And the big idea: Measure what your customers say about you they’re talking to each other. Some technology vendors call this social–media monitoring (guilty!). That’s a terrible term. You’re not monitoring media, you’re listening to your customers. And what can you find out?

Are your customers more positive about you than they were last month? Are they asking more of the kinds of questions that mean they’re considering purchase? Or switching to a different brand? What other topics do they talk about when they talk about you? Are there abbreviations or slang associated with your brand? And which of those topics do they really care about?

Technology will bring you to the data but you have to drink it, absorb it and do something valuable with it. Give it context. Sentiment data is repeatedly tested and benchmarked against human agreement, but make no mistake, there is no substitute for your own insights. But the big idea isn’t about the difference between 75% and 81% on a sentiment graph. The big idea is about spotting a trend faster than everyone else, and then finding meaning in it.

And when you can see a trend line going up, then look in real time and see the customer conversations that are driving that trend that’s more powerful than raw numbers. It might give you a big idea—or help you sell one you already have.

Show me an idea that has been projected, measured, processed, flowcharted, spread sheeted, analyzed, and stripped of its customer context, and I’ll show you a small idea. You don’t get to skirt sound measurement, but you can ask for a new dimension. A human dimension. Spirit.

That one fallacy may have done more harm to our industry than bankers.
Being average is risky.
Being forgettable is risky.
Producing formulaic crap is risky.
Getting hired by a client because your agency lowers its fee is risky.
Having more process people than doers is risky.
Going through the motions is risky.
Over and over again, we see the most creatively brave clients rewarded with success.
Sadly, when the majority is average, the norm becomes average.

With over 20,000 messages assailing us daily, your message better have some stickiness.

Good creative works to find a place in your emotional stream, hopefully close to your heart. Sometimes your head. So how do you produce good creative? Start with good strategy. I usually find it is a straight line from a disciplined strategy document to really good creative. And a lot of hard work by conceptual people in between those two points. Ideas still rule the world. How do you get a good idea? Don’t stop with the first ones. Those are easy. Everyone has those. It is called iconic thinking. Have you ever heard someone say “Hey, that’s my idea!” Yep probably is and it belongs to a hundred others too. Push yourself, throw out the easy ones and keep looking. Good creative lies beyond the obvious. If it was that easy, everyone could do it.

http://www.apple.com/magicmouse/

Ask the same group of people why they may choose to shop at Home Depot and you will likely hear about the selection, competitive prices or perhaps customer service.  All are very good reasons to shop at Home Depot.  This is a product of strategy.

Ask the same group what they know about Home Depot and you will likely hear about their commitment to community, the number of people they employ in the area, or perhaps that Home Depot employs and supports more Olympians than any other U.S. company.  This is the importance of values.

All of these elements – identity, strategy and values – go into building a strong brand.  In today’s challenging marketplace a logo without a brand is like a neon sign in the desert – it looks nice but it is not very effective.

S.O. Creative has the expertise to develop a unique and successful brand that will do more than say what you sell – it will shout who you are.

http://www.socreatives.com/cc/

What Does Web Design Say About Your Small Business?