When receiving and carrying out a brief, communication is incredibly important. Clients often have a very clear vision in mind for what they would like you to create and often they would not want to see you deviate from that vision. As such understanding the brief down to it's most intricate detail becomes vital. Clients will also become frustrated if you become busy with work and neglect to keep in contact and kee them updated on their project. A quick email every now and again to keep them in the loop is invaluable to the clients satisfaction with your work.
- Emails -
When speaking to a client through emails it is especially important to be specific and succinct as emails, more than most forms of communication, are open to misinterpretation. The email should be read and re-read before pressing send and words like "it" and "this" should be substituted with more specific terms like "The proposal" or "our launch date" so that it is always clear to the reader exactly what you are referring to. If the client continuously replies with questions then you are not communicating effectively.
- Voice Mails -
Make sure clients know how often you check your voice mails if they plan on leaving you some. THey should also be aware if you are out of town, what hours you work, and other ways they can get in touch. For example it could be a good idea to say in your outgoing message that you respond quicker to emails if that is the case and then clients will know to follow up their call with an email.
- Project Questionnaire -
Creating a questionnaire helps gather relevent information on the brief that may have been left out. You will also have all of their information in writing for future reference. It will also help you establish useful information about the client, such as their preferred method of communicating.
- Ask Questions -
Many people are afraid to ask their clients questions for fear of looking uneducated on the subject however clients will appreciate you attention to detail if you ask questions during the course of the project. However it is important to try and contain the questions to 1 or 2 emails rather than bombarding the client with questions. You should be careful how you phrase your questions however. If for example you say "You don't have word installed?" and they answer "yes" that could cause confusion over what he means by that. "Do you have word installed?" "Yes" is much clearer.
info taken from: http://freelancefolder.com/6-simple-ways-to-effectively-communicate-with-your-client/
Sunday, 26 October 2014
Sunday, 12 October 2014
Branding
These associations are usually intentional and are a result of marketing with the goal of creating a recognizable identity. However they are occasionally out of the companies control. Such as the negative associations people would attribute to a company after a poor press review or failed product.
Coca-cola is an excellent example of branding done right. So much so that the branding has eclipsed the product itself. More people will likely be able to recognize the iconic red and white logo used in marketing than would be able to recognize the taste of the product itself.
To illustrate the idea, let’s take what is arguably the best-known product – or brand – in the world: Coca-Cola. This idea can be summed up with a quote from a coca-cola executive.
"If Coca-Cola were to lose all of its production-related assets in a disaster, the company would survive. By contrast, if all consumers were to have a sudden lapse of memory and forget everything related to Coca-Cola, the company would go out of business."
As a brand is the set of associations a company leaves in peoples minds, branding is the attempt to influence and control those associations so that the business performs better. Through branding you can make your company seem distinctive, trustworthy, reliable and any other attributes you feel would benefit your company in the long run. Complete control over your branding is impossible due to outside influences however clever use of design, marketing and other such factors will always help to create the desired effect that your branding aims to achieve.
Due to differing target markets and consumer needs, different industry sectors will require different approaches to branding but the basic approach of being clear for what you stand for and being skilled in your field always applies.
info taken from - http://www.designcouncil.org.uk/news-opinion/power-branding
Wednesday, 8 October 2014
Target Markets and consumer needs
When I business needs to market a product they must aim their marketing towards their target market in order to achieve effective sales. Target markets are always different depending on the product and a well-defined target market should be one of the 1st priorities of a new business. The target market can be surmised based on 3 main aspects: The Product, The Location & The Price.
The Product
Obviously different products would have different users and therefore different target markets. A child could not buy a car, a teenager is less likely to buy a hearing aid and an adult is less likely to want a game boy. This alone however does not help to define the target market as it is not always the consumer who purchases the product. for example if a child wanted a game boy it would likely be the parent who goes out and buys it as a gift and so in that example the target market would be people aged approximately 15- 30 as this incorporates people likely to consume the product as well as the parents of children and young teenagers who would not be able to afford one on their own.
The Location
This aspect is important because many products may not be useful or enjoyable outside of the context in which they were designed. for example people who live in the centre of a major city are significantly less likely to require gardening equipment than people who live in more rural areas. On a larger scale fads, trends and even cultural differences can make a major difference in the consumption of products in different countries. For example a bible will sell better in predominantly Christian countries especially overly religious ones. Therefore it can be correctly assumed that the best place to market a bible is the USA.
The Price
People likely to buy foie gras are not also likely to buy asda smart price cola. The reason being that people who need to go for the cheaper option would more often than not be unable to afford foie gras and people who can afford foie gras will not feel the need to buy a cheaper inferior product. People with money often have an over all more refined taste compared to the more wholesome regular tastes of the everyman. Therefore the amount of money someone has will drastically effect what target market they should be put in and when attempting to figure out what your target market should be you must take the price of your product into consideration.
Conclusion
Therefore if I was given a children's book to be sold at £6.99 I would first determine that I should be marketing it to parents in their late 20's - early 30's as they are likely to be the people with children the corresponding age. I would then determine that the parents would likely be on an average to low income as the book is affordable and finally I would aim a large portion of my marketing towards people in small towns as these places tend to be more wholesome and family friendly. This would not be the exclusive demographic however as people out side of this very specific target market would also wish to buy the product and as such a smaller portion of the marketing would be aimed at other demographics.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Target_market
http://www.answers.com/Q/Which_country_buys_the_most_copies_of_the_Bible
The Product
Obviously different products would have different users and therefore different target markets. A child could not buy a car, a teenager is less likely to buy a hearing aid and an adult is less likely to want a game boy. This alone however does not help to define the target market as it is not always the consumer who purchases the product. for example if a child wanted a game boy it would likely be the parent who goes out and buys it as a gift and so in that example the target market would be people aged approximately 15- 30 as this incorporates people likely to consume the product as well as the parents of children and young teenagers who would not be able to afford one on their own.
The Location
This aspect is important because many products may not be useful or enjoyable outside of the context in which they were designed. for example people who live in the centre of a major city are significantly less likely to require gardening equipment than people who live in more rural areas. On a larger scale fads, trends and even cultural differences can make a major difference in the consumption of products in different countries. For example a bible will sell better in predominantly Christian countries especially overly religious ones. Therefore it can be correctly assumed that the best place to market a bible is the USA.
The Price
People likely to buy foie gras are not also likely to buy asda smart price cola. The reason being that people who need to go for the cheaper option would more often than not be unable to afford foie gras and people who can afford foie gras will not feel the need to buy a cheaper inferior product. People with money often have an over all more refined taste compared to the more wholesome regular tastes of the everyman. Therefore the amount of money someone has will drastically effect what target market they should be put in and when attempting to figure out what your target market should be you must take the price of your product into consideration.
Conclusion
Therefore if I was given a children's book to be sold at £6.99 I would first determine that I should be marketing it to parents in their late 20's - early 30's as they are likely to be the people with children the corresponding age. I would then determine that the parents would likely be on an average to low income as the book is affordable and finally I would aim a large portion of my marketing towards people in small towns as these places tend to be more wholesome and family friendly. This would not be the exclusive demographic however as people out side of this very specific target market would also wish to buy the product and as such a smaller portion of the marketing would be aimed at other demographics.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Target_market
http://www.answers.com/Q/Which_country_buys_the_most_copies_of_the_Bible
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