10 Tips on Designing Brochures

December 16, 2011 Leave a comment

With Mel Fernandez

Even with the prevalence of digital marketing, brochures are common marketing materials, used in both printed and electronic form. We use them to present our company and its products and services in an interesting way that grabs readers’ attention and makes them want to buy from us or work with us. To be effective, a brochure must have solid branding, strong visuals, clear and concise messaging, and effective page layout and design.

When we recently re-wrote and re-designed an Affinity Express trade show brochure (for print) and some posters to display in our booth, we took the time to document the process. Mel and I have worked together on dozens of brochures and come at it from two perspectives: strategy and content for me and design and branding for Mel.

Together, we came up with the following tips that will help you create effective brochures.

Affinity Express graphic services brochure

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Seasonal Ads for Winter

December 6, 2011 Leave a comment

Every season brings on a slew of new products that need to be promoted. Smart marketers and business-owners also find ways of packaging existing products for different times of year to inspire customers to buy. As winter sets in, let’s take a look at some of the ads our team has designed for our clients while the temperatures drop and the snow starts in North America.

The easiest way to work make an ad seasonal is when there is a natural fit with the products, such as these ads for winter boots and slippers that will keep you dry and warm.

Ad for waterproof winter boots

Ad for Ugg winter boots

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Digital Media and the Newspaper Industry: an Interview with Michael Fogel of Hearst

November 30, 2011 Leave a comment

Michael Fogel, VP at Hearst Media

We recently met Michael Fogel, vice president of technology development at Hearst Newspapers. Hearst is a client of Affinity Express. Using our services to become more efficient and proactive is just one of the ways Hearst is adapting itself to the growing predominance of digital media and the decline in circulation and print ad revenues.

This blog post lays out Mr. Fogel’s views on the newspaper industry and explains how Hearst is riding the wave and leading the industry.

Digital Media Has Disrupted the Newspaper Industry

According to Mr. Fogel, the split in revenues for the newspaper industry used to be 80% advertising and 20% circulation. That was prior to double-digit declines in print revenues.

Not only have print revenues dropped dramatically, but newspapers are struggling to offer online services. Even as news publishers find ways to create and deliver digital products, margins on online services are lower and publishers need higher volumes to compensate.

How Hearst Uses Digital to Its Advantage

Unlike many of its counterparts, Hearst is surviving and even thriving in the digital world. The company was very close to realizing a year-over-year revenue gain in October. To Mr Fogel’s knowledge, no other news publisher can say this. Read more of this post

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Seven Easy Steps to Outsourcing Advertising and Marketing Production

November 15, 2011 Leave a comment

While most companies outsource at least one or more processes (e.g., payroll, cleaning services, landscaping, security, and benefits are rarely done in-house), there are many companies who have never outsourced advertising and marketing production, a mission-critical function that can include design of display ads, websites, emails, social media, marketing collateral and more. The idea can seem new and daunting.

Although marketing and advertising production is essential to every business, the outsourcing process doesn’t have to be complicated, especially if you are working with an experienced company that can lead you through it efficiently. Here are seven easy steps to outsourcing advertising and marketing production.

Samples of work Affinity Express has created for clients Read more of this post

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Designs of the Quarter: Online Ad, Coupon, Vector Art

October 28, 2011 2 Comments

The results of this year’s third Designs of the Quarter contest are in, and as always, I’m proud to present some of the best work within Affinity Express.

Online Ad

Designs of the Quarter: online ad

This eye-catching ad was an easy choice for Design of the Quarter because it grabs attention. Regardless of the online newspaper’s headline, you can’t ignore the ad because it surrounds the content. Even better, it earned high praise from our client: “We need to keep maintaining the high quality we’ve become accustomed to through Affinity Express. This is an AWESOME piece of creative built by your team. Keep up this great work.” Read more of this post

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Marketing for the Holidays

October 11, 2011 Leave a comment

Start preparing for the holidays now!When the weather is warm, the sun is shining and kids are out of school, I think about . . . the winter holidays. It sounds counterintuitive but this is the best time to put together plans, place orders and get ahead of the requirements of the season. I realize the summer has already passed, but hope this post will help you catch up!

The best advice of all is to start as soon as possible. These days, holiday decorations go on sale the day after Halloween with good reason—many people start planning and purchasing early. That’s why, whether you are a B2C or B2B company, it pays to have a roadmap for the holidays before you start hearing carols and seeing inflatable snow men on your neighbors’ lawns. Read more of this post

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Retail Client Achieves 65% Lower Costs and Half the Turn Time

September 27, 2011 Leave a comment

Design for Retail Client

A design our team created for this client

We support several retail clients and their print design needs: in-store signage, flyers and image editing for product images on their websites are some typical products we work on. One of our clients is a leading grocery and pharmacy retailer with 2,500 stores, 140,000 employees and several well-known brands. In addition, the client also provides supply chain and business services to another 2,200 independent retailers. 

Cost Pressure and Inefficiency

In an innovative move designed to reduce costs, our client centralized production for the retail chains so all requests would come through corporate headquarters for better control and standardization. Yet they still needed a better way to provide support, reduce turn times and improve communication with external customers and internal design functions.

The company was outsourcing to a U.S.-based company, but the service was expensive and not meeting all their needs in the creative services segment. The company needed more productivity, lower costs and greater value for their investment.

As a result, the retailer made another breakthrough and decided to become one of the early adopters in the retail industry of business process outsourcing for advertising and media. The company selected Affinity Express, based on our reputation for transforming production for our clients, to build and operate an optimized onsite, onshore and offshore delivery platform, customized to meet the requirements of the client. Read more of this post

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Eight Tips on Organizing a Great Event

September 21, 2011 2 Comments

Event planning often falls under marketing, whether that means trade shows, client visits or corporate meetings. And if you are a small- to medium-sized business, the chances are you don’t have a budget to hire an outside firm or a consultant. We’re just back from the Affinity Express annual strategy workshop and I’m glad to say that it went quite well, from the hotel to the meals to the events. Based on this recent experience, here are some suggestions to increase the likelihood of success for your event, regardless of the type of meeting or the industry you are in.

1. Visualize the Details

This is probably the tactic that has helped me the most, especially when it comes to large events. You have to know the venues, details and agenda better than anyone. Plus, you should see them from the perspective of your participants. When you envision through how guests will enter, what they will see, what they will need and what they will expect, you can effectively cover all of the details. Your goal is to have the attendees relax and feel completely taken care of, even when you’re having a straightforward business meeting.

This is one reason why you see signs with group names and directions in hotels when there are events. Having people wander around aimlessly, wondering where they are supposed to go, is not the best start to a gathering. The annual event for the Chicago chapter of Go Red For Women was a great example of effective signage. It was a large hotel and there was no doubt where to report, check your coat, find the ballroom, etc. They answered all the questions before they could be asked (and we were proud to have helped design the signage).

Dinner at the strategy meeting

Dinner was a time to relax and have more informal conversations

For our dinners around the strategy meeting, I had perused the menus and arranged for special requirements in advance. Each day, I arrived early to meet the servers, select wine and appetizers, discuss the approach with the staff and ensure everything was set up the way I wanted. Over the course of four days, my boss never started a question with, “Did you . . .?” When our guests arrived, they didn’t have to think, just enjoy themselves, which they certainly did. I’m not naming names but there was spontaneous karaoke at one point! Read more of this post

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Generating New Ideas for Blog Posts

September 9, 2011 Leave a comment

Blogger's blockIt is blog publishing day and you are staring at a blank screen but your to-do list has reached epic proportions. All of your contributors are mysteriously offline. What can you do to get the creative juices flowing so you can post something other than a blog about writer’s block?

Here is the list I run through when all else fails.

1.     Interview Someone

I know from experience that it is almost impossible to push someone (especially someone who isn’t a professional writer or marketer) into sitting down and quickly turning out an insightful post. Instead, schedule a 15-minute call and submit questions in advance. Then take notes on the conversation. You’ll be able to ask follow-up and clarifying questions much easier this way. Then you can get some supporting research and other opinions while your subject scurries off to other tasks. You can also interview outside contacts, customers, analysts, etc. Just decide in advance what you want to know so your conversation has focus.

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Choosing the ELITE Logo Design

August 16, 2011 1 Comment

With the announcement of our new Affinity Express ELITE initiative to better communicate and reinforce our company’s core values, we launched an internal design contest in July to develop the ELITE logo.

All Affinity Express employees were eligible to participate. Designs had to include “Affinity Express” and “ELITE” (in all caps because it is an acronym). We asked them to take into account the company branding standards and colors, but work to develop an attractive logo that demonstrates our creativity and design capabilities. Individuals could submit designs or teams could work together. And multiple entries were permissible.

I’m happy to say that we received hundreds of amazing designs and this was our most popular contest since our corporate logo was developed several years ago. Entries were reviewed without any names or identification and voted on by a team of Affinity Express personnel, including Human Resources and Marketing representatives.

The first thing we did was eliminate entries we didn’t believe would work for a variety of reasons (e.g., because the colors were off, the designs were not interesting or they didn’t have balance with our logo). We also got a lot of variations on the same theme and had to drill down to one representation of an idea. As we went through our review process, it was important for us to consider how logos would appear in different media: on memos, the website, t-shirts, posters, presentations and more. Read more of this post

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A Five-Step Recipe for Marketing Success

August 9, 2011 2 Comments

Cinnamon pecan buns

My cinnamon pecan buns

You’ve already heard that I work long hours juggling multiple priorities in my role with Affinity Express. When I show up at the office armed with trays of decadent desserts my coworkers, I invariably hear the question: “How do you find the time?” 

The answer is that I make the time because baking not only gives me a welcome break from work but also reinforces the way I approach marketing and gives me an opportunity to think through more complex challenges. Let me explain.

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Designs of the Quarter: Video, Print Ads, Flyers and Image Editing

August 1, 2011 1 Comment

For our second Designs of the Quarter contest this year, we called for entries in the categories of: flyers, print ads, video ads and image editing. Now that we’ve shared the good news with our team in our newsletter, we’re pleased to let you know about the winning designs.

Flyer

This flyer stood out because the image ties in perfectly with the headline, “Healthy Kids” and grabs attention. The boy looks ready to take on the world! Plus, the layout of the text lets readers easily grasp the point: donations are requested for this worthy cause. When you have so little time to engage, it is important that messages come through quickly.

Designs of the Quarter: flyer
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Our Parent Company, Ayala Corporation

July 28, 2011 Leave a comment

Ayala logoFor those of you who don’t know, our parent company is LiveIt Investments, the holding company for Ayala Corporation’s investments in the business process outsourcing (BPO) sector. Ayala Corp is one of the largest conglomerates in the Philippines. This association has many advantages for Affinity Express, not least being the stability and financial backing that they provide, allowing us to be a dynamic, versatile company.

The 2010 Ayala Corporation Annual Report was released recently and we were featured as a valued company in the portfolio of LiveIt Investments, Ltd.

Here are some highlights from the report. Read more of this post

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Using Color in Ad Design

July 26, 2011 2 Comments

We have written before about the importance of design in marketing, and color is one of the most important elements of design. Designers have always used color to convey different moods and underline the messages. Let’s take a look at some colors and what emotions or attributes they often convey.

Blue

Blue is a very commonly used in B2B messaging, because it is a calm color that indicates respectability. Because blue conveys reliability, it is commonly used by brands in financial services, healthcare and other industries where trust is paramount.

Ad illustrating use of blue color

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2011 Global Services 100: We’re in Again!

July 20, 2011 3 Comments

Affinity Express is included in the 2011 Global Services 100The U.S. holiday was on July 4th but there are fireworks going off in our offices around the world these days. Affinity Express was named to the 2011 Global Services 100—companies that define leadership in IT and business process outsourcing! Not only that, we were selected as one of the top 5 knowledge process outsourcing providers. Wow! This is the second year in a row we’ve been included but we are even more excited than we were in 2010.

As the person at our company who compiles the information and submits the application, I can tell you that the process is not easy. There are numerous financial, client, process, technology and human resources questions to answer. The reason is that Global Services 100 (GS100) companies are chosen through a detailed method that evaluates them across several quantitative and qualitative dimensions. I’m glad they liked what they saw in Affinity Express! Read more of this post

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SMBs and Social Media Marketing

July 14, 2011 3 Comments

Facebook design created by Affinity Express“Small and medium-sized businesses look for new customers on social media,” eMarketer says. The article quotes studies that say SMBs find social media effective and important for marketing.

The best part of that article, though, (in my completely biased opinion) is that they reference our survey on the use of online marketing and advertising by SMBs, and the fact that 50% of our respondents reported having used social media marketing.

Interestingly, another survey quoted by the article found that 83% SMBs planned to use social media marketing this year. Even more interesting, nearly two-thirds of SMBs in another survey said they used Facebook alone to promote their business.

All of this attests to the growing prevalence and effectiveness of social media marketing. This is in line with my own assessment as well. As a company, we’ve seen more orders for social media work in the past few months (designs for Facebook tabs or Twitter backgrounds, for example). We have trained and are training our people on the peculiarities of designing for social media. Our E-Marketing Manager Unmana Datta recently had an article on Facebook marketing published in Supplier Global Resource, a publication targeted at promotional products suppliers. Read more of this post

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Lack of Affordable Resources is the Biggest Challenge SMBs Face with Online Marketing

June 28, 2011 1 Comment

So how can more SMBs embrace the advantages of online marketing? If online marketing is actually more effective than they think and small businesses lack the resources and the knowledge to use it more effectively, how can this change?

But first, some more data. We asked our respondents about the challenges they face in online marketing.

Challenges of Online Marketing for SMBs: Affinity Express survey

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Online Marketing Effectiveness: Affinity Express Survey Results

June 21, 2011 1 Comment

In my last post, I shared some of the results of our recent survey of our SMB customers. While I found the number of respondents using online marketing surprisingly low (63%), it informed us that SMBs (or our respondents in particular) aren’t very well-informed about online advertising and marketing, which is reflected in their low use of relatively easy and affordable channels such as online ads and blogging.  

Therefore, I was less surprised at their assessment of the effectiveness of online tactics. While 56% found online advertising and marketing somewhat or very effective for their businesses, fully 44% found it ineffective. I believe this is less an indictment of online marketing and more an indication of the need to educate SMBs about these tactics.

Effectiveness of online advertising or marketing: Affinity Express survey

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Marketing on a Budget

June 14, 2011 2 Comments

Web ad designed by Affinity Express

Web ad designed by Affinity Express

When you are a small- to medium-sized business, you have a few options when it comes to marketing your company:

  • Hire an agency—“No way, that’s too expensive!”
  • Do it yourself design—“That takes so much time and I’d have to learn different software for all the online and print vehicles!”
  • Don’t do anything—“Yeah, I’m sure potential clients will find out about my company by telepathy and break down my door to buy my products and services!”

Many Affinity Express clients are large companies that provide services to small- to medium-sized businesses who are often challenged because they have limited resources for marketing—small teams, low budgets and a lack of expertise, especially when it comes to newer interactive tactics. So, as a company, we understand the problems.

But as a professional, I live with this every day.

The Dilemma

When I joined the company, and for several years afterward, “the Marketing Department” was Kelly Glass. My budget covered a salary and almost nothing else. Read more of this post

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Only 63% of SMB Respondents Have Used Online Advertising or Marketing: Affinity Express Survey

June 10, 2011 5 Comments

In our recently concluded survey of our small business customers, we asked them about their use of online advertising and marketing tactics.

63% respondents have used online advertising and marketing: Affinity Express survey

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