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A HIGHER IDEA
‘The Godfather isn’t a mafia movie, it’s a film about Family, Capitalism, The American Dream…’ A great line from a great series ‘The Offer’ and one of the best explanations of the value of branding I’ve heard in recent times. In this case the scene shows producer Al Ruddy trying to explain to a stubborn New York gangster why they should let him use their city to make the Godfather. He sold the mafia man a higher idea. All great brand-building is about doing the same thing – think of the well-known companies… Nike don’t sell trainers – they sell
MAKE LIFE EASIER FOR PEOPLE
We’re all such lazy people at times. Always were, the internet has just made it worst. Which companies do the best online? Those that make life easiest for their customers, for their audience. Silicone valley calls it ‘Frictionless Experience,’ spiritual people talk about ‘The Law of Non-Resistance,’ (which we quite like…) However, we like to think of it as.. ‘Making Life Easier For People’ A novel idea and Part-9 of our Entrepreneurial Approach to Brand-Marketing. We’ve lost count of the number of website updates, creative campaigns and general design projects that have been transformed with the simplest of small changes.
GIVE SOMETHING AWAY!!
At the loft, we love giving things away – we’ve hosted barbecues (or Lasagne Fridays) for people we know to meet in our studio, we’ve given away tips we’ve learned from building websites or setting up photography sets, we’ve done tote bags and corporate stationary too. However, none have been as well-received as our ’Social Media Cheat Sheets.’ A one-page document, A4, easily printed, giving the latest tips of the day on when to post, what platforms and what time, etc. A tremendous little giveaway shared on our website, our social channels, on our e-mail signatures, etc and one that
SERVE THE BUSINESS FIRST!!
Serve The Business First!! ‘Part-4 of Our Entrepreneurial Approach to Brand-Marketing.’ Increasing sales, improved margins, greater customer loyalty, better staff relations, improved investor communications, a focus on a new sector or even a customer/location/product, etc… There are many different reasons for doing a creative project, many different masters to serve… However, at the loft, we believe the first and most important client for any creative project is the business itself. A clear, unashamedly commercial focus is the best thing that can happen to a creative project. Whether it’s building a new website, setting up an email system or just putting
‘SO SIMPLE EVEN YOUR GRANNY WOULD GET IT!’
‘So simple and easy to understand that even your granny would get it!’ A little bit of Scottish chat and also Part-3 of Our Entrepreneurial Approach to Brand-Marketing. Persuading MDs, CEOs and Founders is one thing – a lot of the time with brand-marketing projects – we have to win over lots of other people – finance professionals, procurement people, technical staff, customers that have never heard about you and some who may not even know the first thing about your product or service. Each and every one presenting a fresh challenge to the tech start-ups, the engineering companies and
MAX OUT CREATIVE CONTENT!!
Part-2 of Our Entrepreneurial Approach to Brand-Marketing. ‘Max Out Creative Content’ Creative content produced for websites, re-formatted for brochures, introduced on social media, re-purposed for print ads, used for digital mail, traditional mail, animated for YouTube, inserted into proposals, placed in Powerpoint decks, etc, etc. The number of destinations for high-quality and effective creative content is absolutely limitless. Whether we’re talking about impactful infographics, art-directed photography, story-telling videos or even carefully crafted text. Whatever the medium, whatever the end-use, at the loft we advise our clients to truly maximise every last bit of resource invested in creative projects. Creativity you’ve
EXISTING CLIENTS FIRST!!
Increasing sales as quickly as possible is pretty much the holy grail of all high-growth companies, of all Business Founders, Leaders & Entrepreneurs, for all those individuals in a hurry to make it happen. More sales staff, new campaigns, marketing materials, etc. All potential answers. Sometimes the main answer’s closer to home. Serving (and eventually) selling to existing customers can be massively easier and faster than building trust with new people – stats say up to 6 times faster. A number that gets bigger with high-value services. Direct mail, letters, targeted social media, even organised high-quality telesales campaigns are all
QUICK WINS
‘Go as far as you can see, when you get there, you’ll see how to go further.’ One of the areas where we’ve been most successful with helping clients scale their businesses over the years, with the loft, is with the introduction of super lean action plans – the kind that are put together in a couple of hours, presented in about 15 minutes, approved, implemented and delivering some real value for the client in double-quick time. No days lost to an overload of consultancy on all parts, no full-day presentations presenting what the client has said back at them,
ONE-LESS-CLICK
A real long-term multiplier for effective long-term digital communications. ‘Non-Resistance’ is a business idea I love, how much better a business can do just by making a couple of small things that little bit easier for people. In particular, I’ve always been fascinated, intrigued and surprised with our digital work – by the incredible gains that can be made to a company’s online success just by changing a few simple, seemingly obvious things – a clear contact number on the home-page, a few fields removed from the contact form, service names that everybody can understand, sites which load-up quickly, direct contact
SOMETHING BIGGER THAN SELF
It’s definitely been great to have the opportunity to ‘think‘ a bit more recently. For those of you that don’t know me well – I’m the guy that likes to charge ahead, the man who’s labelled ‘Mr Action’ on the company’s website, the person who likes to stay busy, etc… But even I have to admit there are benefits to a good rest too – which I’ve had recently. Interestingly, I’ve had the chance to re-read James Watt, Founder of Brewdog’s, brilliant business book – ‘Break All The Rules, The Brewdog Way.’ Brewdog have been in the press recently, and
HERO CONTENT
A ‘Must-Have’ for rapidly growing organisations. Challenging marketing deadlines reached, pressures on the creative team lifted, greater brand consistency, more impact, greater Return-On-Investment on creative activities, the capacity to do more in shorter periods of time, these are just some of the benefits of creating high-quality ‘Hero-Content.’ What is ‘Hero-Content’ and how can it be used? Hero-Content is a term used to describe creative materials that have been finished to an exceptional standard, that really sell the benefits of a product/service/organisation and can be easily and quickly dropped into a much wider range of brand/marketing materials. A couple of examples
MAXIMISING CREATIVE BUDGETS | 6 QUICK TIPS…
‘Making Every Penny Count’ Throughout the years, it’s almost became a life’s work to make sure that our clients (and ourselves for that matter) maximise every single bit of the creative budget we’ve got to strengthen brand and marketing activities for our companies. Exceeding expectations in terms of quality, service and value is always the goal. Here are a couple of quick pointers on things we’ve done in the past to achieve this.. 1. Write A List and Be Unashamedly CommercialSometimes we’re bombarded with choice – website updates, an infographic with useful customer data, social campaigns, refine what you have
ENQUIRIES
THE ENTREPRENEURS LOFT
86-90 Paul Street, London, EC2A 4NE
Tel: +44 (0)20 3835 3616
E-Mail: hello@entrepreneursloft.co
GLASGOW
272 Bath Street, Glasgow, G2 4JR
Tel: +44 (0)141 354 1595
The Entrepreneurs Loft is a part of The Loft Design & Branding Agency.
THE LOFT
Website: https://theloft.co
Company Number: SC422883
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