When I Googled “What is integrated marketing communications?” I received several fairly similar results. For fun, here are four definitions, in no particular order:

1. “Integrated marketing communications is a term used to describe a holistic approach to marketing communication. It aims to ensure consistency of message and the complementary use of media. The concept includes online and offline marketing channels.”

2. A different way of saying that is: “The practice of blending different elements of the communication mix in mutually reinforcing ways.”

3. “A strategy in which a company coordinates advertising, sales promotion, personal selling, and publicity in order to present a single consistent image for the product and the company.”

And my favorite:

4. “Where all aspects of a company’s promotional efforts work together with a unified purpose to deliver a consistent and positive message; [integrated marketing communications] recognizes that all contact points with customers and prospects are important, from the truck making a delivery to the CEO in the news.”

I have a favorite, yet I don’t believe any of the above definitions are 100 percent accurate. Here’s what I consider my perfect definition. It’s worked well for me in my experiences at Go East. It’s an amalgam of the above, with new content as well:

Integrated marketing communications is a holistic approach to marketing communication. It aims to ensure consistency of message and the blending of different elements of the communication mix in mutually reinforcing ways. The goal is to present a consistent message to the core audience(s) in a variety of channels, including online and offline efforts involving advertising, personal selling, sales promotion and PR. It recognizes that all contact points with customers are important and that while the way in which a company should communicate is different from tactic to tactic, the same key message can and should be delivered.

What do you think? I’m especially fond of the last sentence. How do you define integrated marketing communications?

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It’s no wonder that big brands often have strong color palettes. But what happens when those big brands — or any size brand for that matter — have a line extension? The question becomes: Should a new color be added to the brand’s palette and, if so, how do you introduce your customers to it?

The short answer is: Stop! (imagine screeching brake sounds now).

The long answer is: Proceed, but with caution. This is more than a design decision. Adding color to the palette requires an evaluation of the brand architecture to determine what makes the most sense. And if your company determines that adding color to a brand’s palette is a good idea, it also needs to take a strategic approach to migrating the new color into your brand’s collateral, website, etc. This is where a good marketing communications plan can make all the difference in the world.

Color plays an important role in branding (logo, collateral and everything) — after all, 80 percent of visual information is related to color. Don’t underestimate its value by making the decision flippantly.

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Juliet:
“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet.”

Shakespeare, “Romeo and Juliet” (II, 1-2)

We look to Shakespeare as the authority on all things related to the most excellent use of the English language. The bard was both poet and playwright, crafting language that created characters that have lasted half a millenium. And yet, in “Romeo and Juliet” he has Juliet diminish the most fundamental act of language — naming. True, the flower came before its name, yet its name embodies — with sound and later meaning — all that we come to associate with the name “rose.”

Naming

So, when an organization seeks a name for itself or its product, to whom should it look to create a name? Where do we find modern-day Shakespeares who can craft language to meet the many needs of modern-day name?

Understanding brand, what builds brand and how the name must truly embody the brand is critical to naming success. At Go East, we believe branding provides differentiation, which promises business success. A name is the core of differentiation execution. Taking a too-cautious approach to naming risks developing a name that refuses to stick in the mind of your customer. Living too much in the past can create a name that doesn’t work for future growth. And creating a name that is so different that there is no context, no point of reference, or is just too weird risks alienating the people you want to engage.

Finding the perfect name requires a balance of art and science. We believe naming is a craft that combines strategy and poetry, semantics and sound. There are so many considerations needed to create a relevant name it is imperative that businesses partner with agencies that have a robust naming processes that take all aspects into consideration. Our process, based on the best industry practices, allows us to flex our linguistic skills within our brand-building context to meet our clients’ business needs. We provide clients with a fresh perspective that considers all the angles — trademarking, digital needs, visual and verbal impact. And we help our clients to look forward to their business vision and ensure that the name can withstand the test of time.

I wouldn’t go so far as to go head-to-head with Shakespeare, but I will name a rose a rose when it makes sense for the brand.

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Guidelines are the guidebook or owners manual for your new identity. They are critical to communicating what key players need to know in order to handle your new brand identity properly. The task of developing guidelines can seem overwhelming, though. So make it a little easier and consider these 10 questions; they should prepare you to go into the adventures of guideline development with confidence and ease.

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Ripped jeans. Tattered. Torn. Faded. Frayed. Your mother might say they look like they came from a garage-sale free box. They should be less expensive than crisp, denim bright blue jeans, right?

WRONG. Take this example of a pair of Colette Selvedge Abercrombie and Fitch brand jeans.

These fashionably distressed jeans cost $198 off the rack.

Brand managers are thinking about how they should position or reposition their brands and products in this down economy. What stores are consumers shopping at these days? How are people viewing value versus cost? What do consumers think about the design of the package or product in terms of what they are willing to pay for? Some are designing up to make their brand or product stand out. Others are designing down to make their brand or product look not quite so expensive.

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I agree with Steven Heller, the new Tropicana redesign is a good example of redesigning something to make it boring. Taking away the brand’s iconic imagery — the orange with straw in it — makes the packaging bland, and then I look at the package and think, “The orange juice tastes is bland, like the design.” Seriously, which would you want to drink? Sad!

Images courtesy of The Daily Heller

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 If you are familiar with brand platforms, you’ve probably noticed that they are often illustrated in a pyramid format, such as the one above.

Because of this, I’ve often correlated the brand pyramid with the Hierarchy of Needs Pyramid, which illustrates a theory proposed by Abraham Maslow in his 1943  paper A Theory of Human Motivation.

In his paper, Maslow organized human needs on five levels. The lower levels hold the crude needs of basic survival; the top  is considered idealistic — a place where many people never get.

In a brand pyramid, the lowest levels are associated with the basics of the brand – they are very feature focused. As you move up the pyramid, the personality of the brand is revealed. Sadly,  the top of the brand pyramid is a place where many brands never go and those elements are under utilized.

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It’s tough when the glory days have gone by, when your brand and your product are no longer the talk of the town. Trying to reclaim the good old days is not such a bad idea from a brand’s perspective. Theoretically, you’ve got fans out there who used to love the product and the brand, and you want to leverage any brand equity that’s out there. Unfortunately, some marketers forget that the good ol’ days might not have been so good for everyone and trying to leverage old-fashioned ideas just ends up insulting people. 

Such is the case with the current Schlitz ad campaign, which proclaims, “The Cars were Cooler; The Girls were Hotter; The Music didn’t Suck; The Beer was Better.”

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