i-Connect, a Charlotte, NC area data networking technology start-up, turned to birdsong gregory when they were ready to develop a new brand identity around the twin attributes of connectivity and partnership. The new logo features an intimate lower case typography and a “cable” motif that serves as a versatile design element. The logo is blind embossed to illustrate the “behind the scenes” nature of the cables and devices that power commercial data networks. In addition to helping this young company elevate their visibility in the B2B marketplace, the logo birdsong gregory created was selected as an 2008 Silver ADDY winner at the annual Charlotte version of the national advertising agency award show.
To learn more about the online and offline branding, marketing, and advertising services our agency offers, please visit the birdsong gregory website, contact Jim Cusson at 704-332-2299, or stop by the next time you’re in downtown Charlotte.
Bloom is a new grocery store providing an accommodating, hassle-free and novel shopping experience designed to make its customers feel savvy, confident and content. With multiple locations in Charlotte, NC and other markets, Bloom wanted to ensure that every customer touchpoint in their retail environments was on-brand and well designed. As an integrated branding, advertising, and marketing agency, birdsong gregory created a complete suite of in-store signage, price danglers, product branding, and point-of-purchase displays that work in harmony to create a meaningful dialogue with guests and foster a fun, effective shopping environment.
To learn more about the online and offline branding, marketing, and advertising services our agency offers, please visit the birdsong gregory website, contact Jim Cusson at 704-332-2299, or stop by the next time you’re in downtown Charlotte.
Here at birdsong gregory, a branding and advertising agency in Charlotte, NC, we’re always looking for ways to help our clients turn a shade or two greener, and this ambitious partnership caught our eye.
Mohawk Fine Papers helped Whole Foods Market become the first national retailer to produce all of its national in-store Earth Month materials using “third generation” closed-loop recycled papers. The term “third-generation” means that the same fibers have been used to manufacture paper three separate times, and “closed-loop” refers to the practice of generating zero waste by recycling and reusing a company’s own paper.
The grocery stores took their own paper waste and had it de-inked and recycled into paper pulp. The pulp was then sent to Mohawk to be manufactured into new paper for the production of marketing material and in-store branding collateral. Typically, Whole Foods Market immediately recycles its in-store materials as soon as they become outdated; however, for this program the company saved and stored all outdated materials with the purpose of creating enough volume to manufacture new paper for itself.
According to Mohawk’s Environmental Calculator, Whole Foods Market created a significant environmental savings by using closed-loop papers. 20,000 pounds of third-generation 100% postconsumer waste paper were used for the Earth Month materials, creating an environmental savings equal to:
— 192 trees preserved for future use — 554.42 pounds of waterborne waste not created — 81,557 gallons of wastewater flow saved — 9,024 pounds of solid waste not generated — 17,768 pounds of greenhouse gases prevented — 136,000,000 BTUs energy not consumed
Because Mohawk manufactured the paper with wind-generated electricity, an additional impact was created: 9,232 pounds of air emissions were not generated (which means that 4 barrels of crude oil were not used) and the savings was equal to not driving 10,000 miles or planting 624 trees.
General Motors’ sales and marketing chief Mark LaNeve said today that when the company asks consumers about the GM brand these days, the results come back pretty bad. But when they ask people about Chevy, Cadillac, Buick, GMC… the results come back fine. GM has been back and forth for 20 years about what to do with the GM brand. Perhaps they are close to deciding. Ditch it. Driving home from my job at Charlotte, NC marketing agency, birdsong gregory, I was listening to National Public Radio and heard a sponsorship ad from “GM… Maker of the Chevy Volt and hybrids...blah blah blah.” My thought? Money wasted. Why not focus all those advertising and marketing dollars on...Chevrolet. It’s GM’s most important brand.
The rumor now is that GM may go into a quickie bankruptcy in June, and be divided into two companies – a good GM made up of Chevy, Cadillac, Buick and GMC; and a bad GM made up of Hummer, Saab, Saturn and Pontiac that would be isolated and sold off or wound down.
As anyone who works at a Charlotte, NC marketing agency knows, hip shoes are as essential to the craft of advertising and branding as a calculator is for an accountant. And many of us shop for our soles at one of the Web’s largest shoe retailers. Founded in 1999 to sell cool, comfortable shoes online, Zappos has expanded to include other products like handbags and sunglasses, and has grown to be a $1 billion per year business. Very impressive statistics, a good business model, and a really good example of using social media to deepen customer relationships and push product. Check it out.
The Kia Soul is a subcompact vehicle produced in South Korea for the global market. It was designed at Kia’s Design Center in California, and unveiled at the 2008 Paris Motor Show. You don’t see many of these cars in Charlotte, NC, but to promote this fun new ride down under, a marketing agency in Australia created a website that allows owners and fans of the Soul to experience the individuality of the car’s owners. Take a look.
Here are 11 pieces of timely logic from Jim Cusson, partner and chief strategist at birdsong gregory, a Charlotte, NC marketing agency and advertising agency.
1. Don’t panic. Yes, the economy has been knocked down pretty hard. But if you let your emotions get the best of you, you won’t be much good to your employer ... or your loved ones.
2. Keep marketing. People are still buying stuff. You simply need to find buyers at a cost-effective clip. If you stop marketing you’ll lose customers forever and be among the last to participate in the recovery.
3. End mediocre approaches. If they didn’t contribute much during the upswing they’ll probably contribute even less today. Accept that reality and move on.
4. Find opportunities in crisis. What doesn’t kill you may indeed make you stronger if you’re willing to open yourself to better ways of doing things. If you’re unable to be objective, get some help from a Charlotte, NC marketing agency.
5. Do your homework. Understand who’s buying right now -- and why. Then find similar buyers.
6. Put friends ahead of strangers. People most likely to buy are your past customers, followed by genuine prospects who’ve inquired but didn’t convert. Turn your buyers and fans into evangelists. Start with people in your database.
7. Tune your message. Show why your product or service is particularly relevant today. If appropriate, sell escapism. Or stress relief. Or savings. Position your offering as got to have rather than nice to have.
8. Run smart experiments. You needn’t bet big on an unproven strategy. The best marketing agencies in Charlotte are the best testers. The key is to minimize downside risk while maximizing upside potential.
9. Keep score. Stop making decisions based on opinions and start counting actual dollar votes. After you test, do the arithmetic -- then change or eliminate your losers and roll out your winners. Eliminate waste and start tracking your outcomes to the bottom line.
10. Embrace the newer stuff. Take advantage of digital opportunities to cut costs, raise profits, and be greener. Put some sweat equity into social networking and other Web 2.0 options.
11.Dare to be great. Be bold. Do something unforgettable. Or newsworthy. Or viral.
This sounds like the kind of stunt a Charlotte, NC marketing agency might pull. Audi, the German automaker, applied for a permit from the Film and Television Office of Toronto to shoot a commercial that would allow it to place double “T” statues measuring six feet high and fifteen feet long throughout the city for a period of three days. A press release issued by Audi, however, subsequently confirmed that no commercial would actually be shot. Rather, that the statues are meant to act as viral billboards advertising the new Audi TT.
Sound like a good idea? This creative branding stunt did attract a lot of attention in the blogosphere. Unfortunately, a judge quickly ruled the placement of the statues as advertisements violated the city’s signage laws, and Audi was asked to remove them. So if you’re a Charlotte marketing agency, please take note: viral marketing campaigns don’t always stay on the right side of the law.
At birdsong gregory, a Charlotte, NC advertising agency, we’ve understood the benefits of maintaining an active, relevant blog for a while now. How about your own company? Looking for a great way to connect with customers and demonstrate your expertise to the marketplace? Call us if you want to get started. We can help you design your blog template, create content, and get noticed. Find out more about this exciting new marketing tool.
Charlotte advertising agencies and marketing agencies should put their collective heads together and come up with a Japanese-style mascot for the Queen City. Apparently, in Japan, local governments and other organizations are increasingly turning to mascot characters to boost regional development.Certain of these beloved yuru kyara (literally “loose characters”) are even transcending their home regions to become popular nationwide. And yuru kyara collectors’ events are taking place across the country.
The reason for their popularity lies in their surprisingly unpolished and awkward appearance. Yuru kyara possess a certain warmth, which means that they fit nicely with the general trend toward seeking coziness and relaxation. Many of the characters were designed by ordinary citizens or local government officials and reflect too boldly the emotional attachment of their creators. The proportions of some designs also present difficulties in terms of scaling the character up to make a costume. It is these imperfections that make them “looser” than the meticulously designed characters common to anime and video games.
Everyone knows the best time to get your baked goods is when they’re fresh out the oven, even in Charlotte, NC. So a marketing agency in London, England figured that this could be a delicious use of Twitter – letting followers know that fresh goodies are ready right now. Bakeries, however, don’t want laptops or phones lying around in the kitchen – since flour, eggs and technology don’t mix so well. So thanks to a simple bakery-proof box, bakers can turn a dial, hit a button, and when the chocolate croissants are ready, the device sends messages wirelessly to Twitter.
After the recent purchase of Alltel’s 13.2 million customers, Verizon decided it was the perfect time to radically redesign into their dated brand. Designers for the new identity remarked, “From the start we were keen to reposition Verizon and help it adapt for 21st century communications. Its old look still looked like first generation telecoms, didn’t match with Verizon’s future ambitions and lacked a distinctive tone of voice.” After being publicly mocked for saying no to Steve Job’s and Apple’s iPhone Verizon hopes to create new energy with their new identity and “Very” campaign set to launch in July. Although most of us at birdsong gregory, a marketing, branding, and advertising agency in Charlotte, NC, are avid iPhone users, we give kudos to Verizon for a Very cool new look. Read more here.
In it, the author Brian Sheehan discusses how a book on business strategy called "Blue Ocean Strategy" took corporate America by storm a few years ago and how given today’s economy, it may be time to reconsider the approach espoused by the title.
A trademark is any phrase or symbol that functions as a brand, that is, it tells the public that there is a particular source or manufacturer for products or services (e.g., “Mattel” is a trademark for the toy company; the Apple logo is a trademark for the computer company). The scope of what can be a trademark is very broad — words, images, sounds and colors can all function as trademarks. Even packaging and promotional concepts for products or services can be protected as “trade dress,” which is another form of trademark rights (e.g., Apple’s iPod ads).
So North Carolina advertising agencies take note, trademarks must be distinctive, which means consumers recognize the mark as a designation of source, rather than just a phrase or decoration. Unfortunately, what makes a mark “strong” from a legal standpoint may be the opposite of what Charlotte graphic designers and their clients might think of as a strong mark. Under trademark law, marks that describe or suggest some feature of the goods or services are “weak.” For example, “Apple” would be a weak mark for a bakery that sells apple pies. Other food businesses would be able to use Apple marks without infringing the bakery’s trademark rights.
The strongest trademarks are made-up marks, or words or images that don’t suggest the goods or services. Xerox is a classic example of a made-up mark. Apple and the Apple logo for computers are also strong marks.
This animated short film sums it up. Back in the day, an advertising agency in Charlotte, NC could simply buy some air on a local television channel or radio station, and people had no choice but to watch or listen. There wasn’t the internet, social media, satellite radio, or an army of global competitors selling the exact same thing. Today, the men and women who work in marketing in Charlotte have to contend with a fractured audience with less time, more choices, and a hunger for authentic, relevant brands. We think Charlotte advertising will never be the same.
Today, it’s not enough to have a well-designed website or a secure e-commerce presence. You need people to actually go there and interact with your online brand. And if you are a member of the branding Charlotte or marketing Charlotte, NC communities, you know you have to pay to play.
Pay per click search engine marketing is a form of online advertising where the advertiser pays to be listed in the sponsored link section of the search engines. When you launch a PPC advertising campaign, you pay only when someone clicks on your ad. Of course PPC ads, also called sponsored links, are related to the searches made by the users. You have to buy keywords using an auction feature that determines the Cost Per Click (CPC) of a given keyword, this bid also has an influence on your position among the other ads on the page.
You then set a maximum budget for your campaign. That means that if you set a $500 budget for a $1 keyword your ad will virtually be printed on search pages until five hundred users have clicked your ad and landed on one of your website’s pages.
Charlotte, NC advertising agencies please take note: PPC advertising is one of the most effective marketing methods used on the Internet. According to some experts, online marketers will spend more than 5 billion dollars on PPC campaigns by 2010. Consequently the competition for keywords is likely to get tougher and tougher as time goes by, making the optimization of that process ever more necessary for North Carolina advertising agencies, from Charlotte to Raleigh.
A handful of folks from the Charlotte graphic design community, as well as those who are associated with marketing in Charlotte participated in a caravan to Raleigh to hear Chip Kidd speak at an event hosted by the Raleigh chapter of AIGA – the professional association for design.
Born in Reading, Pennsylvania, Kidd grew up in the Reading suburb of Shillington, strongly influenced by American popular culture. While a design student at Penn State, an art instructor once gave the assignment to design a book cover for Museums and Women by John Updike, who is also a Shillington native. The teacher panned Kidd’s work in front of the class, suggesting that book design would not be a good career choice for him.
Kidd is currently associate art director at Knopf, an imprint of Random House. He first joined the Knopf design team in 1986, when he was hired as a junior assistant. Publishers Weekly described his book jackets as “creepy, striking, sly, smart, unpredictable covers that make readers appreciate books as objects of art as well as literature.” USA Today also called him “the closest thing to a rock star” in graphic design today, while author James Ellroy has called him “the world’s greatest book-jacket designer.”
The Charlotte, NC branding and marketing guys and gals who braved I-85 for the drive to Raleigh didn’t return disappointed. Chip Kidd is very funny as a speaker, and he provided plenty of examples of inspired design work and anecdotes.
In 2009, the marketing, advertising, and branding gurus who set the trends will help consumers adopt new media consumption methods. And they’ll pave the way for small business owners to follow suit without the risk or heavy financial outlay.
If you’re a Charlotte, NC company, here are four ways to increase sales and your advertising ROI by capitalizing on the hottest trends for 2009.
1. Engage the customer. The move toward alternative advertising versus some of the more traditional methods coincides with the emergence of technologies that enable a one-on-one dialogue with customers. For example, follow the trend of social media by posting your products on sites that encourage customer or peer reviews. Social media add an element of impartiality and are increasingly looked to as reliable sources of information.
2. Integrate your off-line and online campaigns. Look for ways to use off-line media to drive traffic to a website with specialized landing pages that tell a deeper story. Use print and TV ads to start the customer education process and direct potential buyers online to learn more and take the next steps in the purchase process. And direct an e-mail campaign to your current customer database to offset the cost of direct mail. Simply alternate e-mail and postal mail for a cost-effective one-two punch. 3. Move some off-line dollars online. Online advertising now offers a strong alternative to some traditional media, such as print yellow pages. Consider moving some of your traditional directory advertising dollars into online directories and search engines. The vast majority of Americans research their products online before making purchases, so a paid search campaign is an ideal way to make sure you turn up at the top of search results. 4. Follow your customer. Alternative out-of-home advertising opportunities let you place your message wherever your customers go. You can put your name and company logo on the umbrellas used by urban street vendors, or name hiking trails in wilderness areas. The key to using these new opportunities effectively is to place your message where it will appear in the proper context and reach your potential customers when they are in the right frame of mind.
The new year comes full of high-return marketing opportunities for Charlotte, NC business and the advertising and marketing agencies that serve them. By closely watching the hottest trends, you can make smart choices that let you step ahead of your slower-moving competitors.
The creator of the TV-B-Gone, Mitch Altman, has turned his love of open-source electronic mayhem into a one-man business. His website offers the basic TV-B-Gone, a $20 keychain device with a protruding LED that emits 140 different TV power-off codes, enabling it to shut down 98 percent of all televisions with the press of a single button, Altman says.
“The way I see it, it’s only fair,” Altman says of his infrared light-emitting device. “If a TV shines light at me, I’ll shine a light at it. And if it stops shining light at me, I’ll stop shining light at it.” He also sells a $20 TV-B-Gone kit for do-it-yourselfers who want to assemble the parts themselves, and a $50 TV-B-Gone Pro that looks a bit like a chunky iPhone and has a range of 100 meters.
“I used it in the hotel lobby last night,” Altman says. “I was trying to get some work done and there were four TVs on, with no one watching them. I aimed it at the two in front of me and all four turned off, that’s how powerful it is.”
Jim Cusson, partner at birdsong gregory, a Charlotte, NC branding and marketing agency, feels that this fun little subversive device is only a sign of what lies ahead for conventional advertising agencies. Namely, television advertising can no longer guarantee a captive audience.
First things first: Who are these boomers, and why are they so important? For any marketing, branding, or advertising agencies in Charlotte, NC or anywhere else, the numbers are staggering.
An American turns 50 every seven seconds. There are 76 million of Americans age 50+ out there right now. Trillions of dollars of spending power is in their hands.
So what’s new when we’ve been marketing to them for years already? The difference is that these individuals have been defined in the past by their age and now need to be defined by the patterns of their lives.
Over time, they have become complex and complicated consumers. One-size-fits-all does not work. The challenge will be to understand the segment as a whole and then design solutions that address specific needs for a complex group of people.
The world is experiencing huge demographic changes. Over the next 30 years, most countries will undergo huge growth in the number of 50+ citizens, along with a corresponding decline in the number of youth. This group is living longer than any other generation, and collectively they are rapidly becoming a huge economic force.
This force will end up being the catalyst for massive change within many industries. These demographic changes have created a new, profitable, and challenging market segment: the baby boomers.
To fully serve the boomers, one needs to understand the intricacies of desired lifestyles combined with ideas about aging, working, retirement, and family. Only then can a more integrated and updated approach to this market be developed. It’s not your grandparents’ golden years anymore. Understanding the total picture of how boomers see their lives will yield a rich and complex view of the opportunities when reaching for this vast audience.
Lifestyle is a Big Deal Research shows that boomers are planning on living long and living fully. As a result, huge market for new products and services will emerge. Already, 80% of luxury travel is being done by boomers, over 40% of cars are bought by them, and they already have 75% of the wealth in this country. Furthermore, the upcoming liquidation of billions of retirement assets gives this group the means to realize the lifestyle they want. This wealth creates huge opportunities for travel, education, homes, foods, goods, and services to support the various aspirations of this segment.
As boomers age, they will have physical, emotional, educational, and technical needs to be fulfilled to help them achieve their desired lifestyles. Think about the product opportunities for car manufacturers who need to serve aging yet technically savvy consumers. Intelligent transportation systems will need to be developed to solve vision, reflex, and ergonomic issues. Aging Americans won’t stop driving due to limitations; they will just demand new products to overcome them.
New Terms Around Work and Employment Although boomers are veering away from rocking chairs, research shows the desire for achieving a balanced life as they age. As a result, the definition of work is changing as boomers start to move toward traditional retirement ages in their careers. Trends show that new, part-time, and modified careers are all on the table along with the need for continuous skill refinement and new learning.
This will create new forms of employment that challenge the traditional 9-5 routines. A large percentage of boomers plans to continue working in the next stage of life. A new recruiting market will emerge as skilled boomers are asked to backfill due to declining availability of younger populations. Even the concept of volunteering is changing as boomers divide their free time. Industries will emerge that are addressing the work style, compensation, and benefit needs of this generation.
New Views on Aging — Growing Younger Advances in medicine, healthcare, and drugs allow for longer and healthy lives. As a result, new industries are emerging to address aging needs in ways never used before. Entire industries around anti-aging products are emerging. The recent proliferation of cosmetics and cosmeceuticals come to mind as a market that will continue to explode.
Most interesting is the marked change in recent ad campaigns that show aging people as far different from traditional views of what “old” is, and which display more positive images with which to identify. Aging with grace and dignity will become a mantra allowing boomers to stay on the path to achieving work, life, and retirement goals.
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