Read our latest Tools post, Intranet - Streamlining business development.

1. Top-of-Mind–The ultimate ROI experienced by a brand is the security of being in the top-of-mind position. When the target audience considers the brands, the first to evoke a sense of trust and familiarity tends to be the first choice.  Potential customers are prone to gravitate towards the familiar. An unknown brand is often overlooked.

2. Trust – People are creatures of habit.  A trusted brand name is a critical component for all businesses.  A trusted brand name ensures confidence and consideration.  A nonentity does neither.

3. Cross-Selling Opportunities – Under its guidance, a company has the potential to expand its offerings, thereby enhancing the reliability of the new product or service.  There can, however, be pitfalls associated with extensions.

4. Emotional connection – Purchasing decisions are executed emotionally, and justified rationally. Again, a trusted brand name ensures confidence.

5. Price de-sensitivity – Astute buyers are prepared to invest top dollar for optimal products, brands and names.

6. Reduced Sales-Cycle – If a company brand is unknown, a trusting relationship between a salesperson and a prospect is a key component to the prospect purchasing.  Conversely, an acknowledged brand stands on its own laurels.

7. Increased Inquiries – As inquiries increase, less promotion and sales times is required.  The product is starting to sell itself.

8. Greater Exposure means More Ink – Brand-name companies and products receive a higher profile in the news media (traditional and online) and are subject to more interest from analysts thereby stimulating greater brand awareness.

9. Decline in Lost-Opportunity Cost – The company with a weak brand is subject to a genuine loss-of-opportunity cost of which it is totally unaware; transactions for which they were never even considered.

10. Employee Recruitment and Retention of Employees – Those seeking a career in the sales field and those seeking to change their venue, logically gravitate to successful brand companies. Thus, a renowned brand name is instrumental in attracting prime candidates as everyone savours being associated with a winner.  Where weaker-brand companies are forced to spend more on recruitment and retention of employees, the stronger-brand companies realize a reduction in employee turnover and a reduction in recruitment, resulting in significant savings regarding hiring, training expenses and headhunter fees!

What are the prerequisites of entrenching an acknowledged, distinctive brand?  Articles in leading US business magazines relating to the “Top 100 Brands” state that “The brand names that gained the most in value focus ruthlessly on every detail of their brands, honing simple, cohesive identities that are consistent in every product, in every market around the world, and in every contact with consumers.” ]]> 2009-03-25T19:45:16+00:00 http://www.ideographic.net/index.php?/news/article/marketing_principles_in_the_new_economy/ Your potential clients aren’t listening to you We must communicate and motivate your clients. They are very busy thinking about anything but your message. Branding Your potential clients aren’t listening to you
We must communicate and motivate your clients. They are very busy thinking about anything but your message.

Everybody else is shouting at our clients, too
Your target clients are receiving 1500 ads per day – they’re ADHD.
The challenge is to become more appealing (communicate better) and become more clever (find novel communication strategies and channels).

The rest of your organization thinks you’re crazy
The challenge is to think like your client 24 / 7 / 365. Learn to be more client- focused because the rest of the organization is heading in the opposite direction.

You can’t execute your program without the rest of your organization
Build bridges to other functions and departments with your company. Share and delegate your marketing plan. You must be an expert networker and alliance-builder.

If you don’t succeed you’re dead meat (and so is your company)
All for One and One for All! Staff must realize the direct relationship between the success of a marketing program and a paycheck bouncing.

The more you give, the more you get
Be a bon vivant! “In marketing, you want to give away as much as possible without cutting your throat”

Being good is not enough — you have to be better
Make products better and more convenient; keep reinventing your markets – that’s competition. Be innovators – push better approaches. Anything you did last year is not good enough for this year. “Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there”.

Marketing should be the most creative part of your business
Marketing is most successful when it’s creative. Everything you do must be unique. Marketing is more art than science.

Marketing should be the most logical part of your business
You cannot succeed just by being creative in marketing. Great marketers are part artist and part scientist. After the creative, you must test, project, measure etc … be the marketing Minotaur. The head of a scientist with the body of an artist – The true Art of Commerce.

Everything is marketing
Seize the opportunity to touch your clients. Everything your company does is Marketing. email your company’s website URL (email signature), mail new info with statements, enclose a business card with each envelope – Get your Brand out!

“The video looks fabulous. Congratulations! — Thanks, Leslyann

“Well done… Nicely presented” — Heather

“The presentation went really well… we received a really positive response from students, staff and faculty… Overall, I think we exposed it to a lot of people…” — Beth

WHAT ARE THE FEATURES AND BENEFITS?
- Social Networking requires members to create a list of people and to monitor individual interests. A Fortune 500 software developer has a “shared-agreement” with a Social Networking company , and with it, a vast profitable database detailing invaluable information of an individual’s purchasing habits.
- Social Networking enables web users to rapidly and widely share information that will promote their ultimate goal (product launch, discount, etc.). It is another form of “word-of-mouth” publicity.
- Social Networking is a less expensive method of advertising compared to the traditional print media, TV camp, etc.
- Social Networking is the easiest and quickest way to access comments regarding specific products, services and strategies. As opinions are generally honest and objective, companies potentially generate a positive brand experience through improvement of both their shortcomings and their SPQ -  services, price and quality.

WHO IS EMBRACING THIS MEDIUM?
- Businesses, individuals, governments, non-profit organizations etc

WHY ARE THEY IMPLEMENTING THIS DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL?
- To achieve their goal in an efficient, effective time
- To target Generation Y in the “medium of the moment”. Witness the power in the recent US Presidential race.
—- The winning camp was deeply cognizant of the power of the web when commenting online via sources such as blogs, Social Networks (Facebook, YouTube, MySpace, Twitter. etc.).
—- This medium can also be used to sway supporters of the Opposition with negative films on YouTube, or negative comments on blogs and other Social Networking tools.
—- An observer noted, “From the very beginning the winning audience tended to be younger, more web-savvy. Hence, the winning camp chose to use online tools to reach their target audience.”

Current Local Campaigns:
- BC Provincial Election Candidates and Parties
- City of Port Coquitlam
- 2010 Olympics
- CBC TV and Radio

Thank you for the gift (of the framed primary brand message… Synchronizing Disciplines, Driving Results)—even if I say so myself… is quite inspirational and something we can get behind - Robin Larsen, Marketing Manager

The Genus’ identity was inspired by: the primary brand message “Synchronizing Disciplines, Driving Results”, the secondary brand messages: Wealth Management - Preserving, Managing, Growing. Genus is a capital management firm where the group plans, organizes and oversees complex investment strategies for their clients by “Collecting and Analyzing Financial Intelligence and in-turn Driving Results.”

The upper and lowercase sans serf typeface was selected to communicate an authoritative and statesman-like presence. The “U” letter was inverted to replace the capital “N” thus communicating a synchronized perspective on the financial investment industry. Adaptability is the cornerstone to the brand personality of all “Hall of Fame Athletes”.

The square shapes and arrows represent the in-depth systems and primary focus of the Genus end-to-end asset management system.  The overlapping squares convey “windows of opportunity”, “shield” or “data” and “positive growth symbols”. Genus is the financial “Hub of Activity” and is a leader with the Top 5% Investors in Canada.

Read “The Story of Our Brand” at Genus >

We approached ISI with the mission to unify and streamline operations by re-branding our new and expanding WesternOne group with a memorable brand full of impact, style and consistency. ISI delivered,” says Steve Taylor, President of Marketing. The slogan we created in collaboration with Ideographic Strategies ‘Bringing It All Together. Service… It’s What We Do’ summarizes our relationship with ISI. The results are in and the response from the media, customers and industry continues to be fantastic!

Luca Ouellet-Chong won 2 bronze medals while fellow team mates David Lee, won Silver and adult participant Kevin Lee won a Silver and Bronze. The Third Annual Championship was held in the city of Shiyan City, China near the birthplace of Taoism - Wudang Mountain.

Fifteen year old, Luca Ouellet-Chong, a 4th Degree black belt, is sponsored by ISI - Ideographic Strategies Inc., a local brand-marketing agency whose company logo is a bowing photo of Mr. Ouellet-Chong.

Like traditional print in newspapers, magazines or billboards, consumers look to the Internet as a form of information. Also like traditional printed media, the Internet can be used as a channel to deliver your marketing strategy.  In addition to reaching your audience, e-strategies (electronic strategies) have several major advantages—speed, cost efficiency, interactivity, extensive graphics capabilities, flexibility, and a targeted receptive audience.

eStrategies pertains to all the different strategies one may use on the Internet to market a product or service. Tactics can include website branding, search engine marketing, eContacts, banner ads, and interactive games.

Of those eStrategies, eContacts is one of the more measurable, branded, targeted and cost effective eMarketing strategies.  Similar to traditional direct mail, eContacts allows you to create a completely targeted letter allowing for branded copy and design, promotional offers, and a response mechanism.

Essentially, eContacts is targeted two-way communications that gives you added control, no extra cost and speedy delivery. Furthermore, you are able to tell what time and where your customer opens their mail. You can see if your contact has clicked through your mail and directed themselves to your website. You have access to the stats and figures and can changes your mail out anytime.  That’s the e-reality of direct email marketing today.

eContact strategies are a cost effective, measurable manner to induce two-way communication with your targeted consumer. In addition, customer information is easily collected and managed into your customer relationship database so you can send to and manage different conacts for the future.

In terms of the data management, eContacts allows for 24-hour management and access to the email database including collected information and creation and dispersion of letters from anywhere in the world through your computer’s internet connection.

Tips for creating an effective eContacts mail out:

Like the traditional direct mail out piece, there are numerous tricks to increase the effectiveness of your solicitation.

1) Ensure Your Subject Line is Relevant and Eye Catching
The subject line of an email is like the envelope of the direct mail out.  It is the most important part of the mailing because it will determine if the customer will open the mailing or not.

2) Keep it Permission Based
Your list will be permission based so the customer has already, in one form or another, signed up for your email. However, make sure to always include an “opt out” or option to remove them from the list. This is a respectful and legal way to do business.
 

3) Brand Your Design and Message
Make sure your letter always keeps with your branding both in design and copy. How you present yourself and the words you use to speak to your customer is a huge indicator of how your customer will perceive you. Make sure your words match your target customer and the product.

4) Involve your Audience
Including an animation, game or something for your audience to click to for more information will create interactivity and rapport with your reader. The more involved the reader is with the email, the more time they will spend with your advertisement and the more likely they will purchase from you and enjoy your branding experience.

5) Brand Your Signature
Your signature should be used as an additional selling point. Not only does your signature personalize who you are as a brand and to a point, adds a personal touch to the mail out, it is also an area to again point out a selling point. It should include a URL, some sort of special promotion, or current activities.

With these benefits, features and tips, you can start to fully take advantage of the eContacts strategy and start to see your return on investment. Start planning your eContacts campaign today, Click here to dowload the eContacts Strategic planner.

For more information please contact us at 604-253-7755. More information is also available at on our eContacts page.

Season Greetings to you all… Each year we, at ISI, select a concept which we believe best reflects our focus on the upcoming year… The Year of the Pig - 4704.

“The things that we share in our world are far more valuable than those, which divide us” — Donald Williams

We hope you value and share your vacation with a renewed… Perspective. Respectfully, Garrett Chong and Associates

Click here if you are having trouble viewing this movie

The Second Annual Championship was held in the city of Zhengzhou, China where Wushu has been practised near the Shaolin Temple for more than 1,500 years. According to martial artist film star, Jet Li “It (Wushu) actually means to stop war. The first word, Wu, means stop fighting—stop war. The second word, Shu, means art. Thus Wushu means the art of not fighting or the art of how to stop a war.”

13 year old, Ouellet-Chong, a 2nd Degree black belt, is sponsored by Ideographic Strategies Inc., a local brand marketing agency whose logo is a photograph of the bowing martial artist. 14 year old, Nick Antoniuk, a 3rd Degree black belt, is sponsored by Sokil Express Lines, a national long-haul trucking company.

Watch the Adventure

We welcome you to travel alongside Luca’s team, friends, and family on their visit to China for 10 magnificent days. See the people of China, the World Championships, Shaolin Temple, Great Wall of China, The Forbidden City, and Tiananmen Square, as we did, for the first time.

Click here if you are having trouble viewing this movie

Agency Helping Firms With Ideas
A local agency is helping its clients take advantage of the 2010 windfall - even if they can’t actually use those numbers.

“What we’re trying to do is go around all these restrictions,” Garrett Chong, creative director of Vancouver’s Ideographic, told 24 hours yesterday. “You can’t use 2010, you can’t use Olympics. But rather than trying to fight the 2010 beast, we try to go be more inventive and go around the parameters of Olympic speak.

Mr. Chong said he understands the need to protect its brands.

“They’re afraid it’ll get watered down. They want to keep the brands strong - as they should.”

Irwin Loy, 24 hours

ISI’s employee retention and recruitment strategies are developed to assist HR managers by combining creative solutions with HR objectives. ISI can enhance your company’s brand experience in the eyes of current and potential employees and design an emotive bond between all parties. At the end of the day, we all want to achieve greater harmony and more happiness in the workplace and in our lives.

A company also needs to recognize that an employer’s brand isn’t effective simply because it exists. It needs support and investment to make it effective. We too often see organizations that abandon employer brand initiatives after three months because it isn’t delivering the types of candidates they need right away. Remember that this is not a quick fix, but a long-term investment. The work isn’t over once the message and content have been established and materials has been produced.

Download Employee Retention and Recruitment Strategies: B2Eweb.pdf

At Ideographic Strategies Inc (ISI) we are dedicated to streamlining your staff’s efficiency, enhancing your operational effectiveness, and taking companies like yours to the next growth level of business. Whether it’s increasing marketshare, overseas training or employee recruitment and retention, the IVB is a smart innovation. For more strategies, solutions and information about ISI, visit our website at ideographic.net and enjoy a great brand experience.

1. Understanding Strategic Opportunities
2. Advising Innovative Solutions
3. Guiding Financial Success

Unique features of the D+H Group website brand experience included profiling the ten partners of D+H as mentors, leaders, and strategists, with a wealth of financial intelligence. A corporate culture section was the result of a personnel recruitment and retention strategy developed by ISI in conjunction with D+H Group, after assessing and defining some of the key objectives of the group.

The new D+H Group brand communicates how D+H nurtures talent, and fosters mutual trust with employees through understanding, advice, and guidance with regard to individual career goals - “A Good Accounting Career Starts… With a Great Team”.

See the brand experience at: www.dhgroup.ca

D+H Group LLP, Chartered Accountants, a B.C. Limited Liability Partnership of Corporations, 
is a sixty-person, full-service Chartered Accounting firm operating throughout British Columbia and Western Canada. They are fully accredited to accept articling CA students seeking accounting careers in Vancouver, Canada. The accounting Firm was founded over 50 years ago as Dyke & Howard.

According to the Centre for Exhibit Industry Research, more than 75% of exhibit attendees find new suppliers and ask for price quotes, while 26% purchase products while at exhibitions. So how are you going to attract prospective clients to your booth and secure those sales instead of your competition?

Developing a tradeshow strategy is the best way to ensure that your company can maximize your return on investment. Tradeshow strategies encompass everything required to make your tradeshow experience a positive one. ISI works with our clients to develop an approach individually customized to suit the goals and objectives of your firm. Our full-service tradeshow program works with clients from beginning to end of the tradeshow process, delivering solutions that are brand consistent with your current marketing programs. Some of our strategic services include: assisting in choosing the correct show, setting clear objectives, creating an effective exhibition, developing marketing materials, promoting your presence, and working directly with your sales staff to generate premier leads, converting them into new customers. ISI can also provide sales follow-up services to help you evaluate your results ato get the maximum impact for your tradeshow investment.

Click on the link to download our tradeshow strategy planner, and take the fist step to getting the most out of your tradeshow investment.

Statistics at a Glance

• It costs 62% less to close a lead generated from a tradeshow than one originated in the field.
• Approximately 87% of tradeshow attendees pass along information gathered at exhibitions to up to 11 people when they return to work.
• An average of 1.3 calls are required to close a sale with an exhibition lead versus an average 3.7 personal sales calls to close a sale in the field without an exhibition lead

Young Siriporn lives with relatives in a rural area of Thailand.  Both her parents died some time ago. Her relatives have a family of their own and the extra care of this girl is difficult for them. Our support is an important and continuing part of the assistance given to help this girl and her caring relatives attain self-reliance for this is the development in which World Vision and in a small part, Ideographic Strategies Inc are involved.

“The demand to give is greater than ever” says Louise-Anouk Ouellet Principal of ISI “We need to share our understanding, compassion and good fortune with all the children of the world… the time is now, please join us and other sponsors to help build future generations together.”

We encourage you all to get involved and sponsor a child with any charity. For you interest and consideration; here is the World Vision hyperlink: World Vision

Respectfully,
Louise-Anouk Ouellet & Co.

Each year we select a word and image, which best represents our studio’s yearly focus and quest for concrete answers to hatred and intolerance.

The five-year series was as follows:
- 2001 after 9/11 the word was Minutes as in A New York Minute… Everything can Change.
- 2002 - Truth as in Seek the Truth was a statue of a man and a Pegasus in flight
- 2003 - Discovery as in the Journey of Discovery was a wrought iron gate
- 2004 -  Believe as in Share the Belief was a child looking to the heavens for strength.

Finally; we concluded the series in 2005 with the word Kinship as in Sharing Kinship with Nature. The image depicts a child’s hand offering nutrition to a wild bird. In some ways, this simply glimpse of kinship with nature represents a restored balance in our faith and future.

We are pleased with the overwhelming response from this series.
If you would like the movie sent to you or forwarded to a friend; please contact us.

Respectfully;
Garrett Chong & Co

With the population of Canada being increasingly culturally diverse, businesses are realizing that target markets are becoming more fragmented, and in order to generate increases in sales, the cultural distinctiveness of Canadians must be taken into account. Asian and International audiences are unique from the traditional Canadian consumer by having varied brand connections and cultural sensibilities to marketing efforts. Marketing to people from different ethnicities requires recognition of their unique demographic and psychographic profiles in order to create culturally relevant brand advertising and to establish a bond of trust. Expressing a brand image involves campaigns created with the right target audience and paired to media vehicles that offer the values, integrity, and content that will propel brand recognition, perception, and action.

At Ideographic Strategies Inc., our goal as cultural marketers is to develop a marketing campaign that connects with your target audience. We realize the approach taken to reach these clients has to be as varied as the consumers themselves. With two decades of marketing experience and an ethnically diverse staff, we have gained a special expertise and appreciation for the cultural challenges of doing business in the Pacific Northwest. ISI is an essential communications partner to companies who are seeking an effective and targeted marketing program with measurable-results.

Phase one’s results exceeded all of SD43-IE’s “on-site registration” expectations in Japan, Korea and Taiwan. The close collaboration proved to be a great success in establishing a cohesive brand for SD43-IE. The ISI inclusion-based approach to brainstorming and branding encapsulated the essence of the division’s existing marketing strengths and worldwide opportunities.

The multilingual marketing and tradeshow materials created the “new product taste” the client was seeking for the international education marketplace. SD43-IE hand-delivered a record-setting number of brochures and an overwhelming rebranding experience.

“We have very much enjoyed this journey of refreshing the brand so far.”
Michael Louie - Partner
D+H Group LLP

A touch point is any way of making contact with a potential customer. Traditional touch points include phone calls, postcards, faxes, and radio, television, and print ads. A whole other world of touch points has been created with the advent of New Media including websites, eCards, eNewsletters, blogs, RSS feeds and eMarketing mailouts.

Your target customers are receiving 1500 ads per day - they’re ADHD. The challenge is to become more appealing (communicate more effectively) and more clever (find novel communication strategies and channels). A wide range of touch points cover a wider range of people’s daily activities, and engage your target market in different ways. However, while we try harder to get a piece of their ever-valuable mindshare, we must ensure that we always remain respectful of our customers’ privacy.

In order to maintain respectful (and profitable) relationships with their customers, businesses must engage in and define their own personal permission-based approach. A permission-based approach is a method of selling and marketing to your customers in a way that never intrudes on their personal level of comfort. It ensures that your business maintains a strong 1-to-1 relationship with its customers, resulting in mutually rewarding results.

Ideographic Strategies’ eContacts email marketing software provides an emerging touch point that businesses are starting to use more effectively - email - and a completely permission-based approach through customer opt-ins and easy unsubscribes (also known as opt-outs).

For more information on ISI’s highly effective email marketing software and how it can help you business reach its next growth level, visit eContacts.ca - Target Direct eMarketing!

Firms can show off their concepts, values and personality in a direct and concise manner. Good blogging has the added benefit of increasing the number of hits to a site, stimulating repeat visits, generating buzz and enhancing pass-along or referral marketing. Blogs can also be set up so that customers can provide feedback or testimonials to the company that are accessible to all visitors, giving a firm and it’s website an element of openness, honesty and integrity by allowing the public to make contributions that will be seen by the public.

A corporate blog is a sound eMarketing strategy for firms who want to stand out from competitors and allow potential clients to get a true sense of who they are and what they are about. Blogs will continue to increase in value to the client who is shopping for marketing services online and has to weed through a vast array of companies to find the ideal solution for them.

Click here to visit the Wesbridge Steelworks rebranded website and learn more. Wesbridge Steelworks - Reaching Beyond Boundaries!

The most frequent hour for email opens is around 11 a.m. (PST) while in general more than 50% percent of opens occur during the period of 8 a.m. through 4 p.m. and roughly 75% during the period of 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.

To more accurately reflect our growing base of value-added creative services in Branding, Marketing, and New Media, Ideographic has recently been rebranded Ideographic Strategies Inc.

Our key service upgrades include community and corporate communications training, eMarketing seminars, and public relations.

We welcome your enquiries by phone: 604 253 7755 or email:

ISI presented the numerous existing sectors of the Eminata Group as well as its continuous expansion of corporate divisions through the Eminata Vision Structure diagram, utilized as one of the main elements in the website’s brand geared towards potential investors.