Hot DEALS! SALE, SALE, SALE!!!!!!

LOWEST PRICES OF THE YEAR!!!!!!

It’s nearly impossible to escape the Black Friday promotions this time of year, and undoubtedly you’re bombarded with messages from Macy’s, Best Buy, Target, and the like.  It seems these days it’s no longer about the one small window of opportunity for deals that you can’t find on any other day to shop, that are so awesome you’d be willing to wake up at some un-godly hour and stand in a line with other people only hoping you’ve made it in time to get that once-a-year sale deal. Instead, it’s become an entire weekend or even week of “hot deals” and “low prices”.

World Wide Papas (WWP) is the exclusive area developer of Papa  John’s restaurants in St. Petersburg and the Leningrad region of Russia.  Founders, Darrin Stock (left) and Gary Hamilton (right), created this company on the basis that history is bound to repeat itself. This history being the idea that Russian markets are experiencing a boom in the quick-casual dining market, similar to the boom the US experienced in this industry in the ‘70s. Their idea is to provide the highest-quality pizza product and dining experience to consumers in one of the largest European markets. This concept could not have taken flight without the work of dedicated Brand Champions. Brand Champions are people who live for their brand, set their company up for success, and set good examples for brand ambassadors. In the case of this effort to bring progression to a non-westernized marketplace, Darrin Stock and Gary Hamilton have emerged as clear champions for the World Wide Papa’s brand.

Hamilton and Stock realized during the inception of WWP that having a strong parent brand of Papa John’s in the states was not necessarily going to translate into having a strong brand in Russia. Realizing this was key to the success of WWP, Hamilton and Stock worked with Brand Iron to create a unified brand that could be identified and communicated throughout the US and foreign markets. Brand Iron worked with WWP on corporate design to develop a logo (shown left) that would resonate with the parent brand while still introducing a visual image unique to WWP.

Extending this brand was critical in developing everything from the investor presentation to the PR pieces to promote the Initial Public Offering. Hamilton and Stock worked with Brand Iron to develop a strategy to communicate a compelling brand story to attract the bridge funding to strengthen all aspects of the Company and prepare for a listing of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. WWP embraced the concept that branding is more than a snappy logo, and can actually affect your ability to attract customers, generate profit, and expand your presence in the marketplace.

With this Branding and Investor Communications campaign, Brand Iron was able to assist Hamilton and Stock in reaching the right investor audience to attract more than €14 million EURO in capital – a critical component to preparing the Company for the listing on the FSE and fueling expansion plans to grow to 40+ restaurants in the Russian region. Throughout the process of bringing Papa John’s to Russia, Stock and Hamilton encountered numerous hardships. First, they had to overcome the hurdle of being headquartered in the US while having business operations in Russia. Also, they continue to work in the Russian market, which is  vastly behind the US market in terms of fast-food. Additionally, having very low brand recognition for the parent brand in Russia compared to the US was an obstacle Stock and Hamilton wrangled. Overcoming these hurdles, is another contributing factor to what has made Hamilton and Stock stand out as supreme Brand Champions for their company.

We hope that Gary Hamilton and Darrin Stock can serve as strong examples of Brand Champions.The top companies in every industry have people that truly RIDE for their brand. Brand Champions stop their company from running in the middle of the herd and take charge, leading their company to differentiate itself from the rest of the saturated market. Brand Champions are individuals within an organization who lead the charge to separate their brand from the competitor. These two men have taken an idea to a foreign market and transformed it into a hugely sucessful company by living for their brand. They have obtained real results from developing a brand promise that people could get their arms around, and they consistently deliver on that promise by creating a great brand experience.

How to Cheat Your Sales Numbers and Increase Your Odds of Success

As a branding agency, we think of branding and marketing as a way to support sales and drive revenue. By thoroughly understanding your company’s revenue goals, you can learn how to work backwards to “cheat your sales numbers” and make sure your efforts are going to produce the desired results. The more you know how to cheat your numbers, the more you increase your odds of getting new business. Here are eight ideas you should apply to your business to increase your odds of success:

1)     Know your numbers

Know just how much marketing and sales activity you need to have in your pipeline in order for you to obtain your forecasted revenue goals and objectives. Understand and know your close ratio and how that affects your numbers.

2)     Have a large pool of prospects in the database

Most companies don’t understand that marketing and sales is a numbers game, it takes a large pool of quality suspects and prospects in the database to make the numbers work in your favor. So to cheat your numbers and reach your sales/revenue goals, you must have a big pool of prospects that you consistently stay in touch with.

3)     Use a CRM tool/database

It is consistently baffling that there are a number of companies that don’t have enough suspects and prospects to call upon to get the results they are aiming for.  Even more surprising is the number of companies that do not utilize a true Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tool. A CRM system can help manage the client information and provide help and real-time information on how you’re tracking against those numbers. Many companies are still relying on an outdated excel sheet to “manage” their clients, when using a CRM tool is far more effective.

4)     Regularly reach out and touch prospects

They say most sales people give up after 3-4 touches, which sounds about right; yet they say it takes 7-12 touches in order for a prospect to get to know your company and make a purchasing decision. Make sure you are a company that makes enough touches to get them in your store.

5)     Use strategic partners to help build relationships

One of the most effective things companies can do is to tap into strategic partners for referrals and co-market each other’s products or services to both customer bases. Utilizing a key contact for leverage and an introduction is priceless and often can be one of the most effective things companies can do to shorten the sales cycle. Get a quality referral, and stretch your marketing efforts.

6)     Identify your unique position and own your space

It is critical to not only be different, but also have strong value points spelled out clearly and concisely. These value points need to verbalize why you are better and what differentiates your company, making you the clear choice and the only real option available.

7)     Utilize a strong call to action

In order to help get the response you need for your marketing, advertising and sales efforts, make sure you have a strong call to action. To do this, utilize an impending date or deadline that a special offer expires, a value add that they can only get for a limited amount of time, or an added incentive or bonus to sweeten the deal if you act now.

8)     Reevaluate and refine your efforts

To ensure you’re going to reach your goals, you need to consistently evaluate whether your efforts are producing the desired results. If they aren’t, you will need to make adjustments, tweak your offer, or find other strategic partners that understand the benefits of a reciprocal partner relationship.

Cheating your sales numbers is like adjusting the carburetor on your car, a little fine tuning is sometimes required to have a smooth running engine. Once you get the engine running just the way you want it, you can blow the doors off your competitors.

Michael Doyle

CEO of Brand Iron

Brand Champions are leaders inside a company who “champion” the business cause, pushing their company to be the very best they can be and reach their goals and objectives. The things we at Brand Iron look for in Brand Champions are: someone who demonstrates leadership and inspires others to ride for the brand, someone who is creative and entrepreneurial as well as being a visionary, someone who is results oriented and successful, someone who is separate from the heard, owns their own space and clearly communicates why they are the best.

Though we have worked with hundreds of Brand Champions during our lifespan as a branding agency, recently David Puchi has stood out as someone who lives for his brand, is setting his company up for success, and is setting a good example for his brand ambassadors. David Puchi, a managing partner at Baseline Investments, has successfully lead Baceline to be nationally recognized as the “No Debt, All Cash” experts. David has been an invaluable asset to his company by not only raising millions in capital to fund Baceline’s investment activities but also by staying committed to drive his company to their full potential. By recognizing the importance of Brand Iron’s concept of holistic branding, David was able to work with us to embrace the integrated marketing strategy. David led Baceline to utilize Logo Design, Investor Presentations, Sales Materials, Public Relations, Trade Show Marketing, Direct and Email Marketing and Print Advertising.           

Living the Baceline brand has allowed David to successfully reposition Baceline Investments during tough economic times. By working with Brand Iron to develop a business plan and investor presentations (shown right), David has truly been able to “champion” his brand and forge ahead. David recognized that his brand must show through in every medium from advertising and public relations to the branding and packaging of Baceline’s investment funds.

 David was able to put together messages for Baceline’s print advertisements that really resonated with his target market (shown right). He created a brand identity that was used to package each of Baceline’s Funds -No Debt Real Estate Investment Funds, the Heartland Funds, and the Distressed Real Estate and Debt Opportunities Fund.    Baceline Investments was able to successfully reposition itself to attract investors. By attracting quality investors, acquisition opportunities increased and Baceline achieved national awareness by raising $140M in assets within five years.

My name is Heather Sundell and I am the newbie here at Brand Iron, it’s been almost a month since I started here as an Intern. I clock in at about 25 unpaid hours a week. Why? Because it’s awesome place to work.

A little over a year ago I became an economic cliché and was let go from my job. (Let the somber violin concerto commence.) After a few months of frantic job hunting and questioning my entire past 23 years of existence, I decided that a change was in order so I picked up my entire life and moved from the only home I had ever known, Los Angeles, to Denver.

Despite the change in location, I quickly started to realize that my English degree from the University of Southern California (no matter how prestigious the football team) was, as so many peers predicted, quasi-useless.

Apart from my education, my prior jobs in online marketing and web management weren’t exactly the directions I wanted to go. I began to rethink my strategy. I would have to go back to square one and offer my services as an unpaid intern.

So, here I am learning the agency business and I couldn’t be happier. Brand Iron is a wonderful company, and I feel so fortunate that I was given a chance to learn and grow in the branding and advertising industry with such friendly, knowledgeable co-workers.

The biggest challenge small businesses face today continues to be operating in a sluggish economy. As a small business ourselves, and despite economic conditions, Brand Iron continues to thrive. Last year was a record year for the company. We attribute our success partly to our willingness to face this challenge head on. Rather than cut back on sales and marketing efforts to save cash, we recognize that now is the best opportunity to market our business. It is a chance to separate ourselves from others, so we continue to be aggressive in its business development and marketing.

Brand Iron’s management philosophy centers around a team-oriented approach made up of individuals who understand and embrace an entrepreneurial spirit. Our firm is made up of individuals who subscribe to this approach. Inherently, this type of spirit produces strong accountability, team work, creative thinking, problem solving and a win-win attitude. This approach ultimately leads to producing outstanding results for our clients.

Exemplary customer service is another essential piece of the foundation for any successful business operation. It may sound obvious, but Brand Iron is committed to demonstrating outstanding customer service from the outset of every client relationship. You would be surprised at the number of businesses out there who don’t put much emphasis on customer service…they operate as though it is a given. Unless you focus on it, the concept gradually slips away. From our initial “Brandstorming” session with every client, we map out clearly defined goals and objectives, detailed time lines and create accountability methods (for both the agency and the client) to ensure success. The final step of our 7-Step Process — “Running the Ranch” – ensures that we monitor progress in all client relationships and demonstrate goal-oriented success. Internally, our Client Services team meets regularly to ensure client relationships stay strong and that we deliver a solid ROI.

-Jim Miller, Public Relations

If you’ve ever thought about whether or not SEO would be an effective tool for you or your business, take a look at how this powerful internet marketing strategy helped one of our clients boost sales and web presence.

We started doing Search Engine Optimization for our client, Columbine Label Company, in July. Since then, they have been experienced huge jumps in their web traffic. Traffic is great, but driving business through new leads is better.

This is the email I received from our client last week:

Brand Iron can help your business develop an effective SEO strategy. Every company has unique online goals, ie, 2nd handshake, resource for information, make online purchases, demonstrate expertise. A targeted SEO plan can be exactly the shot of adrenaline your company’s online presence needs. Learn more about our Web-O-Nanza™ program or call us today 303-534-1901.

“Mike and Jim walked to the car, and he drove.” In this sentence, it is unclear who drove, Mike or Jim. The reader will be unable to determine it based on this sentence alone. It is clear that this sentence needs reworking, but sometimes the problem is a little less clear.

In marketing, there is a need for information to be interpreted quickly and accurately. Thus, it is that much more important to double check the copy, or even to hire a professional to ensure accurate and clear copy.

“After Mike handed Jim a packet, he continued to work on the project.”

Here the correct interpretation of this sentence is that Mike worked on the project more since Mike is the subject of the last phrase. However, the brain often associates the most recent noun with the pronoun, so it is common to assume Jim worked on the project after receiving the packet. Still, it is really unclear who the author intended to say worked on the project more, Mike or Jim. Such a sentence often results in a reread for the careful reader, which may only lead to more ambiguity. The less careful reader will merely interpret it one way whether that is the intended interpretation or not.

It is easy to write sentences like these, but it is difficult to spot the ambiguity. Often the author’s mind will simply supply the correct interpretation when the author proofreads the sentence. It may not be detrimental to interpret this sentence incorrectly, but sometimes the ambiguity can lead to problems. In writing, what is written is far more important that what is meant, since the author does not have the ability to clarify things for the reader, like one can do in speaking. Therefore, it is important to create copy that is clear and leaves little room for misinterpretation.

Even though this sentence can be interpreted correctly by following the grammar rules, one needs to consider, first, whether the reader will do that, and second, whether one wants to force the reader to stop reading in order to come to a correct interpretation of the sentence.

There are a couple solutions to fix sentences like these. Supply the proper noun in place of the ambiguous pronoun:

“After Mike handed Jim a packet, Mike continued to work on the project.”

To avoid redundancy, try using phrasing:

“After handing Jim a packet, Mike continued to work on the project.”

Or if Jim worked on the project:
“After receiving a packet from Mike, Jim continued to work on the project.”

-Tommy Hummel, Operations Intern

As it officially becomes summer and the swimsuit suit season arrives, let’s look at a rebirth of a classic surf brand icon.

To begin, I must explain a little about my background. I grew up about a mile from the beach in Carlsbad, California. As far back as I can remember, we would ride our bikes down to the beach and spend the days of summer soaking up rays (pre-sunscreen days), catching waves, playing beach volleyball, tossing the Frisbee around and yes, girl-watching. I was a surf rat. I worked at a surf shop in Oceanside, California which was then called Hobie Oceanside, and has since been renamed Surfride. I grew up on brands such as O’Neil, Gotcha, Quicksilver, O.P. and Reef. My first job out of college was as a rep for several of these companies.

As a rep I learned early on that many of these brands were using sex to sell their products. Beautiful women in bikinis became a central feature of surf posters displayed in stores and on surfer boys’ walls. It had become a way for companies to make a name for their brand and to sell their product, and one of these famous surf companies did just that to stand out from the rest. Reef designed a marketing campaign that would change the face of “bikini girl marketing,” putting their models in tiny thong bikinis which they coined the “Reef Girl.” And what do you know; the idea of women in thongs was so outrageous that literally overnight this little flip-flop company became a world-wide brand. It catapulted them and their brand above the rest. From posters to calendars to bikini contests, Reef girls became the signature of the Reef brand.

After years of success in the surf company industry and wide spread popularity of the Reef brand they felt that Reef could survive without the marketing ploy of the
Reef Girl contest, and were confident that the Reef brand could stand on its own. Did they know they were cutting off their nose despite their face? The Reef Girls were such an important piece of the Reef brand, it had become their signature, and in a way it had become their brand. With the disappearance of the Reef Girls came the drop in sales for the company and Reefs marketing presence dissipated as other surf companies jumped at the opportunity to show off their own brands. Well, it wasn’t long before customers, dealers, and young boys came clamoring for their thong bikini babes to return on calendars, posters, and pictures on the website. And yes, for the Reef Girls and their bikini contests to return as well.

Following a two year hiatus, the Reef Girls returned. So is it coincidence? Could the brand and its products stand on their own without the wildly popular thong bikini stunt? Is it that the timing of repositioning their brand beyond a marketing stunt and the recession created a “perfect storm”? Is it because they listened to customers, dealers, and young boys around the world and relented to pressure? Or is it that this little marketing stunt which helped to propel their brand into a world wide recognizable one may have actually been a good idea in the first place?

Whatever the reason, they’re back and you can vote for your all-time favorite Miss Reef as well as enter to become a judge at the next Miss Reef bikini contest in Panama at http://www.surfline.com/surf-news/bikini-contest–win-reef-bikini-girl-trip_27263/. As for me, I am positive the return of the bikini thong girls will be driving tons and tons of traffic to their web site and creating quite a stir as well as helping to sell tons of flip flops. I’m also crossing my fingers that I win that contest!

by Michael Doyle, Brand Iron President

These tough economic times and rising number of jobs lost have left their mark on the interning world as well as the paid working world. Searching for jobs online, I have noticed that most places are looking for someone with “experience” but how do you get this experience without working? The answer seems to be, internships. I have found the world of interning to be more competitive this year than the two years before hand. When I think about it, it seems strange that people would be pretty much begging to work FOR FREE. But the more I think about it, it isn’t so much the working for free part we are begging for, it’s the experiences that come with it.

Since my freshman year in college I have been immersing myself in the world of internships, from a radio station, to a music festival, and now to a small branding and consulting firm I’ve been building up my resume with so called “work experience.” There have been the days when my title of “Intern” has included making coffee, standing at the printer, and spending hours battling mail merge, but on the flip side to that are the days when being the intern has allowed me to get in on creative meetings, network with clients, and learn new programs and tools which has made all the hours of unpaid work pay off.

I have become used to being the new person in the office, and the person who gets stuck with some of the more boring tasks at work, but I’m also really grateful for the time and effort my superiors have spent teaching me valuable skills. Not only can I have “mail merge expert” on my resume but also social media enthusiast, digital marketing experience, event planning, and a whole host of other useful abilities.  Beginning my third internship, I continue to take steps in new directions and grab onto any projects I can get a hold of.

Now that I have a variety of internships to boost my resume, I wonder what work experience is enough work experience to launch me into the working world post college. For the time being my plan is not to stress out about the job market, but to continue to show up each day and take it all in, who knows where it may take me next (hopefully a real job).

Written by Kaitlyn Anderson, Marketing Intern