Approaching the New Year.

As we stroll into the new year, and a new year for -- sorry, but marketing -- many of you will begin tackling the challenge of trying to improve your marketing success rates. So we thought we'd help make that a little easier. There are a number of things we always look at when we're hired to help a client make improvements. Perhaps it will help you know what to look at as well.

First, it's all too common for companies to assume that their name, logo, color, tagline and website are doing as much as they can for them. In fact, many companies even believe that changing those things is a sign of weakness or instability. Well, we're here to tell you, that's just not so. Responding to changes in consumer behavior or the marketplace is a sign of strength, growth and innovation.

Earlier this year, I blogged, criticizing Home Depot for changing their long-standing tagline, "You can do it. We can help." to "More Saving. More Doing." as an unwise over-reaction to the economy. Well, all I can say, is that my judgment was premature. The way they've supported the concept in their TV ads has been nothing short of perfection. The campaign has been enormously successful because of how artfully they turned a slower economy into a reason to increase business with them — a testament to making a challenge work to your advantage.

                             — by Chris Quinn

The lesson is -- don't be afraid to make changes. Businesses are like living things, they need to evolve and respond. If you have weak marketing materials, don't keep them. Make the changes you need to. . . and support them strongly. The year on the horizon could be the year you've been waiting for.

Companies all have the same objective -- to get into the minds of their customers more often and make more sales. The way into customers minds, though, is almost always the same -- through a clearly articulated and narrow focus -- a focus they can easily remember you for.

So ask yourself, do your marketing materials do that as effectively as they possibly can? Does your name communicate what you need it to, to do its job effectively? Do you have a strong, single focus in your marketing? Do you have a single, unifying brand color? Do you have a brand visual you use consistently in all marketing and is it stylized to the age and gender demographic of your customer? Is your logo effective -- does it have the polish it should? Lots of questions, we know. But if you do just one thing for your marketing this year, and ask yourself and your key staff those questions, it may help you determine what you need to succeed better in the coming year.

We certainly hope so. We're anticipating a great year. Let the champagne flow! Cheers! ~