Notes on Marketing, Branding and Design

AI Writing

Certainly, AI-generated writing will evolve and even now it has some amazing capabilities. But currently, I look at it like painting with the colors directly out of the paint tube. It’s possible to get something adequate or occasionally even good, but I think a better result can be obtained by mixing your own colors at times. AI writing can be a time saver when roughing in an idea. Albeit, with my limited experience, I think it needs to be reviewed and edited to correct what technically might be “less than accurate,” to make the writing feel less mechanical and to add a personal quality to it. Just for fun (and to be a little geeky), below is a “paint out of the tube” version of “The steps in branding” using AI. After that, I included my edited version.

Steps in branding (AI version)

Branding a new product or service can be a complex process, but here are some general steps that can help guide you:

1. Determine your target audience: Identify who your target audience is, what their needs are, and what they value. This information will help you create a brand that speaks directly to your target audience.

2. Define your brand identity: Decide on your brand’s name, logo, color palette, and overall look and feel. These elements should be consistent across all platforms and communication channels.

3. Develop a brand message: Determine what your brand stands for, what makes it unique, and how you want to communicate that message to your target audience.

4. Research your competition: Identify who your main competitors are and what they are doing in terms of branding. This can help you differentiate your brand and identify areas where you can improve.

5. Create a marketing plan: Develop a comprehensive marketing plan that includes strategies for launching your brand, building awareness, and generating sales.

6. Build your brand assets: Create all the necessary brand assets, such as your website, social media profiles, product packaging, and marketing materials.

7. Launch and monitor: Launch your brand and monitor its performance. Collect feedback from customers and make adjustments as needed to improve your brand’s effectiveness.

Overall, the branding process requires a deep understanding of your target audience, competition, and brand identity. It’s essential to invest the time and resources necessary to build a strong brand that resonates with your customers and creates a lasting impression.

Steps in branding (AXIS Edited)

Branding a new product or service is an exciting time, but it can be a complex process. Here are some general steps that can help guide you to success:

1. Define your product or service, what you’re selling, and generally, how you want to be perceived by your target audience. Is your product or service efficient, traditional, innovative, high cost, low cost, technological, earthy, etc? A short list of “descriptors” will help to focus the branding process.

2. Establish your target audience. Identify potential customers, their needs, what they value, their gender, their education, and as much information as you can gather. This information will help you or your creative team craft a more effective brand message.

3. Determine what makes your product or service unique and valuable. This is usually a more specific list of benefits

4. Research your competition. Identify who your main competitors are and what they are doing in terms of branding. This can help you differentiate your brand and identify areas where you can improve.

5. Create a marketing plan. This is a frequently overlooked step but it is important in creating the “blueprint” that the branding will be built on. The plan should include:

1. 1. Executive Summary
   2. Market Analysis
   3. Marketing Strategy
   4. Marketing Budget
   5. Implementation Plan
   6. Evaluation and Control
   7. Contingency Planning

6. Choose an effective name for your business or product. Based on the information from the previous steps a brand’s name can create intrigue an audience and begin to make people think about the benefits of the company or product. If you have already chosen a name double check it against this information.

7. Develop the logo and visual brand for the business or product. It should reflect the qualities of the business or product, as well as being a strong and recognizable visual “signature.” Begin to determine the overall look and feel of your communications. These elements should be fairly consistent across all platforms and communication channels but should allow for variations to support sub-branding needs and/or special events or promotions.

8. Build your brand assets. Based on the previous step, create all the necessary brand assets, such as your website, social media profiles, product packaging, and marketing materials. This will allow you to respond quickly when different marketing needs arise. Remember, every point of contact with your target market is an opportunity to build your brand equity.

9. Launch your brand and monitor its performance. Collect feedback from customers and make adjustments as needed to improve your brand’s effectiveness.

Overall, the branding process requires a deep understanding of your target audience, competition, and brand identity. It’s essential to invest the time and resources necessary to build a strong brand that resonates with your customers and creates a lasting impression.

What Do You Want To Accomplish Today?

Our work can do a lot for a business. Take a look.

… it doesn’t mean we should.

Many years ago a friend of mine, and I decided that we were going to stucco part of an earlier house of mine. We bought the materials. We got the tools that we needed. And we started. A few hours into the project we were slapping trowels of stucco on the wall, 80% of which would fall off. Eventually, we realize that something wasn’t right, or that we simply didn’t have the knowledge or experience to do the job well. As it turned out, the home supply store sold me the wrong material, and we were not experienced enough to recognize this. And to their credit, they offered to come out and complete the project with the right materials. The resulting phrase that my friend and I rested upon is “Just because we think we can, it doesn’t mean we should.”

After going through art school, and after a considerable amount of time and experience in the graphic marketing industry, I’ve learned how and why to do things well and effectively. I’ve learned how to create an effective campaign, how to design a branding system, and how to design a broad range of tactics and styles in order to create the most effective branding for my diverse clients. However, we are at a point in time where there is a belief that anyone can accomplish any task with all the available software, and online services that are out there. The mistake is thinking that knowledge of a tool can replace experience, education, and (in this case) an understanding of why and how effective visual branding works.

There are several reasons why people choose to avoid the “do it yourself” approach when marketing their business or product:

1. Expertise: Creative firms are specialized in marketing and advertising, and they are professionals who are experienced in developing effective marketing strategies and campaigns.
2. Creativity: Creative firms are known for their innovative and unique approaches to marketing, which can help businesses stand out from their competitors.
3. Time and Resources: Hiring a creative firm can save businesses time and resources, as they do not have to spend time and money on developing and executing marketing strategies in-house.
4. Access to Technology: Creative firms have access to the latest marketing technologies, tools, and software, which can help businesses streamline their marketing efforts and achieve better results.
5. Objective Perspective: This may be the greatest reason to choose a creative partner to work with. Creative firms can provide an objective perspective on a business’s marketing efforts, which can be valuable in identifying areas for improvement and developing effective strategies and branding.
6. Better ROI: There may be some initial savings when “doing it yourself” and certainly budgets are budgets. But in the end, you’re not actually paying for the website, or the brochure, or the logo, you’re paying for the result of these tactics. A little saving on the front end does not offset the greater loss from poor or even mediocre branding.

Overall, hiring a creative firm can help businesses achieve their marketing goals more efficiently and effectively than trying to do it themself. Oh, one last applicable phrase that crosses my mind from time to time “Just because I have a scalpel, it doesn’t make me a surgeon.”

A Design Story

Not too far away there is a small town known for its famous bakery, “Sweet Treats”. The owner of the bakery is always looking for new ways to attract customers and increase sales. Not long ago, he decided to hire a graphic designer to create a new logo and packaging design for his bakery.

The graphic designer came up with a playful and colorful design that featured a smiling cupcake with arms and legs (personally, a cupcake with arms and legs gets a little bit cute for my taste. But let’s continue.). The logo and packaging worked beautifully. They were so eye-catching that people passing by the bakery couldn’t resist going inside to see what the bakery had to offer.

The design was so popular that customers started taking pictures of the packaging and sharing them on social media. They even started collecting the boxes and bags, using them for storage and decoration in their homes. The design became a symbol of happiness and joy, and people would often gift Sweet Treats to their friends and loved ones just for the packaging.

The owner of Sweet Treats was thrilled with the response and decided to expand his product line. He worked with the graphic designer to create merchandise such as t-shirts, mugs, and keychains featuring the playful cupcake design. The “merch” sold out quickly, and people would wear their Sweet Treats t-shirts with pride.

The playful design became so popular that other businesses in the town started to incorporate it into their branding (legally, in agreed-upon processes of cobranding, of course). A local toy store used the design on their shopping bags, and a bookstore used it on their bookmarks. The town became known for its love of playful and creative design, and people from all over would come to see the whimsical branding.

(OK, if I were writing a movie script there would have to be some antagonist, some threat to his business. Maybe he would begin to take for granted the design work that has helped his business so much and decide to go to another less experienced company. Maybe he would forget about his visual brand and decide to spend all of his marketing budget on SEO. Maybe he would hire a new marketing director that would be more interested in working on a new and different brand just to be different, rather than keeping what is effective with the current brand and modifying it to keep it fresh. Or maybe new competition would move into the neighborhood and he did not respond quickly enough in his marketing. Fortunately, none of these things happened for our hero.)

In the end, the bakery owner was thrilled with the success of his business and the impact the playful design had on his community. He continued to work with the graphic designer on new products and designs, and the town continued to be a hub for creativity and fun. The playful cupcake design became an iconic symbol of the town, and everyone who saw it couldn’t help but smile.

Other Side of the Camera

I tend to be much more comfortable behind the camera than in front of it. But occasionally, like anyone selling anything, I need to step in front of the camera. This is a recent video that I did to introduce myself and my company.

Just For Fun

Below is a link to some of my fine art work and some of my fathers paintings that can be purchased in different formats and on different items.
(https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/william-milnazik)

For 25 years after his retirement my father painted. After his passing he left more than 300 paintings. I am proud of him as an illustrator and designer, as a painter, and as a father. Below is a link to many of his paintings.
(https://axisvisual.com/robertmilnazik/)

 The environment for communicating always changes. Communication has to adjust as well.

When you are ready we’d be happy to help with your communication, design, and marketing needs.

Stay well. Stay safe.