes consistency a challenge. With a click of a button, your opinion and brand is exposed to the world instantly. Sometimes I find it too easy to forget this as more and more time is spent online.

Great post.

-J Murphy

June 22, 2009 12:53 PM  






4/24/09
The Good, The Bad, and The Typography
Any talented designer can tell you: Good, consistent typography is essential to building a strong brand. Deciding which typefaces will be used in a project is an important and long-considered choice. Typography is used to subliminally communicate ideas with the reader — the wrong type will send the wrong message. In this post, I'll be showcasing some examples of strong, communicative typography and giving tips on how to bring good type to your website and branding.

Type & message


Subtle differences between typefaces create entirely different type personalities. Type and layout can be used to convey a message to the reader, defining a brand's image. Common intentions are reliable, classy, professional, modern, quirky, or funky.

When used well, type can fill the role of an image, providing both impact and meaning. Distressed type and clashing colors portray the uncomfortable notion of war in this brochure for Emerson College as well as any photograph could, while reducing printing costs.

Typhographic design for Emerson College

The Metro free commuter newspaper has good typography. They abandoned the classic news type conventions in lieu of a modern sans-serif face designed by Lucas de Groot. The Metro has a strong sense of hierarchy with an easily scannable mix of headlines, sub-headlines, pull quotes and running copy. The overall look is very cohesive, fresh, and actively engaging — well targeted for its young audience. The Metro has 20 million daily readers, making it among the most popular newspapers.

Newspaper rebranded with typography

Take a look at these two logos, one for high-end dry cleaning chain Holly Cleaners, and one for a business based on cell phone texting.
Looking at the logos, what impressions do you get about the two companies? Which one is cheaper? Trendier? More classy? Which business do you think is older? What age group are they targeting?



Modern logo
High-end retail luxury logo

Both brands have very well-developed graphic identities which excellently communicate their images through typography. This is great type design, and these are the questions designers ask themselves when evaluating a company's image.

Type on the web


Web typography is rapidly changing. For now, working with web type is difficult and limited to the use of very few typefaces. Interactivity and ease of use are vital to good web type. Here are some basic but important tips for functional web typography:
  • Use contrast. Make sure type stands out strongly against its background

  • Never underline text, unless it's a link. Use italics instead

  • Don't use more than two fonts on a page

  • At small sizes, use a sans-serif font

  • Leave plenty of space around blocks of text to minimize distractions

  • Above all, keep your sizes, colors, and fonts consistent across the whole site

New technologies, like sIFR and CSS 3's new @font-face property are growing in popularity and support. Soon, designers will be able to be as creative with web typography as they are with print. Until then, special care and expertise is needed to make eye-catching web type. Images with special fonts are used to simulate headlines, and stylesheets are carefully edited to control type. Different users will see the same web page differently, so any typographic design for the web must be flexible and extendable.

When a website is well designed with careful attention to the typography, it looks professional and stands out from the crowd. See this interesting resource: The Elements of Typographic Style Applied to the Web.

The Metropolis Creative team's favorite typography sites are Typographica and the type articles on Smashing Magazine.

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posted by Luke_S at 9:09 AM

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2 Comments:

Anonymous Nikki Smith-Morgan said...

Great advice! Thank you.

April 27, 2009 8:52 AM  
Blogger Alex said...

Great insights Luke. You started to highlight this – but I think it's very important to remember that brand and identity should transcend medium. Your typographic choices on the web should closely align with your typographic choices in print. Because of the current limitations of web technology – remember to choose your type wisely in print so that the crossover is easier, if your business will be strongly web-based. If your type choice has already been set in print, be sure to define when you can stray from these on the web, and when you'll have to rely on images and/or flash to keep your typographic choices in line. The right style guide will keep your identity consistent and professional across applications...

April 27, 2009 10:43 AM  






2/22/09
Ever Pay A Lot For Bad Branding? I Did.
Acronyms are infinitely useful as conversational and online shorthand, especially when working with unwieldy terms like search engine optimization. SEO is just so much easier to say and type. The problem with acronyms is that the original meaning can easily be lost, creating a significant communication problem, potentially ambiguous branding that can lead to a loss of revenue.

As a marketer, I find myself particularly sensitive to the art of branding. I’m often amazed by large companies with huge amounts of resource at their disposal that go on to launch a lukewarm, unfocused campaign.

Last week I bought a new Volkswagen CC. Know what the acronym means? No? Neither did the dealership sales representative. He told me to Google it. The acronym’s definition wasn’t even listed on the gorgeous saddle-stitched 4 color gloss brochure.

Frustrated, I called another dealership and learned that CC means comfort coupe. But I didn’t stop there. I emailed VW customer service and inquired into their secretive approach to acronyms. I received this reply:

“Here at Volkswagen, we would like to assure you that
it was not our intention to exclude the meaning for the
acronym CC. We apologize for any inconvenience this
may have caused.”

Fine, but wait, doesn’t coupe refer to a 2 door car? The CC has 4 doors.

You’d think that with all the time and energy VW put into the production of their new flagship, they could have at least taken the time to brand the thing in a way that didn’t cause confusion.

When you buy an orange, you don’t want an apple…I’m just praying that VW’s oversight stopped with the acronym, and that this car isn’t a lemon.

Got a bad branding example? Do share.

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posted by Howard_Davidson at 5:14 PM

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2 Comments:

Anonymous Luke S said...

It's always surprising when a big-budget firm lets a basic problem slip through the cracks.

-Luke

February 24, 2009 12:19 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

This is very astute and very well said.

As a marketing professional, I too, have been surprised by the way companies undermine their own communications. Isn't the point to reach out to customers and establish a relationship with them? How can they do that if their communications are obscure, or worse, meaningless?

Excellent post. Keep these insightful blogs coming!

March 4, 2009 4:53 PM  






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