Gap Between Sales and Marketing

I recently came across an interesting statistic. A study by the Chief Marketing Officer Council stated that most salespeople view up to 90% of sales materials created by marketing as valueless.

I have even met some of these salespeople. They hand you a brochure and say something like "Here's some information about our company. You'll have to excuse the brochure though. It's hideous."

One business owner I've met touts his company as an upscale business. He claims to be able to bring your company to a whole new level. He's very inspiring. Take a look at his brochure, however, and not only does it look like a five year old designed it, but it features a photo of a stressed out business man holding his head in his hands right on the cover. The brochure design and the photo contradicts everything he speaks about.

We constantly see a lack of consistency in the design of most business marketing materials. Many just want to do it themselves and others don't want to spend the money. So, how much does it cost you when your sales force is out in the public demoralizing your company through your own marketing materials?

So, what do you do about it? You hire a professional graphic design team that works not only with the company's marketing team, but your sales team as well. Spending a little bit to put in the time and care into your corporate identity program is a critical component to promoting your business in the best light. It is not as much money as you would think and pays off big in the long run.

©2009 \\ COSMIC \\

A sign that banks are in trouble?

Saw this sign outside a Suntrust Bank the other day. I'm not sure if they have left the marketing up to a 15 year old cheerleader or whether they are cutting back on expenses altogether.

As cute as this handwritten sign may be, it's not the kind of image you want to present in the marketplace. Not now. Not ever. Especially if you are a bank.

Before you think it is a good idea, ask yourself if it is good marketing.

©2008 David Scott | Cosmic: Graphic Design & Branding

Make My Logo Bigger

Sean sent this amusing video to me: Make My Logo Bigger Cream

I haven't had a request to make a logo bigger in quite some time. Perhaps that has something to do with the value my clients of today place on a well designed piece versus the ego trip of having a huge logo. I'm sure there's some sort of sports car analogy I could make here and I won't.

CORPORATE STANDARDS

The question is what makes the client want to have their logo so big in the first place? Having a set of corporate design standards or graphic standards in place eliminates this question.

Corporate design standards does three things.

1. It creates a consistency. When your brand has a uniform appearance in all aspects of your marketing, there is nothing left to question in your customer's mind. They get used to seeing it the same way over and over creating top of mind awareness.

2. It makes your job and our job simple. Knowing where to put the logo, how big to make it and what the layout is going to look like ahead of time eliminates time spent on how to design an ad or brochure.

3. It provides a foundation. A corporate design standards manual serves as a guideline for designers, marketing executives and printshops to use so that everyone involved with a company's brand development are all on the same page. It outlines everything about the visual look of a company—how the logo is used, corporate colors, typeface, imagery, layouts. It's all defined so that no one questions what they are supposed to do.

Defining your brand based on the marketplace is what works. Defining your brand based on your own personal tastes doesn't work.

©2007 David Scott | Cosmic: Graphic Design