![]() Don’t act surprised. Here at Copel Communications, we can’t even touch on a nice artsy topic like “color” without tying it directly to the bottom line. We’ve already discussed the art/business dichotomy in deeper detail in a previous post; be sure to read “What’s the difference between ‘creative services’ and ‘art’?” Back to color. It’s one of those fundamental elements that’s so important, so ubiquitous, and so easy to employ that it gets taken for granted, if not overlooked altogether. Not long ago, there was a renewed love affair with color—when its use was democratized and mere mortals were freed from the shackles of black-and-white—similar to what happened with fonts, with the advent of desktop publishing. (We pay homage, and respect, to fonts in this other article which we’re happy to recommend: “How to make fonts work—harder—for you.”) In fact, a good way to appreciate color—a prerequisite to bending it to your business will, nyah-ha-ha—is to go back to the days, not long ago, when it was a luxury. And we can conjure up that world to you with just one word: Newsprint. For the longest time, “news” meant “newspapers.” And newspapers (before USA Today came along) were primarily black-and-white. Sure, there would be what was called “spot color” that would be added, usually red or yellow. And it would invariably be horribly out of register; picture an “On Sale Now!” starburst with the yellow color a third of the way out of the burst itself. So that’s not even “color.” That’s “colorized.” Of course, a world without color is not a world without creativity. We firmly believe that restrictions—guide rails—actually encourage creativity, not limit it. Think of film-noir movies. In color, they would, pardon our French, suck. So there’s gorgeous artistry to be found, and exploited, in the world of monochrome. But then comes the time to go beyond it. A chromatic leap By the way, the term “black and white” isn’t exactly, well, black and white. Early black-and-white film was what was called orthochromatic. Sure, it rendered a black-and-white image, but it looked wrong. That’s because that film, that chemistry, didn’t treat all colors that it was photographing, equally. Reds, for example, would turn almost black. It was stilted. Think of old silent movies, and how it looks like the actors, especially the men, are wearing strange makeup. That’s not strange makeup. That’s orthochromatic film. So it was a big technological leap to get us to panchromatic film. That’s the black-and-white film that you take for granted today. It looks like the real world, only with the saturation dialed down to zero. Now move that “Saturation” slider to the right. And you’re like Dorothy when she lands in Oz. There’s so much there that it’s overwhelming. And now, finally, we get to design. To things you need to create on a daily basis. Like logos. Websites. Flyers. Social ads. Videos. The “color saturation slider” analogy is useful here. Because it helps us find the truth between the unwanted extremes. At one end, you have black-and-white. But we’ve graduated beyond that. More importantly, at the other end, you have full-blown, retina-melting color. That’s why The Wizard of Oz looks like The Wizard of Oz. They were purposely going for color overload, 1) because they wanted to convey the surrealistic quality of this fantasy land, and 2) Technicolor was still relatively new, and they couldn’t resist playing. (Indeed, Dorothy's slippers, in the book, are silver; they were changed to "ruby" for the movie, simply because that's more colorful.) Watch any color movie from that era, and you’ll see the same thing. The film wasn’t more vibrant back then. They simply put more vibrant things in front of the camera. Brightly-colored sets, props, and costumes. From Gone With the Wind to The Adventures of Robin Hood, it’s practically a trope. Dialing it down Here’s the point: There is virtually zero application for Wizard of Oz-style color in any assignment that’s going to cross your desk anytime soon. Could you imagine the reactions you’d get if you handed in something that, um, garish? People got over the novelty of color back in 1939; now it’s time to put it to good use. With that said, here are some guidelines and thought-starters to help you with that next assignment:
Get help Here at Copel Communications, we’re lucky to work with some really skilled graphic and video talent, who often toil within the walls of our clients’ own offices. They take direction brilliantly (see our post on “How to direct (other) creative people”), including when it comes to color. Sometimes you won’t want, or be able, to do this yourself. You’ll need help with that creative assignment, color and all. If that’s the case, contact us. We’d be delighted to help.
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![]() Here at Copel Communications, we’re often asked, “What’s the best way to reach prospective clients?” More specifically, “What medium—such as LinkedIn ads, or direct mail, or whatever—should we use?” These are great questions. This article will answer them. If things like your website, social ads, and eblasts are different media, then the way you combine them is called the “media mix.” It’s an advertising term. Don’t let it intimidate you. Every business that promotes itself in any way has a media mix. Of course, that’s not saying it’s a good one! We’ll start here with a basic assumption: You’re not Jeff Bezos. You don’t have unlimited funds. You need the biggest possible bang for your buck. How, then, do you proceed? First things first If you’ve read any of our articles, you’ll know that we’re downright passionate about taking a customer-first approach to marketing, and that applies to the media mix, too. If you start with your prospective customer, and really understand them, the elements of the media mix will actually fall right into place for you. What might at first seem daunting will quickly become straightforward. Let’s say you’re targeting logistics executives. You need to know everything you possibly can about them—the more, the better:
If you don’t have ready, and detailed, answers to each one of these questions, get them. Because you certainly can’t get into the tactical weeds of the media mix without them. But if you do have these answers, the next steps become progressively simpler. Know thy message If you know what’s keeping these people up at night, you also need to know how to flange your offering with it. We’ll assume, for the purposes of this article, that your offering brilliantly and uniquely solves these prospects’ problems. Then it’s simply (!) a matter of telling that prospect, in your messaging, how their life will be better with your company in it. So. You know their needs. You have a way to address them. You know how to communicate that solution, compellingly. Can’t you see how “the media mix” is now a really, really straightforward exercise? Carving up your options In today’s world, you have lots of choices when it comes to the media you employ. These include—and this is just a scratch-the-surface sampling, to get you thinking in the right direction—things such as:
As we said, the list goes on forever. And this is why it strikes people—people who approach it, list-first—as intimidating. There are so many choices! Which is the best one? First off, you should have caught the inherent error in that last question. It’s not “which one,” singular. It’s “which ones,” plural. You can’t have a “mix” with just one ingredient. Second, use your customer-first exercise, above, to begin your prioritizing. Are you into B2C (business-to-consumer) ecommerce? Then it’s hard to not consider Facebook. Is your business B2B (business-to-business)? Well then LinkedIn is hard to ignore. By the way, “Your website” is kind of an essential anchor to all of the above. It needs to be awesome, and quickly tell your story/motivate visitors to take action. (Far too many sites are hopelessly bloated. That’s the topic of a popular article of ours: “Your Website Is Too Big.”) Diving into details Once you know which troughs these prospects are feeding from, that’s where you go. It’s where you prioritize your efforts, and your spending. “Knowing what they’re searching for” will also inform your SEO (search-engine optimization) efforts, so that your site climbs the ranks in their search results. Some media cost more than others. It’s still expensive to buy a full-page ad in the print edition of The New York Times, even if that print edition isn’t long for this world. So make your best, educated decisions about how to allocate. A couple helpful pointers:
Get help There are businesses that are solely devoted to media buying and placement. We’re not one of them. If you’ve got the budget to use one, by all means, partake. Our sweet spot, for our direct clients, is for businesses who have the hunger and the wherewithal to do it themselves, with a combination of internal and external resources. If that’s you, let us help. We can help you answer the fundamental customer-discovery questions which underpin the media mix; we can also help you create killer materials that motivate those prospects to choose your business over others. Contact us now and let’s talk. |
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