In a recent post I discussed our brand values and why they were important to consider before designing a logo for Eliot Turner Ltd. As some of the more observant readers of the blog will have noticed we recently changed our holding page which revealed our final brand design.

It is important to remember that although the logo is what most people associate as being a brand, it is only the first part of a branding process and must be reflected correctly across all associated marketing literature. Some of the areas we considered are:

• Logo Design
• Stationery Design
• Order and delivery confirmations
• Email Signatures
• Printed marketing literature
• Email mailshot design
• Advertsing both online and offline
• Packaging

All these items are different methods of marketing / communication, which will reflect our brand. We used our company colours as the primary way to create brand recognition. You can see from the Eliot Turner Twitter page we have even made sure we have correct brand alignment. Our brand goes beyond colour but into the quality of the packaging, what paper we use for printing and how we word our communication.

Here are a few items of our branding which should give you an idea of how things are looking:

Check back later this afternoon when we’ll be revealing a sneak peek of our website!

Research suggests consumers prefer to start their online shopping experience with search engines and social media sites rather than going directly to the site of an established retailer. Businesses that analyse the trends associated and utilize this knowledge in their marketing campaigns will have a huge advantage over those who don’t.

Google…

Services such as ‘Google trends’ and Google’s ‘Insights for search’ are designed to help advertisers and marketers gain a better understanding for consumer search behaviour, ultimately to identify new growth markets and modify their campaigns accordingly, for example, their Google ad words. By viewing the past months search trends, it is easier to predict what is likely sell in the following months. It is most likely that the most popular searches will correlate with the level of economic activity in the particular industries. This means you can launch promotions and personalize advertisements when you know certain products are selling well.

Google Trends provides daily and weekly reports on the volume of searches related to various industries providing details of geographic location and category. Google’s ‘Insights for search’ is similar to Google trends but with some added features; users can specify what category their search term falls under, generate a heat map displaying where search queries are coming from and compare trends by specific time ranges.

http://www.google.com/insights/search/#q=handmade%20jewellery&cmpt=q

Twitter…

Twitter is another method of tapping into what the world is thinking as consumers are now revealing more and more information about themselves online. Whilst individual tweets can seem insignificant, taking them as a whole can provide insight into consumer behaviour and public sentiment. Knowing your customers, allows businesses to adapt their marketing and even shape public opinion to benefit themselves.

Businesses are realising that building relationships and brand loyalty is much more efficient than pushing products on customers through advertising. Speaking authoritatively about your field will influence potential consumers; content is now more effective than blatant advertising. Consumers are now relying on social media websites as much as company websites for product information so businesses that utilize this and interact with their customers have the opportunity to promote their products.

Also, twitter search provides an up to date, real time insight into what consumers are saying about any particular product around the world. This has already become a research tool for any business involved in consumer trends.

Facebook…

Facebook employs behavioural advertising whereby adverts placed on individuals profile pages are highly targeted. Users have no problem sharing information such as date of birth, relationship status, political and religious beliefs and hobbies and advertisers use this to their advantage. They can effectively advertise only to their target demographic.

Facebook even offers real time reporting for advertisers on the effectiveness of their ad giving feedback on the amount of impressions and clicks.

Whilst some consumers feel uncomfortable with the thought of being tracked online, others admit they prefer relevant advertising as they are no longer bombarded with many different adverts. Advertisers have now realized that it is much more efficient to have their ads seen by a small amount of people who are likely to make a purchase rather than to thousands of people who will not give it a second glance.

Little bit of background behind today’s first video blog post. Last night I decided to put together a short video on something that has been bugging me about Twitter lately, and it links very well to marketing the eCommerce experiment and Eliot Turner. I chat a little about the auto-follow feature in Twitter and how it can be violated so that people can have a 0-10000 follower race in hours. It’s not marketing at the end of the day, follow people for a reason, engage in conversation for a reason and win those customers that LIKE you!