Tag: brand - Page 5

We all know that your brand in short is what people think of your company. These days, it's becoming increasingly what they think of your website, because most people will get to know you online before they meet you offline.

Traditional marketing still rocks - but we all know that online marketing and social networks now have more power to engage customers and prospects than any other marketing medium in history. Something no-one can ignore.

If you are still getting over your new year hangover and your head is a little muffled with too much going on and a new desire to lose weight, give up smoking, improve your health and spend more time with your family - there might be a competitor or two out there that has already started their BIG 2013 MARKETING CAMPAIGN and they are already punching above their weight online and offline. So, here's what you need to start thinking about:

1. Take a good long hard look at your website. Is it really a great representation of your brand? Does it tell your story? Does it give people reason to not only spend time on your site but to also come back time and time again?

2. Is your website looking good? Do people compliment you on how easy your website is to navigate around and find information pertinent to their needs? Is your website professional?

3. Do you update your website regularly? 

4. Have you set up google analytics and are you using this information to improve content and site navigation?

5. Have you checked out your competitors and what keywords they are using online? Are you up-to-date with "most searched keywords" - easily attainable through adwords?

6. Is your website designed and created for tablets and mobile use? 

7. At a glance, is it apparent that you have engaged in using the KISS principal when designing your website? Take a look at www.apple.com and see how easy it is to identify exactly what they sell and how you can buy their products or use their services.

8.  Have you focused on content? Is your content easy to read? Is your content relevant to your target audience? Have you utilized keywords in your content repetitive?

9.  Have you made your website personal? Every day, I receive emails from people saying how much they appreciate the fact that while my blogs talk about business, they also share my personal experiences and give them an insight into the business and culture they will be dealing with.

10. Is your company really on social media or do you just have an account set up that is not active and regularly updated? Are social media platforms linking back potential customers to your website?

What is your website really saying about your brand? Are you proud of your website? Do you regularly receive and seek feedback on your website? How are you capturing prospect data?


There are alot of questions that you need to ask yourself and now is the time - not tomorrow. Good luck!

For years, I have been fascinated by design in every possible form; shape, configuration, pattern, ornamentation and visual appearance. Of particular interest is architectural design.

Last week, I was fortunate enough to walk the streets of Amsterdam with one of the Netherlands most famed interior architects, Flip Verbeek. He use to be co-owner of a company called Flow that has designed some of the most amazing interiors in buildings throughout the Netherlands. As we walked the streets, looking at building after building that had been designed by Flow and the talented architects in the team, I was inspired. The passion that this man has for design and visuals that are sustainable and complement the environment in which it inhabits, is contagioius.

So contagious in fact, that on my flight home from Amsterdam, I looked up www.realestate.com.au, found a property and days later, bought it.

The property will be the new home for Marketing Eye in Melbourne. It is located in my favourite street in the city, Greville Street and fits inside my inner-city bubble that I love to live in. While I won't be here so much to enjoy it, it gives me great pride to be able to find a building with the character and potential that the one I have just bought has.

In the background, my television was screening the news. I was half-listening while typing away on my keyboard a hundred words per minute, trying to finalize some last-minute communications with my team.

Then I heard a voice. It was familiar. Manly. Strong. Thoughtful. Original.

I looked up.

I saw this picture when I was travelling overseas. It's brilliant. A young boy watching an older woman walk past and clearly recognising that she is a beauty. It doesn't matter what age she is, or he is for that matter - beautiful is beautiful. There is no gender or age specifications around beauty.

When it comes to brand, it is important to have a brand that is timeless. Yes, it may evolve, but you wouldn't change it year-on-year and hopefully not within 5 years.

An Australian brand that always comes to mind when talking branding is VB. "You can get it walking, you can get it... " voice over on all of their television and radio campaigns played with exactly the same voiceover decade after decade. I remember it, my mother remembers it and my grandfather remembered it. It lasted the generations and VB will never be the same without it.

When developing a new brand, think about how long you  can live with it and whether it will be timeless or not.

How do you become someone's favourite restaurant?

The food needs to be delicioius. Mouth watering. Something that your customer thinks about without even being there and tasting it. They need to sit around chatting to their friends, and at the same time be dreaming that they are eating a meal at your restaurant.

Your restaurant needs to be convenient. Not necessarily around the corner, but in close enough proximity to not be a hassle to get to.

A post of Facebook by my best girlfriend of more than 20 years, about an upcoming Prince concert, had me tormented. Why? Because concerts for me are usually best heard on a DVD or somewhere I can have sound control. I sound like a 'Nanna' but load music usually gives me headaches and although I love music, I tend to love silence a little more.

I am on a very personal journey right now with my business. 8 years ago, I had a dream and after years of fine tuning the business, I am ready to make it come to life. To reach the next level.

What that means is continually putting myself out there, sharing my experiences and taking my business to a level that no-one else in the industry has been able to achieve to date.

Basically, my dream or more precisely, something that is on my bucket list, is to build a company valued at $100 million. I am finally on that road and I know that within 5 years, this is now a reality.

Do you remember where you were sitting when you decided a particular drink was your favourite? I bet you do! Favourite drinks often are the biggest way venues can promote their wears because if you like a particular drink at a said club, bar, restaurant - chances are that you will talk about it for years to come.

Mine = Apple Martini @ FOG, Prahran, Melbourne, Australia.

What's yours?

Your brand started off as a figment of your imagination. Then you put it out there for the whole world to see - except the whole world didn't see it like you thought it would.

So, you gave it a bit of a push. Here and there. Everywhere. Networking. Business cards. Advertising. Facebook. You name it - you've tried it.

And then what?

In the past week, we have been organising media interviews for a financial services firm. Our inhouse PR expert is very talented and well-connected, and has organised more than 13 interviews for an international money markets expert. The thing is, this was done, all without using their media kit. Why? Because it is a bit out of date and doesn't represent the company and how forward thinking the company really is.

This got me thinking. What should go in a press kit (or media kit) in 2012?

Here are some things you should be considering;