Archive for March, 2009
How much should design cost? Many small businesses reject design as a core business strategy because they think they can’t afford it. In particular, because it is an intangible, they have a hard time seeing value in the intangible.
Yet, it is the intangible that adds value to the tangible. In most cases, the tangible assets are fungible and commodities. There is nothing to distinguish them from others.
Identity: .05-1% annual $
Brand: .05-1% annual $
Communications: .05-2% annual $
Products/Services: 1-7% product $
Experience: 1-2% annual $
Interactive: .05-2% annual $
Architecture: 5-15% of cost
This list shows the approximate investment for design. As is clear, it typically represents less than 1% of a year’s revenue, and in most cases, these are one time costs. Match that against any form of price reduction, and it’s amazing that a small business would choose lowering price to increase value, over increasing the perceived value of their business or offering.
Dan Droz is Chairman and CEO of Droz & Associates: Marketing, Branding, Design, Public Relations, Advertising, Web Design, Interactive Marketing for Pittsburgh and surrounding regions.
Wednesday, March 25th, 2009
Design, Pittsburgh No Comments
Sometimes even great brands can take on a life of their own. See what happens when Green meets Guinness. And, check out the article on using G.O.L.D. methods to engage your customers.
Dan Droz is Chairman and CEO of Droz & Associates: Marketing, Branding, Design, Public Relations, Advertising, Web Design, Interactive Marketing for Pittsburgh and surrounding regions.
Tuesday, March 17th, 2009
Branding, Marketing, Pittsburgh No Comments
Andy Warhol laid claim to the democratization of fame. Now that social networks like Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn and MySpace have given everyone their “15 minutes” and more, it’s become a new game: managing your role as media moguls. As everyone with a Web site and blog becomes their own media outlet, there’s now a gazillion markets of one.
Branding evolved as a way to capitalize on the power of the mass market. Because so few had access to the masses, it was realistic to create mega brands through advertising on a few media channels. Large companies could actually convince us how great they and their products were. Now, everyone’s in the media business and familiar with the Immutable Laws of Marketing and influencing consumers has moved quickly from direct to influencer-based.
Critics have always filled an important role in popular culture, helping consumers navigate the miasma of options of just about every product there is. Rating systems like Zagat’s Guide, Wine Advocate and Consumer Reports helped institutionalize the role of ‘experts.’ Now, every consumer is a critic, able to get their opinion distributed, and able to have an effect.
Blogs are now the center of a new form of evaluation of everything from sites to journalism itself, helping recreate a tribal society where we interact in real time with members of affinity groups. Traditional brands have become less effective as a new genre of “Blink” consumers decide what products and services to buy, not because they love the brand but because they heard about it from their social network or were trained to use it by the provider. As markets splinter into subgroups, affinity groups, niches and market segments, branding has become a custom business, dependant on managing perceptions through networks.
The implication for branding is clear. Brands need to be geared more toward helping people make choices, not about making claims. Differentiation has become a job of education and training. Apple stores aren’t staffed by sales people. They’re consultants, helping consumers navigate and use their products better. It’s become instruction-based sales, so that each customer is now ‘trained’ to use a particular platform. Getting thumbs up from blogmiesters also requires more attention to these ‘influencers.’ Bloggers are the new press. These armchair media moguls need to be treated like they matter. Because they do.
Dan Droz is Chairman and CEO of Droz & Associates: Marketing, Branding, Design, Public Relations, Advertising, Web Design, Interactive Marketing for Pittsburgh and surrounding regions.
Wednesday, March 11th, 2009
Branding, Marketing, Pittsburgh No Comments
The products that change lives are actually brands. Dan illustrates the strong association we have with brands and how to develop that same bond with your customers. Click here to watch the video.
Dan Droz is Chairman and CEO of Droz & Associates: Marketing, Branding, Design, Public Relations, Advertising, Web Design, Interactive Marketing for Pittsburgh and surrounding regions.
Wednesday, March 4th, 2009
Advertising, Branding, Marketing, Pittsburgh No Comments