Tag Archives: corporate identity

Effective, Ongoing Public Relations

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Good public relations (PR) is a carefully planned, sustained effort to establish a corporate identity, maintain credibility and promote communication between an organization and its public. In other words, it’s keeping your name and good deeds out in front of the public.

Many people think press release when thinking about PR. Press releases are good and do have their place, but one of the major functions of PR is media relations. This is maintenance of an ongoing relationship with the media. Developing an ongoing relationship with media in your industry will encourage a reporter to get in touch via phone or e-mail with the spokesperson for your company, when stories are written about your industry. It includes being mentioned and quoted in stories related to your industry, placing stories exclusively about your company and obtaining speaking engagements for appropriate people within the organization. Third party endorsement by the media sells integrity, quality and extraordinary service like no advertisement can.

Public relations is an ongoing, proactive process and hard work. It means getting the word of the positive, newsworthy item that happens at your business to the media so that they, in turn, will tell the story to their audiences — your potential customers. When this happens successfully, the end result is publicity.

Good publicity is any news that is of potential interest to the people in your community or industry. People make news. Employee promotions and awards make news. Events make news — business opening, special promotions, anniversary celebrations, participation in or sponsorship of a community event. Innovations are news — a new product, a new service.

The more your customers read, see and hear about your company’s accomplishments, achievements and activities, the greater the awareness of you and your business in the local community and industry, and a better image will result.

Awareness and a good image are what can set your company ahead of its competitors.

When someone makes a claim, you typically say, “How do you know?” The reply you most likely will hear is “I read it” not I heard it in a commercial. PR has the power to persuade the public.

What makes a good logo?

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Creating Logos - Don't do thisA logo can be one of the most important marketing pieces a company has because it is the foundation of your marketing or branded look. Therefore, a good logo should be a unique and timeless representation of your company, defining your services in a memorable way, and work well across a multitude of mediums. Whether your logo is on a billboard, a TV screen, the Internet or whatever, you may only have a split second to get your message across and still make an impact.

So with a sea of images and brands out there, what makes a good logo? It starts with a creative concept.

Keep it simple.
If your logo is too detailed or complex, your message may be lost in that split second of first impressions. Some of the most successful, classic and timeless logos of our time have been as simple as a piece of fruit with a bite out of it for a computer company, a simple swoosh for a famous shoe brand, and some golden arches for a now worldwide fast-food chain. Get the picture?

But just because it is simple doesn’t mean it is easy. Creating a simple and unique logo can be a challenge. A successful logo could start with a clever treatment of shape and / or text reflecting your service or product. It could be a color or symbol treatment to enhance the image or mood you want to portray; but whatever you do, do it as simply as possible.

Keep it versatile.
With the latest programs out there making drop shadows and special effects so easy to produce, be careful when it comes to applying them to logos.

A logo must be able to work whether it is on a printed piece, the Internet, a billboard, or even a t-shirt. It needs to work on any number of different backgrounds and textures as well. Keep in mind that the latest in special effects may look good and produce well on the Internet, but may also get lost when reduced in print to the size of a pencil! To test your logo, it should be able to maintain its integrity in black only, in just two colors for budget-minded projects, work on both dark and light backgrounds or in white, and be scalable in all sizes. Vector art is the format of choice for logo creation, rather than a logo created in raster art (such as Photoshop®) because it will not scale larger without some degradation.

Your logo should be your brand.
Keep your logo appropriate for your image and for your audience. Make sure your logo is not misrepresenting you with any hidden images or shapes. Review even the negative spaces (and subliminal possibilities) of your shape to prevent any unwanted interpretations. What one person sees, another may see something entirely different! So test, test, test on a variety of recipients.

Use color to your advantage, as color can enhance a feeling or mood. The colors you use along with your branded image can spur reactions anywhere from warm and friendly, to scientific or high-tech, or just plain fun with your clever use of color and shapes.

Finally, pay attention to the details.
It is important to check your logo’s accuracy should it be enlarged to a very large size such as a billboard, as a reproduction at this scale will show any flaws dramatically. A good logo needs to be finished and produced using clean, smooth lines and the utmost in precision.