We Don’t Need No Stinking Branding

Lunch today was at the delicious yet powerfully aromatic Hot Rod Bar-B-Que which, in addition to a racing decor, broadcasts various car races on several TVs in the dining area.

For a moment our mealtime discussion touched on fascination at racing teams’ ability to sell every square inch of their cars, uniforms and equipment to sponsors. Over our loaded baked potatoes we marveled at the idea of someone racing a car with zero sponsorships. Imagine it: a solid black car with naught but a number on the hood. It’d stand out like a redneck on Rodeo Drive.

But this isn’t the first time we’ve daydreamed about anti-branding. When Brian had Bayou Bat Company, he toyed with the idea of developing a product called the “Stealth Bat”… no stain, no encircling ring, no logo on the barrel… nothing but a piece of wood. The concept didn’t come to fruition, but if it had it’d have been awesome.

The closest company we can think of that comes to an anti-brand is Halliburton. Their logo is strictly font and is the only mark ever displayed on their uniforms and equipment. I haven’t ever seen a Halliburton business card, but I suspect it’s just as sleek. Really, the only thing that would make their brand less brand-y would be dropping red for black.

The cool thing about the Halliburton brand is that it says, to me at least, “We aren’t here to sell you anything. We’re here to work.” ... oozes power and confidence to me.

And that’s our dream project: a company or product that is so bad a$$ that it don’t need no stinking branding (to borrow from Mel Brooks).

~Sarah, Emogen marketer

What’s in a Name?

Emogen recently had the great honor of helping a client name her new business venture. While that activity is right up the alley of what we do here at Emogen, it’s more common for a client to come to us for branding consultation after the naming decision has been made.

Naming a business is a very, very intimate thing. Those of you familiar with Emogen may recall that we associate logo design with the birthing process, so naturally we associate the naming process with, well, the baby conception process. Intimate, indeed.

What makes naming so personal is that it is a lifelong decision. A visual identity can be tweaked and altered over the years, if not entirely revamped; but a name is much more permanent. In today’s blog we’d like to share eight tips on coming up with a name capable of going the distance.

1. Develop your elevator pitch. Before tackling a name, make sure you have a good grasp on what your business will offer. Consider developing an elevator pitch—how you would describe your business if you had to say it all in one elevator ride.

2. Consider existing vs. abstract words. Existing words are useful because they can quickly communicate what your business does, but they can also carry baggage… sometimes negative. “The Twilight Club” might sound like a really awesome name for an after hours/BYOB club, but it could potentially alienate those repulsed by the Twilight book/movie mania.

Another option is to use abstract (made up) words, which allow you to mold the words’ meaning. Xerox, for example, was adapted from a word relatively unknown to the public, so the company was at liberty to give it as much meaning and personality as it wanted. A tool for developing the meaning of an abstract word is to clarify it with a tag line, slogan or descriptor. Emogen’s descriptor, for example, is Marketing Group and we use the slogan “we’re in the business of getting your business more business” to help show the breadth of services that can fall under the term “marketing.”

3. Don’t box yourself in. Keep your name flexible enough to accommodate future growth. Naming a diner “First Street Hamburgers” could put a limit on both geographic and product expansion. It might be a little confusing to customers when you open a subsequent location on Second Street or add pasta to your menu. Although you can’t foresee where you’re business will be in 5 to 10 years, you can think about your growth strategy. If you’re philosophically against ever opening a second location or having anything but hamburgers on the menu, then you’re probably ok with the name. On the other hand, if you’d welcome opportunities to expand, then allow yourself a little room to grow.

4. Look at competitions’ names – and then make yours stand out. Does everyone in your industry basically have same name? Take auto body services, for example. I’ll bet just about every auto body shop in your town is named according to the following formula: [enter name]’s Body Shop. Not that the collision repair industry is much on the creative end of the spectrum, but a little differentiation and effort on the part of one body shop could go a long way toward signaling customers that it is different… which makes way for the opportunity to communicate that different = better.

5. Make it easy to say and remember. Your Icelandic heritage may be very important to you, but naming a store in the Deep South "Sigurðardóttir’s Clothiers" would be a mistake. It’s not linguistically or culturally relevant, which makes it both hard to say and even harder to remember.

6. Make it look and sound appealing. Pretend to answer a call saying your proposed business name, “Hello, this is so-and-so with XYZ.” Did it sound ok? Did it feel natural? A name great on paper can prove to be harsh or odd sounding when spoken. Now try writing it every possible way you can think: all caps, all lowercase letters, different fonts, etc. Some words can look funny or downright ugly when written out. Here at Emogen we’ve fought a hard battle with “landowner.” Sure it looks ok, until it’s put in all caps (LANDOWNER) and one person calls out lan-downer… and then it’s all downhill from there.

7. Check in with the government. If you’re in Louisiana, visit the Secretary of State’s website and do a database search within the corporations division. A quick search here will confirm that your proposed name isn’t currently in use. Another place to check is the US Patent and Trademark Office, especially if you have dreams of expanding beyond your city. In addition to verifying name availability, you can also confirm your slogan isn’t already being used elsewhere.

8. Perform a URL search. If you think you might one day want to appear on the world wide web, check now to see if a URL relevant to your proposed name is available. You can easily perform a domain search on a domain registry site, like godaddy.com. Lagniappe tip: if your dream URL is available, go on and purchase it even it you’re not yet ready to develop a site.

Alright, so there are our eight tips for naming a new business. And while this list may not be all inclusive, these steps should get you well on your way down the path to the perfect name for your business endeavor.

~Sarah, Emogen marketer

But Then, A Story About the Decision to Blog or Not to Blog

A little while back we at Emogen committed ourselves to blogging daily about topics relevant to our line of work: marketing, advertising and graphic design. We did fairly well but then…

Isn’t it funny how there’s always a but then? I was doing great on my diet, but then I went on that cruise. My portfolio was really going strong, but then the bottom fell out of the economy. The Cubs were hanging in there, but then the curse kicked in.

There’s always something to distract us and get in the way of good intentions. There’s always a but then.

Emogen’s but then was an onslaught of business, which, although awesome for us, is not so good for our intentions of daily blogging. But does breaking that commitment really even matter?

No and yes.

NO
A deli showcases its meats in a glass counter. A car dealer has that large lot out front. Those kind of display options don’t exist for a service company, so we’ve adapted our blog to work with our portfolio to showcase our “goods.” The point being, of course, to promote our expertise in order to acquire new business, so the fact that we’ve taken on several new clients as of late takes some pressure off of those efforts.

YES
However, it’s imperative to press on with a marketing initiative—whether blogging or some other form of advertising or promotion—to maintain momentum.

Rarely do you get the results you want from one ad or one single sales activity. Customers usually have to encounter your brand and message several times and ways before they even really pay attention to it much less make a purchase decision. The corollary is that it takes ample effort and resources to build up a campaign to the point of realizing the desired outcome. For that reason, you can’t hang up the towel as soon as the first phone call comes in. If you’re looking for a regular inflow of new business, you have to provide a regular outflow of information to those prospects.

So what does this mean to the fate of the Emogen blog? In lieu of our diminished time, the decision has been made to forego short daily blogs and instead post a lengthier, meatier blog once a week… at least until the next but then makes itself known.

~Sarah, Emogen marketer

It's called a MIX for a reason

If you follow Emogen on Facebook (FB) you might have caught the blog we posted from Craig Daitch, “Why Facebook Can’t Be Trusted.” That post came amid some discussion (both internally and on FB) about the value of FB and other social media venues.

The main issue we’ve been gnawing at is the value of traditional media in light of social media.

It’s easy to think social media is “all that.” It’s nimble. It’s cheap. It meets people where they are. But it’s not perfect.

One of the biggest issues I have with social media is control… or lack of it, to be more precise. A good portion of control lies in the hands of the venue… FB, twitter, whatever; so a marketer is at the mercy of the platform as to what can and cannot be done.

Another reason that it can’t be the end-all-be-all is that, believe it or not, there are still people out there who don’t utilize social media. Traditional media is still the most effective way to reach those guys way back on the tail end of the distribution curve.

In no way am I implying that social media isn’t valuable. I’m also not saying traditional media reigns king. Both have limitations, and because of that they must both be a part of the marketing mix.

-Sarah, Emogen marketer

You’re fired!

I’ve never really been a fan, but for some reason I’ve been following this season of Celebrity Apprentice. I know it’s a TV show, but I’ve been particularly fascinated by Donald Trump’s boardroom demeanor, primarily his way of taking the emotion out of decision making.

Even when the celebrities get all riled up, Trump keeps his cool, goes through the details of their performance, and then drops the “You’re fired.” bomb out of no where. No blinking. No apologies. He just does it.

As a small business owner (SBO) one of my greatest flaws is keeping the emotions out. I know I’m justified in being emotional… this enterprise is my family’s sole source of income and is the basis for all of our futures. Heavy lifting, if you get my point. But keeping decision making emotion-free is critical. Emotions cloud judgment and cause us to make poor, irrational choices.

One area that can be particularly emotional for SBOs is in customer relations.

Some customers are a dream… they are fun to work with, their expectations are reasonable, they don’t haggle on price, they pay on time, etc. etc. Others are not so wonderful. They demand more for less and quicker, and then they are slow to pay the tab. What is a SBO to do, though; we need all the customers we can get, right?

Not so. A blog I read recently said it wonderfully, “The customer is always right -- if it's the right customer.” Good customer service is a must, but you’re just not going to be able to please everyone and for plenty of perfectly normal reasons.

One of the greatest necessities in a client relationship—especially for those of us in a service industry—is chemistry. You and your customer need to like one another on a personal level in order for your professional relationship to really work.

But let’s say you’ve begun working with a client and it’s just not sparking. Or, worse, sparks are turning into flames, but not the good kind. What do you do?

Fortunately we haven’t been in that situation too many times at Emogen, but we have had to “fire ourselves” more than once. In those instances, we contacted the client and explained our decision and the basis for it. We also provided recommendations for our replacement and offered to assist with the transition (providing files, data or artwork) to their new provider.

I feel confident in saying that the times we’ve had this discussion, the client recognized the situation for what it was and was ok and maybe even a little surprised that we would direct them to a new provider and assist in establishing that relationship.

It’s really ok that you can’t work with everyone. It’s normal. Instead of becoming a slave to a bad pairing, though, take a lesson from Trump and remove the emotion from the situation. Ask yourself if the extra effort required for the relationship is going to be worth it in the long run. If not, then it’s probably wise to call it quits.

-Sarah, Emogen marketer

The Prisoner’s Dilemma

Ah, the Prisoner’s Dilemma… the granddaddy of all economic game theories.

Game theory is a way of predicting behavior in strategic situations. The Prisoner’s Dilemma applies to simultaneous decision making and helps explain why individuals/businesses don’t cooperate even if it’s in everyone’s best interest to do so.

It’s really best explained by the illustration for which it’s named:

Two suspects are arrested by the police. The police have insufficient evidence for a conviction, and, having separated both prisoners, visit each of them to offer the same deal. If one testifies (defects from the other) for the prosecution against the other and the other remains silent (cooperates with the other), the betrayer goes free and the silent accomplice receives the full 10-year sentence. If both remain silent, both prisoners are sentenced to only six months in jail for a minor charge. If each betrays the other, each receives a five-year sentence. Each prisoner must choose to betray the other or to remain silent. Each one is assured that the other would not know about the betrayal before the end of the investigation. (wikipedia)

Obviously the best outcome would occur if both suspects keep their mouths shut, but for all the reasons that make people people—namely self-preservation—the most likely outcome is that both will betray the other and get a 5-year sentence.

So how does this apply to marketing?

Take advertising for example. Holding everything else constant, two competitors are financially better off if neither one advertises. Here’s why:

Say two companies split their market 50/50. Realizing that advertising will allow it to acquire more customers than Company B, Company A begins to promote its services. One of two things is going to happen:

1) B will more than likely come to the same realization and make the exact same decision concurrently. Holding all things equal, A and B remain at a 50/50 split.

2) If for some reason B didn’t make the same move at the same time, A may briefly gain market share; but B will quickly follow suit to keep from losing its share to A. Again, holding all things equal, A and B are likely back to a 50/50 split.

In either situation, advertising causes both companies to lose profit because they are spending money to keep their original 50/50 split. The clincher is that neither can stop advertising unless both do.

Now, of course, that “holding everything else constant” is a big catchall and nothing is ever constant or perfect; however, it’s fair to say that if one company begins to advertise a competitor really has no option but to do the same. And really that statement applies to all strategic decisions… product line additions, service improvements, staffing changes, facility openings, social media participation, and so on. If one company in an industry does something, everyone in the industry will have to do the same or risk losing market share.

Before we wrap up today’s blog, I want you to take a quick look back at scenario #2 from above. The quiet lesson there is that it’s better to make the first move because of the possibility of incremental market share gain; but, as that gets us into a “first to market” discussion, more on that will have to wait for another day.

Until then, consider what “prisoners’ dilemmas” face your industry and you’ll likely discover areas of weakness and opportunity. If you need help addressing what you find, give Emogen a call and we’ll be happy to talk you though your options.

-Sarah, Emogen marketer

Just Say No

If you’re not in a sales position, you might find this next statement hard to believe: Salespeople want to hear “no”.

Ok, so truthfully sales people really want prospects to say yes, but we all know that’s not possible 100% of the time. But instead of saying yes or no, clients many times send salespeople “toward a most useless place: The Waiting Place,” to quote Dr. Seuss.

The problem with the Waiting Place is that a salesperson can burn up a lot of time and resources wooing a client that knows the answer is inevitably going to be no.

So how can a salesperson get down to nuts and bolts to come away with a definitive answer?

First, you’ve got to be sure you’re talking to the decision maker. If not, you’re wasting your time; if so, be sure you’ve asked that yes/no question. It’s possible you just haven’t asked for the sale plainly enough.

If you can’t get a definitive answer by asking, then assume the answer is no. The prospect is likely stalling because he is uncomfortable and/or doesn’t want to hurt your feelings. Move on, but (depending on the situation) consider checking back in from time to time.

For all of you decision makers out there, hear this: a sales person’s time is valuable, too. Be respectful and tell them no if that’s your answer. You have a reputation to keep up, and stringing along a salesperson (or being rude) could come back to bite you. Remember, a salesperson's job is talking... to lots of people... who could very well be your prospects, too.

-Brian, Emogen sales strategist

Have Plan, Will Grow

Some of you who jumped on the Emogen wagon back in the early days might agree that it’s a far cry today from the company it was then. But fear not… we meant for this to happen!

Emogen was at first "Emogen Printing" and Brian ran it solo as a printing brokerage with the assistance of a freelance designer. Realizing a need in the Ruston market for more complete marketing services, “the plan” was born.

The idea was to add specialized talent (i.e. me/Sarah + in-house designers) and grow into a full-service marketing company on a 5 year timeline. The first step was transitioning to “Emogen Printing and Marketing”, which would later be swapped around to be “Emogen Marketing and Printing” and finally end up “Emogen Marketing Group.”

The catch, we found, was that the market needed it sooner; so our timeline got scrapped, and here we are at 3 years old well beyond our 5 year plan.

But the well-advanced timeline doesn’t mean that we’re in unexpected territory without a map. On the contrary, we have simply revised and kept on.

Having an idea of what you’re doing, where you’re going and how you’re getting there is completely necessary; but the key is to treat your plan as a guide, not scripture. Everything changes: your staff and their talents, your customers, your industry, the world… it all changes.

So have a plan, yes; but be flexible enough to respond to the changes and opportunities that will certainly pop up.

Sarah, Emogen marketer