Brand vs. Bland A branding basics overview

Jennifer Frazier, Creative Director9120 Fort King Road Dade City, FL 33525813-991-2334TheWritingStable.comJennifer@TheWritingStable.com

We are an advertising studio that provides Madison Avenue

caliber creative at a fraction of the price. We work with our

clients to achieve an impact that’s on brand, on budget, and

beyond the same old, same old. Every time.

In business since 1989, The Writing Stable is composed of

a network of seasoned professionals based throughout the

U.S. who cut their teeth in the advertising industry working

on accounts such as Chase Manhattan, Hilton Hotels,

Westinghouse Communities, Bell South, Zephyrhills Water,

the New York Cash Exchange, and the The U.S. Olympic

Committee to name but a few. In the health care arena, our

clients have included University Community Hospital (UCH),

UCH Foundation, UCH, Helen Ellis Memorial Hospital,

BayCare, The Womans Group, Moffitt Cancer Center, Florida

Spine Institute, and Florida Facial Surgery Center to name

a few.

About The Writing Stable

Jennifer frazier | Creative Director, Copywriter

With two decades of advertising experience, Jennifer Frazier

is adept at developing advertising campaigns and strategic

creative direction. Working as the associate creative director

and senior copywriter at Tampa-based Denton Advertising,

she furthered brands for Westinghouse Communities (now

WCI), ITT Palm Coast, and U.S. Home. Since founding The

Writing Stable in 1989, her key career highlights include the

research, writing and development of the Olympic Bid for the

City of Tampa’s Florida 2012 effort and the rebranding of Pinch

A Penny Pool, Patio & Spa. She has also been instrumental in

the development of brand for the many hospitals of BayCare,

(including Morton Plant/Mease, St. Joseph’s, St. Joseph’s

Women’s, St. Joseph’s Children’s, and St. Anthony’s), and

Bayfront Medical Center. Jennifer currently serves as senior

copywriter on the Moffitt Cancer Center account for Fry |

Hammond | Barr. The Writing Stable is a proven source of

of top-level, independent creatives brought together by the

promise of doing breakthrough work.

2Design Studios--Tampa

ADC--Tampa

Adelante Group

Allied Incentives--Clearwater

Brooksville Regional Hospital--Brooksville

Brunet Garcia Advertising--Jacksonville

Centex Homes--West Florida Division

CRM+ Consulting--Tampa

Delta Blue Studios--Tampa

Designer at Large--Tampa

Fry|Hammond|Barr--Tampa/Orlando

GraFx Studios--Tampa

GreenHeights Development Corp.--Tampa

Helen Ellis Memorial Hospital--Tarpon Springs

LBW Design--Palm Harbor

McClain Alfonso Meeker & Dunn--Dade City

Moffitt Cancer Center--Tampa

Nelson Consulting--Tampa

Patterson Marketing--St. Petersburg

Peak|Bietty--Tampa

Progressive Music & Media--Tampa

Push10 Studios--Philadelphia

Radsick Advertising Group--St. Petersburge

Raymond James & Associates

Roberts Printing--Clearwater

The Design Lounge--Jacksonville

The Real Connection--Port Charlotte

University Area Community Development Corp.--Tampa

University Community Hospital--Tampa

University Community Hospital Foundation--Tampa

Wheels of Success--Tampa

You&Me.We--St. Petersburg

Clients Currently In The Stable

YOUr finGerPrinT

Your brand is your essence. It should be as individual as

your fingerprint, and as consistent.

YOUr aTTiTUDe

How you brand yourself says a lot about your business. Are

you creative? Current? Solid? Innovative? Trustworthy?

These are all attitudes and ideals that can be graphically

demonstrated in your brand. It all begins with your logo.

What do these logos say about these companies?

.

1.

What’s a brand?

1. ThinkShapes Mail--a custom direct mail printer that can

create shaped mail pieces

2. You&Me.WE--a marriage support program in Pinellas

County

3. Nautilus Pools--a custom pool contractor that

specializes in waterfront pools

4. Exclusive Loan Consultants--a mortgage relief firm

targeting affluent homeowners.2.

3.

4.

After building the foundation of your brand with your logo,

it’s time to choose the right marketing and advertising

platforms to reach your target audience. This is done in

many ways, which we will discuss each in more depth:

1. Identity. This includes your letterhead, the way you sign

off your emails, and how you describe your capabilities.

2. Target marketing. Know who your buyer is, and more

importantly, who your buyer isn’t.

3. Web site. This is probably one of the hardest working

tools in any company’s marketing arsenal. Yours should be

easy to navigate and search engine friendly. It is the digital

front door to any business.

4. Advertising. Every company should advertise in one

way or antoher. For some that means television, for others

simply listings with associations or online social networks.

But every company should advertise to remain viable.

5. Measurability. You only know how successful your

brand is by tracking its progress throughout a specific goal

or campaign. To demonstrate, we’ll follow the path Helen

Ellis Memorial Hospital is now on to promote their award-

winning women’s center.

How do we translate brand?

Identity

LOGO & POsiTiOninG

It’s powerful when you pair a logo with a positioning line that

describes your position in the marketplace. A good example

is Nike’s “Just Do It.” It is the platform for all they do.

OTher eLemenTs Of iDenTiTY:

In general, the basic oomponents of an identity package are:

Letterhead

Business card

Email signature

Capabitlies brochure

Web site

Social media

LeTTerheaD PaCkaGe

Some say the letterhead is dead, but I disagree. A simple

letter, professionally drafted and presented on a beautiful

piece of letterhead is what I call “touch marketing.” It shows

you have the savvy to appreciate a solid presenttion of your

brand. In your letterhead packages, don’e be afraid to try a

new orientation, ie. horizontal vs. vertical format, and 4-color

printing. Due to the digital revolution in printing, 4-color is

cost competitive with black and white these days. On your

business card, use rich contemporary color, go full bleed,

and use both sides for extra impact. And don’t forget the

envelope. It should match the quality of the other pieces.

emaiL siGnaTUre.

Often overlooked, your digital signature is a way to reinforce

your brand hundreds of times each week with little or no

effort. I prefer to use HTML signatures, complete with logo

or graphics that draw the eye’s attention.

CaPabiLiTies brOChUre

These come in many forms, and in varying levels of

complexity. But everyone should have disitlled their

“elevator” speech into a piece that reflects their overall

capabilities. This can be an e-brochure, postcard, 4 x

9 brochure, or even a pocketed 9 x 12” if your business

requires it. Creating a folder with a label on the front isn’t

a capabilities brochure. It’s something anyone could offer.

Identity

Web siTe

For any company, your Web site is your front door. It’s your

storefront. It’s your reason for existence summed up into

brief copy bites and stimulating visual graphics. It should

be interactive and intuitive. It is by far the most powerful

marketing tool most companies have. It should be of a

quality that reflects your business, product or service.

sOCiaL meDia

Too much to summarize here, so let’s start there....

LinkeD in

Hands down, LinkedIn is the best online portal for forming

business relationships. The ability to post milestones and

announcements, invite peers and prospects to events, and

make recommendations and referrals is seamless and in real

time. LinkedIn is also the perfect place make connections

with groups that share your industry, giving you great industry

insight, and also demonstrate to those viewing your page

that you are keeping up with industry news and trends.

For instance, my groups include the American Advertising

Federation, Bay Area Business Magazine, and the American

Marketing Association.

But perhaps the most intriguing function of LinkedIn is that

you not only see how many people have visited your profile,

but who, and how often. I highly recommend each of you

concentrate on your LinkedIn networks and utilize this vast

grapevine of opportunity.

TWiTTer

I’ve just recently thrown my hat in to the Twitter ring, so I have

relatively few followers. Why did I wait? Becuase I want to

do it better. I don’t think anyone cares what I had for lunch

today or where, but they do care what I might have learned.

I am using Twitter to send information about my business or

industry to my followers judiciously. If I tweet everytime I turn

around and the tweets don’t hold much value, I won’t be able

to build a following.

Social MediasO WhaT’s The biG DeaL?

Social media is certainly all the rage. But why? Quite

simply it is a powerful way to make connections with people

online. It’s a free flow of information, and allows people

to create networks they can then promote their business,

product, service, or even their grandkids to. Let’s look at my

favorites...

faCebOOk

The biggest mistake business people make is blurring the

lines between facebook friends and business associates.

Facebook can be the wild, wild, west of communications. I

counsel my clients to create two pages, one for their business

and one for personal use. Once they’re merged it’s hard

to separate the two, which is a mistake I made when first

venturing into the social media arena.

WhaT is Web 2.0?

If I had to sum up “Web 2.0” design in one word, it would

have to be “simplicity”, so that’s where we’ll start. I’m a

great believer in simplicity. I think it’s the way forward for web

design.

Today’s simple, bold, elegant page designs deliver more with

less:

• They enable designers to shoot straight for the site’s

goals, by guiding the site visitor’s eye through the use of

fewer, well-chosen visual elements.

• They use fewer words but say more, and carefully

selected imagery to create the desired feel.

• They provide clear pathways of communication and

make navigating the site easy and effecient.

WhY simPLiCiTY is GOOD:

• Web sites have goals and all web pages have purposes.

• Users’ attention is a finite resource.

• It’s the designer’s job to help users to find what they want

(or to notice what the site wants them to notice)

• Stuff on the screen attracts the eye. The more stuff there

is, the more different things there are to notice, and the less

likely a user is to notice the important stuff.

So we need to enable certain communication, and we also

need to minimise noise. That means we need to find a solution

that’s does its stuff with as little as possible. That’s simplicity.

2.0 Web site design

Knowing who you’re talking to is the key to any campaign’s

success. While that sounds like a no brainer, many

companies make the mistake of trying to reach several,

varied, distinctive targets at once. Such a shot gun

approach is rarely effecive for small to mid-size companies

offering specialty products and services.

Case in point, Helen Ellis Memorial’s Women’s Center

Campaign. We are targeting women aged 18 - 39 in

North Pinellas and West Pasco Counties to promote the

primary message of the birthing suites and the comfortable,

competent accommodations and staff. A secondary

message will be for services beyond the child-bearing

years, namely breast health, osteoporosis treatment and

screening, and other gynecological issues.

We are courting this target by pairing creative with a younger

appeal, unique media placements and online awareness.

The Creative Platform:

Let Us baby You at helen ellis memorial hospital

We want to stress the caring, intimate environment Helen

Ellis provides women, as well as innovations such as water

births. This warm, comfortable strategy sets Helen Ellis

apart from Morton Plant or Bayonet Point Medical Center

by stressing women can have all the same technologies at

Helen Ellis without having to travel the distance to deliver.

Reaching your target: Case in point, Helen Ellis Memorial Hospital

We focused on four main campaign elements for this

campaign. These include direct online banner advertising,

emarketing, pay per click advertising, and a :30 television

spot aired on local cable stations.

We were able to secure 350+ television spots on select

networks, and reinforce the campaign through online

banner advertising on BayNews9.com and TampaBay.com’s

speciality women’s sections. Why did we choose cable and

online advertising?

Cable television has a 93% market reach in Pinellas County.

That means 93% of all homes have cable television, giving

cable more bang or our buck than expensive network

advertising. We then selected television programming that

fit our young target, and banner advertising locations that

had a the right aged viewership.

Campaign total: $30,000

Campaign cost split: $10,000 creative & production

$10,000 cable television advertising

$10,000 online banner advertising &

Pay-per-click advertising.

Element #1 HelenEllisMaternity.org landing pageUniqUe UrL

In the Helen Ellis campaign, we created a specialty

URL that focused solely on the Women’s Center.

We used television and online banner advertising to

drive prospects to this unique page. The address

was HelenEllisMaternity.org, while the “mother” site

remains HEMH.org. There were two goals we were

measuring with this landing page, the first was the

amount of people requesting more information or

asking for a physician referral. The second was

to measure the number of people who visited the

mother site and how long they stayed on the site.

To measure these goals, we employed full Search

Engine Optimization (SEO) on both the landing

page and the mother site, making both easily found

by search engines. We then deployed Google

Analytics to measure the site’s performance, and in

essence the success of the overall campaign.

fOr YOUr WebsiTe, sOme DO’s & DOn’Ts:

DO make it easy to browse and navigate

DO have a call to action on each page

DO use the latest Web development techniques,

such as Web 2.0 design styles

DO limit copy--the average page view is only 3

seconds

DOn’T use entirely Flash on any page. Flash can’t

be recognized by search engines

DOn’T try to be too clever in navigation techniques.

People are creatures of habit on the Web. Don’t

make them hunt for important pages

DOn’T use a free template. It only cheapens your

brand.

Element #2 :30 Television

Call today for a private tour

Call today for a private tour

H E L E N E L L I S

women’s c

e nte

r

VO: Now we offer everything from water births to midwife assistance. Video: Cut to images from the birthing suites shots.

VO: In a beautiful suite where Mom & baby go through labor, delivery, recovery and postpartum together.

VO: In an intimate setting that feels more like a hotel than a hospital, complete with certified obstetrical nurses that cater to your every need.

VO: Let us baby you at Helen Ellis Memorial Hospital.

VO: Over the past 80 years, we’ve welcomed thousands of babies to Tarpon Springs.

Video: (Note: Progressions will feature 2 to 3 still shots that build upon each other to complete an action…pace is rapid)Open with vintage façade shot of Helen Ellis in black and white, dissolve to current shot, then to mother baby shots

Video: Cut from vintage photo of Mom and baby to a current day Mom baby.

Video: Cut to new mother/new father/baby in the birthing suites.

727.943.3600 | HEMH.org/womenscenter 727.943.3600 | HEMH.org/womenscenter 727.943.3600 | HEMH.org/womenscenter

727.943.3600 | HEMH.org/womenscenter 727.943.3600 | HEMH.org/womenscenter 727.943.3600 | HEMH.org/womenscenter

727.943.3600 | HEMH.org/womenscenter727.943.3600 | HEMH.org/womenscenter727.943.3600 | HEMH.org/womenscenter

L e t u s b a b y y o u

L e t u s b a b y y o u

L e t u s b a b y y o u

L e t u s b a b y y o u

L e t u s b a b y y o u

L e t u s b a b y y o u

L e t u s b a b y y o u

L e t u s b a b y y o u

L e t u s b a b y y o u

Innovations that benefit both Mom and baby

Innovations that benefit both Mom and baby

Stay in one room from labor to postpartum

Stay in one room from labor to postpartum

Babying you and yours for 80 Years

Babying you and yours for 80 Years

Helen Ellis

2009 Cable Schedule

May, 2009

Network Time Day Program 5/4 5/11 5/18 5/25 6/7 6/14 6/21 6/28 Cost

Zone: Pinellas Region

DHLT 8p-11p T Crib Notes/Deliver Me 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

DHLT 9a-4p M-F All About Babies/Birth Day 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10

TLC 9a-4p M-F Baby Story/Baby Block/Bringing Home Baby 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10

VH1 8p-11p Su Prime ROT 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Toon 11p-12m Su Family Guy 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Bravo 10p-11p T Real Housewives 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Nick 10p-11p M-F George Lopez 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4

Nick 11p-12m M-Su Family Matters 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4

FAM 10p-11p T Greek 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

FX 10p-11p M-F Prime ROT 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4

ENT 10p-11p F The Soup 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Zone: North Pinellas/Pasco

BN9 5a-9a M-F News 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5

Total: 43 43 43 43 43 43 43 43 $10,888.00

Week of

Cable Media Schedule

Recommended programming to reach women aged 18 through 34 include the Baby Block on The Learning Channel, Discovery HD Theater, Family Guy on TOON, and George Lopez and Family Matters on Nickelodeon in the Pinellas region, as well as Bay News 9 in North Pinellas and Pasco Counties. There would be 43 spots each week for 8 weeks resulting in 344 spots.

Element #3: Online banner advertisingWe placed header, footer and triangle banner

ads in specialty sections of tampabay.com, the

official Web site of the St. Petersburg Times as

well as on BayNews9.com.

When clicked these ads led viewers to the

unique URL landing page so we could begin that

important onine conversation.

Helen Ellis Womens CenterOffering everything from water births to water views.HelenEllisMaternity.org

Helen Ellis Womens CenterGive birth in Helen Ellis’state-of-the-art, peaceful suitesHelenEllisMaternity.org

Helen Ellis Womens CenterFrom labor through deliveryin the same comfortable suiteHelenEllisMaternity.org

Helen Ellis Womens CenterBirthing suites that feelmore like home than a hospitalHelenEllisMaternity.org

Helen Ellis Womens CenterRecognized among the bestIn the U.S. four years in a rowHelenEllisMaternity.org

Helen Ellis Womens CenterDelivering healthy babiesand happy Moms for 80 yearsHelenEllisMaternity.org

PaY-Per-CLiCk aDverTisinG

A portion of our online budget was devoted to Google pay-

per-click advertising.

This is an important element of our campaign as it puts our

landing page in front of women in our geographic area who

are searching for terms such as birthing center, water birth,

OB/GYN, pregnancy, childbirth, maternity center, etc.

The text ads to the left are those that appear in the paid

search areas of the search engine results page. We assign

specific terms to each so they appear more relevant in the

searches.

The formula for developing pay-per-click text ads is:

25 characters (including spaces) for the header

No more than 35 spaces for the first and second copy lines

No more than 25 spaces in the Web address footer.

There are never more than four lines in a paid text ad.

Element #4: Keyword advertising

There were several goal conversions established for this

campaign. First was to increase the number of visits to both

the Helen Ellis site and the unique URL women were driven

to by the TV and the online banner advertising.

One of goals was to get women to request more information

on a variety of topics. To receive this information, they must

provide an “opt-in” email address, giving us the ability to

reach them in the future without request.

To the right is an example of one of those opt-in as well as

requestable emarketing pieces. This one focused on 10 tips

for a healthy pregnancy.

Element #5: eMarketing

Don’t just look outside your business when looking for a

good return on your campaign. On-site can be one of the

most powerful ways to promote a message, and create a

buzz that’s later reinforced in mass media or direct mail. This

page offers a couple of easy campaign additions that got

attention.

bUiLDinG DraPe

Billboard advertising (also called outdoor) was cost prohibitive

for this client due to the high traffic volumes on Highway 19

and Pinellas Avenue. We turned one side of the building into

a billboard with a 30’ x 80’ vinyl building drape that remained

up through the life of the campaign.

in hOsPiTaL sUPPOrT

From stiched red polo shirt for doctors to the buttons below

for staff to an in-hospital poster campaign, we used the

facility and the staff to promote the message 24/7.

Other ways to ignite a campaign

CaLCULaTinG rOi

We put tools in place that will help determine the viability

of the Helen Ellis Women’s Center campaign. This helped

us determine how much money was spent for each goal

conversion and how large of an increase in business the

hospital saw as a result.

GOOGLe anaLYTiCs

Google Analytics gives us a powerful tool to see exactly what

activity our Web page is seeing, how long people are staying

with that page, and how many goals we were able to convert

as a result. Following is an Analytics report for this campaign

for May 2009.

OnLine banner aDverTisinG rePOrTinG

The media we chose, namely the St. Petersburg Times and

Bay News 9 Web sites are able to report back to us exactly

how those ads performed. We could then increase frequency

of the more well received sizes, placements and messages

as a result.

PaY-Per-CLiCk rePOrTinG

This helps us establish which terms are worth more to us,

as pay-per-click is a bidding process. For instance, Morton

Plant may outbid us for the term Maternity Center. If so, we

then make the decision to adjust our budget to outbid them.

So it’s a fluid process that requires constant monitoring. A

sample click report follows thia page.

Measurability

Helen Ellis Maternity - MainDashboard May 1, 2009 - May 31, 2009

Comparing to: Apr 1, 2009 - Apr 30, 2009

10

20

10

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May 4, 2009 May 11, 2009 May 18, 2009 May 25, 2009

VisitsPrevious: Visits

Site Usage

245 Visits

Previous: 26 (842.31%)

291 Pageviews

Previous: 34 (755.88%)

1.19 Pages/Visit

Previous: 1.31 (-9.17%)

66.12% Bounce Rate

Previous: 34.62% (91.02%)

00:00:35 Avg. Time on Site

Previous: 00:00:47 (-25.57%)

86.12% % New Visits

Previous: 42.31% (103.56%)

Visitors Overview

10

20

10

20

May 4, 2009 May 11, 2009 May 18, 2009 May 25, 2009

VisitorsPrevious: Visitors

Visitors212

Traffic Sources Overview

Direct Traffic183.00 (74.69%)Search Engines32.00 (13.06%)Referring Sites30.00 (12.24%)

Map Overlay world

Visits1 215

1 Google Analytics

Helen Ellis was just one example of how creative and media

mix can be used to reinforce brand and build business. The

possibiliites are endless, but the most important step is to

realign your thinking that advertising a drain on your budget.

In reality, advertising is the best way to build a brand, to

build a business, and to retain customers. Without it,

most companies are only realizing a small portion of thier

potential.

Likewise, a down economies is not the time to cut back on

promoting your business. Some of the largest companies

in the world have risen to success during recession. These

include Microsoft, AllState Insurance, Hyatt, Burger King,

MTV, General Electric, and Sports Illustrated. We personally

spent more money on promoting our studio in the last year

than we had in the previous ten. This included a new Web

site, new social networking, public relations, and efficient

networking.

I appreciate your time and attention. Please take a moment

to visit TheWritingStable.com for a review our services,

capabitlies, and performance.

Any questions?

Thank you