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The Power of Frequency

When advertising legend Leo Burnett died in 1971, a book simply titled, Leo, was privately printed and distributed by his associates. Those lucky enough to have worked with the man received a coveted copy. Glen Peak was among the fortunate few.

Leo BurnettIn Leo, a compilation of famous speeches, we find timeless words of wisdom, amazingly relevant today.  In about 1950, Burnett wrote about “the brand” in a speech called, “The power of frequency.” He almost sounds like a modern branding guru when he explains, “Whether it is an impulse purchase like a candy bar or a package of cigarettes or an infrequent and highly deliberated purchase like a washing machine, a refrigerator, a vacuum cleaner or a mattress, the biggest single thing that advertising can contribute is a friendly predisposition toward the brand—a whole complex of thoughts and emotions which give the purchaser peace of mind in the choice he [or she] makes. We shun the unknown. We are naturally drawn to the familiar. You might call this simply ‘friendship for the product.’ Your best friends are people whose qualities you like and admire and whom you enjoy being with—but they are usually people you see frequently. The principle of frequency in advertising has long been recognized. Several great brands have been built around rigid adherence to this principle rather than through the content or power of any single advertisement.”

The idea of a “whole complex of thoughts and emotions” about a brand sounds like modern branding building, doesn’t it? And, Burnett’s emphasis on the power of “friends” seems almost prophetic in this era of social networking.

Although the concept of brand friendship and loyalty hasn’t changed much over the past 60 years, media choices dramatically have. As marketing experts today, we ask ourselves. how much advertising is too much? How much is too little? The battle between reach and frequency is going through seismic shifts in perspective and is altering everything we do.

In light of the changes occurring almost daily, it is beneficial to review some basic concepts in media strategy and examine how those concepts are evolving. To read more about our perspectives on media planning, click here to request our White Paper 3.

Psychology of Color

by Kathryn Clark, Art Director

Color—a difference of a few shades can stimulate, depress, provoke, soothe, and even make us shiver or sweat.

crayonsIn fact, according to a study at Washington State University, people who are surrounded by the color green can endure more pain, and recover more quickly from surgery using fewer drugs.1 Pink, on the other hand, has been shown to have a subduing and calming effect on violent prision inmates.2

If color is this powerful, what is it saying about your brand?

Here are a few of the ways color can influence brand perception:

• People will make riskier bets and gamble more under red lights as opposed to blue lights. This is why you see so much red neon in Las Vegas.3

• Being in a blue room can lower your heart rate and suppress your appetite. Red and yellow have the opposite effect—which is why so many fast food restaurants use these colors.4

• Yellow and red are also the best selling candy colors. Dylan Lauren, the owner of Dylan’s Candy Bar in NYC says that “Yellow is nostalgic, and red is passion. It makes people hungry.”

• Recent studies suggest that nearly all sports are enhanced in blue surroundings—including weight lifting. This may be because people tend to be more calm and focused in a blue environment.5

• Purple stimulates the area of the brain used in problem solving.6

• White pills are the most effective at soothing ulcers, even if they are merely placebos. Green tablets reduce anxiety, antidepressants are best in yellow and blue ones make the most successful tranquilizers.7

While the response to color is altered by personal and cultural experiences, many are universal and can be used for more effective brand positioning. From the office to the candy store, from your house to the grocery store, color affects our lives in amazing ways. Why not harness this power for your brand?

Psychology of Branding

The connections between marketing and psychology are particularly interesting for an agency such as ours with the brand promise, “The Power of Perception®”

The Branding Strategy Insider recently ran an article called Creating The Brand Halo Effect. The halo effect refers to how a product—through effective advertising, promotion and acceptance in the marketplace—takes off in sales, not only for that particular product, but for products associated with the brand.

psychology_halo_stevejobs

The article uses Apple’s iPod as an example of the halo effect. In 2005, the company concentrated advertising dollars heavily on the iPod; however, their overall sales went up 68 percent from the year before. The big news here is that this jump wasn’t only from iPod sales, which accounted for 39 percent; but the other 61 percent of their sales, which came from computers, software and other services. By placing the spotlight on the best product or service from a given company, audiences form certain understanding or perception of an entire brand.

Putting most of your marketing “eggs” and advertising dollars in one basket may not be an easy idea to sell in the boardroom. But focusing on the best horse may increase sales in other areas.

The article also mentions how imprinting is an important concept in both marketing and psychology. In psychology, imprinting describes rapid learning that occurs on a subconscious level. In marketing, the first brand in a new category is often imprinted in audiences’ minds and percieved as more authentic than others. Examples of first brands are Kleenex, Hertz, Heinz and Starbucks.

Carefully managing perceptions to increase the value of brands has been PeakBiety’s focus for years.

Why Making the Logo Bigger Can be a Big Mistake.

by Amy Phillips, Creative Director

It’s a problem that comes up in design 101, and is waged by art directors everywhere. The dilemma of whether to engage the audience or hit them over the head with a client’s logo has endured since David Ogilvy penned his first headline.

Clients who spend money on a web banner or TV commercial naturally want to get the most out of their ad dollars. But pushing the logo into someone’s face as often as a 30-second spot or a tile-sized Web banner will allow, isn’t really the best way to do it. Viewers are way too sophisticated for this tactic. And now they have technology to back them up. One click of the mouse or the remote control, and your logo and the rest of your message are history.

Unless you quickly establish why your ad is relevant to them, they’re unlikely to register anything else. Just think of it as the, what’s-in-it-for-me? syndrome. The people you’re trying to reach are caught up in their own lives. If at home, there are phones ringing, children crying, dinners boiling over and bills that need paying.  At the office, things are even worse. Deadlines loom, sales goals beckon and bosses demand answers. “Now what were you trying to sell me?”

Please…do yourself and your company a very big favor. Don’t let all your hard work and good money go to waste on an audience that isn’t paying attention. Engage them first. Then they might even be interested in your logo.

The Importance of Creative Strategies

by Glen Peak

As I was watching Justin Timberlake’s crowdsourcing effort for his 901 Tequila brand, I was amazed at his proposal.

With almost no information about the product’s goals, messaging or even target market available, how can he hope to get relevant ideas that will generate interest in the brand beyond the first five minutes of buzz?

I can’t “prove” this, but it’s my sense that a lot of advertising—all media forms, including sales collateral—is developed without a clear-cut creative strategy. This sense, born out of experience, seems particularly true in smaller companies that might not have a fully staffed or thoroughly trained marketing department. I’ve also seen loosely defined (if not completely undefined) assignments coming out of larger companies as well. My point? Operating without a well-defined strategy for creative work presents huge risks:

• The audience won’t “get” or understand the value of the product/service, and the dollars spent to produce and distribute the message and materials are significantly wasted.
• The client and agency have no foundation to assess the creative work and render judgment on whether it can work – no matter “how clever” it is in someone’s judgment.
• The strategy makes the agency’s work more focused and therefore, more likely to produce on-target work in less time (read: “save money”).
• When clients and agencies agree to a strategy up front, it minimizes chances for disappointment in the work.

So, if it’s this important, why isn’t there a strategy written to guide the development of all types of advertising? This includes: sales brochures, web content, commercials, ads, etc.

Probable answer: It’s hard work, takes time, is not glamorous and requires studying the target audience’s needs and wants. It involves getting into their heads, deciding what’s unique about your advertising style and knowing how the competition has presented themselves.

So, how often have you looked at some piece of communication and wondered, “Why should I value this product or service? How will it benefit me?” or “How is this different from what I am now using or doing?”

A good advertising agency will insist on a strategy agreement at the beginning to avoid wasting time and money. There are even tests that can be applied to judging the merit of the strategy itself, but we’ll save that for another blog post…

This invisible sales tool will net you visible results.

By Glen Peak, President

You can’t touch it or feel it, but it’s there.  It’s not a pie chart, a graph, an ad or an endorsement.  Yet it can encompass all those things. It can turn prospects into buyers and skeptics into believers.  It’s the difference between brand X and brand Nike. I’m talking about the power of perception(SM).

Even if brand X makes a shoe every bit as good as Nike, it’s unlikely to net half the price—a disparity that hinges on perception. Granted, Nike has spent billions of dollars carefully cultivating its perception.  But even a company with only a small budget can achieve visible results by controlling the way people view its brand.  Which would you rather own:  A watch?  Or, a precisely crafted timepiece worthy of passing on to future generations? I’m sure you see what I mean.

So while your brand’s perception may not be something you can touch or feel, its impact will be clearly seen on your bottom line.

For a step-by-step guide on how to build perception, request a copy of our white paper, “Corporate branding.”

Rebranding An Advertising Agency

By Amy Phillips, Creative Director

When I joined PeakBiety branding + advertising, about 3.5 years ago, it was as if the agency adopted me into a family (and I had adopted an agency). My new digs had a different name on the door and a foreign brand identity everywhere. An identity I had not been involved in creating. It was like wearing someone else’s shoes that didn’t quite fit but I began to get used to them. Or so I thought…

During my first month on the job, a project was opened for a “New Agency Brochure.” What started out as a straightforward concept involving optical illusions and “The Power of Perception,” evolved into much more than a mere brochure. You know the concept is on target when the title of the brochure begins to be considered as a new brand promise.

By the time the creative group had the collective epiphany that we were looking at much more than a new agency brochure, senior management saw the writing on the wall. Literally, the creative team started plastering the walls of the agency with our new iconography and colorful identity. New logo, brand promise, letterhead package, signage, website—you name it—it followed. And the evolution and extension was quite natural as it usually is when the “big idea” is so strategic.

Normally, it’s not easy for an advertising agency to rebrand itself. Brand building for a company, particularly an advertising agency, is an incredibly arduous task even with an in-house design team. Not only is finding time to work on it a problem—when we are busy with paying clients—but feeling satisfied with the work is another. Why do the cobbler’s children have no shoes? Because working on your own stuff can be paralyzing. The self-conscious process is more than intimidating. The work not only needs to be effective at capturing the essence of our company. It needs to be a model of the best of the best. We hold our own branding up as an example of the quality and attention to detail our clients should and could give to their own brands.

The story here is about how branding, or rebranding, can be a journey over time. What starts out as a simple idea gets sharpened, fine-tuned, polished and extended. It becomes embraced and loved by those who have created it and stand by it. More important, it can convey what an entire company stands for. It’s the essence of collaboration and the fruition of consensus. Then, when the right style and design are applied, it sings loud and clear.

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