Not only do we “get web done,” but we also specialize in identity and branding across all platforms. Recently, we worked with ATHENE Asset Management to refine their logo and update their overall branding style guides for their primary corporate identity as well as five subsidiary divisions.

ATHENE is a consumer-focused insurance company specializing in innovative, customer focused fixed annuity solutions for the retirement market.  The company’s name is inspired by Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom, ATHENE’s brand reputation embodies her core principles of strength, expertise, and protection. The logo is derived from Athena’s plumed headdress, becoming a modern element that provides consistency across all their brands.

In addition to updating their logo and style guides, we are providing ATHENE with  print collateral and website design & development.

1. Social media isn’t just experimental; it’s real ROI and can be tracked and measured

• Similar to website analytics that come with most hosting accounts, there are tools and analytics applications that measure real-time activities within social networks such as Radian6, Infegy Social Radar, Scout Labs, and Alterian
• Free sites like SocialMention.com and HowSociable.com quickly measure your influence and visibility over a broad social media spectrum

2. Get intimate with smart phones

• Social network activity is becoming more local and mobile with GPS in smartphones
• Location based services and features create competition, promote offers, and reward participants. Examples include Yelp, Foursquare, etc.
• Localized results help people connect more intimately

3. Niche social networks are rising

• People are beginning to seek out niche social networks and online communities to access in-depth information and focused discussions (i.e. Facebook links your interests or “likes” to others that share the same).

4. Search engines are becoming more social

• Search Engines are employing real time content
• Search engines are collective in nature. Social network interactions from users help in determining the relevance of search results.

5. Slow economy = rewards for shared expertise

• Consumers respond favorably to no-strings-attached advice and/or expertise from brand ambassadors, CEOs, professionals, etc.
• Engaging customers and prospects via social media develops thought leadership and credibility
• Consumers are less likely to interpret shared experience or product reviews as advertisements but rather, credible user experiences

6. Social media marketing is scalable and strategic

• Social media provides several outlets to promote and define a brand.
• Savvy brand marketers not only utilize social media as a way to market a product, but also a lifestyle, cause, or channel for customer service

7. Less Clutter, More Efficiency

• It’s easy to filter out the “noise” in social media networks with simplified design and user experience
• Posts and feeds distributed via social networks are often short and concise
• Streamlined news feeds and fresh content are now the forefront of user profiles

8. Blogging/ Micro-blogging (twitter)

• Blogging is one of the best ways to create fresh content around your brand
• With the creation of blog posts (unique landing pages), this allows visitors to easily share content across their social networks, which in turn boosts page views and site traffic
• Blogging is often a crucial strategy in enhancing organic (free) search engine ranking
• Add personality to the lifestyle of your brand and offerings

9. Social Media is becoming a part of every business’s lexicon

• SMB’s to Fortune 100 companies have already incorporated social media practices as part of their corporate culture or have hired agencies to manage their growing social networks
• Every industry has a unique approach to social media marketing, from brand enhancements to customer relations to promotional marketing.
• Social media is the new PR hub

10. Quality of relationships on social networks is improving

• The act of sharing and conversing motivates participation and exchange of information and gives users a sense of “belonging”
• Improved privacy settings enable users to strategically engage their personal and professional audience

By Jessie Jo Blalock

In an age where organic products, green lifestyles, and holistic practices prevail, websites are leaning towards a more modern, Zen approach by drawing upon minimalist design. As far as the success of website goes, it is no secret that “content is king,” however, in 2010 it is about keeping the superficial layer of the website less…. superficial. Akin to Feng Shui , everything in web design should serve a purpose, placement is key, and the absence of clutter is essential. A website should feel natural while being aesthetically pleasing and user-friendly. The last thing a website’s design should create is a disruption to a user’s online chi.

Minimalist web design goes hand-in-hand with the changing tone of media communications in general. As society becomes more Internet savvy and media literate, they are less likely to surrender to noisy, manipulative marketing schemes. Like the persistent salesman in the room who is trying too hard to sell everyone everything, people are avoiding cluttered websites for ones that are less intrusive. Websites are beginning to remove all the useless bells and whistles and strip down to their bare essentials. Now more than ever, the focus of modern web design is on clear, effective communication and content. Though a trendy minimalist design might be just as calculating as it’s predecessors, it produces a more tranquil and raw experience for users while being more intuitive and efficient.

Trends

The notion that history repeats is universal. In the realm of design, to repeat history is to pay homage to its predecessors. Repetition emerges as reinvention and reinvention transpires to become a trend. “Design trends do not exist to be followed. They exist to be broken, reshaped and abolished by the spirit of creativity rippling through the design community” explains Vitaly Freidman, Editor in Chief, Smashing Magazine. The following are design “trends” have been manipulated to sustain the changing web atmosphere.

Back to Basics

Web design is shifting back to its origin, from the bad boy flash to HTML. With the spotlight back on HTML, attention is given not just to the particular content but the way it is presented. Recently, web pages are looking more and more like a page from a newspaper or magazine, relying heavily on typography (perhaps due to the growing popularity of blogs). In this case, the balance between modern web design and traditional print design aesthetics can produce a webpage that feels credible and sophisticated. In these layouts, there are fewer pictures and icons and, in some instances, just one full screen image. Simplicity like this does not equate to boring- think of it like blank walls at an art gallery, attention is paid solely to the image and its meaning.

Personalize

Many websites today are templated and impersonal. The most successful websites are those that are unique and memorable. Personalization in websites helps achieve that Indie feel, differentiating them from template abusing or mainstream, corporate websites. Trends in personalization include utilizing unconventional hand-drawn designs and hand-writing. “In our design for California Costumes, we used hand drawn fonts, photo frames and pieces of tape to add personalization and re-enforce the scrapbook theme. We also used an unconventional background image that makes it look like the entire browser window is the view from above the desk that the scrapbook is being created on,“explains Erin Tozour, Art Director, Executionists. Incorporating small personal touches throughout the website has an appealing and engaging effect on the user. Keep in mind, the main point of personalization is to be original, starting with individual writing style of the content. Distinctive writing plus personal imagery plus effortless navigation creates a formula for a successful modern webpage.

Breadcrumb Navigation

This remnant from the dawn of web is still in fashion. Simplicity and functionality are crucial, particularly with the advent of mobile web browsing. Mobile browsers often do not support high bandwidth or flash, rendering splash pages and excess content pointless. Touchscreen navigation conforms to minimalist design, as navigation elements are obvious and effortless. A navigation trend to look for in 2010 is utilizing “breadcrumb trails.” Breadcrumb trails create an easy and convenient way to navigate categories without occupying a lot of screen space. This helps limit content overload and reduces the number of clicks. From a marketing standpoint, employing breadcrumb-style navigation enhances the transparency of the website, enticing users to uncover layers after layer, which in turn, increases the page views and amount of time spent on the website.

Concluding Remarks

Design should support the content, not overwhelm or mutilate the content. Taking cues from the past, versatile page layouts and minimalistic philosophies have put a fresh perspective on the direction of modern web design. As more people become savvy web designers, imagination and ingenuity should take the front seat when creating a web page. Trends are not the rule, but rather a starting point. For a website to have staying power (think Madonna), it must undergo a timely reinvention. Creating a website is only half the battle, keeping it current and foreseeing trends results in victory.

How Much Does A Website Cost?

Almost every potential client asks this question. I’ll get to the answer in a round-about way but first some obligatory back story. Over the past 13 years we have developed hundreds of website with budgets ranging from $1000 to $50,000. We have also worked on Fortune 500 company websites in conjunction with other development companies, these total budgets have been $100,000 – $1,000,000. For websites of this scope the team can consist of 10 or more people working full-time for six months or longer.

Websites just don’t happen, they are the result of the execution of a methodology or process that arrives at a successful result. Our website design methodology is based on 13 years of experience, starting with a website for FootLocker.com back in 1996. Our methodology has evolved over time, to make the process more streamlined and flexible. Our basic approach is:

1. Discovery
2. Planning
3. Interface Design
4. Integration
5. Testing
6. Launch/Maintain

This simple 6 step process can be modified to fit a smaller project by reducing the amount of effort spent on various steps. For example the “Discovery” process can involve just one simple phone call with the client to learn about their brand and goals or it can involve several all-day meetings. The “Planning” process can involve a short document that addresses the creative and technical requirements or it can involve days of research into the competition and building matrices of features and functionality. So you can see that each step in this process is flexible and can be modified to fit a target project budget and requirements.

Flexible process = Flexible Effort = Flexible Cost.

So, how much does a website cost?

It depends on what you are trying to build. Here are some of the key elements that we need to consider:

• Online Marketing Strategy: Do you have one? Don’t think that “if we build it they will come”. It’s important to have an understanding of marketing channels and how your business will use them.
• Branding/logo: Do you have your logo developed? Do you have a style guide for your brand?
• Interface Design: How long will it take to arrive at the look-and-feel that you envision for your business?
• Features and Functionality: This is the meat of the website, what features do you want (online portfolio, media downloads, etc) and what functions do you need (ecommerce, interactive forms, etc.)? Although ecommerce, search and membership are commonplace on the web – that does not mean that this is easy to develop. There are a lot of pre-built (open source) solutions but they invariably have to be customized and that effort can be time-intensive.
• Hosting: This is usually a small cost but still an important part of the process. Will your hosting company allow us to easily configure the options we need for your website?
• Testing: The more complex your website, the more testing is required. Also what browsers do you want your site to work on? If you want IE 6.0 or Safari that could take a lot of additional time to test and troubleshoot.

The above list illustrates that there is a wide difference in requirements for websites and many questions that need to be answered.

More Requirements = More Complexity = Higher Costs.

So how much does a website cost?

When we estimate a project we try to get a good understanding of the project requirements and then estimate the number of hours required for the following 3 primary tasks:

• Interface Design = Design for all site graphics and page layouts, may also include Flash animation design (if required).
• Programming = Hosting setup, database setup, application design and programming, testing, technical project management.
• Project Management = Primary point of contact with the client, project schedule and milestones, communication, consultation and testing.

Other tasks like Logo Design, copywriting, and Marketing Strategy can also be added to the requirements if needed.

Once we have estimated the number of hours for each task we multiply that by our hourly rate which (at the time of this article) is approx. $90 an hour for most services. We then provide the final project estimate to the client and if accepted, our in-house team strives to keep the project within the approved budget. During development, if there is danger of the project exceeding the budget due to unforseen circumstances or new client requests, the issue is brought to the client’s attention so that the budget can be adjusted or compromises made.

Note about our rates: If you search for website design and development services you will find a wide range of fees. Offshore companies may have rates as low as $17 an hour. Students fresh out of school may charge $15 an hour, boutique development companies range from $75 – $150 an hour, larger national firms can easily charge $250 and more per hour. Keep in mind that there is a world of difference between the experience of a $17 an hour developer and a $150 an hour developer. Our rate is based on what we believe is reasonable for the bulk of our clientele which are small to mid-sized, Los Angeles-based businesses. Our methodology has been tailored to deliver design and development services based on that cost.

So, how much does a website cost?

Let’s walk through a few brief client scenarios to help you get an understanding of costs:

Client One: MJ Associates

This small, professional services business needs a website primarily for marketing purposes. They have an offline brand/logo and some website design ideas. They will provide the content for their website which consists of text, headshots, logo and a video of their CEO. They provide a short list of websites they like during a meeting that our Project Manager and Art Director have with them in our/their offices. They don’t require any databases but we will hook up a 3rd-party email management tool for them so they can collect client inquiries and send out email blasts. There will be approximately 8-10 pages.

Estimate is as follows:

Interface Design: 20 hours – will include some Flash design
Programming: 32 hours – HTML, PHP and CSS
Project Management: 18 hours
Total: 70 hours = $6,300

Deliverables:

Following is a semi-complete list of the deliverables from our team:

• Planning document that lists creative and website goals
• Content checklist and schedule
• Access to our project management tool (if desired)
• 2 home page design options that get modified based on client input to arrive at one  approved design
• Design for website pages (based on the home page design) and all associated graphics
• Flash design elements (usually a promotional animation)
• Programming for the website and integration of 3rd-party email management tool
• Integration of all client content
• Integration of Google Analytics
• Upload to client’s hosting server and setup of email addresses
• Testing and Launch
• Proactive submission of site to the major search engines
• At the end of the project we provide the client with a complete copy of all our original files on CD (.PSD, .FLA, HTML, etc)

This type of project accounts for about 1/2 of the projects we do. Post-launch, these companies often come back to us for content updates and enhancements. We bill these at our regular hourly rates or fraction thereof. Clients who require regular edits can save money by getting one of our Retainer Plans that offer discounted rates.

Client Two: Ecommerce Website

This mid-sized business needs a marketing website and ecommerce for their product line. They have an offline brand/logo and some design ideas. They will provide the content for their website which consists of text, headshots, logo, product photos and PDF downloads. They provide a short list of websites they like during a meeting that our Project Manager, Art Director and Tech Director have with them in our/their offices. They have a merchant account.

Estimate is as follows:
Interface Design: 24 hours – will include some Flash design
Programming: 60 hours – HTML, PHP and CSS plus integration and customization of Php-based cart for online shopping.
Project Management: 30 hours
You can expect to pay a little more for the hosting and an SSL certificate
Total: 114 hours = $10,260

Deliverables:

Same as client one above but add a few hours for training on the ecommerce solution.

Client Three: Membership Website with CMS

This business needs a marketing website for a new brand. They also need membership and email marketing components. They will provide the content for their website which consists of text and video clips. They provide a short list of websites they like during a meeting that our Project Manager, Art Director and Tech Director have with them in our/their offices.

Estimate is as follows:
Branding design and online style guide: 36 hours
Interface Design: 60 hours – will include some complex Flash design
Programming: 140 hours – HTML, PHP and CSS plus integration and customization of Drupal or similar CMS and membership modules.
Email template design and programming: 16 hours
Project Management: 48 hours
You can expect to pay a little more for the hosting and an SSL certificate
Total: 290 hours = $26,100

Deliverables:

Same as client one above but add a few hours for training on the CMS solution.

Cost of Website Add-ons

There are a thousand add-ons you can use to enhance your website. The estimates below reflect the general requirements we have seen, however there are many factors that can push these estimates higher. If you don’t see your add-on here just give us a call and we can provide an estimate.

• Custom Content Management Systems- For clients who want to manage their own content we integrate and customize  content management systems (CMS). We work with PHP-based open-source CMS solutions like Drupal. Costs for integrating and customizing Drupal can range from $4,000 to $20,000 and up.
• Custom Blog- Many clients want a WordPress blog within their website customized to their website branding and design. This ranges from $1,250 – $3,000 and up.
• Email Marketing Campaigns- Clients that want to gather emails and send out branded email blasts for announcements or newsletters require an Email management tool. We integrate the 3rd-party tools (graphicmail, mailchimp, constant contact,etc.) and create an email blast template design, we can even manage your email blast. $720 and up.
• Branding/Identity Development- Logo design is something we are often asked to do. We start with an 8 hour process that generates about 6 rough logo concepts. If one of these is chosen we go through several rounds of edits to arrive at a final version.  $900 – $3,200
• Style Guides- An online styleguide is important because it establishes brand consistency and provides a guide for all your print collateral and online marketing. Basic styleguide $1,440.
• Targeted Landing Pages- Landing pages are pages that promote a specific product or service. They are usually part of an email, social media, or banner ad campaign. We can design and create these pages starting at $650.

So that’s how much a small business website costs.

One final note: If this website will be a significant part of your business please don’t skimp on the design and development. If you’d expect to pay $100,000 for a brick and mortar retail shop (inventory, interior design, furniture, rent, utilities, staff, equipment, insurance, etc) – then don’t balk at paying reasonable rates for the creation of your online business.

Feel free to send us your requirements or call 310-754-3807, and we’ll get back to you quickly to let you know how much your website will cost.

Download this white paper

The Evolution of Internet Marketing
Social media is the latest step in the evolution of online marketing. There are over 200 million active Facebook users, 8 million Twitter users and other social media platforms account for millions more. By strategically using social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, you have the potential build your online business presence immensely.

Inform customers of your products and services
If you sell a product online, chances are that a good portion of your customers are on Twitter or Facebook, sharing opinions, asking for advice on which new products to buy, and complaining about brands they dislike. If you are in the professional services industry, your clients are probably online, letting their Twitter followers and Facebook friends know how you’ve exercised your practice to assist their needs. Now you have the opportunity to engage and reach your target audience wherever they gather.

Utilize communities to engage, listen, and respond to your customers
Rather than constantly selling and blasting product releases, we recommend that you provide free tips and resources that allow your customers to appreciate you for your knowledge and experience. Social media can help you build long-term relationships, credibility and customer loyalty.

Image Credit

Times are tough.  Business owners are trimming expenses wherever possible.  But now, more than ever, it is important to have a quality website that accurately portrays your product or service.  Statistics prove that companies that focus on their marketing during tough economic times do much better than companies that reduce their marketing efforts. Your website should be an integral part of your marketing strategy.

Don’t Lose Customers!

When visitors find  your website, they have already done a majority of the work for you.  They are seeking what you have to offer and if your website doesn’t paint a clear and compelling image of your product, then you have lost what could have been a potential customer.  Your home is the most important because the visitor makes a decision within seconds about the value of your brand, product or service.  The cost investment of redesigning an under-performing website is well worth it when you analyze the high “bounce rate” (the percentage of visitors who arrive to your homepage then immediately exit) because your website doesn’t properly promote your business.

A well-crafted website acts like another salesperson within your business.  You should make it easy for your visitors to navigate your site and gather the information they want  in order to make well-informed decisions.  If it’s difficult for the visitor to find what they’re looking for they will quickly be discouraged and jump to the website of your competition.

Experience Equals Quality

Don’t underestimate the value of a well designed website to market your business.  With over 15 years of experience we know how to work with you to build customized (not templated) sites that will deliver your business’ message clearly.  We can also implement search engine optimization strategies(SEO), online marketing solutions, and create social media profiles such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn to maximize your online marketing goals and push your business through the tough economy.

Call us for a FREE CONSULTATION about your website: 310.754.3807 or check out our Design Portfolio.

by: Jeanelle Rabadam
Executionists Marketing Team
email: jeanelle@executionists.com

Image Credit

Are you a prisoner of Template Monster or a Template Monster Clone? Services that provide pre-made, cookie-cutter website templates like www.TemplateMonster.com abound. They cater to the clients on an extremely limited budget who think $64 is a reasonable amount for a complete site design. They also cater to do-it-yourselfers who have some HTML knowledge and think they can whip up their site using the Template Monster template as the starting point.

A website for $64 that sounds like a great deal but once you start looking through the designs you notice that there are only a handful of page layouts that comprise their 20,000 plus designs. Onto these standard layouts they have slapped some color, images, and sample text. The visual power of these templates is provided by the “hero shot” or main image. Since these are all fictional businesses, Template Monster can find the most attractive imagery and put it front and center. The visual design of these templates is compelling because they can build their basic layout around images and graphics that are impactful.

Unfortunately the $64,000 question/issue is “does this template apply to my business?” This question is often overlooked as clients try and shoe horn their business into a glitzy generic template. Later, they discover that these templates represent fictional businesses. The client’s real business style, products and services do not “map” to these templates.

A few of key areas where this is the case are:

• Promotional and marketing areas where there should be “calls-to-action” to motivate users through the site are lacking or inappropriate.

• That “Template-y” feeling. Sophisticated web users will quickly realize that the business has used a template because of the imagery and the style will be familiar and/or incongruent with the site content. In our opinion, this lowers/cheapens the perception of the business in the eyes of your audience.

• Client logos and images will probably not match the quality of the template graphics.

Let’s not forget the technical side. Clients will still need a developer to customize the template with their content. Issues that I have heard about with templated solutions include:

• HTML, CSS and PHP code is mostly machine generated with poor standards.

• Links on the templates don’t work

• Poor online support

• Issues with editing Flash templates

• Issues with licensing images that the Templates use (the images the templates use may not be for resale)

At Executionists, all our sites are 100% custom designed for our client’s business. We produce designs that match the clients’ marketing, content, and business goals. On top of that, our 13 years of experience in developing websites enables us to bring new ideas to the table, resulting in a more compelling presentation to target customers. It’s time to put a sword through the heart of the Template Monsters and develop a unique online voice for your business.

Call us for a free website consultation (310)754-3807

Here at Executionists, we work with just about any type of business you can think of (large or small). Many of the larger companies or corporations tend to have a set marketing plan or strategy dictated by their “in-house” marketing departments, or outsourced marketing companies. In these cases, we tend to cater and customize our creative web solutions to expound on their existing formats. Most of our clients in the Small Business sector seem to have a broad scope as to what they are trying to accomplish via the internet, but are confused by the complexity and various options of strategic internet advertising. Lot’s of our small business clients spend an enormous amount of time (and money) on the aesthetics and presentation of their sites, but then have a hard time grasping marketing ideas to reach out to their prospective client base. Here at Executionists, we pride ourselves in assisting small businesses with web solutions beyond what we refer to as “Phase I”.

Example: You’ve signed off on the website we’ve created for you. We’ve completed all the navigation and aesthetic revisions, all of your content is uploaded, interactive forms completed, etc. The client’s website is finally “Live”. Congrats; you’ve completed “Phase I”. Now it’s time to roll up your sleeves. This is when strategic internet marketing & advertising comes to play. Welcome to “Phase II”. How are you spreading the word about your company and it’s fabulous new site? One of my favorite marketing strategist wrote “Without online advertising strategies, your site will be like the proverbial tree in the forest, falling with no one to hear”. Unfortunately, this is true. However, Internet advertising can help you reach millions of people at a fraction of the cost of traditional marketing techniques.

Before you panic in frustration, let us help you with “Phase II”. The first thing that any business owner should factor in as a fixed business expense is an advertising budget. Just because you don’t have the funding for a large campaign doesn’t mean you should not have a campaign at all. There are many online advertising options that are inexpensive and effective. “But where should I place my ads?” is the next question we get often. Depending on the type of service or product you sell, research and buy ads on sites that offer complementary products or services that tie in with what you sell. In addition to complementary sites, General Interest web sites would be the best place to start an online campaign.

Three of the most popular online advertising strategies are Link Exchanges, Newsletter advertising and Budgeted advertising (this also goes into SEOs, but we’ll save those details for another day). Here are the definitions and strategies of these online strategies:

1) Link exchanges can be great, especially if your advertising budget is limited (or nonexistent). Find merchants that sell complementary products, and offer to trade text links or ads with them. If you’re just starting out and your site doesn’t get a lot of traffic, you may not get a one-to-one trade. Prepare yourself to make concessions, at least until you have a track record and traffic to point to. That said, most companies won’t turn down an opportunity for more exposure, so you’ll probably find a few willing to exchange links with you.

2) Newsletter advertising is a great way to reach select groups of consumers. For example, if you sell health products, you could advertise in a newsletter that offers health tips and advice. Because newsletter advertising is targeted, it can be expensive. If your budget is tight, you can always start your own newsletter campaign. Constant Contact e-newsletter sites are helpful as well.

3) Budgeted advertising, such as “GoogleAdWords”, provides a purchased a set of keywords, your option to set a limit on how much you want to spend, and have your ad display until that limit is reached. This is a positive way to track your campaign success.

Once you’ve mastered these techniques (and if your marketing budget allows it) try reaching out to popular news services, Web-based email providers, and other sites that reach a large segment of the population. While this can prove very expensive, in return, you have the potential of reaching millions of new customers. No matter which road you decide to take, give serious thought to your “creative (the actual ad itself)”. Whether it’s just a text link, or whether it’s a complete banner-ad campaign, the “creative” can make or break your advertising initiative. Try several variations, track them, and see which ones perform best. This is just the beginning of your online advertising strategies and marketing solutions. As stated earlier, your online presence should extend past just being “online”.

Take your business beyond “Phase I”. We are here to help and ready to “execute” the next phases of your web solutions.

Until next time…..
Damon R. Howard
Marketing Operations Consultant
Executionists, Inc.

www.executionists.com

“We Get Web Done”

Web presence is pretty much business standard nowadays, regardless of the size a company. From “Mom & Pop” boutiques to large Corporations, public information about your company and it’s products/services should be readily accessible via the internet. As this is common knowledge, most businesses establish some type of web presence, but tend to get lost in the competitive internet marketplace. How do you stand out amongst the rest in addition to building “the perfect” website? How well are you marketing your brand? In order to wrap your head around the various combinations of internet marketing, let’s take a basic look at the Web Marketing Family. The basic family tree of Web Marketing comprises of these members: Corporate Domain, Search Marketing, Syndicated Web Marketing, Brand Extension, Community and Social Media Marketing, Virtual Worlds, Related Mediums, and lastly, Experimental Methods. These internet marketing strategies are all equally important and should be used to compliment your current online efforts. One of the “family members” that I tend to focus on is Brand Extension. The Brand Extension strategy is simple; wherever your market is, you should have brand placement. I’m sure this marketing strategy has been applied to your business in other physical forms, but it is also strongly applicable to your online presence. The basic forms of brand extension consists of the following: Web Advertising, Contextual Advertising, Sponsorship/Cross Branding, Social Advertisements, Widget Advertising and Affiliate Marketing. Check out the detailed info on these forms of brand extension below.

Web Advertising I’m sure you’re all familiar with the banner, tile, or skyscraper advertising (IAB) model on websites. This age old strategy simply suggests that if there are eyeballs your brand should ‘impress’ upon the users. Click through rates are typically in the 1% or lower rate, sometimes success is measured by brand impressions, (visitation by traffic). These ads are static and do not change even if the content on the webpage changes. Contextual Advertising These targeted ads will be served up on the webpage depending on the content that’s on the page. This is a more ‘intelligent’ and therefore more relevant than Web Advertising, which may not be targeted at specific content. This form of advertising can be text, images, media or other form and are common on websites, blogs, and are now appearing on web based emails sites. (Submitted by David Berkowitz: Feb 13th. 2007) Sponsorship and /Cross Branding This is a method of promoting your brand with the right audience in which the property is rewarded for integrating your brand. This can occur on content sites, shows, media properties, blogs, podcasts, and just about everything else. This is expected to increase in 2007. Social Advertisements Having just appeared this year from Facebook, it uses contextual information from users who have become “Fans” of a brand, then ads are severed to their network, in an endorsement. This has been highly controversial, and the return on investment is not yet known. Widget Advertising Having just appeared this year from on containers like Facebook, Bebo, LinkedIn, and Friendster, widgets have proliferated at an amazing growth rate. Expect advertising networks to form over the next year, where a brand can purchase space on any number of widgets across different social networks and communities, groups such as: RockYou, Slide, Widgetbox, and Watercooler to start with. See all posts tagged Widget Strategy. Affiliate Marketing Affiliate marketing programs compensate partners and alliances that bring referrals, leads, or sales. While it overlaps with other forms of web marketing, the goal is to provide the right content or products to the target demographic. Examples of this include placement on comparison shopping sites, loyalty sites, and product review sites. As you can see, Brand Extension plays a very important role in the Web Marketing Family. These forms should be used in conjunction w/ the other Web Marketing family members to make a successful campaign for your business. Stay tuned for more information on the other web marketing “siblings”. Damon R. Howard Marketing Operations Consultant Executionists, Inc.

In the months following Paris Hilton’s recent legal issues and her reaction to them, I would like to think that public interest in her has waned, and unless she releases another sex video or gets a tattoo of her dog on her back, it will continue to do so.

However, google “Paris Hilton” and you get 64,000,000 hits. She shows up everywhere: fan websites, news websites, international websites, blogs…

Does Paris have an online image consultant? If not, now would be the perfect time to hire one. Paris would probably need a whole staff of image consultants, scouring the web for the most popular articles, working with the site owners to mitigate the bad and promote the good.

What is the good, you say? Well, that’s for Paris’ marketing team to spin. Perhaps it’s her supervising the diets of fat kids at sleep-away camp or helping five year-olds win beauty pageants.

And online marketing is one of the places that we can help. We work with our clients to design and develop branded sites that promote their business via attractive imagery, compelling messaging and flexible promotions. By adding SEO (Search Engine Optimization – see our previous post, Get Aggressive on the Web) and tailoring the site to highlight the uniqueness and necessity of a product or service, we shape a positive, attractive image for a company or individual.

At any rate, an online makeover may be the best strategy for Paris at the moment. So that even if we hit on her less, at least those hits will improve our perception of her before she plunges into obscurity.