Category: Uncategorized

Because no one can keep all this stuff top-of-mind

It’s true:  I’ve become fascinated by infographics lately.  Why?  Because I feel like I’ve spent most of my career – including those 4 years in real estate – trying to find the best ways to communicate to various audiences so that the information resonates, sticks, and precipitates action. And what I’ve learned is that hardly anyone responds to large blocks of text.  Even if they do like text, they rarely have the time to actually read it all, let alone absorb it.  (Even I, one of nature’s born readers, have managed to get through only 2 books since the baby was born.)

Infographics seem like a fantastic solution to this problem.  Why spend 2 hours reading a 50-page whitepaper when you can scroll through an aesthetically pleasing graphic that requires little commitment and leaves you with about the same amount of information you’d absorb from that whitepaper anyway?

Today’s selection represents another great function of infographics: The cheatsheet.  It’s called ‘Smart Ways to Combine Content Marketing With SEO’, but really, it’s just a giant cheatsheet of all the ways you can leverage content to build your brand and drive traffic. I confess that there are lots of channels represented here that I’ve never heard of, and many of them aren’t suitable for all brands or organizations, but this is a fantastic overview- especially if you’re just starting to get serious about your content marketing strategy and need to think beyond your blog and basic social media.

 

Infographic found here.

Don’t let an infographic become your logo-creation bible.

Regular readers will know that I do tend to love a good infographic.  Done right, they’re a Reese’s peanut butter cup of information + design that has the power to get people’s attention in a way that prose alone just can’t. Done wrong, they’re a dangerous fish-fingers-and-custard combination that delivers bad information in such a compelling way that people tend to believe it, regardless of the dubiousness of the source data.

With that in mind, I bring you today’s infographic.  

After Saturday’s post on the use of colour in brand identities, I came across the little gem below.  Oh sure, it’ll suck you in with its easy-to-read fonts and colourful graphics.  And there are graphs! Charts! Numbers!

Then you notice lines like “Black is associated with the formality and mystery of night”, with Tiffany & Co. used as an example of a ‘black’-based brand identity. In fact, Tiffany’s core brand colour is ‘Tiffany Blue‘, which is trademarked by Tiffany and produced as private custom colour by Pantone.  And that LG is listed as a pink-based logo (it’s red).

But I encourage you to scroll down anyway.  This extra-long infographic does have some interesting factoids (it’s interesting, for example, that 5 of the 10 most valuable brands in the world use a similar shade of blue as their core brand colour) and raises some perennial issues (like how much a logo should cost, given that cheap ones sometimes excel and expensive ones sometimes fall flat).

Anyway, take a look.  And don’t be surprised if you hear more from me on colour and brand identity this week – I’m working on a brand migration project this week and it’s got me fixated on colours and fonts.

[Infographic by FinancesOnline.]

 

I’ve been involved in the creation process for quite a number of brands over the years, and here’s what I’ve noticed: People will hem and haw for weeks – months! – over the name of their brand/product, but then, once they’ve decided on a name, they just sort of hand it over to a designer and say “Turn it into something pretty. Can you get it done by Monday?  I think the web designer said he needed it for something.”

But here’s the thing:  When it comes to branding, people don’t just respond to a name – they respond to the overall look and feel.  Like Gelada monkeys, who go nuts if they catch sight of a 3-inch scrap of leopard-patterned fabric, humans have strong, visceral reactions to colour and colour combinations. There’s a reason why cupcake boutiques use pastel colours instead of yellow and black in their logos:  Yellow and black makes people think of auto parts, not delightful sugary concoctions.

That’s why I like this infographic.  And remember:  Colour is the first thing a consumer will notice about your logo.  Are you sure you’ve picked a good one?

 

Infographic found here.

 

Those of you who have had to navigate a Google AdWords campaign, especially for a small business client, will know that it can be hard to get your (or your client’s) head around the fact that the 5 keywords they most want have clickthrough prices of $10 or more.  Most of the words on this list didn’t surprise me (though I admit I wouldn’t have put ‘rehab’ and ‘treatment’ in the top 20), but I have to say that when I got to #20, ‘cord blood’, I did a bit of a double-take.  I mean, I know (having recently been one myself) that pregnant women spend a lot of time Googling stuff late at night – but cord blood?

Anyway, here’s a colourful infographic, for your delectation.

Some career-related comments just sort of linger in your mind

When you spend most of your days running around after a 12-month-old (and a sort of clingy cocker spaniel), you don’t have a lot of time to do stuff, but you definitely have time to think about stuff.  And this week, as I perambulated with the small creatures in my life, I found myself reflecting on some of the more memorable things that have been said to me over the course of my career.  

Since they’ve now turned into a sort of verbal earworm, I offer them to you now in the hopes that in doing so, I will be free to think of other, possibly more important, things.

1987
The manager of the drugstore where I worked in the dispensary during high school:
“You’re a good worker, Sarah, and I’m glad to have you.  But I’m glad you’re not my daughter.” 

1990
The office manager of the real estate office in which I worked part-time during university:
“If you don’t learn how to clean the coffee pot correctly, I’m afraid we won’t be able to keep you on.” [in writing]

1994
Co-worker (who was a fairly devout Baptist):
“But how does it feel to be a heathen?  I mean, aren’t you worried you’re going to hell for all eternity?”

1995
Co-worker at the first ad agency I worked in:
“Well, when we saw your short haircut, we knew you’d get the job.”

1996
Senior copywriter at the same ad agency, who is now quite well-known:
“Sarah, you’re probably smarter than I am, but you’ll never be a copywriter.”

1997
Recruiter in Philadelphia, where I had just moved, prior to an interview at Anderson Consulting:
“Do you think you could sort of fluff up your hair for the interview?  I’m afraid they’ll think you’re too cosmopolitan.” 

1998
Recruiter in Toronto, upon hearing I had been offered the job he’d sent me to interview for:
“Gee – I thought you’d never get a job, but you’ve been my easiest placement in months!” 

2000
President of the agency I was leaving, when I told him my new job was a promotion (and a big jump in salary):
“Well, it’s a nice opportunity, but I hope it’s not too much for you.”

2001:
My boss, to others, in my presence:
“Sarah needed kneepads to get this job.  Ha! Ha!” 
(I didn’t get it at first, either) 

2002
A new junior who reported to me, but who was hired without my input, at the end of her first week:
“At the beginning of the week I thought you were really kind of weird, but you really know your stuff.”

2005
New communications director at a Montreal-based company who had hired me to consult to improve sales in the English market:
“I don’t know why we hired you anyway – you don’t even speak French!”

2007:
Member of the senior management team at a company where I was director of marketing (and had been for a couple of years):
“I just don’t see how you add any value to the business, so you’ll have to convince me.”

2012:
Client with whom I’d been working for 3 years:
“Wow, I always thought you were just sort of a wacky creative thinker – I didn’t realize you were so good with P&Ls.”

2014:
New(ish) client, upon asking me to edit a 40-page report:
“I just figured you’d do it for nothing – I mean, it’s not like it’s actual work, and you’re just at home with the baby, right?” 

[Some years have been changed to protect the guilty. Heck, some years have been redacted entirely for the same reason.]