Common sense, jargon-free marketing insights for business owners, directors and other marketing-focused people
www.lcm.co.uk Tel 0845 345 6969Is it better to invest in branding a product or in creating a name for the actual company? This is a question we are often asked. Each circumstance is different. Here’s some information that will clarify the options for you.
There are three main ‘architectures’ for a brand:
Bear in mind there are companies with more than one ‘brand architecture’ within their group of companies, so these models are flexible.
Branded House
One of the strongest British branded houses is Virgin.
You will see that the model uses one key brand name, with the sub-brand being simple one- or two-word descriptions added:
Virgin Records, Virgin Megastore, Virgin Atlantic Airways, Virgin…
Yes I know. You’ve been sending out e-shots for ages and it’s easy to do. A bit of text and maybe a photo into the mailing system, and it’s good to go - what could be simpler?
Well that’s what I thought, until I started noticing what some companies are doing. You would be surprised at the number of businesses out there that still resort to a mass mailing via Outlook - much to the consternation of their IT department! How very last decade!
Now I know we aren’t all like that, but it’s worth remembering your past experiences with printed mail shots. Do you recall saying to your designers: ‘We want our mailer to stand out from the rest’? Well, it’s got a bit like that…
We’ve talked to lots of charities and companies over the years, about the mutual benefits of working together.
There seem to be several key benefits to companies who have a focused charity strategy, often part of their corporate social responsibility policy:
Yesterday at LCM we came to work dressed in red,…
When you next write some marketing copy, write three ‘you’s to every ‘we’.
For example, instead of:
We enclose a sample of one of our kitten toys. We are the UK’s leading supplier and have over 2,000 toys in stock.
Write:
You are looking to stock kitten toys– you couldn’t come to a better place.
We hold over 2,000 adorable products and can’t wait to help you. Here’s a sample to give you an idea of how easy it will be to sell these toys and increase your turnover.
You may not be a wholesaler or a kitten person, so this example may leave you ‘cold’, but use the…
We will soon be launching a newsletter because lots of you are asking for one. Before plunging in, we sat down and compiled a checklist to make sure our newsletter is useful to you.
You might find the checklist helpful if you’re running your own newsletter:
Have your target audience in mind:
Your target audience should always be at the forefront of your mind. Make sure every word is really relevant, a MUST read for them.
Subject header:
Recipients will always look at the subject header to see if it’s worth reading. Make it a) relevant to your audience and b) appealing enough that they want to read more. Sounds obvious, but we see violations every day.
Break up the text:
…We were all taught the basics of writing at school: capital letters, full stops, don’t use ‘and’ to start a sentence. But how many of us remember everything we were ever taught?
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I studied English Language at A Level yet I have difficulty remembering most of what I was taught. In today’s society the ability to write well for different platforms is seen as a requirement in nearly every job going and the ability to write to sell is seen as a absolute must. The question is how to write to sell well!
I attended a fantastic day of seminars recently called “Words the Sell” which is my inspiration behind this post. I want to share with you, our lovely readers, the trick to…
Three weeks, 15 days, 32,240 minutes. Sound like a long time? That’s definitely what I thought before I started my work experience at LCM.
But now, somewhere near my thirty thousandth minute (but hey who’s counting!) I can’t quite believe how time flies! We all know how that phrase ends so somewhere between all the bags of Percy Pigs I’ve eaten plus the five pounds I’ve gained, Angus’s giggling work commentary and Sue’s desk memorabilia, I’ve been having fun!
Let’s look back at what I have been doing here at LCM:
Public Relations - PR is a world I have been missing out on, there was me thinking Journalists did all the hard work!…
I attended the Business Solent Annual Conference last week onboard the good ship ‘Oriana’ and was pleased to hear all the work done by our local LEPs to promote healthy business environments in Hampshire, Dorset and Surrey, as well as the potential of trading with India - all good stuff - but what got my attention the most were the very eloquent out-pourings of celebrated publisher and broadcaster, Andrew Neil.
Mr Neil spoke of the crashing of the euro and its potential impact on the UK, as well as the fact that we are in a double-dip recession. Ok - stop yawning! I know you’ve heard it before, but stay with me, I will soon get to the point!
During his time on the podium, Mr Neil stated that while businesses and consumers stop spending to see what happens next - the situation is made worse because everyone has stopped spending.
His best advice to businesses was to use this time to realign themselves…
If you follow us on Facebook or Twitter, you may have seen that this week we announced we were teaming up with Barclays and Regus to bring you some really fab events. Over the next 12 months, we’ll be bringing you a whole host of free seminars, all surrounding The Power of Marketing.
The first seminar in the calendar is the 31st May (so get booking!) which will be looking at The Power of Strategy. Have you ever wondered what a solid marketing strategy could really do for your company? Well, our very own Lizz is on hand to explain. With over 20 years experience in the industry, she’s certainly the person to answer any questions you may have and deliver a really valuable session. Whatever your business, you’ll learn skills from Lizz that you can adapt to your situation –…
The importance of word-of-mouth is often overlooked and forgotten, probably even taken advantage of, in today’s world of marketing. Here at LCM however, we think it is one of the strongest tools at your disposal.
As old-fashioned as it may seem, word-of-mouth is an essential marketing tool. It’s easy, it’s traceable and it’s free!
You could still make the argument that it’s outdated, however word-of-mouth has been catapulted into the 21st century through the use of social media. It allows you to track what is being said about you, you can write updates and news and there is nothing to stop your reputation from spreading globally.
Social media provides an easy, free platform to promote your business and…
Lizz Clarke
Sue Gorrett
Kat Priest
Jacqui Malcolmson
Lizz Clarke
Sue Gorrett
Shena Mitchell
Jacqui Malcolmson