I started this business long ago to set out to create a small business focused marketing company that could help individuals that wanted to do marketing but didn’t know how to start, wasn’t sure if they could afford marketing, or just didn’t have the time to do it on their own.
A lot of people have needs, but are not sure how to put together the infrastructure to better understand their needs, organize their thoughts on what they are having success on, and look at where things are falling short. In working with some long time friends and business associates, and learning and watching what worked well, and what didn’t work so well. I introduced something into my business that would be a key cog into better understanding my clients, their pain points, and possible solutions to introduce into their business.
Thus what I now call the “Environmental Scan” or the marketing assessment was introduced! I say this when going through the process, “it’s like when you do a business plan, and pull out that one page section talking about marketing and communication. This however, takes it out and blows it up, and focuses on the marketing, and only the marketing.”
So what is involved in the Environmental Scan? Well I won’t give all my secrets away, but basics that we will cover include “what do you want your marketing effort to support?”, “What is your true passion in business, and what are your bench mark goals for the next level?”“Who is your perfect demographic, and who is REALLY buying from you?” “How are you communicating with your current clients?” and there is more! If you are interested in going through the process by what you’ve already heard, give me a call at: 317.847.3904 or email me directly at rscott@market-ting.com. Operators are not standing by, but i am usually available to talk long enough to set you up for a scheduled meeting to go through a booklet.
Marketing Assessments by Market*TING October 9th, 2018admin
Props to this British Guy for Selling hardcore why your brand is important in the first place
….now let’s talk about the “Re-brand”
Things you need to consider..?
What’s the reason behind the rebrand?
BUT FIRST. Branding 100: Brand – A brand is a name, term, design, symbol, or other feature that distinguishes an organization or product from its rivals in the eyes of the customer.
Now continue.
When deciding whether a re-brand is the right solution for your business or persona, you need to considering why you are doing it, and what communication problems the re-brand can help solve?
A re-brand can be a major mental undertaking when stressing about business operations, but lining up with a professional marketing and communications firm can help with many of the concerns. Reasons why you might need to rebrand include:
Brand new Company (okay….it’s not a rebrand, just brand development, but we thought it would be good to put here).
Damage to your company’s reputation (Have multiple examples of these issues, especially from online).
Confusion with another brand or lack of differentiation from competitors
New ownership or buying a business from an old owner and now making it your own.
A shift in your target audience
A change in product and service offering
Need for a brand new brand strategy
All this is meant or reasons to take companies from the Now and the “When I’ve made it moment” we talk about in the Environmental Scan booklet. If you haven’t did that process yet, make sure you talk to Ryan or one of the team members at Market*TING about how to go through that process.
Do a re-brand because you want to increase profits, or just want a new look is fine. Our company helps all types and sorts, but having a clear vision of results is important as well and will make the process easier for us, and for your business.
2. Brand perception and what is the real, and what is the fake?
Pregunta? (Question in Spanish)
What do people hear, think of, or say when they mention your brands name? Do the identifiers do it justice? If not what identity do you want them to have, when thinking of you? Do you think your brand is the top of the class, but on the street people value your products and services like the blue light special (dating myself….maybe), or just as comparable to every one else. The environmental scan might resolve some truths or perceptions customers, and people have about your business that you did not know. A Qualitative Research Perception study might also dig into what your clients, customers and others are thinking about you brand.
Alternatively, if you’d like us to conduct a environmental scan, investigate a perception study, and/or re brand! That’s a lot right, but we would like to leverage our experience and expertise. So you know what to do…send us an email to rscott@market-ting.com or give us a buzz at: +1 317.847.3904 We will work anywhere (But we prefer a tropical paradise, and meetings on a beach…and we are serious). Let’s talk today!!!
If you’ve gotten this far in the article you might already be ready to pull the trigger, and I commend you. Not for just making the next move in your re-brand decision, but continuing to read through this, cause writing NOT my labor of love. But also the reason why we hire content writers for our PR and Communication strategy projects!
3. What am I working with (Resources)?
Some say a re-brand is no just a graphic designer churning out a new logo, well that is a re-brand to some, but you already know when working with Market*TING you just don’t work with a graphic designer, but you are taken through an entire creative process.
I like to separate the re-brand into two different phases:
I. The Visual re-brand.
II. The psychological re-brand (when you really change the game on how people thing of you)
This might flip some of my clients out! You don’t have to do a logo re-brand to re-brand, we just love getting rid of old logos that really do need to be updated, or changed, but it’s not impossible to remain with the same logo (even even same visual identifiers and not change the logo…it is detrimental though that messaging is different. Topic for another day.)
A re brand is definitely a multiple phased approach that can include aspects that affect or even change: your business name, business associations, taglines, company culture, brand values, brand identifiers, mission, vision, value and position statements. Along those lines your messaging and content, and hopefully marketing material (digital and print) will also change, although so many people keep things the same….sometimes to their detriment.
Don’t forget the original questions I tossed out to you in the beginning, “Why the heck am I about to do this?”
Other key tidbits at this point include:
Who is going to be involved in the process?
Who is the main decision maker?
Who is the final decision maker (Because sometimes these first three people are all different, and that really makes a marketer rip his hair out.)
How will you give and receive feedback.
How do you plan on telling customers of these changes….don’t surprise them like The Gap.
Here’s a stupid thing that I guess I have to tell people, but I am never sure why..? You need a budget to pay for a re-brand, and NO having your wife and kids sit down and ask them what they think really isn’t the same value as a professional companies consulting time on this….I promise.
Costs and efforts YOU should be thinking about: Market Research (informal/formal qualitative/quantitative), photography, video, content writing (copy/messaging), production of NEW LOOK branded collateral, campaigns (to announce new brand), and intellectual property costs and fees (we are not lawyers but know you will get sued if you don’t do things correctly).
You don’t need to read any more, and looking to get this launched like today! Want to know more first?
Send us an email to rscott@market-ting.com or give us a buzz at: +1 317.847.3904 We will work anywhere (But we prefer a tropical paradise, and meetings on a beach…and we are serious (2X)). Let’s talk today!!!
4. What’s my timeline?
Let’s be honest Mr./Mrs. Client you will drag this process out traditionally longer than I (The consultant) but before we get started please DO consider what’s the timeline that you not only want to come up with the finished product, but also how and when you launch it to the public (not to mention what that looks like). I have had a pretty good record with clients going through the re-brand process, but things haven’t always been perfect. Sometimes people have aggressive time frames (but not the patience to follow through on finishing the process).
The biggest mistake would be throwing out a random number on how long the re brand process might take….and that is a hard thing to answer because not all re-brands are created the same. Market*TING personally has gone through the process multiple times and the process can take a few months to 1 year or 2 depending on how many stages you take to reveal elements of your brand.
Some would argue a brand re-fresh is maybe a quicker option, and that is possible. But that could mean just changing the design of the logo, updating materials, or 1. Communicating the same messaging, but switching the look and feel OR 2. Keeping the same look and feel, but switching the messaging.
IF you are looking for STRONGER BRAND LOYALTY, MORE FOCUSED MARKETING STRATEGY AND MORE LEADS, A re-brand might be the right move for your organization. What can a bigger, SMARTER brand do for you?
What ever steps or direction you take, give us a call! Market*TING was started to give companies great ideas! Send us an email to rscott@market-ting.com or give us a buzz at: +1 317.847.3904 We will work anywhere (But we prefer a tropical paradise, and meetings on a beach…and we are serious (2X)). Let’s talk today!!!
Things to consider for a rebrand. August 22nd, 2018admin
There are many sides to to your business branding and marketing that will contribute to your success. Market-Ting! can help you create those materials whether traditional media, print and for the web. Partnering with Viral Booth Indianapolis we took the opportunity to develop branding and marketing materials,from banners to a car wrap. Lastly building out a custom website.
Market-Ting! your brand development team March 4th, 2017admin
Non-profit or government website design, development and maintenance can be a challenge. Creating a eye catching and efficient website that represents you and your community properly is important to the people you serve. Market-Ting!’s team can help navigate the process. From creation of a robust website that will drive engagement to updating post-launch we can help you in all aspects of web design and development. Market-Ting can design websites that are fully optimized for viewing on all platforms. Post-launch Market-Ting can host your website and continue to manage your content or assist you with it. When you are ready to step forward and develop the website that accomplishes your objectives, and is user friendly reach out to Market-Ting!.
Building Better Websites in a On-Line World February 9th, 2017admin
Sometimes being straight forward is needed in this crazy world of information, were everyone is an expert. I decided to write a blog to those individuals who might need help with a website, new or old, and just aren’t sure which direction to turn on a company that matches and meets their specific needs.
Market*TING in specific is a company that is wired for “SMALL BUSINESSES.” This is not the federal term for small businesses because those number can be anywhere from 50 people to 1,000 people. The average size company I am working with probably has 4-5 individuals, so first thing to note is NOT ALL SMALL BUSINESSES ARE THE SAME.
I prefer the opportunity to work with one person on these web projects (input of course is appreciated), but the biggest thing that helps make the directives and decisions the easiest is having a technical representative from the company, even if that person is not technical. That helps us with delivering the information to the right person.
Market*TING’s process for websites is as follows:
1.) Sending a general website questionnaire to client that gives us basic information on what is it you are trying to accomplish, who is the audience, what are some colors that are important. Who are some websites that you really like (or parts of the site) what are some website that you really not like.)
2.) We then start mock-ups based on information provided and directives and inspiration from client and design team. Mock-up can be helped with a pre-built template idea, but could also be built from scratch.
3.) All information updates, and check offs for approval will be shared on www.basecamp.com our online Project management system. It is all cloud based so can be viewed, and downloaded anywhere.
4.) The last steps really come in the meat of the work, which can take anywhere from 1 month on a very fast track projects, to an entire year depending on the scope of the project, and how responsive people might be once updates happen and once items are turned in.
Things to think about when building a website go beyond just the website (of course). Super important items to consider include: photos (real or stock), video, fonts, number of pages, functionality, should it be responsive design? Do I need eCommerce? This is just a few items to consider. If you need to process this more, or maybe talk to someone that might help you decide more on what your process might look like, we’d love to speak with you. Give us a call at: 317.847.3904 Ask for Ryan. Market*TING – Giving Companies Great Ideas.
Market*TING is a Central Indiana Marketing and Communications firm that services the greater Indianapolis area, but also surrounding areas in Fishers, Noblesville, Westfield, Carmel, Zionsville, Whitestown, Avon, Brownsburg, Muncie, Columbus, and also regionally here in the Midwest. We provide Logo Design and development services, Branding, Website design and development, social media and marketing strategy. We hope to work with firms who need a strategic marketing consultant with all the resources of the big box full service agency,but the ability to focus on growing the relationship, and taking on projects no matter big or small.
Need a website designed in Indianapolis, Indiana? December 5th, 2016admin
So a lot of people just seem to be completely unaware of hacking…truth is I was one of those people….until it happened to me! Now, it wasn’t me specifically…but it did effect one of my clients. I did feel a little bad about the situation, but one thing I DO try to warn clients is, invest in the extra security just in case something goes wrong…..I’ll come back to that story in a bit. Let’s start with some basics like, WHAT IS HACKING?
It is simply the method somebody uses a computer to gain unauthorized access to data in a system.
Now you’ve seen major companies get hacked on the news, the Ashley Madison’s, the US Government, Yahoo, Google, Facebook….but what about ma and pa’s record shop, or upholstery cleaner? Why would someone want to hack them…. Simply stated because they can. Just like anyone who takes advantage of someone else who doesn’t have control, it’s to effect them mentally, and somewhat physically (functionally not being able to use their website).
Is it possible to stop, are there full proof methods? Not exactly…..there are tons of software, programs encryption methodologies and more….but nothing is full proof. Companies paying 1000’s of dollars monthly still get hacked. Why, because vulnerabilities pop up through the biggest weakness involved in the technical process, human error.
We forget to update plugins, we give weak passwords, we give our password out to everyone, we don’t add extra layers of security. we avoid minor costs. There are a number of reasons, BUT prevention starts first with:
1. PICK A STRONG PASSWORD – Please pick one you haven’t used before, hackers pick up on rhythmic things like that… Make up one using all types of cases and characters, write it down and move on.
2. Invest in extra layer of security – One I just invested in for a client that has worked like gangbusters is Site Lock. They scan daily, and send me warnings right away not only if or when I get attacked, but also if there are warning signs from the design infrastructure that say…”This could be a problem down the line”
3. Change can be good – This sounds a bit like one, and two as well – Change to a secure password regularly, don’t always have blog posts that people can comment on, eventually disable those comment areas.
There are a lot of things you can do….as I was telling you this did happen to a client, however they did not want the extra security or my reassurances, what was done was done…..learning lessons.
If you are looking for more information on the subject matter, there is a ton out there. However if you are infected, or feel like you might need help cleaning up your backend up, or getting rid of malware? Call the team at Market*TING – Central Indiana’s marketing and communication leaders. We do web design and development, branding and graphic design services. Social Media consultation and training, and lastly website design and development services for both new and existing clients. Let’s see how well your website might be protected.
Hacking isn’t just a Winter time sickness..! February 5th, 2016admin
Market*TING has been working with companies throughout Indianapolis from the beginning on helping them understand what is social media, which channels they need to be on, and creating rich, creative, and interactive content that drives business to their respective organizations. Over the last 6 years however the number of relevant social networks has increased, and dramatic demographic shifts have occurred. It is important for companies to know WHICH social network is right for them? I will cover a few that I hope will help you out httpss://www.powerball-lottery.org/how-to-play.
Social Media and What you need to know. August 28th, 2017admin
This is all about our new clothing line James Scott Apparel. A lifestyle brand with sharp looks, great materials, and more in mind!
This has been an extremely involved marketing challenge overall because one it is a heavy product focus, and to be honest, the Market*TING team doesn’t work with a ton of products, more so services for companies and organizations.
The other difficult thing is, Owner of Market*TING, Ryan Scott, is the co-owner of the company, along with partner Fenrick James. What has happened is every element of Market*TING has been utilized and tested, and more! Initial company development focused on the naming of the organization. We quickly vetted that out internally, but next was the look that would develop and being the visual essence of what we eventually called James Scott Apparel. After getting a number of marks we had a good feeling about, I decided to attack our demographic, young women, looking for something high quality…so I went to a popular college watering hole in Downtown Indianapolis, and asked our demographic what they thought. That great feedback led to some of our first designs of our private label brand.
Other efforts that immediately followed in the next coming months included doing high caliber fashion photo shoots, developing our web and social media presence. Creating a marketing campaign that spoke to the essence of the brand #WhoIsJamesScott? Developing a variety of new looks for our t-shirt brand, and launching our university branded division. The company has been around over a year now, we’ve sold over 1000 shirts, and pushing for stores to pick up our brand for the holiday season.
We are not experts in fashion marketing by far, but we have developed a pretty strong road map for success, and would love to speak with other organizations that might be looking to expand their clothing and apparel ideas, or other products that they might be looking to push, and build the brand of.
Who Is James Scott? Apparel Marketing Story in the making… October 15th, 2015admin
We’d like to talk about some basics of website design and development, and give you a better idea of what our process looks like.
What does the “typical” process look like when it comes to working with Indianapolis based Market*TING on developing a new, or redesigning an existing digital space online. First things first is our “discovery” process.
The discovery process is going to ask some basic questions like. What does your organization do? What is the purpose of developing the website? Who is the audience that we are designing for (this isn’t always your typical consumer, or customer).
After we get the main information for who, what, where, when (idea of), and why. We move on to the next steps of discovery.
1. Getting a sense of what is your online brand, and what does that strategy look like? Having a website is good, but it is never enough in this time and age of internet marketing.
2. What is the website structure that will make up your website? There are a multitude of ways we can build your website, but we need to figure out what road map and construction will be best for your particular audience. This could include building a wire frame, a site map, or simply determining which, and how many pages will be needed for the website.
3. Functionality is always the difficult part when it comes to websites, and what the client wants. A lot of times clients aren’t aware of the time frame that goes into the programming of a website, determining what functionality they want on the website will a lot of times determine how difficult of a programming challenge the design might be. Early on I was advised, anything under the sun can be designed on a website, it’s just how much time, and how much money does a client want to spend. Functionality could include flash graphics, special forms, drop down menus, custom branding, video, or a dancing baby going across the screen.
This is just the first phase of what we go through in the web design process. Stay tuned for our follow up on the “process” If you are exploring a new web presence and located in Central Indiana or beyond, give Market*TING a call. We would love to develop a web solution that is right for your organization.
Marketing and Brand Strategy is the foundation building blocks for our company, but there is nothing we enjoy more than developing the ethos of a companies visual appeal, and the logo design process is where it’s at.
I love Logo Design.
I love Logo Design.
I love Logo Design.
Have I mentioned I love Logo Design? This isn’t an exercise to convince myself that the logo design is really cracked up to what I am saying it is. It is just reinforcement that having the ability to develop the entire look and feel of an organization is a fun process. It just doesn’t stop at a logo however. Once you get beyond developing that logo/identity mark, you then are able to spread that elements of that identifier to other components like the website and the digital space (and it is very important that all of those follow similar look and feel). The visual branding can then be carried through all brand and physical pieces as well.
If there is a strong rationale developed for the logo design, organizations are also able to carry those brand identifiers into long lasting campaigns that speak to, and represent their organization
If you are located throughout central Indiana or beyond, give the team of Market*TING a call, we would love to sit down and learn a little bit more about what design challenges you might have, and if you are looking for a new logo design, or a tweak to your existing identifier I don’t think you’ll find too many other teams who are as thorough as Market*TING.
Logo Design: Nothing More Fun Than This! October 19th, 2015admin
