Great visual cues provide help provide great content for our campaigns. With our ‘primitive brains,’ we recognize and respond to images 60K faster than written information. That doesn’t mean you don’t need text, you need both – and we play to your strengths to create a natural, intuitive, and emotional connection as well as an intellectual one as we answer the questions that customers ask.

In other words, we produce beautiful, quirky, kick-ass, engaging and effective stuff for our clients…we love design & art, and our high level execution shows it. Our design integration works in tandem with our engagement strategy and overarching content plans to create seamless graphic solutions for every business.

This is quickly becoming the [ubiquitous] umbrella term for any and all interactive marketing techniques. What does that really mean for your business?

Any targeted, interactive marketing strategy that includes products and/or services using a form of digital technology to reach and convert leads into customers or clients. The best part of digital marketing is the fact that it can be identified, tracked and measured using what we call “digital crumbs” – a trail of cues and clues in the woods (just like Hansel & Gretel).

You’ve no doubt seen messages for “cookies” when you visit certain websites. A cookie is a small text file that is saved on your computer. Cookies provide a way for a website to keep track of your preferences. If you searched on the Nike website, for example, and looked at different pairs of shoes, cookies allows those search preferences or selections to be temporarily stored for your shopping convenience.

The digital landscape allows us a roadmap to identify and capture the preferences of your customers as well – where they are on your website, how long they stayed (or bounced) – even what they read and downloaded. It’s a very valuable tool in identifying and quantifying exactly what works with your markets and with your audience segments based on their feedback, thus the reference to “crumbs.”

The key objectives for your business are to leverage opportunities to promote your brand, and increase sales through various digital marketing techniques.

It all starts right here. Your brand is the sum total of the parts and pieces, your businesses image as a whole – it’s your public face. Your brand is what makes you unique and distinctive in the marketplace. We give your brand and your identity a unique shape so it has legs in your particular industry.

Your brand is not what you say it is… 

your brand is what your customers say it is. 

The relationship between your brand and the world is an emotional one. People don’t buy products per se, they buy products from brands they relate to, recognize and trust. Audi or Kia? They’re both cars, but they have such distinctly different appeal as brands; it’s an unspoken promise, and that is a very powerful marketing tool.

•  brand: Your brand is your business image – metaphorically speaking, the way it your business dresses, acts, speaks and walks helps determine how an audience will receive it. A brand works just like a good first impression; it makes an impact or an emotional connection with an audience segment. A brand’s visual identity is the overall look and feel that makes your communications worthy of further consideration.
• logo: This is your visual brand signal or an ID badge of sorts – think of a sheriff’s badge as an example. This is a symbol that carries with it the undertone of authority, and any mark or icon that has the same kind of effect for your business is a logo. But a logo is not a brand nor is it an identity; a logo is a visual placeholder for positive attributes you want people to remember about your business.
• identity: The overall identity is the greater shape of your brand. Inside that shape are a series of perceptual cues for your audience to associate with your business. This ‘big picture’ view is your identity. Think of your identity as the recollection of that first impression we just described: certain ideas and descriptive verbiage help to recount that impression.

 When we put all the different parts together, we have a brand + identity; that includes your website, letterhead, business cards, brochures (collateral) and other design features that help give your story a distinct context and ‘shape’ for your market – every asset that represents your business becomes part of the brand + identity. Highly influential (effective) brands have distinctive elements that define that brand like an appropriate colors/palette, fonts, and other graphic elements that serve as cues to your business’ personality.

 Identity design development and design are the process of creating your corporate image – the decisions are calculated, intentional and assembled within a set of guidelines or brand standards as you have seen in prominent brands.

Pay-per-click advertising (or traditional advertising) is a fast, deliberate and highly effective way to put your branded messages in front of your ‘perfect audience’ segments with a timely call to action. And it works!

Think of advertising in the digital age as virtual billboards designed to be in the places your audience targets consume relevant information.

• display ads: These ads are pictorial in nature and are designed to capture the attention of viewers when they are online, but not necessarily in search mode. The call to action is specific and demands attention, thereby driving a click thru to your website.
• landing pages: These are breakout pages that are added to your website to provide more immediate, specific content based on the nature of the call to action driven by the click. The goal of a landing page is to convert a click to a customer – a direct sale, capturing an email for follow up, or generating a phone call are all trackable, measurable responses.

There are those who say that email marketing is dead. Good thing they don’t have to manage most of the world’s inboxes or they may have to consider why there are so many emails being sent…the reason you have so many emails to manage is that e-marketing is highly effective; it’s direct mail in the 21^st century. The key is to make the subject line so unique and appealing that it cannot be ignored. Then the content and UX have to be appealing so as to generate a response (click) just like a digital advertisement. The click thru directs to a specific promotion or your website or your landing page; visitor preferences are then tracked throughout their site engagement. The visitor (who has already expressed interest in the product, service, brand or promotion…) can also be remarketed with similarly relevant messages, images and incentives at a later date (see ppc for more information on this service…). If e-marketing doesn’t sound dead to you, you’d be absolutely right – far from it, and we provide turnkey email marketing solutions for businesses of all shapes and sizes!

Sharing your brand story means showing it quickly…that can be the difference between getting your customer’s attention and losing them to a competitor forever. Having great branded pictures and/or video content is the first step. The primitive human brain is wired to process imagery 60,000 times faster than written information, and we’ll help you take the greatest advantage of that opportunity. Written content is also an essential ingredient for a competent brand strategy, but great imagery should lead. The more your potential customer can relate personally to your messages, the more likely they are to become customers and converts. Emotions play a big role in decision making on a subliminal level; that’s why creative that shows people making eye contact frequently (consistently) outperforms other types of static imagery.

It will come as no surprise that video content performs equally well or better; with people as the subjects of many videos, this medium is a fast way to establish a repoire, convey a spoken message quickly, and answer a lot of questions in the shortest duration of time – all while leveraging more meaningful opportunities for searchable results. That’s right; aside from being great content that people love, photo and video and very are searchable creative assets.

You’re hearing more and more about the user experience (aka, ux), but you may not quite understand what it means to your brand…for that matter, considering the user experience as an element of marketing is a fairly new idea for most marketers.

You picked up a ‘cool’ new APP, couldn’t figure out, and promptly deleted it forever …that experience has negatively shaped your opinion forever.

 That’s why ux matters.

At mo, we all come from experience design and event marketing backgrounds, so we think a lot about how to consistently serve up the best interactive marketing experiences; ux is at the very heart of that. It is most commonly associated with website interface, but we think of ux in the context of everything – each touch point in the process of persuading, converting or influencing your customer’s decision to choose your business as a partner.

Experiences on devices are considered, defined, and shaped by ux. Very little is left to chance; you know it instinctively as a consumer when you have a great user experience, and it keeps you coming back for more…thus great ux becomes part of the overall brand experience – that’s all part of the integrated marketing path.

User experience is defined in many different ways, but from the perspective of the designer, it includes some specific elements, we define personas, build wireframes, storyboards, and implement lots of testing until we get it right.

We create effective visual assets for your brand, including ads + online marketing materials as well as marketing collateral that satisfy the senses. We produce visual brand experiences that educate, inspire, surprise and generate memorable interaction…all while connecting your message with your consumer. We ensure great first impressions, and lasting ones.

Developing and maintaining quality content for a branded, responsive, and multi-device friendly website is imperative. Your website is the calling card of your business, especially in the world of direct e-commerce sales. Despite suggestions to the contrary, it remains the hub of the marketing wheel for b2b & b2c products alike. Everyone (consumers and professionals) discover and do their research online before and during the process of making any buying decision.

The ‘primitive human brain’ decisions that are made at the onset overtly influence every decision on a subliminal level. We want your site visitor to make a subliminal, emotional connection first. Then we’ll support that with more tangible, objective details (data, industry leadership, awards/accolades, validation, and positively amplify and support all of that across multiple networks with social media & public relations. Your website’s ability to perform well is essential to the success of your brand.

From a well-designed template site to an integrated shopping cart, your site must be secure, seamless, and scalable like your business. Because you need to generate quality content/blogs and integrated search tactics (seo) into your site, having a quality website that can perform on every device is now an industry standard.

 Your website is only a slice of your online presence, but it is the baseline as it works hand in hand with social media, e-mail marketing, and your ever-important referral or testimonial networks – it is home base for your essential blog content and landing pages are the offshoot of the master site if you intend to advertise.

Your website is unique in that it creates a clear impressionof your brand, and the other channels support that impression at every step. A good website is another tool to help us provide concise answers to your customer questions – that’s marketing and that’s how we approach it – providing timely answers helps to inspire, validate the brand and build trust and leadership for the brand. People buy just products and services, they buy products and services from the brands they remember and have a relationship with, emotionally and intellectually…that is why having a brand + identity is so important and why they consistently ‘win’ over the long-term when compared with basic products and services.

All-things-visual that represent your business are considered brand collateral. Once your brand + identity has been defined and guidelines established, we have all the information to start developing your collateral – each piece must be brand consistent, competent and recognizable as your marketing materials. They can be everything from a sign outside your office or building to an advertisement.

Your collateral are separate, distinct visual devices and may include the following:

• A scaled version of your logo (the symbol of the entire brand + identity)
• Letterhead, business cards and envelopes (b/c people still send and receive mail…)
• Marketing brochures, postcards, flyers, case studies, books or other types of publications
• Presentation materials, downloads, e-books, and slide sharing
• Websites, webinars, and targeted landing pages
• Product packaging, point-of-purchase (retail, in store) displays
• Exhibits, tradeshows and/or symposia signage
• Experiential design elements: other sensory methods when deems appropriate such as touchscreen integration, audio, taste, and even smell…
• Branded swag + custom apparel: from t-shirts to uniforms, from branded coffee mugs to customized holiday cards
• Signage: Interior/exterior and/or facilities way finding solutions for larger institutions
• Photos, videos, social – banner graphics, memes,’ and infographics

 Never underestimate the value & importance of your collateral…you’re always making an impression, make sure it’s a good one.

Uniqueness tells your story at a glance, and it’s another touch point in the road to making a good impression and driving recollection and recognition for your business.

The desire to be acknowledged, awarded and/or identified as memorable in our business lives is a natural human inclination. In the same way our brains are hardwired for certain response stimuli, it makes good practical sense; recognition is an overt form of earned attention.

Public validation is also a powerful business tool and differentiator in a crowded market. Our well-oiled pr machine generates the kind of third party endorsement that gets your entire business and brand discovered, appreciated, remembered and sought out.

For more information on cultivating a network of recognition via our public relations, social media, and content marketing programs…