As a follow-up to this earlier post, I thought I’d provide a hand-dandy little Excel spreadsheet that you can use to compute marketing project budgets.

Customer Lifetime Value Calculator

This spreadsheet addresses more than just the LCV – you can actually use this to sheet to calculate retention rate, for instance). It’s a great tool you can download directly from here:

(Thanks to Microsoft Office Online Community for providing this resource)

At Kinesis, the #1 question I get is, “How much will it cost?”

To which I say, “What’s your budget?”

I know this sounds a tad flip, but the reality is the driving force behind a marketing effort should not be the price of the project. On the contrary: the emphasis behind any marketing effort should be the potential return on that project.

What I mean is this: most businesses see a marketing project, like a website, as an expense. They use emotion (or “best guess”) to pre-determine what that expense is worth, then start the process of shopping around for a firm that meets their expected budget number.

Sadly, 9 times out of 10, this strategy is doomed to fail. Read More…

I’m very excited today! We’re in the final phases of a test marketing campaign for our long time client, Amfit. The results are nothing short of phenomenal.

Despite the tough economy, Amfit took the bold step and launched a new product in a new market. While it seemed like a risky move, Kinesis’ marketing analysis and projections helped Amfit see the potential.

In the coming weeks I’ll develop a case study for this project. But in the meantime, here’s a quick synopsis:

• Kinesis worked with Amfit to define the target industry and lead list. We then calculated the potential profit and lifetime value of these new customers to better formulate a marketing budget.
• Kinesis then developed a strategy to reach out to this list. This included direct mail, personalized URLS, web micro sites, follow-up tracking, and direct sales calls. We created a system whereby Amfit could see – down to the customer – who was responding to their direct-mail and email efforts.
• After developing a system and sales materials, we segmented the lead list and split off 4 “test” groups. These small groups were used as a mechanism for analyzing our delivery system and campaign messages.

The results? Huge Profits. Here are just a few highlights: Read More…

We’re pleased to announce the most recent success of one of our longstanding Portland clients, Delap. Last week, the Association of Accounting Marketing (AAM) selected the Delap logo as the winner of the “Best Logo Design” category. Each year the AAM recognizes accounting firms and marketers for their outstanding contributions to the profession.

A panel of judges, including professionals in advertising, consulting, professional services and marketing, judged 228 entries in 20 different categories. This is a big win for the firm and aligns perfectly with their expansion efforts.

Much of the success of the Delap rebrand had to do with the Kinesis process. We worked with the firm to identify their core values, approach to business, and key messages. This extensive research took into account the industry landscape, the competition, and visual opportunities for the firm. Read More…

Kinesis has many clients who are in the financial industry. Recently, a client sent me an article that appeared in the Journal of Accountancy. The article discusses the importance of websites for accounting firms.

Many accounting firms are revamping their marketing efforts and redesigning their websites because they want to attract and retain clients. But even more importantly – they also want to attract talent. There is a deficit of talent in the industry meaning firms are in hot competition for the best and the brightest.

Here is an excerpt from the article:

Read More…

Here’s another great ad utilizing the art of guerrilla marketing for a skydiving school. Definitely gets the point across.

Call it buzz, guerrilla, viral, word-of-mouth, whatever — marketing and advertising stunts and ideas that achieve free attention are working now perhaps better than ever before. Of course, they are much less expensive than TV or print ads so they are a good alternative in this economic climate. And even if the marketer had the money to spend on lavish conventional media campaigns, using guerrilla tactics appears frugal and smart and appeals to an audience that appreciates such attitudes.

If the guerrilla stunt works and gains news media coverage and serious online buzz, then it has also achieved the coveted third-party endorsement and peer-reviews  that are so important to today’s consumers.

A large-scale floor sticker was used in January by a Swiss skydiving school. Their agency, Wirz/BBDO Switzerland, managed to execute a simple idea that achieved media coverage and is still making the online rounds. The images of the city skyline make it extremely clear what Swiss Skydive.org can do for you.

Source: Tuija Seipell, The Cool Hunter

Here’s a little tidbit of info for those who might not quite know what the title web programmer really means.

• Right click a website (how about this one right here?)
• choose “view source”

All that gibberish is the main language of the web, html. When people talk about writing code, that’s the type of thing they’re talking about, they might be talking about php instead of html (French instead of English) but in broad terms knowing how the code works, makes you a programmer. What you do with that knowledge is what makes it an art form.

(404 error image courtesy of css-tricks.com. And yeah, CSS is yet another web language)

To break the concept of a web programmer down a bit more, there’s commonly two realms of programming on the net, front end and back end. Generally what differentiates that is a simple question, “will the user see it?” Meaning, will my visitors be viewing this, or “is this going to make the thing work”? Granted it’s not always that simple, and the two realms are usually intertwined to create a final product, but that’s the distinction I use.

I think the thing that makes a programmer lean in one direction or the other relies on how heavily they fall under the left or right brain concept. To be a programmer you have to value structure and logistics, no matter what type of programmer. However, I believe what pushes the front end crowd is a little bit of “foreign contaminant”. No mater how logical and exact a calculation should be, they can’t deny the intuitive, artistic side. It’s there and it wants to draw something, please.

So, how does this effect the web and all the companies and citizens that inhabit it? Well, the web is an interesting place that requires programming in order to run, but it also marries the left with the right and creates a place for front end programmers to practice their trade, on both sides of that fence.

The next time you’re involved with creating a website, web application, or web anything. You’re going to need a programmer. You probably should also ask yourself if you’ll need back end programmers to get the functionality you want, as well as a front end programmer to get the results you want.

Comic Sans: the typeface that designers love to hate. So what’s the story behind this pervasive font? Why exactly do so many people love it, while others hate it? I came across a student-filmed documentary that asked the same question.

Comic Sans Documentary

Digging a little deeper, I found out that it all started with Rover, the talking yellow dog from the program Microsoft Bob. Look familiar? With the flop of Microsoft Bob, an attempt at an early user-friendly interface for Windows, Rover now currently resides in the search function for Windows XP.

According to the font’s designer, Vincent Connare:

Comic Sans was designed because when I was working at Microsoft I received a beta version of Microsoft Bob. It was a comic software package that had a dog called Rover at the beginning and he had a balloon with messages using Times New Roman.

Comic Sans was NOT designed as a typeface but as a solution to a problem with the often overlooked part of a computer program’s interface, the typeface used to communicate the message.

There was no intention to include the font in other applications other than those designed for children when I designed Comic Sans. The inspiration came at the shock of seeing Times New Roman used in an inappropriate way.

While there was no intention to include the font in other applications…included it was. After being picked up by MS Movie Maker, a similar application using cartoon characters, it eventually landed onto the list of system fonts for Windows 95. From then, there was no stopping it. Read More…

Over the years I’ve observed that one of the most critical elements in design is effective photography. When I say “effective,” I’m actually referring to several aspects such as:

• The photo conveys a sense of competence and professionalism
• The photo conveys the right tone for the business
• The photo feels unique/individual

For today’s post, I’m going to talk about the first requirement: professionalism. In the coming weeks, I’ll address tone and individuality.

Professionalism

Most of us know the difference between a good photo and a bad photo. Unfortunately, many business owners don’t realize that the bar for “good” photography in business is much higher than their family photo album.

Here’s an example from a recent photo shoot for our client, Delap. Managing partner Dave Delap looks professional, relaxed, and approachable. Natural lighting and a great wardrobe complete the picture.

Now contrast this great photo with Dave’s portrait from a couple of years back.

The difference isn’t Dave – it’s the photographer (Colleen Cahill, in this example).  Good photography captures the essence of the person and shows them in the best possible light. It doesn’t matter if you have a 99 million megapixel camera. Good photography depends on the right person behind the camera.

Certainly lighting and studio conditions make a difference. However, some of my favorite photographers make do with little more than natural light and a reflector. They don’t depend on technology and gadgets for great images.

In later posts, I’ll talk more about how to choose the right photographer for your project. Be it portraits, products, or landscapes, each type of photography will require a specific approach. Picking the right talent makes all the difference.

PS: Oregon has some of the best shooters in the country. Here are just a few of the talented studios we work with (thanks for all your great work!):

• Polara Studios/Jeremy Dunham
  
• Susan Parker Photography
• Colleen Cahill
• Scott Harding
• Sean Bagshaw

This ad is so creepy cool, it makes us itch.

People as Fleas on Frontline Dog Ad

Perwanal Saatchi & Saatchi in Jakarta, Indonesia, has taken interactivity and creepy-crawliness to a new, flat level with the creation of this massive “floor sticker” in an Jakarta shopping center .

The ad, for Jakarta’s pet emporium JAKPETZ, promotes Frontline Flea & Tick Spray with the slogan “Get them off your dog.”

Viewed from the upper levels, the people walking on the ad look disgustingly flea-like, and the scene elicits constant reactions that sound something like “yikes!” The team behind this effective promo included Chief Creative Officer Andy Greenaway, Executive Creative Director Juhi Kalia and Art Directors Aryanto Salim and Joel Clement.

Source: Tuija Seipell, The Cool Hunter