One of the most important tenets of social media is to be transparent; let your fans and followers see what you and your company are all about [...]]]> Everyone wants to stand out from the crowd. With the ease, accessibility, and popularity of social media and Facebook, it seems that every company has their own ‘fan page’ or profile on the service. So how do you make people take notice of yours? Customized Facebook fan pages.

Make it truly your own

One of the most important tenets of social media is to be transparent; let your fans and followers see what you and your company are all about in order to build relationships and trust in your brand. With the updates that Facebook implemented this past February, you can do just that. Flash animation, external data pulls, and actual fan interaction are all possible with the HTML or FBML customization that can now be incorporated into your page design.

Surprisingly, not too many companies have jumped onto this fantastic opportunity for unique, commercial self-expression. A few have, and have done it right.

Examples of great custom facebook pages

The Facebook fan page for iTunes, boasting over 2million fans, opens directly to their customized page. Here users are encouraged to become a fan of the page by the promise of 15 tracks of free music from the service. That’s quite the incentive, and it’s seemed to work well so far. The page gives the general feel that an iTunes user would expect, with familiar color scheme, typefaces, search bars, and general formatting. In fact, the page itself has many of the features that make iTunes so popular (chart listing, podcasts, search/share, etc). This creates a unified overall brand presence between both the application and the fan page. iTunes users feel comfortable here.

1-800-Flowers takes it a step further. Not only do they have an incentive to become a fan through a ‘fan-only’ discount code, but they’ve included a shopping cart feature. Users can actually search, select, and purchase flowers directly from the Facebook fan page. Compared to the traditional method of directing the user back to the company websites, they use the fan page for the entire check-out process, never taking the user away from Facebook or away from the social media experience.

These are just two examples of effective customized fan pages. Plenty more are out there already, and many more are likely on their way. Now is the time to set yourself apart from the pack and make your company stand out from the rest.

Want more examples?

Check out what these brands have done with their fan pages:

Volkswagen
J. Crew
Dunkin’ Donuts
Macy’s
Best Buy
Red Bull
Skittles

Oh, yeah, and if you like what you see, we’d love to have you as a fan, too!

King Design’s Fan Page

King Design will be participating in the annual “CSS Naked Day” scheduled for April 9th. Every year, for one full international day (48hours), webmasters from around the world will be stripping out their CSS (Cascading Style Sheets – the design elements of the site that [...]]]>

Well, our website is, anyway. We believe in adhering to best practices in current Web Standards. And we want to get naked to prove it.

King Design will be participating in the annual “CSS Naked Day” scheduled for April 9th. Every year, for one full international day (48hours), webmasters from around the world will be stripping out their CSS (Cascading Style Sheets – the design elements of the site that make it pretty) leaving only the body copy exposed.  The sole purpose is to show how a nice looking design is only a fraction of what actually goes into creating an effective website.  When built correctly, a ‘naked’ website should still be fully functional with proper use of XHTML, semantic markup, and a good hierarchy structure. This is also what search engines ’see’ when they crawl a site looking for relevant content.

Designing a website that is fully accessible to those who use it takes skill (and patience). It is not always easy to make sure every web page design works with every web browser as well as the newest technology trends – mobile phones, for example. It takes strategic planning, coding, designing for accessibility standards and search engines; validation, QA testing, incorporation of javascript, PHP, and XHTML… just to name a few.

We are so grateful to our lead Web Developer, Dave Scarlatella, who keeps us on track with all of this stuff! And we’re proud to show off the high-quality development work he has put into our own site. Oh, and our clients love him, too!

Want to learn more about CSS Naked Day?

Visit: http://naked.dustindiaz.com and follow CSS Naked Day on Twitter

A brand is more than just a logo. At the heart of every company is its essence: core capabilities, values, key personnel, symbols and metaphors. The art of developing a powerful brand identity lies in pinpointing those defining qualities and bringing them to life through a creative theme. The result becomes a springboard for the company, its products, and all communications. A company’s brand identity becomes the foundation – the touchstone that all marketing and interactions [...]]]>

A brand is more than just a logo. At the heart of every company is its essence: core capabilities, values, key personnel, symbols and metaphors. The art of developing a powerful brand identity lies in pinpointing those defining qualities and bringing them to life through a creative theme. The result becomes a springboard for the company, its products, and all communications. A company’s brand identity becomes the foundation – the touchstone that all marketing and interactions come back to. That’s why it is so vitally important. And it’s from that unity and consistency that the business gains a competitive edge.

As we take a moment to indulge in the spirit of the holiday season, let’s do a quick examination of what is, quite possibly, one of the world’s strongest and most enduring brands… Santa.  After all, it is Santa’s brand that inspires millions to dig deep into their pockets and purchase billions of dollars worth of retail and philanthropic gifts each year for those most important to them - even during the height of a recession!   There have been many brand and marketing strategists who have come before us to dissect what it is that makes his brand so powerful; so while not a novel concept, we at King Design sat down to do our own analysis.  The following is what we’ve come up with to describe the essence of Santa’s brand…

Key Messages:

• Give Generously
• Inspire Kindness, Goodness, and Hope
• Laugh Often – ‘Ho Ho Ho’
• Work Hard

Core Capabilities:

• Quality products delivered on-time and on-budget
• Brings joy to millions
• Ability to know who’s been naughty and who’s been nice

Key Personnel:

• Santa (duh)
• Rudolph and the other reindeer
• The elves
• Mrs. Clause

There are many ways to strengthen your brand image and keep it front and center for your target audience – something your competitors may be shying away from right now as they tighten [...]]]> Yes, if your goal is to keep your sales pipeline full and the wheels of profitability churning, this is the time to invest in marketing your company and maximizing your brand equity.  While always a good idea, in times such as these, it is absolutely imperative.

There are many ways to strengthen your brand image and keep it front and center for your target audience – something your competitors may be shying away from right now as they tighten their budgets.  Lucky you!  By simply investing now, you’re already getting more bang for your buck - less competitor noise!  Marketing your company doesn’t have to cost a lot, but it does have to be smart. 

The Right Foundation is Key

So, where to start?  Well, that depends.  It depends on how established your brand  identity currently is. For example, how persuasive and relevant your key messages are; and the strength and cohesiveness of your current brand symbols – logo, imagery, metaphors, color palette, font treatments (yes, these things all matter… a lot).  Do you fully understand your target market and what they need?  Has anything recently changed within your customer base that might require a different approach?

Before you start investing in a specific marketing tactic – a website, brochure, ad, or tradeshow display, for example, it is wise to assess the brand foundation first.  When a company’s brand messaging, look and feel are disjointed, the strength of a particular campaign in terms of leaving a positive, lasting impression is diminished.  Dollars first invested in a solid brand foundation will ultimately save money in the long run – mainly because once you have it down, it becomes the touchstone that all marketing and interactions come back to.  You don’t have to reinvent the wheel each time.  It cuts down on future design work and this saves you money.  Not to mention the likelihood of an increased response rate as your strategic, cohesive design and tactics start to resonate with your target audience. Learn more about one of the strongest brands in the market today.

Be Smart in Your Approach

If you’re reading this and thinking “yep, already got that down,” then it’s time to think about some smart ways to maintain market visibility this quarter and into 2009.  While a presence on the web is a given for any successful company these days, design for print – brochures, ads, stationery, publications, and displays are still a mainstay for everyday business activity.  Both web and print formats support one another creating a more dynamic branding package when used in conjunction.

Printed mass mailings may be important for your business, but, perhaps, an email campaign might also do the trick in getting your message out without the cost of paper and postage.  Electronic HTML brochures, when done well, can be beautiful and the response rate statistics are measurable.  This might also be the time to better optimize your website for search engines – let them do the work for you in driving traffic to your site.  Think about investing in some strategic promotional items to spread some holiday cheer over the next few months while at the same time getting your message out, once again, in a creative way.

We Can Help

Of course, we wouldn’t be writing this article if we didn’t think we could help.  We can.  King Design is a full-service graphic design and marketing boutique headquartered in Jenkintown, PA, just outside of Philadelphia.  We focus on brand strategy, web design, print design, and promotional marketing.  Check out our services and portfolio at kingdesignllc.com, then give us a call to discuss how we can partner with you to market your company in order to sustain the health and growth of your business during a time when your competitors may be doing just the opposite.