Your Marketing Makeover

You just got a call from a prospect, and you’re putting together a package of your marketing materials to send out. The problem is, you’ve sent out the same package a hundred times, and the more you look at it, the more you realize that it’s out of date and your message could be stronger.

Time for a complete makeover of the package, right?

Well, not necessarily…

How much do you need to change?

For starters, just because you think a marketing package could be stronger doesn’t mean the recipient will think so. He or she, seeing it for the first time, might actually like it. So go ahead and send it out this time.

So you’re ready for some kind of change — but what? The key is to think strategically. What problems are you attempting to solve — or what opportunities are you seeking to address? You may be able to do it without overhauling everything. And if a large change is necessary, analyze the possibility of doing it incrementally over time.

A touch of lipstick

The Makeover Lite is an attractive option. It can give your marketing materials a fresh new look for a reasonable price.

Sometimes a subtle change can make a big difference. An Indian museum had an original painting of a Native American symbol for a logo. However, when reduced in size — on a letterhead, for example — the logo was hard to decipher.

Before	After

A simple redesign by Sullivan Creative resulted in a logo which was basically the same, but recognizable at any size.

Do you like the look of your brochure, but your marketing message has subtly changed? The writers at your agency can tweak the copy, while leaving the layout and graphics the same.

Have you run out of pocket folders? Here’s a chance to fine tune copy and graphics before going back to the printer.

Are you ready for a new marketing direction, but still have 500 brochures on the shelf? Work with your agency to change your website first. When the brochures are gone, you can incorporate the changes into the next printing.

More rouge, please

Sometimes you need to do more. For example, if your marketing materials were created 5 or 6 years ago, contemporary graphic design concepts have changed quite a bit, and your materials may look outdated in comparison.

An engineering firm had a brochure whose only design element was their logo. They knew they needed to update the brochure and were ready for a new direction.

Before

Sullivan Creative developed a completely fresh look for them and streamlined the copy inside, resulting in a brochure that any prospect would pick up and look at right away.

After

Making substantial changes to one large piece gave the company a contemporary look and new marketing momentum, which they could draw upon when they had the budget to update their website or logo.

The facelift

There are occasions when a wholesale change is required.

• You have a new management team and their strategy includes repositioning the way your products or services are marketed.
  
• Your sales force makes it clear that they are failing to achieve their goals because of the poor quality of the marketing materials.
  
• Extraordinary circumstances — a merger, an acquisition — require a new company identity and marketing direction.
  
• You have decided you want to be more aggressive in your marketing.

A longstanding mechanical contracting firm decided that they needed to recharge their marketing efforts. They had routinely placed small black and white ads in trade publications, but the ads weren’t having a major impact.

Before

Sullivan Creative worked with the company to create a bold integrated marketing campaign that conveyed the company’s mechanical contracting expertise. The new, colorful advertisements sent a message that was consistent with new collateral and website components.

After

A major facelift does not have to tax your budget. Remember that print technology is rapidly changing. With digital printing you can do more for less money, which is good news, since your customers are now expecting full-color presentations.

Website conventions are evolving too: unless your home page is user-friendly and intuitively obvious, it’s out of date. (See Sullivan Solutions Vol. 3, Nov. 3 and Vol. 3, No. 4.)

If you’re going ahead with a complete overhaul of your marketing materials, buckle up and enjoy the ride. A good agency will help you with the whole process, working with you to create a new logo, a new color scheme, a new look and a better message. You’ll learn a lot, you’ll be a hero at your company and you’ll even have a good time!

© 2003 Sullivan Creative

Click here for information about a free analysis of your marketing materials by Sullivan Creative.

Take the Test

Do your marketing materials pass the conference table test?

Put all your marketing materials on a conference room table, bring up your website on the conference room computer, and ask yourself the following questions:

• Do all the materials look like they come from the same company?
• Is your logo used consistently throughout?
• Is the overall graphical look and color scheme consistent?
• Is the message consistent?
• Are the materials up to date with your latest product or service offerings?
• Is it clear how a prospect can respond to you?
• Are there several ways to respond?
• Are your print materials and website consistent in their response options?

If you answered ‘No’ to any of these questions, then you probably need a Marketing Makeover of some type. Take a look at the materials again. Can you think of anything you could add to make your message stronger: testimonials? photographs? a friendlier website? Look at your budget, and take advantage of as many opportunities for improvement as you can.

Click here for information about a free analysis of your marketing materials by Sullivan Creative.

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For information on how we can help you with your next marketing program, contact us at Sullivan Creative.

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