Zero-G Creative

Walk the walk

Oct 11 2007

Why do some businesses just look small? Why is it that sometimes you dismiss a mailer or a web site because of snap judgments? These guys don’t look very professional, this company looks cheap, this one looks inexperienced…

The effort that they put into their marketing plays a big role. As people, we are hardwired to dismiss things that “don’t look right.” It’s the same instinct that told our ancestors that a particular cave or piece of land was a safe place to make a home where others may not be. As marketers, we look to exploit that instinct by sending audiences words and images that will help our clients pass the initial “instinct” test and give them the opportunity to make a sale.

How? Three steps:

1. Know the audience. Who they are, how old they are, how much money they make, where they shop, how many children they have, etc.
2. Identify key style elements. For example, to say that I’m marketing a product to style-conscious teenage girls that spend more than 2 hours a day using a cell phone conjures up a whole lot for marketers and designers. We see words and phrases that are appropriate, typefaces, color pallets, visual styles.
3. Execute, of course

It’s important to note also that knowing your audience and what elements work also helps you figure out what DOESN’T work. Incongruities between what you present and what your audience is looking for or expects are what cause a lot of those red flags to go up in people’s minds and create obstacles for your brand.

We worked with James Phelps, a business owner running a mobile dog grooming business in an upscale area north of Atlanta. His audience was upscale suburbanites who were looking for premium quality, great service and personal attention… And they were willing to pay for it. He charged the prices (about two times what you could expect if you got your dog groomed at one of the big box pet stores) and provided excellent service. But he wasn’t connecting with new customers. His logo, featuring a primary color palette, a cartoon dog in a bathtub on wheels and homemade marketing materials were a big part of the problem. Those elements were incongruous with his premium prices and claims of premium service.

We set out to create a more targeted look for him, something that would appeal to his upper-class clientele. Our logo was very clean and simple. We did the name of his business, “Clean Puppy” in simple green lettering and created an iconic wet pawprint element to sit next to it. We used more sophisticated, muted colors. We helped him create a tagline, “Because your best friend deserves the best.” We complemented his logo and message with color photography featuring close-ups of dogs in home and outdoor settings looking their most adorable. It came together nicely and a year later, James’ business is twice as big as it was when we found him. Not that we deserve all the credit, but we certainly solved his marketing problems and the Clean Puppy crew took care of the rest. See what we did for Clean Puppy at their web site.

Before, James was just “talking the talk” about his high end service. You actually had to be a customer to experience why it was worth the price. We helped him walk the walk in marketing his business. If your business is fun, make everything you put out there as fun as possible. If your business is premium, you really need to look premium; your prices are likely a lot higher than your mass retail or franchised service equivalents and you need to look like you’re worth every penny.

We tell our clients that you don’t have to be a $50 million company to look like one and that’s completely true. All it takes is an entrepreneur that is ready and willing to walk the walk with a great design firm and craft a winning image for their business.

Published by Erik Wolf under Design,Strategy