Welcome to our branding and marketing blog
This is the best place to learn how we think as creative and strategic communicators. You’ll find various observations and best practices about branding, design, client relations, and communications, in general. We try to keep things instructive and advisory. However, we can’t guarantee that there won’t be a rant or rave once in a while. So, please cut us some slack.
FEATURED BLOG POST
A great brand requires enduring vision
by Step2 Branding & Design
Ask yourself how your current challenges and objectives align with your long-term vision. Have you lost your way, or are you sticking to your Brand Promise? Is it still meaningful to your customers and prospects? Have you allowed yourself the room to evolve with their needs, or have you boxed yourself in?
Branding and marketing blog posts
Three major hurdles of business naming
Business naming is one of the more difficult things we do. Aside from the creative challenges, there are three major hurdles we have to clear. For every name we present, there are, literally, dozens of candidates that never make the cut. The client never sees any of those.
A redesign is not a rebrand
If you’re considering rebranding your business, product, or service, it’s important that you understand the difference between a redesign and a rebrand. A redesign is just what it says: a new look. However, a rebrand is so much more.
Five messages to avoid in your marketing
Common clichés, tired sales pitches, and unrealistic claims no longer work. In fact, they’ll likely be viewed as disingenuous and undermine your marketing efforts. Here, we’ve outlined five ineffective marketing messages and what you can do to avoid using them.
How you can participate in man’s greatest achievement
While I was enjoying a great pastime, I was also learning about the power of human potential. In my later years, I eventually learned that Man’s Greatest Achievement was not necessarily one of technological triumph.
15 marketing reality checks (Don’t let #9 hurt your feelings.)
We’ve collected a number of the more salient points from our blog and are presenting them as a marketing reality check list. A good number of these apply to new or small businesses. But you’ll also find that some of the largest corporations in the world make many of the same missteps.
Wrestle that marketing axe away from your CFO
When businesses slow down, CFOs begin to get nervous. If they decide to tighten their belt, marketing budgets are usually the first to get cut. This is often a shortsighted and reactionary move. If marketing is the fuel for your sales team, the last thing you want to do is suck all of the oxygen out of the room.