December 30th, 2009
As your business grows, it is important that your website grows with it. A content management system (CMS) allows you to better manage and customize your site and make important updates about your firm as they occur, giving you more control of your site and your brand. While keeping a website up to date can be difficult, time-consuming, and potentially costly, a CMS is a simple, user-friendly solution to keep content fresh, restructure your site, and manage a large media collection, from anywhere, without any code or HTML issues. With a CMS to execute technical details, build the menus and navigation, and keep page layouts and design consistent, you can focus on reaching your target audience, as well as your company’s goals.
Tags: content management system (CMS), customize your site, reaching your target audience
Posted in Web | No Comments »
December 30th, 2009
Articulation partnered with a growing film and television production company, building and designing a custom website to showcase the broad capabilities and diverse body of work. In addition to web design and content development, the project involved significant media conversion and optimization to incorporate the firm’s media assets, moving logo, and action stills of their productions around the globe. The company’s latest program, Two Weeks in Hell, which details the trials of Green Beret selection, is currently airing on the Discovery Channel.
Tags: building and designing a custom website, media conversion and optimization, web design and content development
Posted in Client Projects, Identity, Web | No Comments »
December 30th, 2009
As your company moves into the New Year, it is important to review your strategic marketing plan to see how your branding needs have changed in the past four quarters. When updating your brand, it is important to assess the overall growth strategy of your firm, pinpoint long and short-term goals, and analyze past successes and failures to ensure that each initiative is tailored to your specific needs. Your re-branding book should include:
- A strategic plan with creative and functional needs and goals for the brand
- Analysis of external factors, such as any changes in your target audience’s needs or buying patterns
- Full competitive market overview to ensure that you identify your competitive advantages and differentiate the brand from other offerings
Using strong web, media, print, and press strategies, your company can effectively communicate and build lasting relationships with its target audiences. With the right combination of strategic thinking, creative insight, and innovation, you can achieve business growth and success in any economic environment.
Tags: achieve business growth and success, analyze past successes and failures, differentiate your brand, long and short-term goals, strategic marketing plan, target audience, updating your brand
Posted in Identity | No Comments »
December 30th, 2009
In the fourth quarter, a leading web technology training company approached Articulation to take their synchronous online learning platform to a national level. Targeting individuals, developers, and large-scale corporations, our team worked with company leaders to completely re-launch their brand. The project consisted of design, core messaging, content development, and a multi-pronged marketing plan that includes industry announcements and press materials to communicate the firm’s deep experience and unique offerings: live interactive web technology training. With the help of their new brand, the firm truly offers the future of web training…now.
Tags: and large-scale corporations, content development, core messaging, design, developers, multi-pronged marketing plan, re-launch brand, synchronous online learning, Targeting individuals, web technology training company
Posted in Identity, Web | No Comments »
September 25th, 2009
With 43% of online users logging in to social networks (Consumer Internet Barometer), representing a 15% increase in the last year, the impact of these phenomena is undeniable. The rapid rise of Twitter has many marketers scrambling to synthesize messages to fit this microblogging platform into its tiny posts or “tweets.” While different companies and industries really need to examine what the effects of this type of messaging will have on their brand and with customer bases (both today and in the future), time will tell as to which media and industries prove most effective. Along with Facebook, these mediums have already had a powerful effect on how people consume media and need to be examined as part of a comprehensive branding environment. As millions are beginning to absorb and transmit messages in 140 characters or less, it is more important than ever to reach audiences quickly and effectively. With proper messaging, a social networking strategy has the potential to complement any well-established marketing plan. The right core messaging strategy directly identifies and communicates your firm’s strengths, using powerful language and tailored structures to attract and engage readers and can be distributed across many mediums.
Tags: branded social marketing, microblogging phenomenon, rise of Twitter, social networking strategies
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September 25th, 2009
Articulation recently partnered with an Emmy-award winning gaming and entertainment development firm to update their brand and company website. The project included custom web design and development, focusing on increased interactivity, embedded video, multimedia, SEO, and the launch of a news-based and RSS friendly blog. With the redesign, Articulation aimed to reposition the brand in order to showcase their diverse capabilities and achievements in creative and entertainment development. Despite beginnings in video games, the company has expanded to projects across media including board games, film, virtual reality, and console and web-based video games. The new site better displays this diversity and brings the work to the forefront of the user experience.
Tags: brand development, branding update, embedded video in website, interactive website
Posted in Client Projects, Identity, Interactive, Web | No Comments »
September 25th, 2009
This quarter JPMorgan Chase completed their nationwide rebrand of recently acquired Washington Mutual, including remodeling nearly 200 locations. The undertaking represented a dramatic clash between the hip, unconventional banking style of WaMu and Chase’s conservative, tried-and-true image. Washington Mutual based their distinct, well-established brand identity on differentiating from more traditional banking competitors with branding strategies including bright primary posters, lively colors, sardonic ads, and casual branches modeled with their patented Occasio, retail-style design. As with any rebrand, Chase was challenged to retain customers with strong loyalty to the original brand, while leading the firm in a new direction. However, as victims of the largest banking failure in U.S. history, it is now more important than ever for WaMu customers to feel secure and protected, themes central to Chase’s longstanding reputation for dependability. The coming quarters will determine the true success of the merger rebrand as customers respond and business continues.
Tags: brand identity, Chase takeover, maintain brand loyalty, merger rebranding, Occasio design
Posted in Identity | No Comments »
September 25th, 2009
Nearly ten years after their initial brand development, Articulation revisited a boutique real estate-related firm to embark upon a comprehensive rebrand, updating their logo design, website, and corporate identity materials to better convey the growth and success they had experienced. The package included more modern and sophisticated web design, updated content, new logo and branded imagery, and streamlined core messaging. Acknowledging the importance of revisiting a company’s brand and adjusting the marketing strategy to better pinpoint changes in company values and growth, we emphasized the powerful reputation and experience that the firm has developed in the past ten years in the industry, as well as their widely expanded offerings and client base. The successfully articulated rebrand and new website launched during the third quarter.
Tags: brand development, corporate identity, new marketing strategy, real esate rebrand
Posted in Client Projects, Copywriting, Identity, Web | No Comments »
June 11th, 2009
Email marketing has certainly emerged as one of the most cost effective ways to keep in touch with both customers and prospective customers. It is also a great avenue for extending brand recognition and emails should be carefully designed, written, and strategically sent. Yet, bounced and unopened emails can result in a waste of time and resources for a campaign. While there is no perfect solution, it certainly pays to develop and maintain your emailing list through creative integrated third party opt-in lists that can be placed on your site and marketed to your target audience. Although convincing people to give you their email address can be one of the most creatively exhausting components of a campaign, it often proves to be quicker and more efficient than other methods of communication. In addition, email can result in higher return of responses and click-throughs and it is easily tracked and measured. Opt in lists serve as a powerful access tool to your client base and as a way to support your branding efforts.
Tags: bounced and unopened emails, branding efforts, cost effective, creative integrated third party opt-in lists, email marketing, extending brand recognition, higher return of responses and click-throughs, keep in touch with both customers and prospective customers, methods of communication, waste of time and resources
Posted in Advertising, Public Relations | No Comments »
June 11th, 2009
Since mid 2008 the Articulation team has worked closely with a learning program, There’s No Free Lunch in Real Estate, aiding in the branding, marketing, and PR efforts to develop credibility and build their client base. The design and content teams have helped with development of the learning materials, website design and development, a large-scale email marketing campaign, SEO, webinars, and social networking strategies. Attention has also been spent on increasing press, expert postings, and monitoring public relations. As the program continues to grow the team’s efforts remain focused on developing brand recognition, as well as keeping the clientele engaged and informed.
Tags: branding, build client base, design and content teams, develop credibility, developing brand recognition, expert postings, increasing press, keeping the clientele engaged and informed, large-scale email marketing campaign, marketing, monitoring public relations, PR efforts, SEOs, social networking strategies, There’s No Free Lunch in Real Estate, website design and development
Posted in Client Projects, Public Relations, Web | No Comments »
