Category Archives: business tools

Memorable Branding

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Branding is a deliberate action taken to influence people’s perception of your product or service. Successful branding has left a lasting imprint on the hearts, minds, and pocketbooks of customers for decades. How is your branding? What does it say about you and your business? It it memorable?

The first commercial jingle was for Wheaties with a quartet singing over radio station WCCO in Minneapolis on Christmas Day in 1926.

Have you tried Wheaties?
They’re whole wheat with all of the bran. 
Won’t you try Wheaties? 
For wheat is the best food of man. 

They’re crispy and crunchy 
the whole year thru,
The kiddies never tire of them 
and neither will you.

So just buy Wheaties, 
the best breakfast food in the land.

With the advent of television, the first TV ad played on July 1, 1941, for Bulova watches during the baseball game between the Brooklyn Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies. It cost Bulova a whopping $9.00!

Who hasn’t looked out over a mountain valley and felt the urge to cry out across the canyon “Ri-co-la!” while convinced that “Nobody does it like Sara Lee.”

Small business owners rarely have the ad budget to make jingle history, but we all need to be memorable in our area of service when a “need” or “desire” pops into a local’s head. If we know our audience, have a plan in place, give ourselves enough time, ask for help, and put in place a process to evaluate results and adapt in real time…any business can become memorable.

If your logo, brand, or marketing materials needs a refresh, we have over 20 years of experience, talent, and imagination in digital and print media. Drop us a note at ac@activecanvas.com and remember, we’re digital marketing experts but branding is our passion.

Why You Should Not Design Your Own Logo

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Your logo is your most powerful branding tool. It is far more than your name in pretty type or a clip art symbol in your favorite color. 

Your logo is the primary connection between your product or service and your customer or client. It’s an emotional connection that creates an instant opinion, mark of credibility, and level of confidence. 

Your logo’s emotional response is markedly affected by the psychology of color, font choice, and message.

Here are the reasons why you shouldn’t design your own logo:

1. You Probably Don’t Have The Right Tools
Logo Maker and Canva are tools, but not the right tools. The right tools are a combination of professional design software and someone who understands branding, color theory, and how the human brain responds to both color and typography. No amount of tutorials will defeat the work of a professional Graphic Designer with Adobe Creative Suite, a sizable font library and decades of experience.

2. Your Logo Signals Your Professionalism
Your logo is not your brand, but it is part of your brand. Brand is your values, the beliefs that drive your company and what makes you different. A strong brand serves as your voice and personality, and demonstrates to potential customers how they can expect to be treated. A professionally designed logo creates that signal.

3. Your Focus is Sales, Not Design
You built your business to create revenue, to make sales, to make a positive difference in your life and the lives of those you serve. Your product or service is what creates revenue. Without sales, you cannot invest in design. So, build your business and run your business with fierce determination and let the professionals handle the design aspects.

“BRANDING is strategic. MARKETING is tactical. 
MARKETING may contribute to a BRAND, but the BRAND is bigger than any particular MARKETING effort.” 
—James Heaton, Brand Strategist

A logo that was once modern and compelling can lose its power over time, or refuse to adapt to a digital world. If outdated, there can exist a perception that an organization is out-of-touch. Perhaps your values have changed over time, or the original logo needs to be simplified. Or maybe, your brand simply needs a gentle kick in the pants to meet today’s competitive landscape. 

If you recognize that your branding no longer reflects your company’s values, or it just feels out of date, you’ve already taken that first step forward. We offer no-obligation written assessments of your current brand. You have nothing to lose, except more business!