IF YOUR BUSINESS WERE A COLOUR? - Branding TIPS from Pudding Creative

If you are launching a new business or, brand or if you are refreshing an existing one,  there are 3 main factors which can shape the way your brand or corporate identity,  is perceived visually.

1. colour

2. typology (font)

3. graphic design (logo or wordmark)

Understanding what your branding choices will tell your customers about you is as crucial as it is deciding what you want to tell your customers about you in the first place. Once you have established 'who you are' being able to represent this 'visually' is paramount.  Of the 3 elements, colour is the major factor, because it  also 'colours' the other 2 aspects and will be applied in every situation that your brand appears.

HOW TO USE COLOUR

Colour is divided into three primary colours: red, blue and yellow. When viewed as a colour wheel these are further subdivided into  a total of 16 equal segments, from which you can create every color possible by using different combinations of different quantities of the 3 primary colours. 

To be able to create a successful brand identity it is as much the combination of colours which you choose as it is the first or main colour selection and it is this palette which will reflect your business.

MONOCHROMATIC - not referring in this context to black and white,  a monochromatic choice for colour combinations uses different tones of one of 16 colour segment such as a selections of reds from solid red throughout to almost black. Monochromatic palettes are a clean and sophisticated choice.

COMPLEMENTARY  -  uses colours from segments directly facing each other across the wheel for example bright orange and royal blue, these are 'opposite' colours in the spectrum. They create bold and eye-catching combinations.

ANALOGOUS - uses colours from two or more adjacent colour sections such as yellow, orange, red. This is development of the monochromatic concept and can be very powerfully subtle

TRIADIC - uses three evenly spaced colour segments from the wheel , like the spokes of a bicycle, the most basic example of which are 3 primary colours used in combination,  red, green and blue.

BLACK & WHITE -  White light is a combination of all the colors of the spectrum ( the tiny dot at the centre of the wheel) and black is the absence of all light.  It is possible to have an entirely black and white 'colour' scheme which can be very striking however these are not strictly 'colours' so often they play supporting roles.  

GREYSCALE -  it is also possible to choose shades of black & white as your corporate 'colours' but generally a greyscale pallete is one which is added to your brand identity to describe how your fully coloured brand shown appear in the event that your corporate material needs printed or displayed in black & white.

What colour is your business?

For more information about how to BRAND or REBRAND your business,  please contact us at hello@puddingcreative.com

colour wheel image and headings source: http://www.1stwebdesigner.com

Smurf up near Marbella - Branding a Town

If you are looking for a family day out with a difference,  near Marbella? Visit the World's first Smurf Village.  Located off the Ronda Road in a town called Júzcar, you can still take the chance to visit following a surprise pre-christmas vote.

In June 2011, Sony Pictures took the bold decision to paint the whole of this traditional 'pueblo blanco' of Júzcar, a vivid smurf blue as part of the launch campaign for The Smurfs 3D.  The film was one of the surprise hits of the summer, despite mixed reviews, opening to $35.6 million and earning more than $75 million in its first 10 days;  success in part attributed to this real 3D branding campaign.

The Smurfs or "Los Pitufos" in spanish,  were given their new 'home' when Jùzcar was chosen to be the host location for the film's premiere. As part of the arrangement with the local residents,  Sony promised to return the city to its traditional white once filming was completed at the end of 2011. The 175 buildings took a dozen painters and over 1,000 gallons (approx. 4,000 litres)  of blue paint to be transformed into a phenomenal spectacular within the Malaga mountains. Even the church was transformed, and every detail was accounted for.

images and some article facts sourced from:- http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/18/smurf-town-juzcar_n_879834.html#s294451

Now,  in a pre-christmas referendum, the 221-strong population took a vote to decide the future of the town and a majority of 141 residents (64%) opted to keep the Smurf branding.  The town will remain with its bright blue after enjoying a huge boost in tourism, ordinarily expecting less than 300 visitors during an average summertime , last year they received a staggering 80,000 visitors.  This improved level of tourism (and resulting profits)  will hopefully continue throughout 2012 bringing new sources of revenue to the local area and local businesses which can then be boosted again the following year in 2013,  because we hear already that Sony's Smurfs 2 will be released on August 2, 2013. 

For directions to visit from Marbella to Júzcar please see:  http://g.co/maps/6u5wk

HAPPY NEW YEAR from PUDDING CREATIVE

images and some article facts sourced from:- http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/18/smurf-town-juzcar_n_879834.html#s294451

A Brand called MARBELLA

In 1954, Prince Alfonso von Hohenlohe converted his family farmhouse into the Marbella Club Hotel. And so, a brand was born. 

Prince Alfonso was a visionary who was enchanted by this particular spot of Southern Spain. The Marbella Club grew from just 19 bedrooms, one suite, a dining room and a bar to today’s total of 84 rooms, 34 suites, a spa, Beach Club Buffet, Grill, the MC Café and a golf course. In addition, the area around it received such great demand that it became known as the “Golden Mile” (a part of this having been named Bulevar Principe Alfonso Von Hohenlohe) and Marbella has evolved into a magnet for the exclusive. www.marbellaclub.com

Prince Alfonso’s vision of “Marbella” has withstood time. But it has also withstood the highs and lows of the tabloid coverage. As with any of the world’s top brands, barely a month goes by when the UK press does not report a controversy of some kind – the incidences of boom receive nearly as much attention as those occurrences of bust. Yet the truth is that through it all, an influx of luxury tourism continues to secure Marbella’s position as one of the world’s most desired locations.

Prince Alfonso’s utter enthusiasm for Marbella also aided many successful property deals for his elite associates. And over the years many other entrepreneurs have emulated his real estate prowess with a market of high profile clients. Nick Stuart founded Spanish Hot Properties 4 years ago and his passion for the area abounds. He says “Over recent years, people have started to come to Marbella looking for a country in crisis. Of course, in these economic times there are deals to be made, but as a comparison, you do not go to Mayfair seeking bargain basement properties. Marbella has a history that stems from the days of the Marbella Club. And there are still plenty of people who have an emotional link with the area, born from their own family backgrounds. Marbella has always attracted the rich and famous and so, this creates a self-fulfilling phenomenon. Of course, the climate (a full 4º warmer in winter than any other area of Spain) and the locals help – you could not wish for friendlier neighbours than the Andalucians”.
(Marbella Property)

The Marbella Arch was constructed 18 years ago, though is now the subject of controversy as it has been dismantled due to new road infrastructure.

Marbella’s popularity increased from the 60’s thanks to improvements in the infrastructure with motorways stretching as far as Alicante. In fact, as head of the Costa del Sol Promoters’ co-operative, Prince Alfonso himself lobbied the installation of improvements for the road systems, airports and water supply (also the conference and exhibition centre which spurred the growth of Torremolinos as a mass market holiday destination). Whilst local life did slow in the mid seventies due to the first large-scale recession, it gained rapid pace once again in the 80’s as property demand from Northern Europe outstripped supply. Requirement was further fuelled by an increase in the native Spanish market as the country began its evolution into one of Europe’s most modern. Málaga airport is still undergoing major renovations today and connects to over 60 destinations worldwide with approx 13 million passengers per annum.

Again Marbella demonstrated a brand strength that many top companies attempt to imitate in today’s business. Get the core appeal right, create a buzz and then make sure that the infrastructure works to maintain the demand. 

Ian Waudby has worked in Marbella since 1989 and has run the highly successful real estate development company, Crest Homes, for many years. In 2010 he joined forces with Spanish Hot Properties to make the most out of the evolving demands of the area. Throughout his experience Ian has witnessed the cyclical nature of the area first-hand. His company also boasts an impressive list of exclusive properties and a clientele including “A” list celebrities. He says, “The target market is always moving, but it is always there. When I started out in business here you had a strong retirement market, nowadays the younger “bling” market is much stronger.” Ian also adds that he believes that “the end of 2011 to end of 2013 will be the best “harvest” years for the opportunistic investor in Marbella”.

Whilst the savviest marketeers do indeed understand that the most successful products appeal to the heart, not the mind (source: businessweek.com) it is always a mistake to overlook the core science of what the product aims to achieve. Luckily this isn’t something that Marbella has ever had to worry about. The sunny weather is generally constant, the hotels, restaurants and beach clubs are glamorous  and the celebrities just keep coming…

Kyra Dawson in her article Brands of Emotion agrees … “If a name can evoke the security sensation of that phrase "satisfaction guaranteed", then you've got a winner.” We think that sums Marbella up quite nicely.

If you would like to learn more about how to create a brand that can withstand the test of time, contact Pudding Creative.

What is "good" website content?

… well, the proof is in the Panda...

Pudding Creative could most definitely be accused of repetition when it comes to the words “we have a publishing background, don’t you know?” But we hold a high regard for the old disciplines of print publishing where one mistake could have a detrimental effect on a very large, not to mention expensive, print-run.

There was a time when every page of a magazine was first sent to bromide proof, then produced as 4-colour film and only printed to page once the colour cromalin proof had been fully approved. But then just 3 letters – PDF – replaced this long-winded process. And now, time has moved on so much that the “mag” has been largely replaced by 1 sole letter – “e”.

Of course, the concept of magazines and publications of all types has further progressed with the evolution of the Internet and, most notably, the blog. The blog, which was crowned as a noun in its own right in 1999, provided individuals with a voice. The writer no longer needed to await invitation from the supreme Editor. By 2004 the “blog” was even being used on a worldwide scale by businesses and politicians. And, of course, it was not overlooked that this rather convenient new tool was also helping companies to make their way up the search engine listings.

There are many different options for the business or the individual to use when publishing their updates. Forbes has created a list of their top 11 with Wordpress being number one www.forbes.com

As you will guess, with so many formats, there is obviously a lot of demand. And rapidly the power of the blog rolled into overall website content with more and more website templates being made available for minimal cost to the users. But whereas all traditional print publishing was proofed, proofed and then… well, proofed a little more, there is little to zero proofing involved in what is published within the World Wide Web.

Well, until now…

It seems that Google (the undisputed force of law and online order) has had enough of their cyberspace being littered with substandard content. And so they have introduced “Google Panda”. googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/
Google Panda is a new algorithm that has been designed by the rather clever ‘bots to help people find more high quality sites when searching the web. And one of the first points that they like to make is that it is the client who is the reader, not the search engine.

As Rand Fishkin, CEO of SEOmoz and Will Critchlow, founder of Distilled, discuss in their “Whiteboard Friday”, these new Panda algorithms are based on real human responses to website content.
www.seomoz.org
“…people don't think this is high enough quality. This isn't going to get past the Panda filter. You're in jeopardy", says Rand.
They continue by explaining that the oh-so clever Google can actually evaluate a website content in terms of reliability, trust and authority. And so, perhaps, the days of churnalism are over.

1. churnalism
Term coined by author Nick Davies to describe poor practices of modern day journalists who "churn" or recycle news stories off the wire or Internet without appropriate critical investigation.

But that begs the question, what is good website content?
SEO mastermind Paul Lopez of Solar Internet and owner of celebritiesinmarbella.com says that it comes down to just 2 basic rules…

“Rule 1 for good website copy is to write good quality content without thinking keywords or search engines. Research your subject and write as if it were a normal article. You don't want to bombard your visitors with keywords and the chances are that if you are trying to write for the search engines it will be bad quality and not a good user experience.
Rule 2 is never just copy content. There are a few reasons for this but the main point is that the search engines don't like duplicate content and the latest panda update is very much focused on quality content. If you want to figure in the search engines then write your own copy. Show the search engines, and your visitors that YOU are the authority on your subject.”

Lisa Richards, Editor of www.resource-magazine.com also agrees that “content farming” is detrimental to the standards of the World Wide Web. This focus on producing words that satisfy the algorithms set by search engines (rather than the subject matter itself) often produces confusing articles with little factual relevance. She notes, “the appeal of high visitor numbers is proving more alluring than high quality. I’ve seen journalists and PRs garnering editorial support from bloggers by rewarding responses or offering freebies rather than actually looking to the quality of their own work”.

Content Farming can be a thankless task

Of course, the actual words contained within a website are only part of the battle when considering an “authentic” website. Rand reminds us that appearance is equally important.
“A lot of this comes down to design, and authority is really branding familiarity. Have I heard of this site? Does it seem legitimate? So I might get to a great blog like StuntDouble.com, and I might think to myself, I'm not very familiar with the world of web marketing. I haven't heard of StuntDouble, so I don't recognize him as an authority, but yeah, I would probably trust SEO information from this site. It looks good, seems authentic, the provider's decent.”

Companies have been known to work very hard to create a reputable brand name in the real world, only to throw all that hard effort away with a substandard appearance online. It is important to remember that your brand is the sum of your staff, your services and all of your marketing initiatives – and that includes your website. So, make sure that it receives equal time and effort.

Pudding Creative can help you to achieve a high quality website presence with solid content and an irresistible style. 
Contact us for a free consultation on how we can improve your business.
Tel: +34 667714346 
Email: hello@puddingcreative.com 
Web: www.puddingcreative.com
“Like” us at www.facebook.com/puddingcreative

PUDD FILE: Celebrating a creative summertime 2011

Creative design for the everyday: Pudding Creative celebrates summer 

with some ingenius ideas for the Flip Flop inspired by Jutta x

Grass Flip Flops by Krispy Kreme

ArchPort Flip Flops with built in storage

Installation art as seen in Sao Paulo Brazil by Florentijin Hofman

Flip Flop Mops by Marie-Louise Gustafsson

Keyboard Flip Flops by Korry

Fishy Flops - real product or Photoshop creation?

Flip Flop patio lighting available from bonanza.com

...and here's one for those days which are just a bit too chilly... 

Tapistongs matching rug and slipper sets from Lise El Sayed

Top tips from Marketing Savant

10 THINGS PROFESSIONALS NEED TO BUILD THEIR PERSONAL BRAND

We're always happy to share some sound and sensible advice from industry experts. Here's a great summary of how to Build Your Personal Brand from Marketing Savant (brought to our attention by Marketing & Social Media Strategist, Suzette Greer)...

Whether you're currently in the hunt for a new opportunity, seeking a place on a local board or looking to grow your new business, having a personal brand that's approachable and accessible through the digital realm is an essential. Let's start with the 10 basics every young professional needs to master to be effective in the realm of personal branding. 

To read the full article see Marketing Savant

Operation Google Chrome

If you listen closely, you'll be able to hear the buzz of something new coming together from Google HQ,  along with the A-Team style  moment where the barn doors fly open and they cry  "CHECK THIS OUT"...

Google has taken the realm of search engines into a new league - it is the police force of the online community and as latest statistics show that 60% of the UK access the internet every day (with Google usage reportedly reaching 90%), that is an awful lot of power.

In general, we have accepted that people no longer "search the internet". Instead we simply "GOOGLE" it.

This isn't to say that Google has reached the topspot without a lot of effort. Google has stayed on the top thanks to the tireless updating and optimisation its own algorithms that produce consistently better search results. Now, in response to all of this hard work, Google has put itself in the indisputable position of RULEMAKER. Any website that does not follow its lead will be punished.

Google Chrome was launched in September 2008 and became instantly popular. It has now been independently verified as the swiftest of all of the internet browsers and has one of the most user-friendly interfaces.

And now, we have the Google Chromebook. Not only does Google provide the software, but they are quite keen to make sure that your hardware is up to scratch too!
But why do Google feel that it is necessary to have their own notebook? Well, if ALL of life revolves around the internet, why do you need anything else? Let's just make it quicker, easier and much more beautiful. This simplification of "e-life" means that internet access and searching is quicker than ever (8 second start-up) and virus risk is greatly reduced. It also includes apps for contacts, calendars, music, photos and text editing. And should you ever lose your Chromebook, all of your information will still be stored and can immediately be accessed from a different notebook.

So, what do the reviews say? Is this a step too far for Google? Well, no, the power of an established brand can never be underestimated. And this is a good example of a brand flexing its ample muscles at the  growing number of people who 90% of the time,  do little outside of their email, facebook, twitter or apps. But we Puddingers couldn't function without our other supporting programs as presumably all design based companies will say, so we will be applauding this ballsy launch from afar, and wait to see how it develops.

For more information about the power of the brand, please contact Pudding Creative.
Tel: 667714346 Email. hello@puddingcreative.com Web. http://www.puddingcreative.com/

PUDD FILE: Capturing the everyday- featuring extracts from The Catcher in the Rye

An animated narrative : Capturing the everyday........  literary extracts of ~J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye (1945),  with contemporary IMAGERY (2000-present) via http://www.paulclemence.com

"People never notice anything."   (Ch.2)

"Take most people, they're crazy about cars.  They worry if they get a little scratch on them, and they're always talking about how many miles they get to a gallon, and if they get a brand-new car already they start thinking about trading it in for one that's even newer.  I don't even like old cars.  I mean they don't even interest me.  I'd rather have a goddam horse.  A horse is at least human, for God's sake." (Ch.17)

"

"People always think something's all true" (Ch.2.)

"I was half in love with her by the time we sat down.  That's the thing about girls.  Every time they do something pretty, even if they're not much to look at, or even if they're sort of stupid, you fall half in love with them, and then you never know where the hell you are" (Ch.10)

"... if you have something to offer, someone will learn something from you.  It's a beautiful reciprocal arrangement.  And it isn't education.  It's history.  It's poetry." (Ch.24)

PUDDING CREATIVE - Lovers of design in the everyday.  http://www.puddingcreative.com/partnership.html

TEXT : extracts from ~J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye, 

IMAGES via http://www.paulclemence.com

Making the most out of Microsoft

In general, I am not fond of Microsoft Office. It is too much a bedfellow of the PC for my liking.

• It has an OCD obsession with moving the menu bars around
• And it has pre-defined smart-arse settings that believe it knows how you want to format your paragraph better than you do
• It does funny things to images
• And it makes some really ugly (and stubborn) hyperlinks in the middle of a quite beautiful presentation

10 annoying Word features

BUT it must still be adored because it has monopolised the world in terms of office software. Whether you’re emailing the UK, Spain, China or Outer Mongolia, the chances are that you will be talking with someone who is using Microsoft Office. And if you just stop your whinging and tow the line, you will avoid any software conflicts and they will be able to read your documents with ease and understanding. For that, Microsoft must be respected as the out and out global winner!

The single remaining shame about Microsoft Office is the lack of understanding that it elicits from its users. It is reported that 7.4% of the WORLD’s population uses Microsoft Office (500 million+). But, in turn, I’d be surprised if 1% of those people confidently stated that they really knew what they were doing with it.

A key example is Microsoft Powerpoint. Powerpoint gives you the capability of creating not only professional but very effective business presentations. The animations can be extremely engaging and the transitions can be smooth. With a little bit of artistic flare you can turn a very standard meeting into something memorable. But how many times have you had to keep yourself awake with coffee because the turning of one slide of heavy text on a grey background simply leads to another slide of heavy text on a grey background?… and that toneless voice just keeps droning on… and on… and on?

Nobody really looks forward to the part of a meeting when one business associate trades his moment in the “spotlight” with his colleague visiting from the other side of the world. But it is a missed opportunity. For all of Microsoft’s flaws, Microsoft Powerpoint is not one of them. 

It is a common misconception that more slides = more content and the more whizzing the words do = the more impressive the pitch. 

This doesn’t have to be the case… it is quite possible (and simple) to turn your next shareholders meeting on its head with an amazing presentation. It is indeed possible to close that crucial bid with just a little powerpoint proficiency. Add some design acumen and a healthy pinch of common sense and you'll be irresistible!

We can create engaging powerpoint presentations that will help you to seal the deal. Contact us to learn more about our Team Support, Design and Copy-writing services.


www.facebook.com/puddingcreative

www.puddingcreative.com

"How to find ‘friends’ and influence them" : ONLINE PROPERTY BRANDING

According to a new study, the Number One reason that ‘wealthy’ or ‘affluent’ consumers connect with a new brand is because they are following the lead of their ‘online’ friends. It stands to reason that if a friend indicates their loyalty to a brand by ‘liking’ a branded page or participating in a contest or promotion, then that user's friend will also notice this and may follow suit as they have similar likes or dislikes; creating a series of similar but unique links which develop into a purchasing pattern. Quite naturally, people are prone to be influenced by their friends whom they trust, (virtual or otherwise) more than they will be by any form of manufactured advertising or commercial communication.  So how can we find friends and influence them?

(Text source : Unity Marketing “Affluent Consumers and How They Use the Internet, Social Media, and Mobile Devices” 2010)

As investments become harder to source and pre-sales are more important to project funding than ever before,  a brand endorsement or an endorsement by a significant voice, are becoming crucial to build product credibility. As a result, digital marketplaces are developing into the ideal launch pads for the branded property industry. For property sales and investment,  online marketing with a brand will increase the credibility and recognition needed to be heard within the swirling sea of superlatives and ever increasing number of facts. Some individual tweeters for example, can alone command a following greater than a small country which reiterates the fact that a brand endorsement of any type via this platform is undeniably powerful and has an infinite result (good or bad).

Q1. So how do you find your new online ‘friends’ and then gain their endorsement? 

A. Audi held a ground-breaking online contest during the super bowl which led to hundreds of thousands of social media mentions of #AUDI through Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. A second example is Canadian Club Whisky, which almost doubled its Facebook fan population from 16,000 to 30,000 following an online campaign. Or in lieu of actually being popular or writing creatively  to legitimately attract friends or followers, Twitter in now 'selling' groups of followers by the 500, so you can just buy your friends! Which leads of course to the next question: 

Q2. from a business point of view,  is having these ‘friends’ or ‘followers’ actually going to make you money or is it just a lot of noise?

A. Twitter themselves use a great example of how their of their site can be utilized for business: Best Buy who developed @twelpforce had provided over 19,500 answers to customer inquiries by 2009,  the time and cost of otherwise providing such a response would be inconceivable – an undeniable account of intuitive business thinking. But the clearest example that uses a powerful combination of online marketing and  property branding comes from Donald Trump. He, himself, an international Brand,  now has an international branded property development company which exceeds all others:

Trump International Hotel & Tower Dubai luxury apartments:

OVER 62% OF PRE-SALES started from 

AN ONLINE SEARCH 

resulting in sales figures which overtook the then current record by 15% which was held by commercially branded property - Armani Residences in Burj Dubai, to record prices of 12,000 dirhams (approx US$3,260) per sq.metre

‘Digital’ friends can be both an asset and a liability. Within a chaotic forum where brands from all corners of the industry are rushing to achieve a presence on multiple channels, it is quite common for progress to be made without a strategic plan and consequently this results in no time or know-how to maintain the initial online content and network of 'friends'. This is far worse than never having had a presence at all, as it leads to a habit of no-response which ultimately loses creditability – the very thing that the branded properties set out to achieve.  So 'befriend' with gusto but be sure to remember that :-

‘Sharing is caring, caring leads to loyalty, but boredom encourages infidelity’.

PROPERTY BRANDING SPECIALIST AND MARKETING CONSULTANTS : Building Irresistible Brands   www.puddingcreative.com  

Become a friend of Pudding Creative and "like" our facebook business page www.facebook.com/puddingcreative