|
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
|
|
As I passed through the security checkpoint in LaGuardia the other week, I saw a man claim his boarding pass by flashing a QR code on his iPhone. QR codes seem to be everywhere these days – advertisements, beer packaging, and for the truly dedicated technophile, tattoos. Short for quick response codes, they have slowly but surely been gaining momentum in American marketing, although they’ve been in use in Japan since 1994. Haven’t seen them yet? Don’t worry, you will. During the last six months of 2010, QR code use grew by 1200%.
QR codes are 2-D matrix barcodes that link to dynamic content. They’re similar to the standard barcodes that you see in stores, but they have the ability to store way more information. When scanned with a smartphone, a QR code can open your browser to a specific page, make a phone call or send an email, instant message or text. This tiny, pixelated square can open up a world of possibilities for businesses looking for new ways to interact with consumers.
So, how can your company use QR codes?
Use Business Cards to Instantly Connect
In this hyper-connected world, professionals are linking through Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Quora and numerous other online communities. Instead of filling up the limited space on a business card with all of your information, a QR code can link to your v-card, giving people instant access to your e-mail address, phone number and social media accounts.
High Tech Tees
Adding a QR code to a branded t-shirt can take visitors to your official website. Or, for the extreme personal branding advocate, a QR code on your t-shirt can replace your business card. Scanning a stranger’s shirt in public may be one of the ultimate icebreakers.
Snare Window Shoppers
Just because shoppers don’t enter your store doesn’t mean you have to lose out on the sale. QR codes in store front displays allow passersby to access your online store and browse the latest deals. This is an important group to tap into. The growth of mobile-optimized sites and increasing rate of smartphone adoption are helping drive mobile Web purchases. According to ABI Research, M-commerce is expected to reach $119 billion by 2015.
Promote Engagement
Specially-made landing pages embedded in QR codes can let users instantly connect with a brand on Facebook and Twitter or sign up for an official newsletter. This is also a great way to track what marketing initiatives are getting the best response.
Add Supplementary Information
Shoppers can learn more about a particular product or brand by scanning QR codes on packaging or near a display. Last fall, Best Buy added QR codes to its fact tags that linked to additional information. New Belgium Brewing recently added a QR code to the packaging of Ranger IPA. When scanned, it takes users to a site where they can learn more about the microbrew and keep track of New Belgium events happening nearby.
Mobile Payments
Although this isn’t a reality yet, it soon will be. At the end of March, Intuit (creator of QuickBooks and TurboTax) announced a contest challenging innovators to come up with a way to use QR codes for consumer mobile payments. Starbucks recently launched a mobile payment system that uses linear 2-D barcodes. The ease and speed-of-use make it an attractive option for both consumers and business owners.
As technology becomes more and more integrated with traditional advertising methods, QR code use will continue to rise. It’s attractive to businesses of all sizes because it’s inexpensive, easy to implement and offers a new way to track consumer behavior.
However, there are still hurdles to overcome. The biggest one right now is the fact that, in order to use QR codes, users will need a mobile device with a scanner application. Currently, approximately one in three Americans own smartphones, which may discourage some companies from adopting mobile tagging. Companies should evaluate their customer demographics before incorporating new technology that may alienate their core buyers.
Have you added QR codes to your marketing mix yet? How did it affect your business?
|
|
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
|
For the acronym-averse, ROI stands for return on investment. Basically, it’s a measure to determine if all the money you just shelled out was worth it. For many business people, the ideal ROI takes the form of cold, hard cash. This idea tends to make communications professionals sweat a bit. When you’re in the business of building brand awareness through fostering relationships, not all efforts immediately yield a sale. So, comms pros have faced quite the quandary over the years. How do we justify our worth? I remember when I started out at my first real-world job; I was told that we were supposed to use advertising value equivalents in order to show the ROI of earned media, or publicity. Even at the time it seemed silly, but there was no standard form of measurement to go off of. Thankfully, since then there has been quite a bit of progress. In June 2010, the 2nd European Summit on Measurement established the Barcelona Declaration of Measurement Principles – effectively putting the kibosh on AVEs. There has also been a great deal of innovation in terms of social media monitoring, with companies such as radian6, Cision and Vocus offering tools for companies to listen, analyze and participate in online conversations. Instead of following the measurement trends of yesteryear and essentially fudging a dollar amount, we’ve had to retool the idea of ROI to incorporate other factors, such as engagement and sentiment. The idea behind this is that someone who speaks favorably of or interacts with a brand is more likely to buy from them and tell their friends about it. The hardcore supporters are referred to as brand evangelists or influencers. Online marketing campaigns are typically designed to target and grow this group. In order to accurately measure social media ROI, a company should establish goals beforehand. It could be something as simple as increasing Facebook fans by a certain percentage or as complex as increasing the brand’s share of voice. Specific, measurable goals are important for determining the value of marketing efforts.
Below is a list of some of the standard social media metrics.
- Site traffic – Has a campaign increased the amount of visitors a site receives. Are people spending more time on the site?
- Engagement – How are people interacting with the brand? Engagement includes the actions people perform, such as joining a fan page, checking in at a business on Foursquare or linking to a site.
- Sentiment – When people mention the brand, is the tone positive, negative or neutral? When someone leaves a negative comment, it’s the company’s opportunity to put on its customer service hat, address their needs and - ideally - positively influence their opinion.
- Conversions – Where are the company’s leads coming from? It’s important to distinguish between links sent out through various social media channels. Campaign-specific landing pages and URL shortening services offer companies the opportunity to measure the effectiveness of certain channels and tweak their strategy accordingly.
- Share of Voice –Understanding the amount of conversations happening about a brand versus its competitors can provide a baseline for the marketing goals a company should be setting. Combined with sentiment metrics, a company can have a basic idea of how it’s perceived by its consumers.
This isn’t a definitive list of social media metrics, but it’s a solid start. Remember, social media is a long-term strategy and metrics should be evaluated at frequent intervals in order to determine future actions.
Are there any other metrics that you look at when evaluating your social media marketing initiatives? Let me know in the comments section.
|
|
Friday, April 01, 2011
|
|
May 27 marks what would have been the 100th birthday of Vincent Price. To celebrate the life of the iconic actor and esteemed art collector, Pixascope has teamed up with the Vincent Price estate to put together a commemorative legacy album. The book features movie stills, artwork from Price's private collection, reflections from famous friends and never-before-seen candid photos. To gear up for the launch, we've designed apparel and posters that Price's daughter, Victoria, will be selling as she embarks upon her "Vincentennial" tour. Stay tuned on Twitter and we’ll let you know when the products will be available online!
|
|
Thursday, February 24, 2011
|
|
I was reading an article online the other day when something caught my eye. I had just finished and scrolled to the bottom, where one typically finds a list of social media icons. All of the usual ones were there – Facebook, Twitter, Stumble Upon, Reddit, Digg – and then I saw one that I didn’t immediately recognize. Unlike the others, this icon was black. The lowercase ‘my’ tipped me off that Myspace had updated its social sharing badge.
Yes, I’m writing about Myspace. And yes, I’m aware that it’s 2011.
Myspace was smart to go with black. No major social network uses black. The new badge stands out in a sea of blue and differentiates itself.
The updated badge is just part of Myspace’s current rebranding strategy. Once a broad, “anything-goes”, social network, Myspace has finally found focus as an entertainment portal. The site still places emphasis on self-expression and customization (thus the underscore in lieu of “space” in the logo), but no longer tries to be a catch-all. It has ceded its former ranking as the leading social network (one can even log in to Myspace with their Facebook account nowadays) and instead carved out a niche for itself.
Now, I don’t think that this will help Myspace return to its former glory, but kudos to them for making a smart branding move.
So, where am I going with this? The importance of good logo design. In rebranding itself, Myspace made the decision to redesign its iconic logo, something that most companies shy away from. The new logo adheres to the accepted five basic principles of logo design; it’s simple, memorable, versatile, appropriate and, in my opinion, timeless.
Many companies struggle with their logo design. A popular article showing the evolution of popular brand logos over the years has been circulating the web. The progression shows that as companies grew and had more to offer, the logos became simpler. Companies such as Apple and Starbucks can nix the lettering in their logos because they’re that memorable.
Companies may get in the way of great logo design because they overthink it. Some overload their consumers with too much information and others are more concerned with being trendy. Then there are the companies that may put forth a perfectly fine logo, but, because of the drastic changes, it loses in the court of public opinion.
Even multi-million-dollar companies make missteps now and again.
Tropicana
In 2009, Tropicana decided to rebrand the packaging for its famous orange juice. Not only did it change the font for its logo, but it decided to drop the image of a fresh orange with a straw in it. Instead, the main visual element was a glass filled with orange juice. Consumers had a difficult time recognizing the packaging as Tropicana instead of a knock-off. After only two months on the market, sales plummeted by 20%, forcing the company to return to its original packaging. While we’ll never know for certain, this may have been a case of too many cooks spoiling the broth. Sometimes progress can be delayed and good ideas lost in the ether when creatives and non-creatives collaborate during the design process.
Gap
After more than 20 years with the same logo, the retailer decided to change it up. Instead of opting to give their current logo a facelift, Gap decided to go in a new direction, changing the font and minimizing the role of the notable blue box. The backlash was immediate, with designers going so far as to offer up better designs. Gap tried to recover gracefully by spinning the redesign as the beginning of an exciting crowdsourcing project. The internet instead decided to do what it does best, mock mercilessly. Sites like Gapify allowed people to upload iconic logos and give them the Gap treatment. In the end, Gap ended up returning to its roots with its original logo and the internet went on to mock other things.
But for every redesign disaster, there are plenty of success stories.
Comedy Central
In 2011, Comedy Central unveiled its new logo. This crisp, contemporary logo is a huge departure from its cartoonish logo of yesteryear. Although some people decried the new logo as being too corporate, others pointed out that it can be seen as a tongue-in-cheek play on the copyright symbol. I think the redesign was long overdue. Although the channel still offers plenty of irreverent comedy, its main draws are satirical news shows such as The Daily Show and The Colbert Report. The new logo is more in line with the network’s current brand identity. By applying the principles of good logo design, you can see that it meets all the criteria. The new logo is scalable and can be used equally well as a Twitter avatar or on a business card. It’s simple, memorable, conveys the brand’s identity and it won’t become dated like its predecessor.
Starbucks
In celebration of the brand’s 40th anniversary, Starbucks is planning to introduce a new logo in Spring 2011, its first logo change since 1992. The ubiquitous siren featured on the Starbucks logo since 1971 is being given a close up and the words “Starbucks Coffee” are being removed. As with any change, there have been plenty of naysayers voicing their distaste for the new logo, but from a business standpoint, many believe it’s a smart move. As Starbucks continues to branch out, their offerings don’t necessarily revolve around coffee, so it’s better to drop the word. Plus, the company is so big that it doesn’t need to put its name in its logo anymore. People will always associate the green, smiling siren with Starbucks. It goes beyond language.
A company can’t comment on the work of others without also examining themselves through the same lens. Recently, Pixascope redesigned its logo. As a creative agency that provides branding and design services to other companies, we wanted to take the opportunity to assess our own needs as a growing company.
Our original logo had six colors, not exactly simple when it comes to achieving the same exact colors online and in print. Although we live in an RGB world, a logo needs to be versatile, meaning that it looks the same across mediums and looks equally good when printed in CMYK colors. We narrowed it down to two shades of red contained in our original logo and kept the original font as well.
Our new logo is also scalable. While our previous logo couldn’t be scaled down as an avatar without compromising its integrity, the new one can. It also looks more appropriate for a creative agency (note the camera shutter in the ‘P’) and, most importantly, shows that we understand contemporary design standards. The simplified icon is also works because it’s more memorable than the company name with a dot overlay.
Logo design principles offer a good guideline for achieving great design, but remember, a logo won’t sell a product or service by itself. Your logo is just one of many attributes that make up your overall brand identity.
|
|
Thursday, August 05, 2010
|
|
Pixascope is proud to announce that we are working alongside the Vincent Price Estate to launch the media celebration for the multi-faceted actor's 100 year legacy. We have a lot of exciting projects up our sleeves, but here's a sneak peak of the newly designed logo for Mr.Price.
|
|
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
|
The Vern is the story of an up and coming rookie who throws a perfect game against the New York Yankees, only for his 15 minutes of fame to fizzle out in a barrage of mayhem. Shot in Austin, Pixascope was asked to create the key art and one sheet for the film.
|
|
|
