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ISSUE TWENTY THREE

Design-Specific iPhone Apps

also in this issue:

The Funny Side of Print Marketing What is TOMA?

GRAPHIC ADVISOR

Your logo here

ISSUE TWENTY THREE

Design-Specific iPhone Apps

also in this issue:

The Funny Side of Print Marketing What is TOMA?

Design-Specific iPhone Apps Let You Go Mobile typography

color palettes

The Apple iPhone and other smartphones have spawned an entire cottage

In a similar vein, for designers, there is an

Another major category of designer-

You can e-mail palettes to other Palettes

The world of apps is expanding rapidly.

industry of applications that are helping these devices move from being

app called WhatTheFont that uses the

centric apps lets you build, edit and share

users, or you can export palettes so you

New technologies, such as Quick Response

simple communication tools to being computing platforms all their own.

iPhone’s camera to snap a picture of some

color palettes gleaned from colors one

can use them in Photoshop, Illustrator,

(QR) codes and Augmented Reality (AR)

text you might encounter, and it tells you

encounters in the real world. A good

InDesign and so on. Generating palettes

use bar code-like tags printed either

what font it is and what foundry it is from.

one is called simply Palettes, which lets

from pre-existing photos is pretty easy but

in magazines or on other materials or

Some people have become “app happy” and compulsively collect and use many of the bewildering variety of applications available. Can’t identify a

technology

It’s also remarkably accurate, although

you capture and create collections of

depends on the quality of the photo. As

virtual tags embedded in the physical

song playing on the radio or in a store? An app called Shazam uses the

not always 100% so. Probably the biggest

swatches from a variety of sources, such

with the WhatTheFont app, the quality of

environment. A webcam or smartphone

iPhone’s microphone to capture the audio, analyze it and tell you the song

limitation is the iPhone camera, which has

as a photo in your iPhone’s Camera Roll,

the iPhone camera is the weak link in the

camera can detect these tags and direct

title and artist. It’s quite accurate, though it has problems with jazz.

no flash and even in a bright room tends

from a picture taken on-the-fly, from a

chain. Another limiting factor to Palettes

Web browsers to Web sites, launch videos

to take very dark pictures. This can make

Web site, or by dragging sliders. Once

is that it does not support Pantone colors,

and other rich media, or provide text and

it tough for WhatTheFont to detect subtle

you have created a set of basic colors,

although other apps, such as Color

other “overlays” over the camera’s view

nuances in letters, or even distinguish

you can make custom blends of two or

Expert and Pantone’s own MyPantone

of a location. Advertisers and marketers

some letters at all. But even when the

more of the colors in a palette, as well

app, do.

are already experimenting with these new

choice is wrong, it still identifies fonts that

as color schemes using contiguous or

are close, if not exact, matches, which is

complementary colors.

mobile technologies.

All these apps and more are available

helpful for creative purposes. And it’s free.

from the Apple iPhone App Store, via iTunes or from one’s iPhone directly.

WhatTheFont

Palettes

Color Expert

MyPantone

Most are free or, at most, in the $9.99 to $19.99 range.

photos ©iStockphoto.com

Shazam

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•Keep humor in its place.

Your product or service should be front and center. Use humor to get the customer to stick around long enough to hear your

Have you heard the one about humor in print marketing? It’s more effective than you might think. Humor is one of the best ways to differentiate your product or service, making your message memorable and increasing your visibility.

Information alone is not enough to sell your product.

Otherwise everything would be communicated in black-and-white text. We live in a colorful, high-definition world with constant clutter, so your message has to engage customers for them to hear it.

Humor is a powerful relationship-marketing tool that helps you stand out. However, unless you balance it with the right amount of information, your prospects will remember the gag and forget the product.

Use humor properly and you will transform your business-as-usual communications without turning your message into a joke.

message. It should enhance your communication, not overwhelm it.

•Funny is subjective.

There is no objective measure for what makes good or bad marketing humor. In general, it should be amusing, relevant and in good taste. It doesn’t have to appeal to the lowest common denominator or be over-the-top to work. Think about the type of comedy your target audience might find funny. Slapstick or sophisticated? Laugh-out-loud or subtly clever?

•Print can be funny, too.

Typically we think of funny marketing in the context of commercials or social media, but apply humor to your print communications and you will not only grab your customers’ attention but also help them recall your message. The biggest laugh might come from how punctuation paces a sentence or how a graphic makes the reader do a double take. The smallest detail can bring the biggest laughs.

•Don’t take aim at your target customers.

The joke is always funnier if it is on someone else. Carefully craft your message so that your stakeholders feel like you are on their side. Use comedy well and you will tickle your customer’s funny bone. Use it poorly and you can offend that same customer.

•Remove the color.

No kidding, humor is serious business. Funny marketing attracts customers by creating a positive association with your brand.

When used correctly, humor is an important tool for getting your message heard. Don’t knock-knock it until you’ve tried it.

e d i S y n n u F The arketing of M

Keep the colorful fonts and graphics in your printed pieces, but take out the off-color jokes and innuendo. The basic rules of marketing still apply. Test your message for potentially dangerous material to avoid alienating your audience.

•Follow cross-cultural rules, even at home.

Humor often requires the audience to have a specific bit of knowledge to understand it. If you send direct mail internationally you understand that differences in culture and language will impact the way readers receive your piece. But cultural gaps can exist anywhere there is diversity. Be wary of colloquialisms and variations in the

photos ©iStockphoto.com

meaning of words, even in different geographic areas of your own country.

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Top-of-mind-awareness, or TOMA, is a traditional measure of marketing effectiveness.

Brands with a high level of unaided recall have a distinct competitive advantage. You will be the first—and maybe only—source your prospect thinks of when it’s time to purchase. TOMA strongly correlates to brand preference, which correlates to increased market share. Low TOMA might be the result of misdirected marketing. Perhaps your message had little exposure to your target population as a result of poor media selection, or weak messaging simply didn’t capture their attention.

There are many ways to achieve and maintain TOMA.

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Consider what makes your company special,

Each marketing element should support the

whether it’s price, product availability, location,

one that came before. Direct mail is particularly

quality or speed, so you can clearly articulate it

effective in reinforcing a personal bond between

to your prospects. This exercise is more difficult

your company and your customer. Send a

for businesses selling in a crowded product

customized letter giving your best prospects the

category so consider creating your own niche.

inside track on a new product or an upcoming

7UP conceived the “Uncola” label so they no

promotion. Follow up with a postcard or

longer would have to compete head-to-head

brochure when the product is available or the

with the colas. Once you’ve created solid

promotion launches, then send a note of thanks

positioning language, stick with it even if you

when the client makes a purchase.

get tired of it. 7UP used the Uncola line for

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Find your unique selling proposition.

Are You Top of Mind?

Five simple steps to avoid feeling like a fish out of water

three decades!

2

Use multiple communication tools.

Timing is everything.

You must strategically plan repeated Be consistent in design.

communications so customers perceive you as

Make sure everything from your Web site to

a provider of useful information rather than an

your customer literature to your stationery has

intrusive pest. This requires both organization

a similar look and feel. Use templates to ensure

and dedication.

that your image is constant.

Quick! Name a soft drink. Chances are you

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thought of Coke or Pepsi. These beverage giants have spent millions in advertising with the goal

Proactively send messages

into the market.

of being at the top of your mind. You can repeat

It is the frequency of customers hearing your

this exercise in any product category—tennis racquets, carpet cleaners or ballpoint pens, for example. If someone asked your customers to name a company in your product category, would you be top of mind?

company’s name, product or service that will

Gaining top-of-mind-awareness should be

make them take action and buy from you.

a top goal of your marketing efforts. Never

While a one-time advertising blitz can get

before have consumers had so many choices.

your message out quickly to a large number

They need your help to know where to look

of prospects, you will build credibility and stay

and what to believe. TOMA will help customers

in customers’ thoughts with a series of timely

notice you in a noisy marketplace, increasing

communications. There are a number of print

customer retention and response rates.

photos ©iStockphoto.com

solutions that can help you achieve your goals.

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You Don't Need to Be a

Here’s how it works.

Creation versus Usage.

You brainstorm an application—ideally

Although each campaign will have slightly

something that will run on a weekly,

different elements, each will have the same

monthly or other program basis—and

two over-arching characteristics:

work with us to set up the rules, develop

to Create Successful 1:1 Campaigns

layouts (including areas of variability) and

• The person using the application

pre-approve content, such as text blocks,

isn’t necessarily the same person

images and databases.

who designs it.

When it comes time to deploy, one of

It used to be that, in order to create powerful 1:1 print campaigns, you had to be a combination

In advance, someone else sets up the

two things can happen. If the application is

rules for the campaign, pre-defines the

Internet-based, individual users log in, make

templates and pre-approves and uploads

selections about what they want to include

any re-usable assets. Rules include whether

and then click “OK.” If the application is

you want to allow users to upload their

Truly, you no longer

not Internet-based, they can work directly

own assets, such as a realtor uploading

with us to make the necessary tweaks.

pictures of her most recent home sales.

have to be an expert in

marketing wiz and database master. But as

These applications are analogous to

these applications have developed, software

ordering a book from, say, Amazon.com.

• The order process is straightforward

The technology behind the searching,

and simple so that all the user has

selection and ordering is extremely

to do is fill out basic information.

working to make this technology accessible to

complex. But all users have to do is know

This could be as simple as inputting a

everyone, whether created offline or accessed

how to click.

ZIP code or as complex as selecting the

developers and print service providers are

Similar applications are being developed

1:1 print marketing in order to use 1:1 print marketing.

products and promotional messaging for

through the Internet. It requires a little upfront

for small businesses and other marketers

a personalized catalog. Once selected, the

work, but especially for long-term applications,

who might not have data of their own.

elements are flowed in, the rules applied

it can have a big payoff.

They create the piece and then click a link

and the piece automatically produced and

to database companies like USA Data to

shipped to the right location.

select and purchase data.

photos ©iStockphoto.com

It’s all about simplifying the process.

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