Five Best Practices for Websites & Brand Messaging
Where brand messaging and web design intersect, successful websites result. This is the lens through which discussions of web best practices and trends are best viewed. Best practices, like trends, are constantly evolving measures, but where trends are a measure of popularity, best practices are about quality standards. Here, I offer a mix of universal best practices, and with the ruthless speed-of-change in mind, a few that reflect the current era of web design.
Top Nine Questions to Ask Before Starting a Website Design Project
In spite of their expertise, leadership and self-confidence, when it comes to website design and the process of creating one, C-level executives and other entrepreneurs are often unclear about what to expect. Perceptions of the b2b website as a tactical detail to check off their list can sometimes get in the way of seeing the strategic value it provides to their business.
What it Means to Be a Brand Agency in Boston
Earlier in my career, I was part of a national organization of creative firms that met in different parts of the country. I recall sitting at bar in the French quarter of New Orleans, a few cocktails in, when a colleague from New Orleans said, “You know the difference between branding firms in Boston and those down here?” He paused, “Y’all live above the neck… we live…below the neck!”
As well as being highly amused, I recognized the depth of his colorful statement and it caused me to reflect upon the top ten attributes to look for in a Boston based branding agency:
Web Design Trends: Animated Explainer Videos
Are you struck by the homogeneity of today’s long, scrolling web pages with full-bleed stock images and bold headlines? While this mobile-driven trend is here to stay, there is good news for marketers looking for the next new thing. There’s a growing trend of using illustration and hand drawn imagery in addition to, and in some cases, instead of stock photography.
Why is illustration poised for a comeback? Because the web is in the age of Personalization. Consumer brands have been utilizing personalization for a long time.The latest and greatest being Coca-Cola, who last year introduced the familiar silver and red cans and bottles emblazoned with people’s names and now is introducing millions of custom, hand-painted bottle designs; for several months, no two bottles will look the same. Coca-Cola hired artists to create a small number of unique bottle designs and then utilized a computer algorithm to create virtually unlimited variations of these designs.
Personalized design is not relegated to the consumer world. B2B web visitors today have also reached the point where they expect information tailored to their needs, presented visually in a non-generic way that makes them feel like the brand understands them — not only on an analytical level, but in a more intuitive, emotional way.
Four Tips for Naming a StartUp Business
Naming is fun, rewarding, creative and interesting. How’s that for negating just about every post about the pitfalls of naming or how tedious it seems to be for many people? Granted, naming in a world of diminishing dot com availability is a challenge, but overall, I’ve found naming to be more gratifying than frustrating — when you have the right approach.
I’ve distilled four criteria that when followed, will greatly increase your chance for success and provide awareness of where the pitfalls lie so you can minimize time-intensive dead ends.
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Five B2B Website Trends for 2016
From a trends perspective, the B2B world has different concerns than the consumer world from which most trends originate. Rather than driving trends, B2B generally responds to them.
Start With Target Buyer Personas to Build Your Online Brand
If you’re in the marketing field, you’ve probably heard of “Buyer Personas,” but what are they exactly, and why do you need them?
For fans of the Showtime series, Homeland, you may have seen super sleuth antihero, Carrie Mathison, sitting cross-legged, surrounded by an array of suspect’s photos, including bios, histories and known associations. These are personas. In the case of “Homeland,” these are Terrorist Personas. Fortunately, we live in the less perilous, yet often elusive world of marketing, but share Carrie’s need for a deeper understanding of our targets; what they look like, what they like and dislike, where they congregate, what they read and who they associate with on a regular basis.
Five Reasons You Need an Agency & Five Reasons You Don’t
I’ve spent considerable time as an agency owner putting myself in the shoes of our clients and prospects to better understand when an agency like ours, or any agency — creative, brand, web, inbound marketing, etc.— is the right investment and when it isn’t; here are my insights.
How a Concise Brand Strategy Will Save Your Website Project
You are in charge of Marketing. Your competitor just launched a new site. And it’s good. They have case studies, testimonials, video and interactive diagrams. What’s even more disconcerting is that they are telling a compelling story with a point of view. Their copy is solid, design is modern; They got their branding right.
Your CEO is not happy, wants to see something done about it and wants results fast… but within a budget. How do you get it done?
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