5 Successful Rebranding Campaigns

Every company has branding, it's just part of the process to create and run a business. Whether you consciously created branding for your business or not, you created one. The concept of holding the same branding for the lifespan of your business is unheard of; at some point or another, there is reason to go through rebranding. There are several reasons to rebrand your business; it can be a scary decision because it means doing something new/different, you are taking your business into unchartered waters. What if it turns out to be a bad rebranding experience and ruins your company? What if it turns the company from a small fish into a big fish? You never know unless you try.

Here is a list of five brands that went through rebranding and what made them successful.

1. J.Crew. J.Crew is known to many as a high-end clothing brand that sees customers anywhere from high schoolers all the way to A-list celebrities. They are doing really well and are a coveted brand for fashion lovers. However, they were not always this beautiful in the eyes of the world. It wasn't until 2003 when they hired a new CEO. At that time, they were seeing deep declining sales; however, once they hired the new CEO, they rebranded themselves as a store that sold simple clothes made from quality fabrics. They utilized high-profile faces like the Obamas to wear their brand during the 2008 Presidential campaign; Michelle wore a J.Crew outfit on the Tonight Show. 
2. Pabst Blue Ribbon. In the past, PBR was known as a cheap, low quality beer that was only intriguing to hipsters and frat guys. This blue-collar lager is still not seen as a great beer in the US but in other countries like China, it is seen as premium stuff. They launched a product extension called Blue Ribbon 1844 and put it in some fancy packaging and now it sells for $44 in China, the world's largest beer market. 
3. Harley-Davidson. In the wonderful year of 1985, HD was a motorcycle that was one flat tire away from being wiped off the corporate map. Once they hired the new CEO, their fortune began to change. Harley knew they had to improve their product so they did just that; once they improved their bikes, they focused on being the name they claimed, which was a quality bike made for the road warrior. 
4. Target. Up until the late 90s, people saw Target as just another store, like Walmart and Kmart, that was for bulk purchases and rather low quality. However, Target realized they had to stand out from their competitors, which they did by offering pared down versions of goods from high profile designers, this decision saved Target. Still, Target is number two in the race, behind Wal-Mart, but they are seen as a higher quality store and their clientele is seen as more affluent than their competitors too. 
5. UPS. UPS was, and still is, in a huge battle with FedEx. UPS used to be well behind their competitor in the race, though. FedEx was mopping the floor with UPS with their decisions like overnight delivery. In the late 90s, UPS decided to rebrand and switch their slogan from, "Moving at the speed of business" to "What can brown do for you?" They then launched ads showing mailroom guys to CEOs using UPS and loving their experience. They showed their consumers that they are adapting and looking forward to constantly meet their consumers' needs. 

If you are looking for branding or rebranding needs, then contact Integraphix - a Chicago marketing agency. 

How Creative People Are Different

To be successful in marketing, you have to be of a creative mind. Sure, you don't have to be artistic but you have to be able to think originally, abstractly, uniquely, thoroughly, and so many more adjectives that could be used to describe a creative mind.

So what are some things that creative people do that their non-creative counterparts do not do (or as often)?

• We tend to daydream more. Daydreams are not a waste of anyone's time because they are often how our minds express desires, thoughts, realizations, and allow us time to escape our current moment. Daydreams are a way for our minds to utilize the process that is called "creative incubation" which is how we have those random amazing ideas. 
• We like to observe. A lot. We observe people, objects, processes, social norms, rules, language, interactions, relationships, how other people observe, etc. This is a biggie if you want to be in marketing (internet marketing too) because you have to understand how the mind works when looking for products, especially your product type. 
• We tend to work on our own time. Now, yes, when you work in the business world, you have to work certain times; however, within those hours, you will find that creative minds are doing other things when their creative hours have not come yet or have already passed. Some creative minds do have the luxury of working whenever they feel like it. 
• We are resilient. We tend to not take failure so personally and when we do fail, we look at it as improvement instead of a step backwards. Failing only means one less thing to consider next time, clarifying the road to success. We fail and do it often, if you don't fail often, you are not trying enough. 
• We ask questions; we tend to ask the big ones. We are curious people, we see things and wonder what they are or what could be different about them, etc. We do it through conversation with others or with ourselves (in our minds, of course).
• We like to change things. We see things the way they are and like to shake them up. We like diversity in things as well. 

Being More than Just a Company to Clients

Being in the service industry, like marketing, advertising, graphic design, etc. can be a tough business sometimes. People come to you for a need that is not always tangible and the ability to satisfy their need does not always happen instantaneously nor with the same result every time. For some companies in the service industry, like restaurants, people come to you because their hungry, they order food, you give it to them, and you're both on your way; granted, the satisfaction is still up in the air.

So, how as a company that works in this area, can you make things better for your clients? How can you make sure that you keep your client's happiness your priority instead of just seeing them as a source of money?

One thing you can do is to keep in touch with your clients. We talk to our clients when we have questions for them or they have questions for us; however, do we ever send them emails to see how they're doing and let them know the status of projects without their asking? Chances are, we don't. Now, you don't want to get all lovey-dovey on them and say you love them and their on your mind, that would be creepy. What you can do is like what I said earlier, notify them of statuses without their asking, drop an email saying you wish them a happy holiday (whichever one is coming up), send them a happy birthday email or call, etc. Keep it professional but keep the contact.

Another thing you can do is to ensure the client that you wouldn't advise them to do anything that you wouldn't do if you were in their shoes or if you had to make a similar decision. If the client can't afford something, find a part of your services they can afford and will actually help them. We can't tell clients to spend $10,000 on ads if we know they won't work or if the client only wanted to spend $6,000. They will realize what you're doing and will not like it. As a Chicago marketing company, or whatever city you're in, it's important to have good credibility and an honest word because that's what builds trust, a good reputation, and gets/keeps you business.

It can be tough but it is doable. Seeing or hearing from our clients can and should be a thing that makes us smile; the same concept should apply for our clients.

Marketing Tips from Some of the Best Marketing Minds

There are marketers from large companies and marketers from small companies. No matter what size the marketing company, it's always fun to pick the brain of a creative mind. As a Chicago Marketing Company, here are some our favorite marketing ideas.

It's in your best interest to make your product unique. The idea that you can have the same product as another company and still somehow have it stand out is a fallacy. You can't have the same product as another company and still succeed. You have to make different somehow. No, having it just a different color doesn't count.

No amount of people guarantees creativity. You can have a large team or a small team and the guarantee to have a lot of creativity will not happen. The key to having a creative staff for your marketing agency is having an environment that fosters creativity because it is relaxed, human, and friendly.

Don't be afraid to speak up. When in large groups deciding on work, it can be easy to fall to the group consensus, even when you don't agree. When someone proposes an idea, it can be a good idea to actually analyze it and not just accept it. What happens when that proposed idea is bad but no one is willing to speak against it? It can ruin everything. Speak your mind, challenge things. Genuine success doesn't come from obeying the quo, it comes from innovation.

Being a creative agency is a deal that is not for everybody. It takes creativity, persistence, character, and a whole lot of team work. You have to be willing to take risks and think deeply; a shallow thinker won't do well in a creative business.

Bringing Personality to Corporate Social Media

Doing social media for a corporation of any size is important for the growth of the company. Social media enables companies to be able to interact with consumers, clients, fellow businesses, etc. whenever they want. Social media also enables companies to spread various news to the world any minute of the day in a very efficient manner; if a company has several thousand followers or more on Twitter, a single tweet can tell a very important message to all of them, plus the followers can then retweet it.

The only downside of corporate social media accounts is that many of them are so rigid and blah. Some companies believe that they ought to act the same way on social media as they do in meetings. The problem with this belief is that consumers are not like that; consumers are not robots. As humans, we love emotion and interaction. If a company simply puts out posts and tweets that are plain and non-engaging then they are not using their social media to their full potential.

Social media needs a human approach. Have auto-generated social media posts is like trying to use a cup of water to extinguish a house fire, what's the point? It won't do a thing. As a social media company, Integraphix firmly believes in that human touch on social media.

When posting on social media, act like yourself. Post like a real person would post, of course, with the caveat that you still do use some discretion and do not post anything crude or crass, over emotional, or things that are controversial. What I mean by posting like a real person is that you should use humor in your social media posts, engage with people by responding/favoriting/liking/retweeting/etc. and sometimes post casual things like why you love a particular upcoming holiday. People love to see that corporate social media accounts are run by real people, not robots.

When people engage with you, try to respond with them within 24 hours. Waiting too much longer may lose impact.

If you are looking to do social media for your company or would like to hire a company to do so, hire Integraphix - a Chicago marketing company. 

Marketing in 2014- Our Favorite Possible Trends

Marketing trends change every year; various trends emerge and they may or may not change the face of marketing. Perhaps the biggest marketing change in recent years that is still reigning champion is social media marketing. Since its emergence, companies have been doing it and even created jobs just for that sector of marketing. With all the areas of marketing, such as, search engine optimization, web design, graphic design, social media marketing, online marketing, and more traditional marketing such as branding all desire to be fresh and innovative.

 However, there are more predictions for what people believe will be marketing changes and progressions for the coming year. We have picked our three favorite possible trends.

1. Content marketing. This is utilizing content that your company has written to bolster your name and build your marketing platforms. Common ways to do this are blogging, articles on your own site, articles on other sites, newsletters and videos. This form of marketing is already around but for the coming year, it is predicted that it will explode in popularity. A lot of companies attempt this form of marketing but they either do not do it correctly or they do not do it enough. A company blog does very little to generate popularity if it is only being written once a month. 
2. Images. It is said that images will become gold in marketing in the next year. This totally makes sense because in a field where visuals are what make things happen; either in the sale of the marketing plan or the plan for packaging, etc etc. it is all about what we can see. If someone is looking at something online or in print and there is no photo to quench their curiosity for what the plan will look like, then they aren't going to be sold. We, as people, like seeing pictures. It just helps us see things and aids the thought process. 
3. Going back to simple. A big change in marketing for 2014 will be the movement towards simplicity. You can see the trend already forming for companies like Apple; it just appeals to a lot of people to see something simple because then we're not overwhelmed by the marketing. If we see a complicated ad, we tend to dismiss it; thus, companies will be moving towards simplicity and letting creativity reign instead of shoving information in the faces of consumers. Web design is seeing this as well. 

Integraphix is a leading Chicago Marketing, Advertising and Creative Agency creating strong brand identity and marketing strategies with our unique mix of advertising, graphic design, web design, and internet marketing expertise. We give free consultations. 

Customer Service or Bust in Marketing

Ok, so a lot of people think that customer service is just answering phones and dealing with people and their problems; well, yes, it is partly that but there is so much more to customer service. Good customer service has the power to be your most potent form of marketing; if you do not agree, let me explain.

Marketing is all about the ability to gain exposure for your brand and company among all the other companies out there who are also trying to gain the attention of the consumer. There are clever forms of marketing and there are poor forms of marketing; even the good techniques used in marketing sometimes fail to execute as well as planned. When a marketing plan goes as well as the marketing team thinks it will, it's amazing but does it really transfer to sales? To gaining more market share? Perhaps, but think of it this way: you're out walking somewhere and you see some great guerrilla marketing and it gets your attention (say it's a clothing store). So you go to the store and try to buy some clothing from them. When you walk into the store, the clerks are punks but you buy the shirt anyway; you find at home that it doesn't fit so you go return it but now they have a terrible return policy. Would you stay as a consumer of that brand? No.

Companies with poor customer service are 5x more likely to lose a customer than companies with good customer service. Why do you think companies like Apple have such a cult following? Yes, they do a fantastic job of marketing their products (which are good) but other companies have equally great marketing and other electronic companies have as good of products. They are the giant they have become because people want to stick with Apple because they have phenomenal customer service. They orient their stores, their products, and their return policy towards the consumer. For example, a buddy of mine had his volume button on his phone break so he went in to Apple with his broken phone and planned to just have it fixed (warranty expired, mind you); the store decided that fixing that one tiny button was not worth the extraordinary price it would take to fix it so they gave him a new one, no

questions asked and for no cost.

Another example of fantastic customer service is seen at Chick-Fil-A. The staff asks if you need a refill. It's a fast food restaurant and they ask YOU if you need a refill. Then, get this, when you're done eating, they bring your garbage to the trash can for you AND then they say, "My pleasure" when you say "thank you." You do say thank you, right? Isn't that fantastic? Now, they do make one heck of a chicken meal (especially with those waffle fries) but they wouldn't sell a single menu item if they hurled insults at you while you ate (there's a restaurant in Chicago that does this but they're joking, I mean if places did it seriously & wasn't part of the theme).

At an internship I did last year during my senior year of college, the company did not have bad customer service but they were not known for having good customer service. This caused the company to have quite a poor impression with their consumers. Well, it was a food service company and with the budget from the client, they couldn't improve the quality of food without forcing the client to increase the budget, so what we did was improve customer service; what happened was the staff became friendly and personable. You know what happened? Well, the food was still poor but people liked the company after a month or two because they realized how friendly and appreciative the staff was for the customers to eat their food!

As a Chicago Marketing company, we know the different aspects of marketing and how they impact each other. All the aspects are important but customer service might reign supreme. As a creative agency, we can help your company with any marketing need and we will even do it with a free consultation.