Every person and every company has a brand, whether they realize it or not. If you don't believe me, go to www.brandtags.net and start typing what YOU believe about brands you know.
Brand Tags is a new internet site that allows people to type a word or phrase they associate with a brand. The information shows what the featured brand's collective impression is from the people who have "tagged" it on this site. Conversely, the site allows you to put in a search word to find out what brand "owns" that word in people's minds.
For example, safety means...... you guessed it. Volvo. Refreshing is, surprisingly, Sprite, because I thought it would be Coke, but then, I'm a Coke drinker, occasionally.
It just goes to show that there IS something in your head about pretty much every brand (Unless you have never heard of the brand, which happened to me a few times on Brand Tags).
But, bottom line is that if someone is familiar with you, or your company, then they have an impression of you (or your company). Do you know what it is?
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Print Management -or- "How did that blotch get on my print job?"
Working with a printer is a lot like working with a carpenter who is trimming out the new addition in your house. A lot can go wrong if you're not paying attention.
Printing is a funny business, kind of like carpentry. You need tools and machines for both. You need craftsman and an eye for detail for both. You need to understand color, substrate types (wood types for the carpenter, paper types for printers), and deadlines for both. You need to be a good manager to make your customers happy for both.
And, for both, you can find and hire one yourself and manage the outcome yourself, or you can hire a contractor to do the job. But do you know what you're doing?
When you hire a carpenter, you have to inspect the work before, during, and after: is the carpenter using the right type of wood? Are the corners tightly mitred? Is that cabinet flush to the wall and will it support the weight of what you intend to fill it with? Are you going to be around during that time the carpenter is whipping through his work? Come back too late and a whole room of baseboard has to be ripped out and re-done because the carpenter installed the wrong stain color!
Another thing is that there are lots of different types of carpenters: Some build stairs, some frame buildings, some just do trim work, some assemble and install fine cabinetry. These carpenters all have different expertise and use different tools (some quite expensive!) to get the job done quickly and efficiently. You wouldn't want to hire a stair builder to frame out a house! That would cost you a lot of wasted money.
Fortunately, stair carpenters will probably turn down the framing job and tell you to call their cousin, Vinny, the house framer. Maybe they'll take a little cut from Vinny if he gets the job.
Printers aren't like that. Most printers will take your job, and send it off to their cousin Vinny, and you wouldn't even know the difference. However, you might have saved a lot of money if you had known about Vinny and hired him yourself in the first place, skipping the middle man.
And even if your printer sends your project out to his cousin Vinny, you are still tasked with the job of checking up on the project in its various stages of production to make sure it's done correctly.
When Vinny does it, it's going to take longer because Vinny is going to have to ship the material back to your printer where you're going to have to check on things. In effect, your printer has become the contractor without you knowing it, AND he's not going to be watching out for your project to make sure it's right: You're still going to have to do that yourself.
GWiz Marketing Communications is like a contractor for printers. During the years GWiz has been in business, we have worked with dozens of printers: locally, out-of-state, and abroad. We are familiar with the equipment printers use and the work style of the printers we work with. We have a vast experience printing everything from mini-brochures and point-of-purchase displays to 1000-page catalogs.
When you task GWiz with print management, we take the time to make sure your project is correct: First, we select the right printer for your job and make sure you get the best price. We inspect proofs carefully, travel to the print shop during printing to make sure the correct paper is being used (no bait and switching!), watch to make sure your print job comes off the presses correctly the first time (no re-do's), and take responsibility for the outcome of your print project.
At the end of your project, you have "one throat to choke" as our client Matt Dell likes to say.
While many think of printing as a commodity, (How cheap can I get it?), we also view it as an art. You can get it cheap, and you can ALSO get it good, as long as your contractor is taking good care of your project.
GWiz could be that contractor. Contact us about your print project and we will GUARANTEE an outcome you can be proud of and will save you money.
Printing is a funny business, kind of like carpentry. You need tools and machines for both. You need craftsman and an eye for detail for both. You need to understand color, substrate types (wood types for the carpenter, paper types for printers), and deadlines for both. You need to be a good manager to make your customers happy for both.
And, for both, you can find and hire one yourself and manage the outcome yourself, or you can hire a contractor to do the job. But do you know what you're doing?
When you hire a carpenter, you have to inspect the work before, during, and after: is the carpenter using the right type of wood? Are the corners tightly mitred? Is that cabinet flush to the wall and will it support the weight of what you intend to fill it with? Are you going to be around during that time the carpenter is whipping through his work? Come back too late and a whole room of baseboard has to be ripped out and re-done because the carpenter installed the wrong stain color!
Another thing is that there are lots of different types of carpenters: Some build stairs, some frame buildings, some just do trim work, some assemble and install fine cabinetry. These carpenters all have different expertise and use different tools (some quite expensive!) to get the job done quickly and efficiently. You wouldn't want to hire a stair builder to frame out a house! That would cost you a lot of wasted money.
Fortunately, stair carpenters will probably turn down the framing job and tell you to call their cousin, Vinny, the house framer. Maybe they'll take a little cut from Vinny if he gets the job.
Printers aren't like that. Most printers will take your job, and send it off to their cousin Vinny, and you wouldn't even know the difference. However, you might have saved a lot of money if you had known about Vinny and hired him yourself in the first place, skipping the middle man.
And even if your printer sends your project out to his cousin Vinny, you are still tasked with the job of checking up on the project in its various stages of production to make sure it's done correctly.
When Vinny does it, it's going to take longer because Vinny is going to have to ship the material back to your printer where you're going to have to check on things. In effect, your printer has become the contractor without you knowing it, AND he's not going to be watching out for your project to make sure it's right: You're still going to have to do that yourself.
GWiz Marketing Communications is like a contractor for printers. During the years GWiz has been in business, we have worked with dozens of printers: locally, out-of-state, and abroad. We are familiar with the equipment printers use and the work style of the printers we work with. We have a vast experience printing everything from mini-brochures and point-of-purchase displays to 1000-page catalogs.
When you task GWiz with print management, we take the time to make sure your project is correct: First, we select the right printer for your job and make sure you get the best price. We inspect proofs carefully, travel to the print shop during printing to make sure the correct paper is being used (no bait and switching!), watch to make sure your print job comes off the presses correctly the first time (no re-do's), and take responsibility for the outcome of your print project.
At the end of your project, you have "one throat to choke" as our client Matt Dell likes to say.
While many think of printing as a commodity, (How cheap can I get it?), we also view it as an art. You can get it cheap, and you can ALSO get it good, as long as your contractor is taking good care of your project.
GWiz could be that contractor. Contact us about your print project and we will GUARANTEE an outcome you can be proud of and will save you money.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Twitterize
Companies can use Twitter as an inexpensive and easy way to reach out to groups of people both inside and outside the company.
Company leaders could use Twitter, for example, to send out mass notices to their sales force, their boards of directors, or other groups within the company, from a cell phone. These "Tweets" (as they're called) could be private so that only the intended recipients could receive the messages/tweets. Recipients could also receive these tweets from CEOs (or other company leaders) on their cell phones. Twitter works while on the run!
So CEO texts once, and everyone s/he wishes to receive the message can receive it on their cell phone.
Twitter could also be used as a marketing tool to reach the world: both existing customers, and to encourage new customers to find out more about a company's products or services. To use Twitter to reach customers, the Tweets should be clever, engaging, and understandable. They should also link back to the company's website and the website should likewise, encourage visitors to "follow" the company's Twitter feeds.
A word of caution: Blatent "selling" is going to turn off readers faster than yesterday's news: Keep your tweets informative, entertaining, and leaving the reader yearning for more.
This is a simple and easy way to use Twitter for marketing purposes for beginners. There's a lot more you can do with Twitter, but that is for another post.
Thank you for reading.
Company leaders could use Twitter, for example, to send out mass notices to their sales force, their boards of directors, or other groups within the company, from a cell phone. These "Tweets" (as they're called) could be private so that only the intended recipients could receive the messages/tweets. Recipients could also receive these tweets from CEOs (or other company leaders) on their cell phones. Twitter works while on the run!
So CEO texts once, and everyone s/he wishes to receive the message can receive it on their cell phone.
Twitter could also be used as a marketing tool to reach the world: both existing customers, and to encourage new customers to find out more about a company's products or services. To use Twitter to reach customers, the Tweets should be clever, engaging, and understandable. They should also link back to the company's website and the website should likewise, encourage visitors to "follow" the company's Twitter feeds.
A word of caution: Blatent "selling" is going to turn off readers faster than yesterday's news: Keep your tweets informative, entertaining, and leaving the reader yearning for more.
This is a simple and easy way to use Twitter for marketing purposes for beginners. There's a lot more you can do with Twitter, but that is for another post.
Thank you for reading.
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