Friends, it’s that time of year. The leaves are falling, there is a chill in the air and we are simultaneously looking back at our fifth year in business and looking forward to our next rockin’ year. But before we wrap up our year-long celebration of fives, we want to share these last five branding and marketing vibes from the Porch:

1. Gearing Up. Did you know that the Small Business Association suggests that as a general rule, small businesses with revenues of less than $5 million allocate 7-8 percent of their gross sales to marketing? And did you know that an international media strategy agency predicts that advertising spending will reach $179 billion in 2017? This is a 6.3% increase – the largest since 2010. Rock on with your marketing self.
2. Looking Forward. The new year is around the corner! We are fully engaged with our clients finalizing their 2017 marketing plans and budgets. We are ready for a banner 2017!
3. Rocking Our Talent. Our rocking team has it in spades! In 2017 we will continue to give our clients the very best we have to offer. Led by Julie’s second-to-none marketing vision and backed by Vanessa’s stellar branding and advertising expertise, Ann Marie’s excellence in public relations and communication, Tara’s extensive marketing and client management capabilities, Allison’s rocking graphic design capabilities, Jacqui’s blogging and wordsmith acumen and Darcey’s lead-the-charge management ensure that our clients are in excellent hands.
4. Gratitude. Don’t think we don’t know it – we have much to be grateful for. Rocking clients who are true partners, hard-working and creative team members, talented business associates, loyal friends, and loving, supportive families – we are thankful for each and every one of you! Special thanks to our PeopleResults client partner, Shelli Walker for the invitation to speak at the first ever Arlington Chamber of Commerce Women’s Alliance’s Business in a Box workshop. Gratitude!
5. Celebration. Five years. It’s a milestone. We celebrated this and more yesterday at our end-of-the-year team jam session.

Thank you, friends. Keep those many referrals coming. Join us on the Porch via Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn. Subscribe to our blog here.

Get ready for more rockin’ branding and marketing vibes in 2017 party people in the house.

I am always learning from my kids. While I try to guide them and nudge them in the direction I think is best for them, the truth is, being their Mother teaches me so much more than I could ever teach them.

Just this week, my high school age daughter was talking to my sons about the difficulties of middle school. Although there were tough days, she actually bore it pretty well, and came out of it with some very sage advice for her brothers on how best to navigate it. And I couldn’t help but notice that it sounded a great deal like the branding advice we give here on the Porch:

“Know Yourself” – It’s a broad, sweeping statement as it relates to being a kid, and the same is true of business; but it is the best piece of advice one can give in both instances. I sadly witnessed many kids trying too hard to be something they weren’t to gain acceptance from a particular group or person. Middle school sharks can sniff that behavior out, and savvy consumers can do the same thing! Embrace who you are and run with it. It is so much better than trying to be all things to all people.

“Be Consistent” – I almost got whiplash watching the roller coaster friendship ride, I can’t imagine how hard it was to live it. The one thing my daughter struggled with the most were girls who were friends in some circumstances but not in others. Friends need to know they can trust and count on each other, just as your customers need to know they can trust and count on you. Be consistent in your messaging. Be consistent in your interaction. Be consistent in your delivery.

“Be Original” – This advice may go against the survival instinct of any middle schooler, because fitting in is everything at this age; but I watched my daughter make original choices over and over again, and I think it served her very well. She chose electives and activities that truly interested her – not just those that “everyone else was doing.” As a result, she has a wide cross-section of friends, and she is a much more interesting person for having taken that route. Branding demands that your business also be original. You must stand out from your competitors. Make bold, original choices. You will be remembered for them.

“Have Depth” – This last one isn’t my daughter’s advice, it’s mine. My daughter has tremendous depth of character, and I admire it immensely. So do her friends. Your business must have the same layers of meaning and purpose to create a sense of emotion around your brand.

Know Yourself. Be Consistent. Be Original. Have Depth. Important branding choices for your business. Important choices for living your life.

Rock on, friends!

Your brand is one of the most important parts of developing or reinvigorating your company. The process of branding examines the emotions you want your customer to feel about your company and its services.

Branding means different things to different people. When working with Clients, we on the Porch serve it up this way:

Simply put, your brand is your promise to your customer.

One of the steps in our branding elaborative is defining brand affiliation. This is done after the vision, personality and positioning are established, because all these factor into the affiliation.

Brand affiliation is best described as what “club” customers are joining when they choose your company. Humans are compelled to affiliate with people like themselves, people they admire or people they aspire to be like. Brand affiliation is what you want other people to think of your company when they learn they are aligned with you.

Once your affiliation is established, you can position yourself in environments that share your affiliation. Say what?

Depending on your company, that might be more complicated than it seems. Here’s an example from our very own Porch:

We want to work with forward-thinking, passionate business leaders and entrepreneurs. We want everyone to have a knock-your-socks off, head turning, register-ringing marketing strategy!

So how do we do that, and maximize our affiliation?

1. We live, breathe and sing marketing strategy and insight with anyone that will join us on the Porch.
2. We provide marketing implementation.
3. We align ourselves with groups and organizations like Vistage, WBENC, NEW, Community Partners and liked-minded business owners.
4. We conduct workshops like our Chief Rocker’s November 4, “Business in a Box” workshop at the Arlington Inspired Women Luncheon.

Your brand is derived from who you are, who you want to be and who people perceive you to be. Define it and Rock It. Every Day. All Day.

Stinky Pepper Boy.

Not a very nice name to be called in third grade.

On the first day of school my oldest came home and said he was done with peppers. No big deal … until I found out why.  He was being teased about his lunch. Why would kids pick on another kid about his food? Well first and foremost they are kids, but secondly, like all consumers big or small, we fear and sometimes even mock the unknown.

After a couple of days, I proposed the sweet pepper ‘marketing 101 campaign’ to my son, and he was all in! “Mom, once they try them, they will love them!” Game on!

Our Marketing 101 Campaign consisted of Four Proven Marketing Tactics:
1. Awareness
2. Engagement
3. CTA – Call to Action
4. Trial

Awareness: A platter of peppers was brought to the lunch room and a short introduction that included the health benefits, what they tasted like, the different colors/options was given. All the benefits can be found here. The kids had the knowledge (awareness) that peppers promoted healthy skin, hair, vision and immune system.

Engagement: The kids were interested … some had tried the peppers, some never had because they thought the peppers were spicy, but when they heard the name ‘sweet mini peppers’ they were engaged. Everybody likes something sweet.

CTA: This year our school started composting. Four days into the year some had not visited the compost bin, which was a coveted trip AND the CTA! The stem was compost worthy and earned a trip for all that tried.

Trial: The lure of the compost trip gave us what we needed. They. All. Tried. A. Pepper. Trial was the key to winning them over.

Of course, not all the little consumers were converted – there were a handful of pepper holdouts. But many really liked them, resulting in requests for seconds!  To my son’s joy they started chanting … Pep-pers … Pep-pers … Pep-pers. 

Everyone sells, in one way or another. As parents, we sell our children on our belief systems, values, and desired behavior. As business owners, we sell our products and services. Following a few proven marketing tactics can convert even the most discriminating customer.

And what of our Stinky Pepper Boy? After our successful venture, as I was walking out the door, my son ran across room, threw his arms around me and whispered “thank you.” And he has been packing peppers for lunch ever since.

Have you heard? This year marks our five year anniversary of doing business on the Porch! And in honor of this milestone, we are keeping the “Five Train” rolling! So hop on board, we’re sharing five things we LOVE to do each and every day! 

So how DO we love to spend our time?

1. Branding – And more branding. It’s the cornerstone for every bit of marketing we do, branding is everything. We love taking clients through our thoughtful brand architecture development process, just as we did recently for Spa in the City. Getting clients started off on the right foot, with the right message, is a great passion of ours!
2. Marketing Plans – After the branding process has been completed, development of a creative and thorough marketing plan follows. Front Porch Marketing’s most recent plan development for The Younity Group was a completely rewarding exercise.
3. Email Marketing – Helping our clients reach their customer base with content-rich, targeted email marketing is critical to their success. Our client partnership with PeopleResults has yielded a highly successful email marketing program. See their latest email blast.
4. Social Media – An integral part of any marketing plan, social media is where we truly rock. Maximizing our client’s presence across multiple social media channels is downright fun. Take a look at The GEM‘s Facebook page for proof of our social media love affair!
5. Mentoring Future Marketing Rock Stars – Such as Sarah Kreuger, our Kid Rocker. Sarah spent the summer as one of our interns, and we loved having her on board. Check out her absolutely brilliant blog, “The Presentation: Marketing to the College-Bound Generation” – this girl just gets it!

We LOVE branding. We LOVE marketing plans. We LOVE our clients. We LOVE our business. We LOVE rocking’ it! Thanks for taking the ride with us!

And last, but not least, we would love for you to join us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter.

Throughout this summer, I realized that I have had to use skills from of my entire high school curriculum – English, Math, History and Performance Art. Yes, I said that I have even used skills from my Performance Art classes in Marketing. Specifically, Improvisation.

While Marketing and Improvisation seem like two classes that would never intertwine; believe it or not, I have found the similarities between the two are very prominent in the business arena. Improvisational techniques used in marketing can change one’s skills for the better.

As a marketer, your job is to promote your client’s brand and help them succeed. Initially, you listen to the client’s vision for their company and create your plan for their business. The tricky part is deciding how and what will please both the client and their audience. With some improvisational skills, you can reach that happy medium and succeed as a marketer!

Here are two key lessons in improvisation that can be used in marketing:

1. Never Say No

The motto “Never Say No” applies especially to the building stages of a business plan (meetings, phone calls, emails, etc.). No idea should be shut down without ample thought. Every single idea should be written down and taken into consideration to create the draft of the plan.

How to do this in your office:

When given a project, have each of your partners draft a plan for the company. In a meeting, you can discuss each person’s plan and highlight the best features of each one. With discussion, you can use everyone’s ideas to draft something everyone approves of and enjoys.

2. Put Yourself into the Perspective of Others

Through the design of an ad or a website, the key is to attract the intended audience’s eye. Whether it be with an image, a video, or just text, the material must be catchy and relatable. This can be difficult if you are not interested in the product. To do so, one question must be asked: If I were the audience, would I be interested in this ad? You must make yourself think and see as the intended audience would.

How to do this in your office:

When reviewing an ad, website, app or flyer, consider if you’d click the link or take the flyer out of interest. Ask your partners to ask themselves the same question. If the answer is “yes,” then you are prepared for a submission. If not, make the changes.

I never thought that I would be able to incorporate these two simple mottos into my internship this summer, but I use and see them everyday. The Front Porch Marketing crew never says, “no,” to anyone’s ideas. In meetings that I have observed, they are always very open and listen closely to their clients’ needs/wants! They have had to put themselves into the customers’ and clients’ perspective and remain flexible throughout the process to help complete projects to the best of their ability! Witnessing their keen ear to their clients’ desires and adaptable nature and applying these skills to my own projects have been extremely beneficial as I consider the business world as a future career.

We. Are. So. Feeling. It.

Our five year business anniversary of making branding and marketing rock for our amazing clients has made us totally mad about the number five. FIVE. 5. Cinco.

And so, in keeping with our five obsession, we present Five Rockin’ Things We are Doing for Clients:

1. Development of the Todomodo Website: TodoModo is a consulting and investment firm. We were able to get in on the ground floor with them – we started with the branding process, defined their brand strategies and then translated it to this site. We loved working with them on this and are continuing to be the company’s marketing partner! We wrote and ran this release on the wire for them among other things.
2. Ellen Hoffman Designs at the Accessories Circuit: Ellen, the doyenne of Ellen Hoffman Designs, is a wildly talented jeweler that we are privileged to work with. We promoted her at the Accessories Circuit at the Javitz Center in New York.
3. The Gem Yelp Event: The GEM welcomed elite Yelpers to a mini “Day in the Life” event. Yelp promoted the program as an educational “how to” series.
4. Feizy Rugs Shows at High Point Market: At a champagne brunch at High Point Market, Feizy Rugs and the finalists in its Haute Trends^TM design competition revealed the initial designs for the collection. Each designer’s initial Haute Trends designs are featured on the Feizy website.
5. Vistage: For the past year and a half, our Chief Rocker has been a member of Vistage, which is a fantastic organization that brings together successful CEOs, executives and business owners and groups them into private peer advisory groups guided by expert executive coaches. These peer groups and coaching sessions help members solve their most pressing business opportunities.

We love our clients. We live for our clients. And there’s nothing more gratifying than helping clients rock their businesses!

Does your website have a personality? How evocative are the images? Is it current? The success of your website and brand rides on these three important questions. 

These days, when people are interested in a service or product, the first stop on their shopping trip is the web. Yet marketers, more often than not, fail to realize the influence their websites have on their overall success.

The goal of web content is to move buyers past the consideration stage and into the buying stage, where they are ready to invest, join, subscribe, etc.

The moment of truth is realized when visitors reach your site – will you draw them in or push them away?

Follow these three simple steps to jazz up your website and hook your visitors:

Establish a Personality

Is your company fun and spirited? Or is it serious and conservative? Whatever your company’s personality may be, your website should convey this clear picture of your organization through its web content. A website is more than just a page filled with words and pictures. It has the power to create a trusting relationship, like that of a familiar face of a friend.

Tell Your Story Through Images

We’ve all heard the infamous saying ‘a picture is worth a thousand words.’ Many consumers make choices with their eyes instead of their heads, so images are extremely important. The kind of image you use can mean the difference between success and failure, so choose wisely. Too many generic stock photos can send a fake and stiff vibe to web visitors, turning them away from your site. Real, original photography can help visitors develop an emotional and personal relationship with your organization.

Staying Current Is Key

Creating a website is the easy part, but keeping it relevant and up to date is where many struggle. A company’s web content is almost always the first impression they give their potential customers. I can’t count the number of times I’ve visited a website for one specific reason, and get so lost in all the clutter and useless information that I eventually forget what I was looking for in the first place. The Internet has significantly shortened people’s attention spans, so having an easily navigable website has become more crucial than ever before!

If its time to get your website rockin’ again, one of our rockers is here to help!

The power of Disney branding is amazing. 

A mom sent me a message Sunday night during our three year old’s Frozen party, “Just caught myself driving with a crown on my head.”

There was a princess party and moms got to wear crowns. Just sayin’.

Let’s review. Successful brands have three key attributes: conviction, consistency and connection.

Disney does Disney branding so right.

The company forges a strong, emotional bond with its customers that ultimately creates customer preference and loyalty.

Four things to consider when building a strong brand that Disney does right:

1. Customer connection – Upon entering the gate of a property, you hear, “Welcome home.” Toto, we aren’t in Kansas anymore. What are you doing today to engage your customers or clients?
2. Employee engagement – I’m sorry, the “cast.” The company’s internal team is living and breathing the brand architecture. What are you doing today to feed your team so they deliver on your brand mission?
3. Technology – From the app and “Magic Bands” to drink refills, the company is embracing technology and rockin’ it. How are you embracing technology to further your team’s and your customer engagement? Apps help.
4. Research – Data, data and more data. Fill out the survey. It is about the experience. It is about the people. It is about asking if at every customer touch point you are experiencing the brand. Are you asking for customer/client feedback on a consistent basis?

Disney is being accountable for delivering on its brand promise.

Everything Disney is magical. Your brand can live that too if you believe in brand strategy and engage in brand and marketing strategies so your brand can deliver on its promise.