How Do I Look?

Can you identify the following logos?

click on the logo to see if you're correct 

  

Having a distinct and consistent aesthetic is important for any company but essential  for larger companies/brands who have a vast portfolio of products. 

A recent Fast Company Design post, "A Rare Peek At The Guidelines That Dictate Google's Graphic Design" gives a really interesting and detailed look at how Google stepped up their game after Larry Page took over as CEO and started sweating the small stuff when it came to Google's digital aesthetic and consistency. 

Below is an example of how particular they were when looking at their new consistent look - they even specify the shadowing for icons. 

Companies, brands, even individuals would be wise to take Google's example and set umbrella guidelines for how you will appear to the world - just make sure to set this in place earlier than Google did. As marketers, your dream is to have a product that is easily recognizable. That share of mind is invaluable. If you don't have a consistent aesthetic across all your products, the customer must work harder. This is rarely a good strategy.

Some things to keep in mind...

• You want your appearance to match your company/style/products/emotion you're trying to convey. 
• Simple is better - limit colors, fonts to as few as possible
• Ensure it is representative of brand and product

When you boil it down and do everything right, the customer should be able to recognize your brand from just a logo or even partial logo. We are able to intuite just from the coloring of the Google Wallet logo that it is a Google product. 

This should be the aim of everyone company. The easier it is for a customer to recognize a product, the higher the potential likelihood  that the customer may buy/consume/hire/download it.

For a deeper look into Google's design guidelines, you can find them here:

Google's Visual Assets Guidelines - Part 1

Google's Visual Assets Guidelines - Part 2

Hot Ham Water! Just A Smack of Ham

Does Motherboy XXX, Afternoon Delight or The Queen Mary mean anything to you?

Who do you first think about when you heard the names George, Lindsay or Buster?


If you think Arrested Development, you're in good company and we should be friends.  If it wasn't, please go to Netflix, Hulu, Best Buy or your local library and buy/rent/stream/borrow one of the best television shows in recent memory.

Netflix is about to premiere their latest Netflix-only show, a final season of Arrested Development. Fans of the show have been waiting for this season for many years, hoping that someone, anyone would pick-up the show and create new episodes. In one of the last episodes aired on Fox, the writers actually wrote into the script the characters pleading to HBO, The Home Builders Organization to save the family business.

Netflix's goal is to now spread awareness and attract non-subscribing fans of Arrested Development to their service. One really inventive way they've used digital marketing is through their partnership with Seamless web.

Netflix has partnered with seamless by inserting Bluth's Original Frozen Banana stand as a restaurant you may order delivery from. This is incredibly clever and innovative. The promotion gets even more fandom-worthy when you view the menu.

Marketers would do well to take note of this example. It's a great way to connect with customers and stir up even more fervor for an upcoming premiere.

Also, as a note... Never give up animation rights.

Can I Just Get A Little Perspective?

In the immortal words from The Graduate, I have one word for you...Plasti... I mean... Perspective.

Perspective is THE crucial factor in any work that a marketer does. 

Perspective is what gives marketers insight and direction. Changing this perspective will give you fresh insights and ideas that you quite possibly could not have seen previously. Watch the historic video created by the designers Ray and Charles Eames, Power of Ten.

This video illustrates how changing your perspective by a power of 10, can change your entire world view. By adding or subtracting a few zeros from image, you are something completely different but also the same. You see how everything fits together - from the carbon atom to the universe it comprises. 

Is there anything that could be more apt for this blog? I don't think so. 

To be successful marketers, you want your product to fit in perfectly with the customer, make it something they need, that is not disruptive to their life but adds to it - makes it more complete. Tim Brown, CEO of IDEO, gives his insight into this method in the frame of digital apps in his recent blog post, The Power of the Power of Ten. People don't just want apps that are easy to use but that make their life easier. 

Many marketers may feel like they aim their marketing this way; What is the customer's problem we're solving? How do we do that? These are key questions you learn as marketing students to aim any campaign but without perspective you may still be totally off the mark. A cleaning product campaign may be marketed with a focus on its strength but because the marketers didn't explore deep enough down further powers of magnification, that missed that customers actually want a stronger product because they want to spend less time cleaning. Potential customers didn't see a fit with the product. This was a missed opportunity.

Marketers need to look at products from a granular level and up from a broad systems-based view. How effective is the product? What does it do? How does it fit into the life of the user? Look at the product from the perspective of 1 millimeter. 100 meters. 10000 meters. How well does the product fit into the customers life at these levels? If it appears to not fit so well at certain magnifications, it would be wise to review the product and make some changes. 

The stronger a product fits in with a customer, the more likely they are to use it and continue using it. With the right insight proper user experience, users will become evangelists. Refer back to my blog on Evernote. The proper insight and fit of this app with the user has created many evangelists. It is easy to use AND makes the users life easier. It is adaptable to a myriad of situations and uses from the very granular to galactic view. Evernote is an example of success because it is not only easy to use in isolation but it is a great fit in the systems-based perspective; the how, why and where customers use it. 

Remembering to keep focus on the customer and look at their world from several perspectives will help everyone, from the marketing student to CEO, produce the best product and marketing that best fits the customer. Peter Drucker best summed this up in his quote (and the source of this blog's title, Fitting the Customer)

"The aim of marketing is to know and understand the customer so well the product or service fits him and sells itself" - Peter Drucker

The Age of 101: Key Points Of Digital Marketing Strategy

There are 10 types of companies in the world. Those who understand digital and those who don't.

"Being digital" is the saying-du-jour for most companies. Companies believe that being digital is WHAT they have to do but they have no idea HOW or WHY. 

Companies looking to dip their toe into the waters of the digital world (or even those who have been in for a while) need to analyze what I feel are the five key points of any digital campaign.

Audience

You have to know your audience. This is the key for any campaign but something that can be easily lost sight of when focusing on digital. Companies may think that since it costs nothing/little to be on facebook/Twitter/Instagram/Google+ and the list goes on that you should have a presence on there. You shouldn't.

Where are your customers? The customers must be the center of every campaign. If you're selling acne medication, it will not be effective to buy ads on LinkedIn. If your desired demographic is male, Pinterest would not be the place to have a page. 

You can't be everything to everyone and you can't be everywhere else you'll be seen nowhere. 

Expectations

The next crucial aspect to understand is setting the right expectations & goals for the campaign. If you don't have what you expect to achieve from the campaign set at the get-go, you will only meet disappointment. 

With digital marketing it can be even more difficult to set concrete goals and benchmarks since there is rarely a direct path from the customer to the company. You may be looking for increased orders, to build your email database, or for people to donate money; whatever your goal, set the benchmarks and measurements that you're able to capture and use.

You will use your set goals to influence every action that the company does from here on. If an action/medium doesn't fit your goal and reach your desired customer; don't do it.

Story Creation/Authenticity

Now comes problem the most difficult aspect for companies to get their heads around - content. This is where the company receives its voice and talks to its customers. You want to intrigue the customers - entice them to learn more about your product/service. 


All your communications, whether tweets, facebook updates, YouTube video or banner ads, must match the tone of your brand. It must seem authentic to the customer. No one will trust a "serious" brand that makes slap-stick commercials or sarcastic tweets. 

To the left is an example of good content creation by Irrational Games for Bioshock Infinite, "Columbia, A Modern Day Icarus?" This video hits perfectly with the demographic of the game, 25-35 year old males. It's reminiscent of the informative videos shown in science classes around the country in the 70s and 80s 


Below are a series of TED talks that give insight on storytelling and how to be a better storyteller. 

Social

If corporate heads don't say the words "We need to be digital" than a large percentage of the remaining time they will say "We need to be social." 

I want to emphasize that "being social" doesn't just mean being on a social network. You can be on facebook and twitter but if you're not engaging your followers - not being social - then you're not doing it properly. You will need to set up the campaign with more than just tweets of "Buy our product," "Sale Today," "Come to our store." You need to start conversations with your followers. Go back to the true meaning of social.

Mobility

Finally, once all the content is done and created, companies have to ensure that their customers see it. As I discussed in my previous blog post, "Call and Respons(iv)e: Responsive User Design," people are increasingly using smartphone and mobile devices as their primary devices. This means that a website that has been created for a PC/laptop may not have a similar user experience when being viewed by someone on the tablet. 

Here is an example of the Bioshock Infinite website viewed from a smartphone. The banner is un-scrollable. You're not able to scroll to the "Buy Now" or forums links on the site. 

#mobilefail

When creating websites, or any content, ensure that it is viewable from any device. You want your customers to be able to view you wherever they are. 

Keeping these five aspects in mind when creating a digital campaign will bring you a long way to ensuring it's a successful one. 

So, Remember...
Identify your audience. Identify your voice. Use it. 

Huey Lewis and the News(jacking) : Poor Attempts At Newsjacking

*Whisper*  

Hey...

Yeah... you. 

Come here, I need to tell you something. 

No, come closer... 

It's a secret, I need to whisper it. 

DON'T NEWSJACK DURING A TRAGEDY!

Newsjacking is a term coined by David Meerman Scott that he defines as,

the process by which you inject your ideas or angles into breaking news, in real-time, in order to generate media coverage for yourself or your business.

Most companies by now know that newsjacking a tragic event, such as the Boston Marathon bombing, is off limits. Others... do not. 

Epicurious is one company who has yet to learn this lesson. Read the two tweets below. 

*FACE PALM*

During a time of tragedy, it's ok to break away from your social media strategy and just express your thoughts of concern, well-wishes or ways for people to help. Do NOT shill for a scone recipe. 

They were called out for this insensitive newsjacking and tweeted these...

Those tweets sound frank and apologetic. 

They should have followed that with tweets/retweets of ways to help those who are hurt or stranded in the area. Put out a call for followers who are willing to take in marathoners. Tweet restaurants that are still open and willing to feed/charge phones/serve as meeting points for displaced friends, family, and marathoners. This would have been a great use of their feed. 

Instead... they decided to use their energy using a canned reply to people tweeting at them.

This explains how I feel about that...

Epicurious, don't feel so bad. You're not alone. Just ask Kenneth Cole how well he does with newsjacking. Here are good examples of an appropriate newsjacking of The Academy Awards, read and learn.

So... lesson learned, hopefully. Don't do it again. 

Call and Respons(iv)e: Responsive User Design

2013 will not be known as the Year of the Snake. Nor is it a year until the 2014 World Cup in Brazil or the Winter Olympics in Sochi. It also isn't the year of my 31st birthday. Ok... it is ALL those things but more importantly according to Mashable, 2013 is...

 “The Year of Responsive Design” 

If you’re not familiar with the term responsive design, in simple terms, it means creating websites that adapt to whichever medium it’s being viewed on.

Responsive design has come about as the usage of devices with various dimensions - smartphones and tablets have increased. You'll see that in less than two years, Smartphone usage increased from 29% to 50%. This increase in smartphones has also been accompanied by tablet sales looking to overtake PC and notebook sales. 

This means that companies designing websites for just the PC are going to bring a poor user experience to their customers, unless you love the  annoyance of scrolling left and right just to read a page.

 Above is the website for the video game developer Square - Enix. The website delivers a pretty dull - useful but dull - utilitarian user experience. On paper, it should be a great site. It has sections for community news, social media feeds, even a section to find concert locations where music from their games will be performed. In reality... not so much. To be fair, it does have a floating left scroll bar but that's hardly cutting-edge responsive design.

To get a real sense of how responsive a website is, you need to move from PC/laptop to phone & tablet browsing.

Now here is the same page as viewed from phone browser... sigh...

The website on the phone is identical to the browser version. You must scroll up/down/left/right to view the page in its entirety. This is a poor example of responsive design. There are no differences between browser and phone. For this to be a true responsive design, the site should have been minimized for the phone, banner head picture shrunk and made to one fewer column.

What few things the browser page had going for it have gone out the window with the mobile page. You still have the floating scroll bar with the mobile navigation but everything else remains the same. This site becomes even less useful when trying to view it from a mobile device.

It is becoming easier and easier for companies to create response sites so the fact that sites do not make it becomes that much more egregious. Companies, get with the picture!

Do you have any favorite examples of good/bad responsive design?

Where's The Any Key?!?

User experience has come a long way since the "dark ages" of DOS and the "any" key but there is still much progress to be made by many companies. To be successful, a company must engage customers and enable them to find what they're looking for in an easy and efficient manner.

A recent Mashable interview of Kare Anderson by Brian Solis, "Why Emotion Makes For Great Web Design" discusses the science behind a better user experience, specifically the science of emotions.  Anderson relates how understanding behavior cues in interpersonal relationships can help businesses provide a better experience between business and customer online. 

Better Listener

Anderson's talking points all boil down to the basic fact that companies (and people) need to be better listeners. 

Increased internet activity and the resulting "screen face" as she calls it are preventing people from truly connecting and being great listeners. She points to the popularity of Susan Cain's Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking as a sign of people's increased feelings of introversion and isolation from others. If you read my post "Do I Fascinate You? Do I?!," you'll remember that as an INTJ this book hits close to home. 

Two cues Anderson mentions that I think are particularly true for combating this isolation and making for a better user experience is for a company to  

• "find the sweet spot of mutual benefit"  
• "get specific sooner." 

Mutual Benefit

A company will be unable to achieve these points unless they are actively listening to their customers. Customers will be turned off by a company if all it does is push advertisements and self-serving ads/tweets/facebook posts. Companies like Pampers and Kraft have been successful by creating content that benefits the consumer without the appearance of being self-serving. 

Customers appreciate when they feel that the company is there to help them whether it be soon-to-be or new parents looking for advice or a gamer looking for the newest game release.

Specific

The quicker a customer can find what they are looking for, the better an impression the company will make.

To the left is a screen shot from the "Games" page  at Electronic Arts

This page is a moderately successful showing of a good user experience. The page is set up so you may find games by platform, genre, release date and more, which allows you to find games by franchise, ESRB rating and type of gameplay. You are able to make a selection in each of the drop-down boxes allowing for a cross-reference and narrowing to a game that fits your criteria. 

This page also makes good use of white space, not too cluttered and features large graphics making it easy for gamers to find what they are looking for quickly by multiple methods.

Companies who master these two cues will find their customers happy and happy customers are loyal customers. 

False Advertising...

"Lost 100 Pounds in 2 Weeks!"

"Win $10 Million Dollars For Your Fall!" 

"Head On! Apply Directly To Your Forehead"

False or misleading advertising is a well-known underbelly of the marketing industry.  Companies will sometimes inadvertently, and occasionally purposely, try to mislead consumers in an attempt to make money on their naivety.

Check out this Mental Floss article for a list of 6 examples of Shameless False Advertising by companies.

Mobile Advertising Guidelines

As current media evolve and new mediums emerge, marketers must adapt their marketing efforts to comply with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Recently, the FTC released updated guidelines for mobile and online advertisers to help make clear disclosures to consumers. The previous guideline had been released in 2000 (emphasis mine!) This guideline was before the iPhone, Twitter or even Facebook!

Based on findings from eMarketer, these updated guidelines are long overdue. Notice the previous and forecasted growth of mobile/digital ad spending.  As the industry grows and more companies move to the digital domain of advertising, there invariably will be companies who take advantage by unclear/false/misleading advertisements.

The FTC’s guidelines regarding disclosures can be simplified to fit three key factors – Proximity & Placement, Prominence and Clarity.

Proximity & Placement

“A disclosure is more effective if it is placed near the claim it qualifies or other relevant information. Proximity increases the likelihood that consumers will see the disclosure and relate it to the relevant claim or product.”

Here is an example of a proper proximity for a disclosure. This screen cap for Farmville 2 shows the disclosure close to where you purchase more “Farm Bucks.” The further a disclosure is located from the connecting text/ad, the weaker a connection people will make between the two.

Prominence

“It is the advertiser’s responsibility to draw attention to the required disclosures.”

Using the previous example to illustrate disclosure prominence, you’ll see that while the proximity is close to where the purchasing happens, I would argue that Farmville 2 does the very least it needs to when it comes to prominence. They are using black 12-point font and a lavender background. Considering the coloring and font size used for everything else on the page, this is definitely not as prominent as should be.

Clarity

Disclosures must be clear and not cluttered by other ads or media. The disclosure example is free from other extraneous text or ads. This is also a very simple disclosure, so only a one-time placement is needed. If it were a more complicated message, Zynga would need to repeat the message until they satisfied the expectation for the message to be understood or simply it enough while maintaining the integrity of the message.

Companies must hit all three of these key points to ensure they have clear and un-misleading advertising. This is, of course, in their best interest. Producing misleading content is an easy way to build consumer animosity and invite Better Business Bureau litigation. Just ask these companies about false advertising.

This Is Crazy But Search Me ... Definitely

So this is crazy but did you know there are things called search engines and people use them to find things? 


Did you know "Google" is in the Oxford English Dictionary? In Spanish it's "Googlear?" I have a B.A. in English; I get excited about things like the OED. 

*Side note* I recommend the book, The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary. It's riveting!


Seriously though, Internet Ad Sales and Search Engine Marketing/Optimization (SEM/SEO) is becoming an increasingly important part of marketing. More than half of respondents to a 2013 eMarketer survey said that search engines and keywords were "more" or "much more important" than the prior year.

This thinking is detailed by the fact that 57% of marketers make use of SEO daily. SEO is not performed in a vacuum though and the social and content marketing factors play a large role in search engine marketing. The combined efforts of search engine marketing with its native results and search engine optimization with sponsored results are proving increasing invaluable to the public in their searches for anything airline tickets to video games.

In a recent article, Jennifer Van Iderstyne wrote an article with her take on SEO and the growing emphasis on content marketing, focusing less on the short tail and increasingly on the long tail. She believes that focusing on the longer keywords and keyword groups that are less popular than the more direct keywords will prove as effective in your SEO strategy. 

“If you actually delve into your potential for phrases that don’t have five figure search volume, you may find that you’re just outside the Top 10 or Top 20 for a number of phrases that you’ve just never thought about. The opportunity to perform better for those phrases is real with a little effort and the right strategy.” 

Winning multiple keywords with less competition, thus cheaper cost, can reach the customers who are looking for your product or don't know they want it until it shows up in their results. The ad services of the search engines have started to facilitate this by allowing purchase of not just individual keywords or phrases but keyword groups. Here is a shot from Google's AdWords. While doing research for a group project I came across this Google Adwords page for Bioshock Infinite. Notice these keyword groups all have low competition allowing for possible better ROI.

Compare the following screenshots. 

*Note* I searched for these terms while in Incognito.

The first screen shot I took from a google search for "Bioshock Infinite." This is a highly anticipated game being released soon from Irrational Games and Take Two Interactive Entertainment. 

The product name of a title will definitely be one of the top searches and costly, but a necessity. 

You'll notice that all the "above the fold" results are about the product. To the left are organic search results linking to the game website, the wikipedia page and news items. To the right are sponsored results for various items you can purchase related to the game.

Now look at the next two screenshots. The search terms, "Songbird" and "new infinite" are related to the game but not top terms and aren't combined with the word "Bioshock." You'll see that if you had purchased these terms you would still manage to gain results on the first page and above the fold. Neither of these results link to the main game webpage but to the Bioshock Wiki and to a gaming news site. 

If Take Two or Irrational had optimized the game's webpage for not just the popular, short tail search terms but also the more obscure long tail, they could have replaced these posts and reached more customers. 

It all boils down to remembering that sometimes the "slow and low" - many cheaper, low-competition keywords - method of SEO and digital marketing can earn you as many impressions and sales as blowing your SEO budget on one or two expensive, high-competition keywords.

Do I Fascinate You? Do I?!

Have you ever seen a company's twitter feed comprised of nothing but boring links like...

"Click here for more info ... http://bit.ly/boringlink"

"Sale! Click here for more info ... http://bit.ly/anotherboringlink"

"Friend us! ... facebook.com/boringcompany"

Would you ever click on one of the links? No.

When you're being interviewed would you answer the interviewer's questions by saying "Look at my résumé. That will answer the question?" No. 

Every interaction you have with someone, is a continuation of a story. Every conversation is another chapter in the mental book they write about you. The same goes for companies. 

Everything is a brand, even you – Yes, you ARE a brand.

Everything that you communicate from tweets and Facebook posts to stories you tell your friends tells a lot about your brand and how you communicate. Corporations and people must convey their stories to achieve whatever message they’re trying to get across, whether it is influencing others to buy their product or to hire them for a job.

According to SallyHogshead (@SallyHogshead), there are 7 triggers of fascination that everyone uses to persuade and captivate in telling a story and achieving their goals. Everyone has a primary and secondary trigger that combined forms an archetype.

The 49 Fascination Archetypes

Knowing your archetype can help you discover your strengths and weaknesses of how you persuade people and use that knowledge of both to your advantage.

After taking the test, I discovered that I have a primary trigger of Passion and a secondary trigger of Mystique forming the archetype The Intrigue. Everyone also has a trigger that they use least, their dormant trigger. Mine is Alarm

Unlike other tests, which focus on how you see yourself, this test focuses on how others perceive you. 

I was a bit surprised to see Passion score as my primary trigger. I tend to see myself more reserved though upon reflection I do try to draw people in by getting them excited about an issue/item/show as I am.  

I have taken several other types of tests before (I’m a whole-brained, INTJ with a cusp I/E) and these previous results have a definite correlation to the results seen in the overall fascination archetype. All of these tests show a prevalence to be somewhat even-keeled and to choose for quality over quantity when sharing information.

Companies would be wise to find their archetype - their strengths and weaknesses, the triggers they use to connect with their customers. 

Companies are dedicating more energy online and consumers are spending more of the sales funnel online researching companies and products. With the increased detachment, companies must engage consumers better - fascinate them. This is the first step in creating a lasting connection with that consumer that will, hopefully, shape into a lasting profitable relationship. For example, a company whose primary or secondary trigger of Mystique might prefer using Twitter where their message is delivered piecemeal. 

Listen to Sally's TED talk for her insights into how to fascinate.