Tag: Branding

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Branding Services

Lift up your brand spirits with humour

branding agencies

An entrepreneur, an advertiser and a comedian walk into a bar….

Yes, they made a knock off your pants funny campaign together, got featured on Social Samosa, generated a whole lot of ‘shares’ and ‘saves’ on Instagram and branded their message right into their TG’s minds!

You get the drift.

So why and how are some of the best branding agencies in India and Ahmedabad, yours truly at Flora Fountain included, using humour to create memorability and differentiation for a brand? Read on to know it all…

Why humour works in selling?

People love to laugh. It’s something that almost everyone has in common. That’s why using humor is a popular advertising technique. The key, of course, is doing something that a majority of people will find funny. Laughter is always good for people. It can reduce pain and stress as well as lower blood pressure. Getting people to laugh also makes them more inclined to think positively about a business and buy its products.

And guess everyone knows, that the best ice breaker in the world is jokes (after food of course). And some of the most commonly heard conversation starters are, “have you seen/heard that ad where…”. That’s how humour creates a recall for brands, making it stand out and get its message shared among more people.

Popular brands that have used humour to spice up their marketing game

Let’s take a look at how some of the brands became household names with their wit and humour in delivering the message and marketing their products.

Old Spice

The popular men’s deodorant and hygiene products brand is known to go meta with their campaigns, making fun of the whole idea of advertising in itself. It usually features a very well built, handsome man, doing something completely out of context in their commercials, like riding a horse on a beach while mouthing the catchphrase addressing women, “Ladies, your man can smell just like me”. Here, take a look at one of their television commercials that aired sometime back.

Prime Video

Amazon’s video streaming service Prime Video in India has decided go all out and tickle the funny bone to promote the movies and shows on their platform. One look at their India Instagram page and you’ll find out posts peppered with humorous memes and jokes all involving some scene or dialogue from one of the movies in their catalogue, and a pop culture reference. One of their longest running advertising and marketing gags is wishing its followers “Good Morning” through funny memes. Here check out a few:

Prime Video

Prime Video-2

Netflix

Everyone hates spoilers. And everyone hates that one Netflix subscriber in the group who watches every movie, every TV show right when they release and give out spoilers to everyone. Netflix gave out fake spoilers of its highly popular shows through huge outdoor billboards as a part of their smart and funny campaign asking people to stay at home during the pandemic, to stay safe from the coronavirus and spoilers.

Eleven 11 Restro Cafe (@eleven11restrocafe)

This Ahmedabad-based restaurant cum cafe is not only known for its lip smacking food and Instagram-worthy ambience and interiors, but their quirky social media presence too.
The brand knows that their audience on the internet is a young, hip crowd that loves their memes and are fluent in pop-culture references.

Eleven 11 Restro Cafe

And to match their vibe and draw them to their outlets, Eleven 11 regularly indulges in fun banters and shares witty takes on their social media pages.

Falguni Gruh Udhyog, Vastrapur (@falgunivastrapur)

This Ahmedabad-based snacks and packaged food brand is synonymous with being a Pakku Amdavadi, i.e. loud, funny and a total film buff. Falguni Vastrapur is a legacy brand, with loyalties of their customers spanning 30 years.

But they promote their products through trending memes and jokes shared on their Instagram pages. Here’s a sneak peek on what they usually talk about online.

Falguni Gruh Udhyog, Vastrapur

The idea behind this is that the brand is pretty confident that the elders of the house (mothers, grandmothers, etc) will always visit the store to purchase their snacks. But the brand wishes to attract the cafe-hopping, new-gen audience by speaking to them in their lingo, while promoting their traditional and fusion Gujarati snacks.

Customers appreciate and remember a funny take

Sprout Social conducted a detailed survey of consumers in relation to brand personality. The report found that three in four consumers appreciated humor from brands. Humor helps a consumer remember and engage with your brand and that they appreciate good humor from companies

Good humour, a cheeky take on oneself also showcases honesty. Which is something every customer seeks from a brand. This honesty helps in building the trust between the consumer and the brand. And when there is trust and honesty in such a relationship, customers tend to engage more with the brand and further refer it to their friends and family too.

Can humour fail in marketing too?

But not every brand has the chops to be cheeky. Failing at humor in the marketing world is sure to attract attention, but not the kind that your brand wants. What builds a powerful connection also has a downside. Humor tends to be highly subjective. What’s funny to one may offend another. That can spread like wildfire and damage your brand. Humor can also water down your message. Make sure your team is on the same page and consistent with who you want your brand to be.

88% consumers dislike it when brands mock their fans
71% of consumers find brands engaging in politics on social annoying

Dos and Don’ts when it comes to using humor in marketing.

  • Test your jokes on others before posting

What’s funny for one, might just be a plain ‘fact’ for another. Check if the ‘hilarious’ joke you thought up for your brand actually makes any sense or not, by cracking it with your peers, maybe the designers, the copywriters, and even the interns.

  • Avoid controversial topics

What’s worse for a brand is a joke offending people than a joke not landing. People may let go of an ‘unfunny’ post, tweet or a blog, but a joke that mocks their beliefs, ideologies or anything sensitive has a high chance of backfiring.

  • Be sure the timing is right

Oh, and what’s worst, is a badly timed joke. Never make jokes or post something funny when there is a scenario that is serious and sensitive, like a national mourning, war, natural calamities, etc.

  • Select the right channel

Some jokes are specifically crafted for particular platforms. For instance, the “Like, Comment, Share” jokes are meant only for Instagram. Posting them on Pinterest or Twitter will never work.

You know what, some of the funniest jokes come out when you hanging out with the right people. How about you drop by our office for a cup of strong coffee and stronger punchlines for your next brand promotion? Drop us a hello on hello@florafountain.in

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Digital Marketing Agency

Why your brand needs Inclusive Marketing

An image of a group of friends from diverse backgrounds sitting together

When we mention a term like inclusive or a word like diverse what is the first thing that pops up in your mind? Race, religion, gender? Maybe it is time that inclusivity becomes more than mere words, and becomes a value that brands understand and embrace. Maybe it is time that brands realized the importance of Inclusive Marketing, in order to speak directly to a wider variety of audience, and as a by-product also paving the way for a more inclusive world.

Let’s dig a little deeper into inclusive marketing and how a brand can use this strategy to bring change and explore an untapped market.

blonde-man-wearing-orange-eyeliner

What is Inclusive marketing?

Inclusive marketing means a brand creating a marketing strategy plan which resonates with people who have been underrepresented or stereotypically portrayed. Be it racial and ethnic minorities, be it plus size models or be it LGBTQ individuals, inclusivity means to show the diversity of the real world by including people from all backgrounds.

For instance, a makeup brand which caters to young women, decides to create a post featuring a man using their product. Unexpected? Definitely, but inaccurate? Not necessarily. Such an approach reflects the positive attitude of the brand towards the different genders it serves, with a thoughtful and inclusive message for the society. This type of marketing helps in bringing positive social change and elevating diverse voices and role models. It even eliminates cultural bias.

In today’s world, it is very important for a marketer to relay the brand’s message in a way that it relates with everyone regardless of gender identity, age, race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, etc. and elevate their stories.

Why inclusive marketing matters for a brand?

Customer is the king and ‘inclusive marketing’ matters, because they say it does.With time more and more brands have started catering to diverse consumers, which is why a consumer knows that they do not have to ‘accept’ being ignored by any brand they want to connect with.

high-view-diverse-wooden-characters-inclusion-concept

According to a survey conducted by Adobe in the year 2019, 61% of their customers think diversity in advertising is important, as it has an impact on their likelihood to engage with a brand.

Moreover, as our societies have become more diverse, it’s important than ever that companies are thoughtful about the messages, images, voices, and values that represent their brands.

Increases brand’s reach

A brand can expand its reach in the market as inclusivity allows the company to find and connect with new customers. When a brand shows inclusivity and diversity in its marketing strategy, it creates a huge impact on how the potential customers see a company.

Inclusive marketing even helps the company to develop a closer and deeper relation with the existing customers in order to build brand loyalty.

Overall, this marketing technique will help your brand’s audience to grow.

Closer to the audience

Pop singer Rihanna’s beauty line Fenty Beauty is an epitome for how inclusivity in brand marketing can bring you closer to your audience. Her brand places “beauty for all” at the core of its marketing message and her focus on inclusivity is striking a chord with many people because it is authentic.

blogimg

Her brand SAVAGE X FENTY featuring plus size models or gender-neutral products helped her get close to a wide range of consumers as they related to the marketing.

Boosts brand recognition

People respect a brand which offers inclusive marketing and genuinely shows what real people need. When a brand speaks the language of the consumers, they earn their trust.

A company which tries to avoid stereotypes and make more efforts to counter them, inspires people. Eventually it gets a brand more recognition in the market.

The smart thing to do right now is to incorporate inclusivity into the fabric of your brand.

How can your brand practice it?

Gather data and LISTEN TO IT!

The first thing on your list should be to throw every assumption you have made about your audience out of the door. You as a brand should dig deeper and research cultural intelligence to know your audience in a better way. The data analytics will allow you to clearly see the positive, negative or neutral responses to your advertising campaigns. Inclusive marketing does not mean just to gather data, it also means listening to it.

Once you study the data with an unbiased eye, you will be able to identify pitfalls in the marketing strategy plan which in turn helps you to create a relatable marketing campaign.

Reflect reality and tell universal stories

We see a mix of people when we go out in public. Just like the real world, a brand also needs to reflect real people in its marketing. People want to see themselves reflected in the media to feel inspired and heard. Use their real-life stories in your marketing image, video or more and infuse their language with yours.

After creating one, ask yourself if it elevates diverse voices. If it does, go ahead!

Show variety

Deloitte stated in one of its researches that ‘Millennials are the most diverse generation in history’. This means that marketers in the current scenario can no longer create the kind of narrowly-targeted campaigns that worked for them in the past. PEOPLE NEED VARIETY.

Potential customers are becoming increasingly aware of the social challenges that people of other sorts of backgrounds, philosophies, and ethnicities are facing. Hence, people not only want to see themselves but also a variety of groups.

So, think out of the box and create something which is welcoming, inclusive, and attractive at the same time.

It’s high time now! We are in the year 2021. Brands embracing diversity in their marketing should not be considered as a trend, it should be a norm. 

Wish to know more about inclusive marketing from your brand’s perspective, reach out to us for a consultation. Drop us a line here.

Categories
Branding Services

From business to brand. It’s not just about the logo

Let’s make it bigger.

Can you make it the same but in pink / yellow / blue / green?

Dekh ke maza aana chahiye!

If you have given or received such feedback, you know what we are going to talk about today.

Yes, LOGOS! Every time there’s a conversation around brand building, the first thing that comes to mind after a brand name is the logo.

Discussions over logos notoriously take over branding meetings, leaving precious little for the other crucial aspects of business promotion and advertising. And it’s time to realize that … a brand is more than just its logo. A brand is a living entity that walks, talks, grows and influences the people around it. Wish to know what makes your business a brand? Scroll down!

Your brand must have a PURPOSE

PURPOSE

So, what does your brand deliver? What does it want to be? Who does the brand speak to? Who should sit up and notice the brand? How would your ideal customer describe your brand? If you never asked these questions about your brand, then you must NOW.

For instance, your business might be that of making artisanal chocolates; but what it actually does as a brand is provide joy to the consumer, the experience of enjoying a delicious treat. That is the actual purpose of the said chocolate business.

Similarly, every brand has its purpose, a problem it solves, and questions it provides answers to. By defining this PURPOSE, the mission and vision of your business is formed. And this should be the first step you take in the process of branding, even before you think of a logo.

Your brand has a PERSONALITY

If your brand was a person, who would it be? How would he/she dress, what would be their favourite food, in which language would they talk? These questions help you define a personality for your brand. And when your brand has a personality, it is able to connect with the kind of people it wishes to serve.

So, how do you want your brand to be?

PERSONALITY

Approachable, genuine, validating and emotional, having an impact on the customer every time he/she engages with it.

Basically, MAKE YOUR BRAND HUMAN. To come up with a personality for your brand, you must…

  • First consider the purpose and the message you want to convey.
  • Study your competition and think of what will make your brand stand out from them.
  • Come up with adjectives and phrases that describe your brand, like, Sophisticated yet Rugged, Intellectual but Street Smart, Honest and Friendly.

See what we did there? This is how you define your brand’s personality.

Use VISUALS to convey your brand’s PURPOSE and PERSONALITY

What comes into your mind when you visualize a 3-pointed star inside a circle? Mercedes, right? What comes to your mind when you imagine the colour red? Coca Cola, Ferrari, KFC…. You get the drift.

KFC
mercedes

Once your brand’s purpose and personality is defined, it’s time for strategy on how to convey it to your existing customers, and the ones who could become one in future upon engaging with the brand.

A strong visual element is important for every brand, to leave an imprint on its customer. And for this, you must pick an attractive colour palette, an identifiable font family and graphics that support the brand’s persona. These visual elements like colour are the silent ambassadors of your brand.

Your brand has its own VOICE

Now, this is where the language comes into play. And no, we aren’t just talking about linguistics here. But the conversational style of the brand, the way it speaks to its consumers.

VOICE

The purpose and personality comes into the picture here again, as they decide the style in which the brand will talk. Is your business providing facts to its end user? Then the tone of the brand is going to be informative and very formal, like Encyclopedia Britannica.

But at the same time, a brand named Diply Facts on Instagram does the same thing, but its language is polar opposite to Britannica. Why? The audience, their age groups and the purpose behind the end product is different from each other.

While the former is used by students, academicians and writers for educational purposes, the latter is used by a younger, casual audience for informal activities like sharing with friends on social media.

Now that you know that building a brand goes much beyond creating a logo, simply hiring a graphic design or logo design company to create one is not enough. You need a creative agency that specializes in branding. Wondering where to find one? Click here to get in touch and start a conversation with us at Flora Fountain!

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Social Media

How colours are the silent ambassadors for your brand

ambassadors for your brand

There are so many instances where one sees a colour and associates it with or recognises the brand. The colours not only help bring out the personality of the brand but it also helps evoke an emotional connection. It attracts people and lets them know more about you. Whether you are starting or expanding your company, here are some key points you should have in mind.

The right colour matters!

brand personality

Call it colour psychology, but according to research, customers will make a subconscious decision based on colours. One has to choose their brand and logo colour wisely and see what message they deliver indirectly. The colours represent the brand personality which can range from being feminine or masculine, playful or serious, modern or classic, loud or subdues etc. The colours attract customers to choose you. For example-

The famous Starbucks, with its green colour makes it look rich, welcoming, friendly, and healthy. A lot is translated about their coffee and services.

Dark blue is heavily seen in a lot of motor and technology brands. The corporates love it but don’t forget the medical and healthcare industry which uses light blue. It is a safe colour as research shows that a lot of people’s favourite colour is blue.

Starbucks logo
McDonald’s logo

One can never forget to mention McDonald’s. The yellow catches the eye immediately and is visible clearly in daylight while the red is an active colour. Well, yellow is also related to happiness. You can spot other food brands too using red in their logos. Your colours communicate what you stand for. Knowing what the colour denotes in different cultures and places is important.

How to choose the right colours?

After you have decided on what your brand wants to emote and what your personality is, you have to decide on the background, base and accent colour. Looks like a lot, but it’s not. Consider this a method for you to arrive at the right colours for your brand. With a wide range of colour options, your brand requires the right shade. Hence, deciding on the background, base and accent colour is important.

  • Your background colour scheme has to have options.
  • The base colour shows your personality and appeals to the target audience.
  • The accent colour has to complement and pair well with your background and base colour.
background logo colours

For the logo design you can spin the wheel. Take a look at the picture and see where you fit in, which shade and colour is right for you.

  • Monochrome when you are focusing on one personality trait.
  • Analogous is safe as you convey the same meaning and connotations.
  • Complementary colours would mean bold and dynamic visuals.
  • Triadic colours are stable but one has to see if it matches the brand personality.
logo design

Colourful names

Own your colour and its name too. It has been found that quirky and fancy colour names are more pleasing to people. Even though people were shown the same colour, mocha is preferred over brown. The colour brown can be bifurcated in cinnamon, cedar, brunette, tawny, tortillas, chocolate, gingerbread etc. Naming your unique colour makes it stand out. Create your own colour palette to establish the identity.

On the whole visuals affect the consumer. As a brand, one has to build trust and loyalty through its colours. It is important to analyse your competitors, know what your brand stands for and what personality traits it emotes. Choosing the right colour and associating it with your brand requires variations and background, base and accent colour. Making the right mixture and naming it is crucial. People are attracted to fancy names.

Flora Fountain provides branding and logo services. We help you build and enhance your logo designs too. Leading business into the new creative ventures and reaching success. There is no right or wrong, it is all about exploring and creating one’s colour palette. Get in touch with us today to know which colours suit your brand and how it will help you propel your positioning among your customers.

Categories
Social Media

Digital Crisis Management During Corona [COVID-19] | 10 Steps To Maintain Your Business’ Digital Health

Business’ Digital Health 3

As the world fights a pandemic, it becomes all the bit more essential for a business person to innovate different ways to educate their customers. While everyone is focusing on cost control and reducing marketing activities, here’s how a smart business person can make a huge difference while being at home during the Corona [COVID-19] lockdown by following these 10 simple steps.

1. Website Health:

Check whether you website is working as it should be. Remember your website is your digital store and it is now more important to maintain an A-game. Hence check all the pages, specially your contact us or any other enquiry form.

2. Branding & Reputation:

Once you are through with website checklist, ask yourself, “Why did I build this website?” I am sure like most of us the answer is, to market your product and services. But during the CO-VID 19 lockdown 90% businesses can not sell because of logistical challenges. At this point we can focus on proper branding and reputation management.

social media platform

3. Which Platform to target?

To do proper branding or marketing you must be visible to the world out there on social media platforms and hence it is important to play to your strengths and identify which platforms to target. For example, jewellers’ best bet is to be on a visual social media platform like Instagram or Pinterest. Those in the counselling sector should focus on creating engagement through Instagram and blogs. While, those in the B2B segments should focus on disseminating information via blogs on website, LinkedIn and newsletters.

4. Ask yourself where is my audience?

It is important to understand and create audience profiling. Age, sex, interest, geography and income are some important factors to consider. Instagram is for younger millenials, Facebook is a community based application and has a mixed audience of slightly older people, YouTube is a video based application which focuses on awareness & education, Twitter is ideal for user engagement and feedback, LinkedIn is perfect for B2B, Pinterest is for portfolio building and for ideas, while Tiktok is used to target small-town and suburban audiences through video.

5. Optimize the profile/page

If you are a small business then creating an id or a profile is advisable versus creating a page on Facebook. If you are a comparatively established brand then create a page on Facebook and a profile on other platforms such as Instagram. Optimize your profile by mentioning all the details about the company, such a bio, contact details, Google Map location etc.

Facebook profile page

6. Follow the right influencers

In order to create a strategy for your brand you need to remain up-to-date with the latest trends of the industry and to what actually attracts people. Following the right influencers (people who know the industry and influence buying decisions) can sometime lead to collaborations, when the opportunity is right.

Content share

7. Share content regularly

Content is king everywhere, including social media. Content is what we put out and what gets shared on social media platforms. This can be a combination of Image, Text or Video. Remember, don’t get too technical and don’t try to sell immediately. Educate your followers about your product, the industry, the benefits of using the product or service etc.

8. Use proper hashtags

In order to grow followers on Instagram and Twitter you need to reach the maximum audience and that can be done by using proper hashtags in your post caption. In Instagram, you can use any number of hashtags between 3 to 30 in your copy as well as comment section. To get familiar with trending hashtags related to your business visit www.all-hashtag.com

9. Interact with your followers

All successful brands must care about their followers. This care can be shown in many ways. Sometimes a simple “thank you” can convert a commenter into a follower into a fan and eventually a future buyer. Communication is an essential tool once your page or profile is up and running.

10. Be patient

Remind yourself that you are here to educate and spread awareness about your product/services. Don’t be impatient by pressurising yourself to generate leads or business in initial months. If you follow the above 9 points diligently then slowly, but surely, business is bound to happen.

To know more about Flora Fountain and our social media marketing services, begin your journey here www.florafountain.com