Power to the paper people

Online marketing is the way of the now and the way of the future. I know this, you know this, your customers know this but, deny it if you will, print still makes a valuable contribution to the marketing mix.

I know people think of print as "old school" and "how we used to do things" but I love to touch and feel a piece of collateral; shiny new brochures, wafting ink, it gives your product a certain gravitas.

A lot of time and effort (most of the time) has gone into that piece of collateral and I respect that. It's when time and effort isn't spent that you notice!

I love creating brochures, annual reports, flyers, something you can touch and feel.

Beautiful stock, stunning backgrounds, an eye-catching headline, a considered layout; collateral can be truly beautiful and bring joy to my day. In fact, I have a section in my (old school) filing cabinet reserved for pieces of collateral I like. Pinterest in my desk drawer if you will.

Think of all the pieces of paper you encounter over a week: from (literal) junk mail to newspapers to glossy magazines, how much time do you spend interacting with them and their contents as opposed to the ads that appear on websites?

I suppose, like everything in marketing, it comes down to your target audience.

Can you afford to ignore the old school in your marketing mix?

Me Jane, I do marketing

I had an interesting encounter last week.

We have some lovely young ladies who have joined the organisation (at my "real" job in marketing, not my freelance work) as trainees. They were doing the tour and were shown into my office [read: cave] where the tour guide asked my position (he's new around here), "I do marketing," I replied.

-- I DO marketing? That's not even a proper sentence! I hear you grumble. Anyway, let's move on, shall we? --

I went on to say that if they had any questions about marketing then they can just ask. The girls (I can call them girls, they're 16 years old) shuffled their way further into my office, "Well, what is it that you actually do?"

Ah.... Well.... Marketing is a very broad topic to cover in 4 minutes but I attempted to explain my role in a few short(ish, for me) sentences.

"I make pretty pictures," was my self-deprecating start (7 years and thousands of dollars in uni fees summed up in one underwhelming sentence).

"Primarily I'm a copywriter, so I write. A lot. Every word in every ad you see has been written by a copywriter," (or should be) I say, flicking through our not-insubstantial Annual Report.

"Also I do PR, so I liaise with the media to get us free publicity." Anything vaguely joining us to the media probably sounds pretty glamourous to a 16 year old.

"Also I design," I say, gesturing to the print outs, colour forecasts, posters, pantone charts and paper samples littered around my cluttered office.

"And anything you see with one of our logos on it I have designed and sourced." The promo gear in my office was identified as an OH&S hazard in recent weeks, compelling me to clean up.

"In short, every article, advert, brochure, poster, flyer, invitation, promotional item, annual report, business card and letterhead comes through my office. I design and write every one."

I've realised that, stepping away from the big city corporate world, I had taken for granted that people know what marketing is and what us marketers do. I recall being aware of advertising when I was young but not realising that client-side marketing was a career option.

In a broad sense we manage everything to do with a brand's reputation; how it is perceived, published and promoted.

We are the protectors of the logos, the upholders of the fonts, the enforcers of the colours. We are the custodians of our brands.

You may not think you care about this sort of thing but we do, and that's our job. Although I bet you know when something doesn't look right or offends your eye.

So whenever you see a poorly-printed flyer, a misspelled advert or a skewed logo then you know that company's marketer hasn't been doing their job.

[As a side note, the manager of said trainees just came in to thank me for engaging the girls and said how it really sparked their interest which is apparently a challenge in adolescents.]

Colour me happy!

birth babe & beyond branding

birth babe & beyond branding

The colors of the web

It's not only fonts that rock my world it's colour! I just love how a bright pink scarf in the middle of winter can give me a lift, turquoise thongs (flip flops) make me yearn for summer and the green of my lawn brings me puppy-like joy.

Colour affects the perception of your brand by evoking emotion which is a crucial thing to consider when selecting corporate colours for your brand.

"Research reveals people make a subconscious judgment about a person, environment, or product within 90 seconds of initial viewing and that between 62% and 90% of that assessment is based on color alone." 

- Usabilitypost.com

I have had colours ruined for me by working in marketing departments, constant use of colour can be very fatiguing and in my current role I am limited to the corporate colours of burgundy, orange, grey and black (what a combo! No, I didn't choose them!).

Thankfully my freelance work allows me scope for playing with colour, especially as my a number of my clients have recently asked me to develop logos for their brands from scratch. It's a tricky business when working with clients as varied as photographers, doulas and now, a disability service.

Colours are as important as the words you use to convey your brand. Here's another great website on the importance of colour in branding.

I just drew this little logo for a friend of mine using some popular CMYK colours and integrating "Tangerine Tango" the Pantone Color of the Year which I adore. Originally the colours were too strong and required a bit of muting however working with this client we have come up with something she adores....