ALL NEW RED ZEBRA
WEBSITE!
The all-new Red Zebra website
launched last month to a chorus of favourable comments and
observations.
3
Key
Service Areas
The three key activities -
which
can be summarised as managing the financial parts of the
business, driving the marketing effort, and staff planning &
recruiting - are now easily recognised and accessed.
3
Delivery Methods
Access the services three
ways -
one for small and medium businesses, one for enterprises that
need on-line services, and one for larger organisations.
3
New
Features
- New graphic
design capacity for advertising, signage, and
visual merchandising
- New book-keeping &
systems capacity for simplifying
and
improving accounting systems, and
- New customer
relationship software capacity to maximise the
vale of each and every customer.
Visit
the
new website now!!
Remember
to
see
the Library
Need
a Printer Friendly Version?
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a Local Copy
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your computer? Go to
"Menu/File/Save As ", select the folder you want to use to keep
this report, and choose the "File Type" to be "Web Page
Complete".
EFFECTIVE
BRANDING IS THE KEY TO GREATER BUSINESS SUCCESS!

Marketing is
a mix of many things, that’s why we often hear about ‘the marketing
mix’! Whatever else is in the marketing mix - and there is a whole heap
in there - branding is one of the very powerful elements. Whether you
plan it or not, you will get branded. It’s best to do it first, and do
it well. Then keep on protecting it.
Branding makes your business easily recognizable
and unique. It puts up
in lights the values you apply in your business. The brand image
represents you at a glance. Your brand distils the message you want to
carry to buyers in a single snapshot of your company.
Build Your Brand
Visual images provide the most recognisable and unique of single
snapshots, and the most important image is your logo. It carries the
message of your brand graphically. A logo is effective when it enables
consumers to identify your business on sight. It helps create the "look
and feel" of what you’re doing. Many people confuse “brand” with
“logo”. The logo is only one
image,
and many great logos are let down by what surrounds them. For instance,
a quality manufacturer with a very smart logo, but who uses poor
quality packaging, is sending very confusing messages. It
always works out badly.
Similarly, a retailer who has great looking store, but
employs staff
who are just not interested in customers, simply shows that he or she
is more interested in image than substance. Customers can read that
very well, and stay away!
Only when you’re sure all the other things about your
business that
people see, really do support your brand image, can you think about a
logo. It is a graphical representation of your business, and
ties together all the other elements of your brand. Remember, your logo
should appear wherever possible
Even if you have a small budget, it is best to use a
professional to
work with you in designing your logo. Using a home-made logo or one
created with clip art can make your business look unprofessional. It
looks as bad as untidy premises or careless staff! The Red Zebra team
has created a great many brands over time, and good graphic design is
at the heart of it.
Protect your Brand
Effective branding
carries the message of your business succinctly and consistently
wherever consumers encounter you. So, after you have spent a
lot of time and money creating your brand, it is just plain common
sense to look after it. Follow these five simple steps.
- Make your logo
synonymous with your
business - have it
appear
wherever possible, and always in the same presentation.
- Be consistent. Many think it’s right to keep the
logo with
the same
colour, but completely overlook keeping the slogan and advertising tag
lines consistent. Make sure the message is itself always consistent. If
you have a theme tune, don’t run ads without it.
- Maintain the values. Some operators tackle the ‘value for
money
market’, or the economy end of things. Nothing wrong with that if you
do it well. Others pursue the premium end of town. Likewise, that’s
fine if you do it well. But you can’t be effective if you try to
establish a ‘quality’ brand, run lots of high quality ads, then slip in
a campaign based on ‘price offs’. Value is destroyed in
minutes that takes years to recover!
- Advertise
your own brand. Co-op advertising is a great way to leverage the
synergy between suppliers and retailers. When you do that, remember the
effect on your brand. Co-op can shift product, but it does not build
brands. Always complement your co-op advertising with your own brand
advertising. Feel free to click the link below to talk to us about this
important aspect of your advertising. Remember, just as branding is
more than a logo, so marketing is more than just advertising.
- Keep your brand visible - always! The more you
reinforce
your brand
identity, the more memorable it becomes. Market your business with
advertising, using your logo and slogan. Get your brand out there
whenever possible -- on your company vehicles, on each page of your web
site, and on the products themselves.
Building and protecting your brand is a
fundamental aspect of
sound business, and it requires skill and experience to get it right.
Make sure you have access to the right experience.
Your
brand is too valuable to treat
roughly.
If you'd like to find out
more, talk to us, or ask us
a question here!
Remember, there's no charge or obligation, and you get a whole
hour's consultation free. This same offer also applies in New
Zealand.