Principles for Logo Designing

Here is a new checklist while you consider the new logo for your business. The list is tenative and i will update these as the time passes.

1. Clean

Sometimes less is more. Most great logos are very simple.

2. Catchy

You want a design that will make an impression on people’s minds.

3. Dateless

Generations come and go, but you want your logo to be ready for any fad that comes.

The Coco-cola was logo was created in 1885, making it 125 years old. Things to ask about a design; will it still be catchy and hip in 5, 15, 125 years? What helps logo’s to stay trendy is that the style of it isn’t based on any fashion trend that is currently hip, but from the elements of design, and applying it to the logo’s product. For example if Coca-Cola were to go back and use the logo they started out with in the late 1800’s then you would immediately be able to identify that product as being Coca-Cola. However what if I showed you the IBM logo they developed in the late 1800’s chances are no one would be able to identify the company. Granted there will be refinements in logos over time but they should be subtle. Do not get refinement confused with complete alteration of the logo.

4. Relevant

You wouldn’t show up to a wedding looking like you just came from a baseball game! (Unless you’re going for Brad Pitt’s new look)

5. Adjustable

If its on a billboard, or scaled down to fit on a pencil, is it still recognizable? What if your design gets run in the newspaper is going to look good in just black and white?

6. Meaningful

High-class logos always have some aspect of their business hidden within them.

Can you see the “go to arrow” FedEx has put in their excellent logo? There’s a saying, “You can’t go dressed looking like a 100 bucks if you’re dressed in 20 dollar bills!” People are going to notice if you cheap out on your design or if it’s professional done.

7. Universal

Languages, trends, and other aspects that your logo will incorporate can change from place to place. Your logo needs to have details in it such as the way the colors curve, or the general shape so that if your logo needs to be printed in another language everyone still knows it’s your product, and that you don’t offend to many cultures in the meantime.

8. Font or Symbol

If your going to use both a graphic and spell out what your business is, you need to make sure they fit with each other, and aren’t like two jealous girls fighting for attention.

9. Cleverness

The more popular interesting logos are designed with elements that you know what the name of the business is without literally spelling it out. It can be a very hard thing to accomplish, and though you want people to interpret what you do from your logo, you don’t want your logo to be misinterpreted like this logo on the right.

Here are some simple things to look for in your logo design. Because your logo will represent you and the quality of work your company does, its important to make sure you’ve hired the best person for the job! What are your thoughts? Anything we forgot to mention?

How To Use Twitter Effectively

illions of people are connecting through social media, so it's no wonder that advertisers and marketers are hustling to get in on the action. In the past year, we've seen many brands step into this new world only to fail miserably.

After one analyzes many of the marketing flops on Twitter, the underlying issue becomes apparent: To be an effective marketer on Twitter, you must first stop thinking like one.

Marketing on Twitter requires a shift in your mindset. Twitter is all about simple conversations; you can't use press releases, marketing copy, or other one-way communication tactics and expect results.

Customers want interaction—with you and with each other. Tweeting is one-to-one, with the benefit of being in a public space where other customers may read your conversation and interact with each other on your behalf.

Below are seven tips for brands looking to grow or establish a Twitter presence.

1. Know the rules: Get to know your neighbors

It's important to remember that Twitter is a community and that every community has its own set of rules. Before you jump into the conversation, spend some time watching and learning. You'll find that most people are very friendly and supportive, but it's best to understand the ground rules first.

The easiest way to jump in is to ask for help. That may seem strange, as brands are used to being in the driver's seat, typically telling consumers what to do. You may think asking for advice makes your brand vulnerable, but the fact is it's one of the things that makes social media great.

2. Connect person to person: People don't talk to brands, they talk to people

It doesn't matter how large your company is. On Twitter, people want to connect to a person. They are not interested in talking to your "brand." Make your updates personable and human, not scrubbed and polished like a press release. It's fine to be a little rough around the edges.

If you can, identify a real person to write the updates to give a face to your tweets. For example, Comcast's Twitter account @comcastcares is headed by Frank Eliason, director of Digital Care. Eliason even lists his direct email and personal website on his profile, which not only gives a human face to the company but also helps build trust in the conversation.

By using Twitter, Comcast is offering an alternative, less-corporate outlet for customers to receive support. Customers are able to ask questions and can be communicated with on their own turf—no more having to wait in long lines, no need to press 4 for more options!

3. Create a conversation: Twitter is a two-way street

Some companies might eye Twitter as another "channel" to conquer. That kind of thinking is dangerous with interactive marketing. Social media is not about building a channel; it's about creating a conversation. Your job should be to get people talking by posing questions, asking for input, and connecting them as a trusted third party.

Creating a conversation requires something that many marketers are not used to: actively listening to customers. That is what makes social media wonderful. Since consumers now have more choices and are able to jump from brand to brand in an instant, that relationship has become more crucial than ever.

4. Promote a dedicated ambassador: Make social media part of your plan

Social-media outlets such as Twitter work best when they are frequently updated. The most prolific companies on Twitter have tens of thousands of updates. That may seem like a lot of work, but it doesn't have to be; the updates tend to be short, quick, and off the cuff.

We find that it works best when our clients designate a single person internally to act as a social-media liaison, or ambassador. Doing so ensures that the updates occur more frequently and result in less clutter. The social-media ambassador can then begin to build relationships with key customers, and those customers are then able to act as brand ambassadors.

Be sure to also establish some "rules of engagement" for your ambassadors. They will need guidelines to help them decide which conversations they should participate in and which should get escalated within your organization.

5. Have something to offer: Give people a reason to follow you

People love to pass on information, and if people are following your brand they are already showing a proclivity to your message. So why not reward them? Offer inside information, special offers, or one-to-one conversations with customers who follow you through social media.

Once you have been using Twitter for a while, you'll notice key people who like to talk about your company (aka "Influencers"). They are worth more than you can imagine!

Encourage users by converting them into brand ambassadors: Invite them to your private product launches, let them contribute to new feature requests, and ask them how you can improve. Not only will you gain firsthand, unfiltered information on how your products are used in the real world, but you'll also activate a network of ambassadors to give you the best thing you could ask for: positive word-of-mouth.

6. Link Twitter to your website: Integrate your messaging

Twitter is a very flexible technology, which is what makes it so powerful. That Twitter can be set up to automatically update your followers every time you post a blog entry or that any RSS feed can be rebroadcast through your Twitter postings are examples of Twitter's strengths. However, be careful not to abuse those strengths: Too many automatically generated posts will make you lose that all-important human factor.

Another great option is the ability to add buttons, badges, and widgets to sections of your other sites (articles, pages, etc.) so that visitors are able to tweet your content. Each article or page can be linked with a button that allows customers to send an update to their followers with a quick blurb and a link to your page. Again, keep in mind that people generally tweet only interesting or compelling content, and a list of products or features may not be very intriguing to them.

(Find awesome add-ons here: http://twitter.com/badges and http://sharethis.com/.)

7. Track conversations: Listen and learn

By using the @reply feature, it's easy to discover people talking about your brand. The Twitter search function also allows you to search by your company or product name. Use those tools to discover the things being said about you in real time. Stay on top of what's being said about you by frequently checking your @replies; you might be surprised by what you find.

More-sophisticated tools allow you to graph conversation activity over time, as well as monitor positive and negative sentiment among users. Using those tools provides you with a more in-depth understanding about what people are saying; that, in turn, will help you develop more-relevant conversations.

Social media-focused agencies offer more robust monitoring tools that can provide a dashboard view of conversations around a brand.

Cause Marketing: A take

Much of what we do as marketers is motivated by world trends driving demand for our products. For example, GM tried (and failed) for years to build a mass-market electric car, but that was before words like "green" became part of the common lexicon. Now that consumers have caught up, major auto marketers are in a race to capture market share with their own brands of fuel-efficient vehicles.

While socially conscious businesses have always been around, now more than ever, consumers are making buying decisions based on a preference for doing business with organizations and brands that demonstrate an authentic involvement in supporting our communities and our world.

So which social marketing movements have longevity? Here are three to consider--and some practical tips on how to make them work for your business over the long haul.

1. Cause Marketing

Why it's important: The concept of "Ubuntu"--I am because you are--is fundamental to doing business across the African continent. Many multinational corporations are taking advantage of the concept of doing good in business to build authentic corporate reputations and drive enduring brand preference. These companies are responding to a seismic shift in social awareness, which, as consumers' values change, is impacting the sales register.

But indian companies have been slow to embrace and monetize this powerful opportunity.

Cause marketing takes the notions of philanthropy and corporate social responsibility one step further by engaging the consumer in a brand or company's social work. In recent years, marketers have become more aware of the fact that connecting brands with the right cause can be a powerful way to create an emotional tie between the product and its consumers. Over time, consumers will associate a brand with a positive cause and even regularly purchase a brand because of its affiliation with the cause. It's a win-win situation for both the charity and the company and is an increasingly popular strategy.

How to make it work for you: The trick to making real, long-term brand connections between a cause and a company is finding the right strategic partnership. The most effective campaigns are those that transparently connect both sides' enlightened self interests.. making the proposition believable and worthy of the resources and effort that successful partnerships require.

If you're building a new social responsibility platform for your company, don't just choose a random cause, consider this an opportunity to learn about what's most important to your business. Take time to consider causes that best match your company culture, and ask your employees about the causes that matter to them. If you can't see and easily explain the connection between your brand and your charity, consumers won't buy it. Univercell has come up with one campaign by actor Mahesh Babu with preaching 'No Tobacco, in the South. But Mahesh in real life is a smoker and does not shy away from showcasing it even in the movies.

Cause marketing is a natural fit for experience-based campaigns. Whether this means directly engaging consumers in a face-to-face conversation, creating a memorable event or installing a pop-up store, companies that utilize cause marketing have a variety of opportunities to build long-term consumer awareness, support and loyalty.

Real-world case: To maintain a long-term cause-marketing effort, companies must find a sustainable way to fund them. Practically speaking, marketing dollars alone cannot support a charitable commitment for long. One effective solution is the sale of branded goods and services. A good example is Product Red, a coalition of consumer brands such as Nike and Apple that donate a portion of the profits from their specially designed red products to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.

It is also important for the companies not to get engaged in too many of the 'Causes'. Idea Cellular has got into too many causes that now it is hard for an average customer like me to identify it either with 'Save Paper' or 'Democracy'or 'Anti-Casteism'.

The phrase "cause marketing" often conjures up images of co-branded products where a percent of sales is donated to a charity. In fact, the most savvy cause marketers are flipping the equation and approaching their efforts as marketing causes, not "cause marketing," applying the full range of marketing strategies, engagement tools and expectations to cause-related efforts. Look at Whirlpool: It doesn't simply give a percentage of profits to Habitat for Humanity. The company outfits Habitat homes with appliances, launched a community outreach program to support build efforts, and has funded standout advertising campaigns featuring celebrity endorsements.

2. Sustainability

Why it's important: The public now believes the wealth of scientific evidence that demonstrates that climate change is real. When the recession stripped consumer credit and buying power, a back-to-basics lifestyle became more popular--which happens to be healthier for the wallet, the planet and people.

The Boston Consulting Group's "Global Green Consumer Survey," released in 2009, found that 66 percent of consumers think it's important or very important for companies to offer green products, and 73 percent believe companies should have a good environmental track record. The survey also pointed to an increased interest in sustainability. From 2007 to 2008, respondents who systematically attempted to purchase green products increased from 32 to 34 percent. Consumers who said that they were willing to pay more for a green product also rose from 20 to 24 percent.

How to make it work for you: If your company is already producing a product that is natural or sustainable in some way, don't be afraid to talk about it. The backlash from greenwashing (making false environmental claims) has made many companies hesitate, so the caveat is to be transparent about what you do and communicate your message without being strident. No company can be 100 percent sustainable; everyone is working toward improvement. Acknowledging this fact and finding an authentic way to tell consumers your story are paramount.

If your company doesn't already use sustainable practices, investigate changing the way a product is manufactured or packaged, or consider how some of your internal business practices can become more environmentally sound.

Sustainability does not negate profitability. Hard numbers show sustainability can actually drive costs down over time. Some of these gains can be measured in concrete terms (such as Walmart's influence on supply chain efficiency); other intangible considerations, such as risk mitigation and corporate reputation, can have an immeasurable impact on the long-term health of a business.

Real-world case: We do not have any striking Indian Case, but the idea of Jindal to use the Carbon Credits( and give it publicity) is a good example of how to make the sustainablity work for you.

Procter & Gamble's commitment to creating a sustainable business drove it to apply its innovation and resources to communities in need. P&G's PŪR Purifier of Water is a powdered water clarification and disinfectant treatment that comes in small, disposable packets. In partnership with global health organization PSI (Population Services International), P&G has distributed free PŪR packets to people living in areas with high cholera outbreaks, where access to clean water is a matter of life and death. Since 2003, P&G has helped provide more than 1.3 billion liters of clean drinking water to people in more than 40 countries.

3. Global Interconnectedness

Why it's important: Technology has opened up endless possibilities for business-to-business connections around the world at a low cost. I tend to steer clear of the word globalization, since it implies that we need to lose our individual identities in order to relate to one another. Instead, we're becoming increasingly interconnected--and that's a good thing!

How to make it work for you: There are many ways to create marketing campaigns that are both globally and locally relevant. Regardless of where we come from, we have shared experiences and emotions, such as love, competition, unity, peace and positivity. The first step is to determine which of these common experiences relates most closely to your brand. Ask yourself "What is the enduring emotion I'd like to evoke from my consumers, wherever they are on the planet?"

One of the best ways to strengthen an interconnectedness campaign is to combine it with cause-marketing and sustainability strategies. The idea of making a positive difference in the world--in some shared, specific way--can be an uplifting rallying point for effective collaboration. This can spur and strengthen alliances that go far beyond a single program and campaign, increase financial return and become a way of doing business. Most find that financial benefits follow, further cementing their "interconnectedness."

Lastly, when planning an interconnected marketing strategy, it's important to understand how each constituency's interests align with the other and where you can leverage the strengths of the partners or the group.

Real-world case: I will say that idea of Aircel to get connected with the 'Save The Tiger Campaign' is one like that. Though it might appear to be a campaign supporting the National Animal of India, the deeper meaning is that it is trying to address the extinction of many endangered animals.