Modern Brand wins Best New Agency of the Year

Last week, the American Advertising Federation held the Annual Peak Awards in Birmingham, AL. I am proud to announce that The Modern Brand Co. was named the best new advertising agency in Birmingham for 2008. I am proud of this accomplishment less for the title and the accolades, and more for the work that got us to this point.

In our first year in business we have helped a lot of people figure out the crazy world of advertising. In only 12 months, we have worked with more than 50 clients. Out of those 50, more than a dozen were non-profit groups that really needed help to forward their missions. 

It has certainly been an interesting year. We have worked on everything from radio soap operas to cutting edge RFID technology. We have helped non-profits like the red cross and we have helped lots of small businesses. We have led seminars on branding, logos, marketing for artists, and media buying.

We have learned a lot of lessons. Some of them hard, some of them fun. We have learned who our true friends are, and we know who we can count on. We have learned how to take the high road, how to make a hard sale, how to make a soft sale, how to unite a group, how to pitch a big account, and how to be ourselves.

We have learned a lot about technology. We designed more websites in these first twelve months than we did in five years at our old agency.

We have learned to be humble, we have learned to be proud, we have learned not to take ourselves too seriously. We have learned to weather trials and deal with difficlut people. We have learned to measure risk and plan for the future. But most of all, we have learned that any day working for yourself is better than a day working for someone else.

It is an amazing feeling to wake up in the morning and make your own decisions about how your day will go. 

To anyone reading this who has worked with The Modern Brand this year, thank you. You have made our dream possible.

The Importance of Collateral

In advertising, we refer to business cards, letterhead, envelopes, sales kits, direct mail pieces and brochures as collateral. This is basically anything that you have printed to help support your brand and your business. Recently, someone challenged me with the question, has a good business card ever actually generated a sale? I replied with this response, a great business card will rarely lead to a direct sale, but a bad business card can easily lead to a direct loss of a sale.More often than not, business cards, letterhead, and other collateral pieces serve as initial contact points with potential customers. If that customer doesn’t know anything about your business at all, then I can pretty much guarantee that they will form a perception of your company based on the quality of your collateral.  If a card or a sales kit is on quality paper and has a professional design, then they are going to perceive your company as being professional and established. That’s why it is particularly important for small businesses and start-ups to invest in decent collateral pieces. Yes, it is an initial investment. Yes, it will probably stretch your budget a little. But if you are asking clients to invest in your business, shouldn’t you be willing to do the same?Good collateral design and quality printing can  go a long way in establishing your company and creating a perception of quality. Even if you are a one-person business, you can look more professional than some of the largest companies in the world through collateral alone. And remember, collateral pieces are often your first impression with new customers. Don’t let them be your last.

Branding is critical for small businesses

Some people think that branding is for big companies. They think of branding only in terms of mega companies like microsoft, coca-cola, and starbucks and they wrongly think that they don’t have the resources to create a brand.  The sad fact is that every small business in the world needs to stand for something and needs to have a well-defined brand. I would even argue that small businesses can do a better job of defining their brands than these mega companies. Small businesses need to stand for something. They need to step out and occupy a particular place in the minds of their target audience. They need to define their key core values, and then do everything in their power to align with those values.  A brand is not built through a logo alone. Instead it is a vibe, a feeling, an intrinsic value that must permeate through every facet of the business. To stand out, businesses need to create brand experiences that their customers recognize and appreciate.