Coffee Stop demo – Order business printing online

Posted on July 13, 2018July 13, 2018 by Ed Entecott

For clients with multiple business locations, a remote sales force or office staff needing access to up to date documents and artwork templates, Burst Digital offers a dynamic solution that allows you to order business printing online through your own secure storefront.

With our online print ordering solution you have the ability to access, create, edit and print your latest marketing materials or documents quickly and efficiently; including everything from Business Cards to Roller Banners, Giant posters to hanging POS displays. It helps maintain brand consistency, prevents costly mistakes, and allows you to order your print materials instantly with a minimal amount of fuss.

So the next time you send 6 emails and spend over 2 hours searching for, updating and ordering a simple set of business cards remember; you could have your own branded storefront with your entire range of marketing material ready and waiting.

Access the demo site here and order business printing online> https://store.burstdigital.co.uk/demo

So what is Coffee Stop?

Coffee Stop is a fictional coffee chain we have developed to show off the benefits and functions of our online print ordering system. The demo site allows you and your colleagues to self-register and fully test the various product configurations and capabilities ahead of implementing within your own business or marketing team.

Individual store managers can log on to one central location where only the correct versions of approved materials can be ordered. This means marketing managers can sleep easy at night safe in the knowledge that their brand is safe and nobody is ordering that business card design from 1997. Store managers are happy that they can easily order items out of hours without the hassles of going back and forth with head office about a simple set of store-cards. Even the accounts team is happy because they receive an itemised list of spending each month against valid purchase order references. Finally, you shouldn’t have any issues with people ordering the wrong item or not including the correct partner logo because you can easily set up approval workflows allowing checks to be made by appointed people before orders are sent for production.

Don’t be fooled by the simplicity of a coffee store using the system, we have customers in both the pharmaceutical and defence industries using this to help their organisations function better.

Inventory Products

This is the really simple stuff that doesn’t require editing/changing on a regular basis like Headed Paper or Promotional Pens. For these items you simply select the product, quantity and delivery address and we process the order. In order to achieve greater savings we can hold a stock of your items within our secure warehouse and process orders as you need them, when stock falls below a certain level we will produce more for you automatically.

Editable Products

This is where the real benefits of the system are found. There’s a few ways to handle editable products so we have given an example of each below.

1- Drop down list products

These are products that can be edited with strict limitations set by you to prevent users from ordering the wrong thing. We’ve used the example of a store card which can be ordered by individual store managers. You don’t want them to be able to change the layout, font types, sizes, colours or logo so they are simply able to select their location from a drop down menu which automatically inputs their address and contact details. If a new store is added, or contact details need amending this is done at an admin level making it impossible to order incorrect items.

2- Form fill products

Using an employee business card as an example, this time the key elements of the design are locked down, but the individual details are inputted in the required columns. This is great for items that can’t be handled with a simple drop down list but you still want to keep control of your branding and what elements can be edited.

Currently paying for artwork amends, or employing designers to carry out relatively simple tasks? This feature allows unskilled workers to make simple amendments themselves without having to use costly design software and free’s up your skilled designers to work on more beneficial projects.

As will all products on our web-to-print system, approval processes can be setup so that all designs are checked and approved prior to printing.

3 – Design online products

Using the systems built-in online editor you can design and layout a vast range of documents without having design software stored locally on your PC; meaning you edit, create and order print runs from anywhere at any time. As with the previous product types you can still lock down settings and image libraries, the real difference is the flexibility that the editor gives you.

For demonstration purposes we’ve used a pull up banner, which would usually require professional design. You can drag and drop pre-approved images, upload your own images and change the text before approving the design for print.

Once you’ve finished editing your products you simply add them to the basket and place the order. Orders can be purchased by card or using Purchase Orders that are billed to your accounts team, notifications are sent out letting you know the status of the order and confirming once it has been shipped to your chosen destination.

So, now that we’ve covered the various products types below is a sample of products/documents our customers are currently using on the system:

Business Stationery
Personalised Event Invitations
CD Artwork
Name Badges
Tabs & Dividers
Presentation Folders
Printed Envelopes
Posters
Outdoor Banners
Retail POS

Order business printing online – what are the benefits?

With such rich functionality, there are a wealth of benefits that helps organisations streamline processes, reduce costs and step-up employee productivity.

Time Saving – It is estimated that on average, a marketer or creative will spend an hour a day fielding requests or searching for files. This is valuable time that could be spent on the more important business activities that will actually make money. Additionally, these inefficiencies can be detrimental to time-sensitive projects and deadlines. Order business printing online and you could save time.

Efficiency – Web-to-print software drastically improves efficiency by keeping all valuable media files accessible. Therefore, the routine task of managing large collections of assets is taken care of. Order business printing online and you could increase efficiency.

Save Money – One of the biggest expenses relating to the production of assets is the use of a graphic designer. Brand Centurion makes it easier to edit pre-approved templates and re-purpose files. This is a much better use of resource then creating an asset from scratch. Additionally, it provides a secure storage system for all assets so organisations don’t waste money repurchasing licensed files. Order business printing online and you could save money.

Online Accessibility – Brand Centurion is web based which means there is no software to download. This means that the portal can be accessed 24/7, anywhere in the world. All you have to do is upload your pre-approved design templates and brand assets, choose who has access to the portal, and then request print runs whenever you need them.

Reduced Errors – One of the biggest headaches related to marketing and branding is employees not sticking to brand guidelines. With a brand asset management portal, this headache can be alleviated as employees will only be able to work from pre-approved templates. Order business printing online and you could reduce errors.

Ready to order business printing online?

Email Dan Patience on dan@burstdigital.co.uk or call 01293 660722.

How Can a Marketing Portal Support a Successful Rebrand

Posted on December 12, 2016January 3, 2017 by Ed Entecott

In the New Year, many organisations consider a rebrand or a brand refresh to help elevate their brand for the coming year. Rebranding for many organisations can be a daunting task to undertake but if executed correctly, it can be a rewarding process that delivers significant commercial benefits leading to new business, more revenue and a more motivated workforce.

Whether you are looking to change a significant element such as the logo or brand name, or if you are simply looking to alter your messaging to better communicate a more relevant brand promise, you’re going to need to plan your strategy for success. It takes a lot of time, energy and care to launch a rebrand, but careful planning and finding the right tools for the job can mean the difference between success and failure.

During a rebrand, two of the biggest challenges faced by large, multi-site organisations is updating the existing marketing assets with the new branding and ensuring each team member has access to these updated assets. This can be a very time consuming task but is vital as ultimately an inconsistent brand will struggle to distinguish itself in a competitive market. Whether you are still in the planning stages or if your rebranding is already underway, you’ll need to have a solid strategy to address these challenges.

So how can you be sure that a rebranding runs as smoothly as possible? Well that is where a marketing portal can help. While many marketing portals will offer a platform for you to store, design and distribute your own marketing materials in house, they also come with a wealth of other features that can support a rebrand from start to finish.

So how can a marketing portal support a rebrand?

Central Asset Repository

One of the most important the stages of a rebrand is distributing new marketing assets to the appropriate teams. This can slow down the rollout massively, especially if you have multiple teams in various locations, nationally or internationally. With a marketing portal though, you will have a central repository where you can store all of your latest assets. This enables teams instant access to the newest assets, meaning time to market is decreased and you can then concentrate on the more important business activities.

Keyword Tagging

On average, a marketer will spend up to an hour a day fielding requests for design files and marketing assets. With a marketing portal, finding branded assets has never been easier. This is because all you need to do is tag your assets with keywords so that your staff can find them as easily as possible. Gone are the hours spent trawling for assets- they are right at your fingertips whenever you need them.

Improved Brand Consistency

One of the hardest parts of a rebrand is ensuring that everything stays on brand. Consistency ultimately contributes to brand recognition which is vital in the early stages of a rebrand. Inconsistent branding can be very frustrating but can be very easily eradicated with the implementation of a marketing portal. With a marketing portal, brand managers can decide what assets can be made available to employees and which assets can be edited, which will prevent anyone from making unapproved changes or using the wrong version of an asset.

Online Accessibility

Many marketing portals are hosted online which means all updated assets can be uploaded to the cloud. This gives every team member instant access to the newest assets, wherever they are in the world. This means you don’t need to worry employees not being able to complete projects because they can’t access all the files they need. And because many marketing portals work away from your internal IT systems, you can rest assured that your files are safe in the cloud.

Reduced Errors

One of the biggest headaches related to branding is employees not sticking to brand guidelines. With a marketing portal, this headache can be alleviated as employees will only be able to work from pre-approved templates. Brand elements that shouldn’t be changed can be locked down while others can be edited with no design skills necessary. This means you can trust your employees to design marketing collateral and rest assured that it is on brand. This is further supported by the approval process, so nothing is printed or published without going through the processes you set in place first.

Streamlined Print Process

During a rebrand, the likeliness is you will have to reprint many of the existing print assets such as brochures, flyers and business cards. Starting prints runs however can be a notoriously laborious tasks, especially if you have to find a vendor, get quotes, send design files and await proofs. With a marketing portal with web-to-print capabilities, many of these steps are remove. You will have one vendor to handle all your printed materials, you will be able to get real-time quotes online and because you are using pre-approved templates, you don’t have to wait for them to be approved before starting a print run.

And because the portals are hosted online, print runs can be started at the click of a button. Assets can also be instantly converted into either a web-version or a print-ready PDF, meaning they are already in the right format to be sent to the printers.

CRM Integration

When rebranding, it is important to keep you existing customers in the know. Most marketing portals will allow you to integrate with your existing CRM system or update existing databases. This will enable you to send out personalised, direct communications to keep them in know about the rebrand. This is especially important is you are changing critical elements such as your brand name or logo.

Brand Centurion

Whether you’re going through a rebrand or simply want some more support with your current brand, Brand Centurion can help.

The intuitive nature of Brand Centurion allows, anyone, anywhere the capability to submit customised print ready artwork whilst maintaining and adhering to strict brand guidelines. Brand Centurion also allows business with multiple locations a portal to access, create, monitor and print their latest marketing assets quickly and efficiently. This includes everything from posters to leaflets, business cards to digital assets.

Web-To-Print: Taking the Steps Towards Choosing the Right Solution

Posted on November 28, 2016December 2, 2016 by Ed Entecott

Having made the decision to invest in web-to-print, the most immediate requirement is deciding what platform to use. There is rarely a ‘one-size-fits-all’ solution for web-to-print and a careful analysis of organisational wants, needs and requirements must be conducted. This means finding the right solution for your organisation can be a bit of a minefield unless you have a firm plan in place.

Knowing the challenges that web-to-print can help you to resolve is one thing, however choosing a solution is another. Here are three key steps towards helping you choose the right solution for your organisation:

Step 1: Define Your Goals and Objectives

The implementation of a web-to-print solution is determined heavily by your strategic objectives. Once you know what your goals are, you will know what processes you need to consider. If your objective is to streamline your marketing workflows through faster image and asset production, you will need to look at your current asset creation workflow. Consider how images are shared throughout the organisation and how they are being used. Look at how much time and resource is spent on the creation of these assets and find a solution that will either remove or speed up some of the steps involved.

There may be multiple objectives, but one primary objective should be determined early on as the top priority. Once this has been decided, other objectives can be tackled as a follow on phase. If used correctly, a web-to-print solution has the ability to enhance the sales and marketing efforts of a business, and improve the efficiency of workflows.

When defining your objectives, work with all key stakeholders within your organisation and identify the wider needs by asking yourself:

Where is the company today, and where do we want it to be?
How many assets are we currently storing? Knowing how many files you have now, and how that number will grow, will help you to plan capacity requirements.
How will web-to-print integrate with the software tools and workflow solutions you already have in place?
What files types are you looking to create and store? Web-to-print solutions will vary in regards to the file formats they support. You’ll need to know what files users store and if the system can optimise how you work with them.
How many people will use the system and what access do you want to permit?
How quickly do you want it up and running? If you want it set up ASAP, then you need to look for a vendor who can provide the system and train your teams quickly.

Answering these questions will give you a clearer vision of what you want to achieve from implementing web-to-print. Failing to distinguish a clear view of what you want to accomplish will ultimately result in money being wasted on a solution that isn’t right for your organisation.

Step 2: Outline the Critical Features You Will Require

Investing in software is a large commitment. Not only will it potentially require monetary investment, but it also entails time and resources. Therefore, it only makes sense to compare all options and adopt the solution with the critical features you’ll need.

After analysing your goals and expectations, decide on a list of critical features that will help you and your team to get the most out of your solution day in, day out. Ask yourself:

Do I need a system that can help me manage brand consistency and messaging?
Are you looking for a solution to not only store and manage your assets but also help you create assets?
Do you want a solution that will act as a central resource point which facilitates an approval process?
Do you want a solution that runs online and doesn’t require the need to download software?
Is the solution easy to use? Web-to-print software should be used to help your company and simplify its marketing efforts. The solution should be user-friendly and consideration should be taken into how much time the end user is going to need to get the hang of it.

Here are some key features you may want to consider looking for when you decide on a web-to-print provider:

Asset Repositories: One of the biggest issues multi-site marketers face is that different internal teams will manage different projects such as a website, a social media campaign or the production of sales materials. As a result assets associated with these projects get stored within their individual department and not in one collective repository. Implementing a web-to-print solution with asset storage makes it incredibly easy to access, create and distribute approved design assets. This ensures that your teams are using the right version of the right asset ensuring overall brand consistency.

Accessible Online: It may be essential to adopt a web-to-print solution that is hosted online, especially if the business operates across multiple sites and there is a requirement to access assets from various locations. With no software to download, it can be accessed 24/7 on any device, anywhere in the world.

Editable Templates: One of the biggest costs relating to the production of marketing assets is the use of a graphic designer. From the original designs to re-edits – the costs can quickly accumulate. With some web-to-print solutions, you can upload pre-approved templates that allow you to customise only agreed elements. This could remove the need for a designer to artwork smaller jobs such as business cards and letterheads. This means your designers time can be better spent on the more important tasks.

Order Print Runs: Starting print runs can be a laborious and time consuming process. Calling multiple vendors, requesting quotes, designing and sending files, waiting for proofs, making corrections, and waiting for print products to arrive can massively slow down time-to-market. A web-to-print solution can eliminate many of these tasks making the process of starting print runs more streamlined. The order process can take a matter of minutes, instead of days.

Track Orders: If you have numerous people ordering printed assets from numerous vendors, costs can very quickly spiral out of control. With an effective web-to-print solution, you can manage budgets by seeing exactly who is ordering what before approving the order. By using a single vendor you have much tighter controls over your budgets.

It’s easy to get distracted by a sleek user interface or flashy functionality without a clear understanding of your requirements. Having that understanding of your requirements will ensure the solution you adopt is best suited to your needs.

Step 3: Find the Right Provider

Choosing the right provider is crucial to your web-to-print experience. It’s important to build a relationship with a vendor who will support you, not only in the initial implementation stage, but also into the future. When looking at vendors, follow these steps:

Look at the features that each solution offers. Do you feel confident that the solution will meld with your organisation?
Read customer case-studies about potential providers – they’re an honest indicator of how satisfied a vendor’s customers are.
Ask for a demo or a free-trial. This is not only a great way to explore the functionality for you, but it provides an opportunity to see how the vendor operates.

Remember, whichever web-to-print solution you choose, it has to be right for your organisation. This is an investment and a decision that you will need to work with daily, so spend the time evaluating all your options to ensure you’re making the right decision.

Brand Centurion

Choosing the right web-to-print solution for your company can be a time-consuming exercise, especially during the research period. Brand Centurion from Burst Digital is a powerful marketing portal with web-to-print capabilities that can help you overcome many of the issues faced by multi-site marketers. For a demo of Brand Centurion and its full capabilities, contact us today!

Continue Reading: Making the Business Case for Web-to-Print

5 Signs You Need Web-To-Print Software

Posted on October 26, 2016January 3, 2017 by Ed Entecott

You may have considered adopting a web-to-print tool or marketing portal on a number of occasions but not quite got round to it. You can always find an excuse as to why now is not the right time – i.e. you don’t have the staff to implement the software, you don’t have the budget or maybe you already use Dropbox or other cloud storage tools so you don’t need a marketing portal.

Whilst many marketing portals will offer similar benefits to cloud storage, there are a number of portals that can deliver so much more. For large businesses with multiple business locations, marketing portals with web-to-print capabilities really are indispensable. This is especially true of organisations that produce large volumes of print marketing content on a regular basis.

If the above sounds all too familiar, then managing your assets digitally is likely to be the path you need. With increased productivity, better workflow and a more structured system of operating, the benefits are extensive.

Here are 5 signs that you need a marketing portal with web-to-print capabilities:

Time Wasted Searching for Files

On average, marketers spend an hour a day fielding requests and searching for the right version of an asset. Not only is this frustrating, but it also results in valuable time being wasted. This is time that could be spent on more important business activities. There may be more than one person producing these assets which results in assets being stored across shared departmental drives, individual desktops, and cloud storage which you might not have access to.

Keeping all files in a central repository that brings everything together in one place can alleviate this bugbear. You’ll be able to narrow things down even further by utilising powerful search capabilities to accurately pinpoint files. Not only will you save time and money, it’ll allow your teams spend more time doing what they do best.

Producing New Assets

One of the biggest costs relating to the production of marketing assets is the use of a graphic designer. From the original designs, to re-edits – the cost can quickly accumulate. Even the simple task of re-working of business cards can be a time consuming exercise. Spending time and resources re-creating misplaced or deleted files can easily be avoided by adopting a marketing portal.

Enabling you to search through previous work, a marketing portal will provide a central store of work that could either be reused or re-edited. New templates can also be uploaded with editing rights. Brand elements that shouldn’t be changed can be locked down, while other elements can be personalised. This saves time and money that would be spent on producing assets from scratch.

Campaigns and Branding are Lacking Consistency

Inconsistent branding tends to be a result of the wrong style of imagery used, the wrong font used or perhaps even an old logo being used that is now out of date. For multi-site organisations that are sending out a lot of messages, this can become a real headache. If you’ve spent the time to brand your business correctly, you need to ensure each department is representing the corporate image in the way it was intended. Using the wrong version of an asset can dilute the brand and make your communications incohesive. It’s important to monitor the assets that are available and how they are being used.

Implementing a marketing portal allows you to control individual access, and make sure your employees can only access the right version of an asset. This includes the latest logos, promotional material, and the right corporate documents. This ensures you maintain brand integrity across all touch points.

Miscommunication between Creative Teams

Within large organisation, the likeliness is there will be more than one person working on or producing creative marketing assets. Everyone has their own way of working, and processes can quickly become confused, especially if new people join the organisation. With different systems for saving and naming files, it can be difficult to find the latest version of an asset. Workflow redundancies can very quickly creep in that can slow down important business activity.

By creating a central repository within a marketing portal, all project members have instant access to the same shared resources. Even those working remotely can access the files produced, wherever they are in the world. As a result, miscommunication is minimised as everyone is working from the same assets, using the same system.

Excess Admin Procedures

Ordering printed marketing material can be a laborious task. Calling multiple vendors, requesting quotes, designing and sending files, waiting for proofs, making corrections, and waiting for your products to arrive all slow down the time to market. As a result, valuable time is taken up that could be spent on the more important tasks. Adopting a marketing portal with web-to-print capabilities can eliminate many of these tasks. It can also help avoid costly mistakes such as sending the wrong files or not proofing prior to printing.

Costs can often be negotiated ahead of time, approved templates are uploaded onto a web based dashboard so you have instant access, and only agreed elements can be edited. The order process can take a matter of minutes – instead of days. With less time spent on the admin involved in locating, editing and distributing files, your teams can devote their energies on building strategies and driving revenue.

Brand Centurion

If any of the above issues affect your ability to work to optimal levels of efficiency, it’s time to consider adopting a marketing portal. Brand Centurion from Burst Digital allows you to manage and track all of your branded print and digital marketing assets through one easy-to-use, powerful and cost-saving marketing portal with web-to-print capabilities.

Continue Reading: Making the Business Case for Web-To-Print

Unwrapped! Seasonal Branding and Marketing Tips for 2016

Posted on October 10, 2016December 19, 2016 by Ed Entecott

You might think it is too early to start talking about Christmas, but when it comes to seasonal marketing, it is never too early. There are some brands that spend their whole year planning their Christmas marketing campaigns and rightly so! In 2015, the UK spent over £70bn between November and the end of December so for brands looking to cash in, it really is the most wonderful time of the year.

Although consumers are naturally spending more money, we’ve unwrapped our top tips to help you get a head-start on your seasonal branding.

Prepare your Content

Preparation really is key when it comes to running a successful Christmas marketing campaign and developing a clear and precise marketing schedule for the entire holiday season is vital. This is best done several months in advance and the sooner you start the better. You may be running several product offerings or sales throughout the months running up to Christmas so you need to ensure you have all your marketing assets prepared.

The likeliness is you will use a combination of assets to make up your campaign so allowing that extra time to prepare your assets will be crucial for your business. You need to have a clear idea of your messaging throughout the season so identify keep dates in the calendar.

Black Friday (November 25th) and Cyber Monday (November 28th) are “holidays” that have only just been introduced to the UK from America but already a lot of big brands such as John Lewis, Amazon and Currys are cashing in. Running sales on these days can be a great way to increase sales and raise brand awareness. Bear this in mind and make note of these important dates in your content calendar.

Calendarise your Content

We all know how tough it is to buy gifts for everyone on your list and for many; Christmas involves a last minute dash to buy those last few bits. Help alleviate this annual tradition by starting your campaign early and encouraging consumers to start their Christmas shopping with you. Promote your best sellers early on in the season and make your marketing message loud and clear.

Remember, customers will typically have five interactions with your brand before they make a final purchase decision. The earlier you start your campaign, the more likely your consumers are going to have those five interactions. People might scoff when they see Christmas campaigns in late-October but starting the hype early will inevitably work in your favour. The key here is to market little and often to avoid annoying consumers. Depending on your area of business, you could also consider sharing extra seasonal inspiration.

For those people that are last minute panic buying though, why not offer some last minute gift ideas? Once again, promote some of your best sellers but also the ones that won’t break the bank. This is a perfect way to snatch up those last minute sales.

Manage your List and Target your Audience

One of the best ways to engage with you audience is with personalised content. Sending personalised message will increase the chances of them shopping with you over the festive season. Remember, consumers will be looking for the best possible deal but engaging with them on a personal level might just be the tipping point to help you win the sale.

If you have a CRM database, make the most of it with personalised mailers. If you also have data on your consumers buying habits, use this data to re-engage them by sending them offers on products you think they might like. Tracking customers online can also allow you to re-engage with them by sending emails to remind them about the products they might have left in their online basket.

Alternatively, why not reward your regular customers, it is Christmas after all! Send them a promotional voucher or maybe even a small gift. Not only will it bring you extra business, it will also remind your customers why they shop with you. It will also get your customers talking to their friends and family about you, potentially bringing you in even more sales.

Revisit your Branding for the Holiday Season

Whether you have a physical store or an online store, give your store, website and social media channels a slight rebrand. This will inevitably strengthen your brand’s overall position in the consumer’s mind. We’re not saying you need to overhaul your whole website or store as this isn’t cost effective, but there are a few small things you can do to add some festive cheer with the addition of web banners, in-store promotional materials or social-media posts. After all, nothing gets people in the Christmas mood like the proper decorations and ambience.

Depending on the size of your brand, you may want to produce a new style guide to ensure your colours; fonts and other design elements are on point and this will help with the overall design of your marketing assets and ensure brand consistency across all consumer touch points. Having consistency across all touchpoints will help your consumers distinguish your marketing message from your competitors and consistency makes your recognisable!

So there you have it, a few things to consider help you win those all important holiday sales.

Brand Centurion

Brand Centurion web-to-print and asset management tool really is the gift that just keeps giving. Store, create and distribute all your seasonal print and digital marketing assets with one, powerful, easy-to-use portal.

We also offer a wide range of print services and seasonal promotional materials to ensure your business is Christmas ready.

For a demo of Brand Centurion or to find out more about our print services, call today on 01293 660722.

Written by Liam Beauchamp for Burst Digital on 10/10/2016

The Changing Faces of Branding: Technology, Audience, Trends & Tastes

Posted on September 27, 2016December 19, 2016 by Ed Entecott

Branding can be hard at the best of times, especially when there are so many different elements to consider. It can also become a little overwhelming when the market is constantly changinging. With new technologies entering the market and trends starting weekly, brands are having to adapt rapidly.

In this blog, we’ll take a look at some of those changing elements that have the biggest impact on brands.

Technology

Ten years ago, digital marketing was very different. For many brands just having a social presence was enough as the market was still developing. And when it came to choosing your social channels, only a handful of popular options were available. However, there are now over 2.4 billion active users of social media around the world and this has meant brands are now having to compete more fiercely for just a few seconds of an audience’s attention.

Today’s consumers now expect to be, and are, engaged with brands on many different digital channels and touchpoints. This has made the customer journey a more involved one and with wearable tech such as the Apple Watch and Google Glass becoming more mainstream, marketers once again have to grapple with new technology. Declared as the next big thing, wearable technology can help reduce the time between intention and action.

Given how quickly the wearables market is developing, marketers need to start preparing to target consumers through this new channel. Currently 1 in 7 people in the UK own wearable technology and the trend is set to continue. As a result, consideration needs to be taken into making marketing messages more glanceable so that messages can be delivered on smaller screens with enough relevant information to encourage someone to discover more by clicking through on their smart phone.

This is just an example of things to come but the point is, technology is constantly evolving so marketers need to be constantly aware of how they are going to reach consumers through these new channels.

Audiences

Every brand has an audience but as any good marketer will tell you, audiences evolve constantly. Everyday their needs and wants will change and people today don’t have the same concerns or needs as they did say 5-10 years ago. This can make it increasingly difficult for brands to target their consumers in the same way that might have appealed to them last month.

After major events such as the 2008 recession and more recently Brexit, people are becoming more savvy with their money. There have also been wider divisions in politics, culture and taste across generations more recently. Therefore, brands need to consider the value of their products more than ever before. Not just in terms of money, but also in terms of what their brand represents.

In the past, consumers have been broken down into “lazy” segments such as ‘millennial’ or Gen Z’ but there are potentially 15 year age gaps within these segments. To get a better understanding of audiences, these segments need to broken down even further. Brands need a clearer understanding into the nuances that make each consumer an individual. By understanding their consumers beliefs, values and needs; they can effectively reach out to their audience in the most appropriate manner.

Tastes

As consumers, we are a very fickle bunch. Our likes and dislikes are constantly changing resulting in endless new products hitting our shelves to help feed our appetites.

When certain goods go out of fashion or people’s tastes and preferences no longer remain favourable to them, the demand for them decreases. The level at which a customer desires your product not only affects your demand curve, but essentially your overall success as a brand. One way to stay ahead of the curve is by altering the product or service. This ensures the demands of consumers are always met meaning they don’t have to look towards other brands to get what they want.

Apple is a brand that is very good at “reinventing” itself. They very quickly realised that to stay at the forefront of technology development, they needed to listen to their customers and adapt. With Apple bringing out a new iPhone more or less annually, they have been able to add/change/remove the elements that their customers like and dislike about their products. They have blown all competition out of the water and now you will struggle to find a household without an Apple product.

Trends

Trends come and go and it can sometimes be difficult to work out which ones are going to stick around. As we discussed in our previous blog post (5 Trends that Should be Shaping your 2017 Marketing Budget), live video is one trend that we think will be making waves in the next couple of months.

Another trend that has stuck around is documenting every waking moment of our days. Breakfast, lunch, dinner and all the bits in between documented on Facebook, Snapchat or Instagram. As they say, a picture paints a thousand words and brands should embrace this power.

People like to get to know the ins and outs of a brand – they’re not interested in just seeing the curated marketing content that has been planned for the past 6 months. By sharing moments as they happen, brands can start building a personality that their consumers can relate to. In turn, this turns consumers into advocates and they begin sharing your story. John Lewis is one brand that has nailed this and they are constantly producing share-worthy visual content – no wonder they are one of the UK’s leading brands.

Brand Centurion

With the elements of branding changing constantly, it can be difficult to manage your brand successfully. With Brand Centurion, you can create marketing and branded-materials in-house and distribute them in a timely manner, allowing you to react quickly to these changing elements. To find out more or to request a demo, call us on 01293 660722.

Written by Liam Beauchamp for Burst Digital, 26/09/2016

Building a Brand: The Building Blocks of Success

Posted on August 30, 2016December 20, 2016 by Ed Entecott

Building a Brand – The Building Blocks of Success

We all know that there is no recipe for success when it comes to business, especially when there are so many internal and external factors that can either make or break a business. We cannot prepare ourselves for all eventualities but there are a number of steps that can be taken to minimise risks. When we think of large successful businesses, the key players that come to mind are Coca Cola, McDonald’s and Apple. But what have all of these companies got in common that have made them so successful? Strong branding!

Branding is bandied about a lot when it comes to talking about successful businesses. You brand represents everything about your business and it resonates with your customers and prospects. With this in mind, it is vital that you get the basic building blocks right. But what are the building blocks that have enabled these brands to triumph over others?

Building Block #1: Clear Strategy

Before launching any brand, you have to ensure that you have established your brand foundation. Your brand foundation can be identified by answering a number of questions:

What are our core values? What do we believe in? How do we want our customers to perceive us? What is our core messaging and visual identity? What do we want our company to represent?

After answering all of these questions, you will have a clearer understanding of what you foundation strategy should be. These foundation principles could be a list or statement, or a selection of carefully selected words. They essentially need to be referenced to by everyone who touches your brand internally, at every stage of any business decision making process. Also, by understanding who your ideal customers are, you can ensure that you’re building a brand that aligns with their wants and needs.

Building Block #2: A Strong Logo

This is a given really but once you have established your foundation, you need to address your visual elements. Designing a logo is no easy task as there are so many components to consider. To put it as simply as possible though, make it unique, make it adaptable, make it timeless but most of all, make it memorable.

This is the first element that the public will probably come into contact with so it needs to be striking. Remember though, your logo will set the standard for all your marketing collateral so it needs to be adaptable. Logos need to translate across different mediums but still evoke the same meaning.

Never underestimate the power of your logo either. Throughout a single company’s history, various logos serve as indicators of values, loyalty and togetherness. One of the most iconic brand logos of all time is the Nike “swoosh”. The logo was introduced in 1971 and since its introduction, it has only undergone four revisions but the Nike “Swoosh” has remained. It has now gone on to become the most iconic images in the world, so much so that in 1995 the company chose to remove the brand name of the original design, leaving the “Swoosh” as the sole symbol of the company.

Building Block #3: Guidelines

Once you’ve established your identity and you have a logo to match it, you need to ensure your other visual elements match the image and personality of your brand. This is essential as it helps develop a sense of familiarity for your customers. Fonts and colours which will be heavily influenced by your logo will have a big impact of your branded marketing materials. You need to consider how your fonts and colours portray your brand.

For example, if your brand is corporate, then your font should be slick, easy to read and professional. No Comic Sans please. However, if your brand is a bit more fun, then you can use a font that is energetic and slightly more elaborate.

Research has shown that colour also plays a vital role in the perception of brands. This is why it is so important in understanding your ideal customer. If your customers are looking for a brand that is exciting, you may choose to use red in your marketing collateral. Or if you want to convey sophistication, you may look to use purple. There are no clear cut guidelines when it comes to colour but when it comes to choosing colours, you must test. You cannot know how your audience will respond to your colours in your content and layout without testing to determine which colour combinations work best.

Your guidelines will also cover elements such as writing guidelines, web design and print design. Once you have a set of brand guidelines, as long as they have been clearly established, it should help everyone from your team to your suppliers designing your marketing material make sure that everything is consistent and looking like it’s from the same company.

Building Block #4: Tone of Voice

Your tone of voice is not what you say, but how you say it. In relationship to branding, it embodies and expresses your personality and reflects the overarching foundation. The words you use on your website and in your marketing collateral can define how people perceive your business.

When establishing your tone of voice, you need to think carefully about whom you are talking to. Do you want to appear casual and friendly or formal and sharp? Your tone of voice needs to be distinctive and recognisable. Carefully selected words can heavily influence customers and by picking a voice that fits your brand and culture can make you more memorable to customers.

One brand that hit the nail on the head in their very early days was Innocent drinks. Their branding is often held up as a shining example of how to get copywriting and marketing right. One of the most significant things about Innocent’s brand voice is that it is relatively informal and friendly. Instead of coming across as a company, it sounds more like a friend who has just made you are smoothie. If you have a look across any of their customer touch points though, you will see that this friendly, off-the-wall formula has been used across all of their content. By having this consistency, consumers are instantly able to recognise a marketing message from Innocent.

One of the most important lessons that can be learnt from Innocent is that success comes from building a unique brand voice. By developing this distinct tone that your customers are comfortable with, your customers are more likely to return to your website or connect with you digitally.

Building Block #5: Consistency

Consistency is key for your business and does a multitude of things for your brand. It can contribute to generating trust, attracting more customers and also creating a professional feel across the business. Ultimately, consistency contributes to brand recognition, so you need to make sure all your marketing elements and messaging is cohesive. Not only does this help strengthen your brand, but it also drives positive sentiment and trust in consumers which ultimately leads to brand loyalty and lifelong customers.

New and returning customers are heavily influenced by the stability that is associated with a solid reputation, and this can only be perpetuated by consistent branding. By keeping a tight rein on brand consistency, marketers are able to drive customer perception for the onset of the engagement all the way through the buyer decision process.

We have seen the power of consistent branding in recent years with Apple. In the early stages, Apple was able to establish an identity that meets their needs, and they have stuck with it. Changing the look or approach of the Apple brand could easily undermine the consumers’ understanding of who Apple are as a company so Apple consistently places a lower case “i” on new digital products – the iPhone, iPad, iPod, iWatch. This ensures that consumers can easily identify a new product as coming from Apple, even if they haven’t heard from them. As a result, Apple is now the world’s most valuable technology brand, and has been the front-runner for the past six, consecutive years.

Apple’s global domination continues, and although their brand success would be hard to replicate, their strategy and tactics are easily transferable to any brand. Unfortunately it won’t come easily but the consequence of brand consistency is so crucial to a brand’s success, it’s worth investing the time.

Building Block #6: Brand Centurion

Consistency is the key theme that runs throughout all of the points above and any brand manager will tell you how vital it is for a brand to succeed. One of the biggest tasks faced by brand managers though is keeping their marketing consistent. With Brand Centurion, many of the daily struggles are alleviated by providing organisations with one, easy-to-use, powerful asset management tool. Brand Centurion automates all the demanding creation and distribution jobs and ensures that all marketing collateral is consistent every single time.

Written by Liam Beauchamp for Burst Digital – 30/08/2016

If you’re interested in developing your brand, call us today and up your marketing game!

Web-to-Print: The Must-Have for Multi-site Marketers

Posted on August 8, 2016January 3, 2017 by Ed Entecott

You may have considered implementing an asset management tool on a number of occasions but not quite got round to it. You always seem find an excuse as to why now is not the right time – i.e. you don’t have the staff to implement the software, you don’t have the budget or maybe you already use Dropbox or other cloud storage tools so you don’t need an asset management tool. With their wealth of benefits though you are potentially missing out on an tool that for many successful marketing departments are indispensable.

There are basic asset management tools will essentially act as centralised repository in which business can efficiently store, organise, access and distribute a large number of marketing assets. Whilst they offer similar benefits to cloud storage, there are a number of asset management tools that can deliver so much more.

When producing large volumes of print marketing content on a regular basis and delivering it to different audiences across different stores, adopting an asset management tool with web-to-print capabilities offers an array of added benefits.

Brand Uniformity

Your brand is your strongest asset as it represents your company identity and your corporate values so it is vital that this is maintained across all your business locations. Your brand needs to communicate the same message across all channels because a lack of uniformity can weaken your brand. Within large, multi-site organisations, there will be more than one person responsible for branding and if tight controls aren’t in place, branding mistakes will be made. A web-to-print solution improves consistency across all marketing as design elements can be locked down meaning they can’t be changed. This allows you to have tighter control over your marketing assets.

Increased Efficiency

Ordering printed marketing material can be a laborious task. If you have to call multiple vendors, request quotes, design and send files, wait for proofs, make corrections, and wait for your products to arrive all slow down the time to market. This is valuable time that could be spent on more important tasks. A web-to-print solution can eliminate many of these tasks and help avoid costly mistakes. Costs are negotiated ahead of time, approved templates are uploaded onto a web based dashboard so you have instant access, and only agreed elements can be edited prior to printing. The order process can take a matter of minutes – instead of days.

Centralised Purchasing

If you have numerous people ordering printed stationery from numerous vendors, costs can very quickly spiral out of control. It can also become difficult to track what you are spending. With an effective web-to-print solution, you can manage budgets by seeing exactly who is ordering what before approving the order. By using a single vendor, you have tighter controls over your budgets.

Personalised Marketing

A massive 79% of people will act on direct mail if they feel like it is personal to them. Unfortunately though, many marketers are missing opportunities by concentrating their personalised marketing efforts online. With some web-to-print solutions, you can integrate and manage your CRM data to enable personalised marketing. This means artwork can be pre-populated with personalised information so your direct mail piece makes a greater impact.

Digital Repository

As well as storing print marketing assets, many web-to-print solutions can also be used as a store for digital assets including Facebook banners, email signatures, videos, PDF’s or photography. This makes it incredibly easy to share approved digital assets. This ensures that your teams are using the right version of the right asset ensuring overall brand consistency. And because web-to-print software works away from your internal IT software, you can rest assured that your files are safe.

Cost Saving

One of the biggest costs relating to the production of marketing assets is the use of a graphic designer. From the original designs, to re-edits – the cost can quickly accumulate. Even for the simple task of re-working of business cards can be a huge expense if you have to produce multiple versions for different people. With a web-to-print solution, you can upload pre-approved templates that allow you to customise only the agreed elements. This could include elements such as the name field, telephone number and email address of a business card. With simple drag-and-drop, this removes the need for a designer to artwork these jobs. This means your designers time can be better spent on the more important tasks.

Web Based

As mentioned, web-to-print software works away from your internal IT software. This means there is no software to download and it be accessed 24/7 on any device, anywhere in the world. This also removes the hassle of phone calls and emails to get a print run started – you can do it all from the portal.

Brand Centurion

If web-to-print sounds like something that your organisation could benefit from, Brand Centurion from Burst Digital could be the right solution for you. We can work with you to ensure your branded marketing assets are consistent, accessible and centrally stored so you can access them as soon as you need them.

If you’d like more information about Brand Centurion or a demo, simply call 01293 660722.

Continue Reading: 5 Signs you Need Web-To-Print Software

Written by Liam Beauchamp for Burst Digital – 08/08/2016

Direct Marketing Facts & Statistics, CMO Council, 2015

https://www.cmocouncil.org/facts-stats-categories.php?view=all&category=direct-marketing