Trike Show: Thomas Golden
August 28, 2009
The Trike Show with special guest Thomas Golden!
In this episode of the “The Trike Show“, Justin is joined by one of Tricycle’s own, Thomas Golden. This is a special inside look into the Trike garage and a behind the scenes look. Thomas recently graduated from Boise State University in May of 2009. In July, he began working with Tricycle as a brand coordinator. As a BC, Thomas focuses on both internal and external projects. Justin and Thomas discuss what a marketing education actually looks like, phasing out of mass media marketing and personal branding.
Trike Show: Ben Quintana
August 26, 2009
The Trike Show with special guest Ben Quintana!
In this episode of the “The Trike Show“, Justin is joined by special guest Ben Quintana, Director of Public Relations and Leadership Development at Boise Metro Chamber of Commerce. Listen for a great discussion about the leadership in Boise, recommended readings, who you should know, networking and a variety of subjects.
What the Heck is Branding?
August 26, 2009
- Identity - creating a name, logo, color scheme, tag line/slogan, etc.
- Awareness - creating I've-heard-of-you in the marketplace.
- Perceptions - developing/creating an image using words, pictures, sounds, etc.
- Promotion - creating behavior in the marketplace; also known as the "squeeze".
- You are getting out-hustled by inferior competition. You know you are better, but they are selling more.
- Your sales results are out of alignment with your business plan. Or to put it another way … your marketing investment is not producing enough sales.
- You struggle every time you have to articulate why someone should buy from you. This is why so many companies resort to cliches or cheesiness.
- Your customers tell you they love you - but also ask you "how come more people don't know about you?" Being a best-kept-secret just means you are not very good at branding yourself.
- Your audience has stopped responding to your advertising/marketing. It's probably not just the medium; it's also the message. You need to re-capture their attention.
Justin Foster | Founder/Partner
Tricycle - Brand Development
Blog: brandmilitia.com
Lifestream: http://justinfoster.posterous.com/
Twitter:http://twitter.com/brandmilitia
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/JustinFoster
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/agencyunderground About Tricycle The true purpose of branding is to inspire people to fall in love with you. When you inspire people to love your brand, you will have greater customer retention, higher marketing ROI, and a legacy that changes lives. Tricycle, a modern branding firm, was created to provide the expertise and systems required to communicate your brand with boldness, creativity, and discipline.
Posted via email from Tricycle’s Lifestream
Trike Show: Phil Vega
August 14, 2009
The Trike Show with special guest Phil Vega!
In this episode of the “The Trike Show“, Justin is joined by local entrepreneur and creator of Joyride Cycles, Phil Vega. Listen to a great conversation about Phil’s story, mountain biking, social media and small business issues.
Questions for Your Brand
August 13, 2009
Why?
That is the best question a business owner or marketer can ask before spending money on marketing. “Why” is answered by having a strategy; a plan for where your brand is going and how you are going to get there. Without a strategy, companies will drift between various tactics and campaigns; wasting time, money, and momentum. They also tend to resort to clichés or gimmicks to try to get their point across. An effective Brand Strategy eliminates all of these concerns by helping to focus on the true purpose of branding - inspiring people to fall in love with you.
In addition to “Why?”, here are 14 others questions to ask yourself about your brand:
· What is the reality of your brand?
· What is the idea behind your brand?
· What makes you truly unique and different?
· Who is your audience – and why should they care?
· What are we going to say?
· How will we get the word out?
· How will we generate new business?
· How will we inspire our employees and customers to talk about you?
· What tools and resources do we need?
· Who will do the work?
· How will we drive costs out of marketing?
· What is your budget?
· How will we collect data?
· How will we prove results?
In this era of transparency and hyper-connectivity, no one can create your brand; your brand already exists. The best brands focus on amplifying what they really are – and communicate it through “fat free” messages, effective tactics, and measurable results. Oh - and if you think social media is a quick fix for a crappy brand, it is not.
Threadless’ Social Strategy
August 11, 2009
Jolie O’Dell from ReadWriteWeb has an insightful discussion with Bob Nanna of Threadless. Threadless is one of our favorite brands. We love the business model, the “democratic” approach to branding, and their culture. My favorite words are in here: “love” and “listen”. With the breakdown of traditional media and standard demographics, ALL branding is eventually one-to-one. This is why brands that approach their audience with the desire to have true relationships will be the ones that thrive. Threadless is a classic example of this.
Tip of the hat to David Armano (@armano on Twitter) for the find.
Posted via web from Tricycle’s Lifestream
Trike Show: Stephen Nipper
August 7, 2009
The Trike Show with special guest Stephen Nipper!
In this episode of the “The Trike Show“, we will be joined by special guest Stephen Nipper, a trademark and patent attorney with the Boise, Idaho law firm of Dykas, Shaver & Nipper, LLP. Listen to a great conversation about trademarks, branding, and blogging.
Inside Netflix’s Culture
August 7, 2009
I’m not sure Netflix is happy that their internal presentation was leaked and posted on SlideShare, but I hope they did it on purpose. We have been preaching for awhile that the leading indicator of a brand’s health is how they treat their employees. As such, this glimpse inside of Netflix shows what they truly are - accountable, personal, and fun. This culture makes it way out to the customer experience, advertising, community involvement, etc.
A secondary thought … typically large companies can learn a lot more from small companies. Corporate cultures tend to be slow moving, soaked in politics, and heavily influenced by shareholder value ( v. customer/employee value). In the case of Netflix, however, there are lessons that small businesses can learn. Chiefly, keep thinking big, but acting small.
PS A tip of the hat to Fast Company’s on-line newsletter - where we first found this.
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