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Thanks once again.

Creativity and Branding. Make a Difference - Stay Original.

Creativity is an all time thing and Brands are for always. When we think of a brand – we think about how creative it is, in terms of –

Utility | Proposition | Benefits | Communication | Value

A brand can we creative is many ways. A creative communication leads to a great recall and a creative product/service makes a brand forever.  We are going to understand the creative phenomena in branding with some significant points for the start-up brands.

Creativity is Innovation

Looking at the Brands of today, creativity is innovation.  The transformation from landline phones to today tabs come instantly to the mind. Isn’t that a creative innovation, you can say the popular jargon for it is design thinking. But this certainly is bringing creative solutions is smallest form possible. They have brought the world to your palm. The industry is working on innovation and they are working everyday on creative solutions.

Creativity fosters Competition

I would say, not all the organizations are creative. Some are competitive. They follow the creative process of the pioneers and create competition through pricing strategy, better service, value added features, sweepstakes and marketing.

Read More.....

Most Common Branding Mistakes

When we create a brand, it is like our only dream, only passion and only ambition. And to think like this is normal – it takes a lot of you to create & establish a brand.

So many times it happens that we get too involved into it, we love to experiment with the graphics, and we want to try the personal favorites to our brand.

Warning! A brand is owned by us but it is created for the use & benefit of its customers.

And since we gave a warning here, we are going to detail out the 7- Most Avoidable Branding Mistakes.

Mind the Orientation

This is important to keep the orientation of your brand as per the focus area. The purpose of its existence is value creation and the orientation shall be based on that, the idea is to reach out the right customers at appropriate touch points. So we must create a brand which can be less pleasing to all but should be appealing to our customer segment.

Follow KIPS

At 30TH FEB, we follow the KIPS principle for branding a business or start-up. KIPS is “Keep it Plain & Simple”. Many of our clients insist of high pitch language, world class tone and jargon. This shall be avoided.

Remember, a client is coming to you to get the right solution.

Read more....

Building a Brand

Brand Building looks like an interesting job. When we think of it, lot of colors, graphics, visuals come to your mind. In fact, I have seen lot of graphic designers trying to become brand experts which is a very welcome idea. And also lot of start-ups tend to take up initial brand exercise on their own pertaining to budget deficits and in some cases lower confidence level.

Remember, you need to understand the purpose of a brand prima-facie, the reason for its birth and principal function. You must know – How the brand is defined before you take up Brand Building.

Whoever takes up – brand building must know the following points and shall work on each of them to reach to a desired output.

Read more..

Sustainable Branding - Big Brands Bigger Challenges

Alas! The Brands are going the health way. With the consumer becoming informed, the media reaching out the millions, a buyer is bound to choose. And with changing lifestyles – it is a must to observe – what we eat!

Organic Brands are increasing multi-folds. From what you keep in your living room to what you consume in a respective meal

Sustainability is the way of branding and it is great to see some of the Giant Brands taking the lead.

Read More..

How to leverage your Brand in 2013?

2013 is a year of hopes. Economically, socially – the world is hopeful and so is marketer. The marketing world is facing an influx of products/services and the digital world has made it all the more complex. The start-ups are flourishing, the demand is increasing for the value driven service provider – no matter how small or big you are.

So what counts here is – How you can leverage your brand in the year of hopes. I suggest the following shall help us all make progress – in the right direction,

Get Going. Take Bold Steps: Create ~ make sure and then launch it. People spend a lot of time & money on creating a brand identity, the name, the design etc and they rather forget/ignore to work on reaching to the right touch points, avoid that. Remember – a brand design is equally more important as the brand touch point. A beautiful brand created and saved for self – will get unnoticed. The very idea of your existence is business to generate value – so take bolder steps to reach out to consumer. Simply a beautiful brand identity is not enough to run the show – the promise it makes shall be delivered.

Diversify the Services: One must take risks more often. Keep adding to the offerings, this will help you grow your business and will also make you a little more preferred service provider by offering convenience. Find out – and integrate, forward or backward. Experimentation is good – have an approach towards it and launch some new services – offer a little more.

Think about delivering Value and Not Discounts: Sweepstake are happening but they are not all. Offering Discounts doesn’t make you a good brand because the ultimate test is through your work – the delivery. This year you must sell based on value and not on other factors like discounts, offers, coupons etc.

Price Competitively: Gone are the days when pricing was the soul intent for a consumer’s decision-making. The consumption patterns have changed, the consumer is informed and that is why competitive pricing is a recommendation. A conservative approach in pricing is not a welcome idea – as there is a fear of getting trapped as a weak brand. So the price should be as per the promise.

Make Plans to Make Things Happen: Marketing a brand is often seen as something kept for the need of the hour. One should make plans, devise budgets and work on strategy. Remember that building a brand is only the first step, challenge lies in sustaining the brand for a long term. We should plan, work as per the plan and observe the progress. You can always bring in changes if one thing isn’t working as thought of.

Capitalize on New Media: Yes, social media cannot be ignored anymore. I am sure we have all realized the importance in 2012. By the time we were there on twitter, facebook talking about the products & services ~ we felt the need to explore Pinterest, Instagram etc. For social media- work on the content, make it strategic & useful, relevance & truth – the advertising principles work on new media as well. Next is how you present the content – use right visuals, not everything needs to be flashy but everything shall preferably be informative. Remember, your social image will lead to client perceptions about you – so learn, plan and engage the consumer.

Internal Branding: Yes, go strong internally. Hire right people – spread hope for better opportunities, better business and better growth. After all like us, all one looks forward to be – growth. Be reasonable, make promises and keep them. It is immensely important that you hire the right people for right task, a healthy work environment & cordial employee relations are a must. Create an inspiring work place, follow a listen & learn approach.

Happy Branding in 2013

Google to you is...?

We were thinking of doing a birthday message for Google on 30TH FEB’s facebook page. Social Media is becoming competitive and as a rule a copy paste was not the idea so we thought of doing a simple birthday message and at least keep it original.

While the above graphic was under process, I tried a caption, Birthday Wishes for a brand which is a world in itself and that’s how this post idea emerged.

Yes, Google – what a brand? Dependable and approachable!

This is a brand which single handedly helps several demographics, reaches entire geography, helps you at your desktop about anything and everything.

You turn to it for food on table and also when it’s about food for thought. This is certainly a brand which is a world in itself. Be it a sophomore or a grand dad everybody turns to google for help. From your kids nursery admission to his university education, google helps in every way- exploring the school to feedbacks on university, course comparisons to placement details. Leave that, once the kid is settled, you look for the best matrimonial sites on google. Coming of age it helps us in locating the best doctors and best hospitals.

It reaches the aspiring students as an advisor to an encourager. Google helps us in every way – from making notes to making businesses. From sharing happiness to sharing news, the welcome pages are so happy and gay, they make us smile and they help us learn, we hope that Google is forever to stay.

Here is quickly what I got when I asked people a simple question, the answers are exciting!!

I asked, Google to you is….?

Mahesh: Life Simplifier, seriously!

Shilpa: My one stop shop for any info :)

Aman: Answer to everything

Manish: Lifeline

Rajesh: Everything, which can keep me connected to this world :)

Naimesh: Search Engine

Ajay:  Search, Information and he says, its more than a word

Abhiram: A Lifeline

Sandeep: Tutor

Rohit: Sun

Bahar: Next to God for problem solving

Sarang: Guide

Praveen: It’s like my underwear, I can’t live without it

Rajiv: google is world of information for me

Nikhil: The Universe... within your arm's reach

Prachi: Mini World

Reema: Educator

What insights! People just associate life with Google. It seems to be an everyday affair in everyone’s life. For those who have even more wonderful answers, please share in comments.

Once again, Happy Birthday Google!!