Client Spotlight | Sharper Image Landscaping

To DIY or not to DIY?

There’s a time to do it yourself and there’s a time to call in the professionals. For those who lack the ability or desire to do their own landscaping, take heart. The subject of our current client spotlight, Sharper Image Landscaping Services, LLC, just might be the cure for your landscape woes. The Chandler, Arizona-based company handles residential and commercial landscape maintenance and installation. They are Desert Botanical certified, meaning they have had extensive training in desert plants and their care, but their services extend to all types of plants and other outdoor amenities such as irrigation, hardscapes (BBQs, firepits, pillars), and lighting – just to name a few.

The Challenge
SI had a growing business even before calling Visage. They also had a logo and a few scattered marketing pieces. But, in order to take their business to the next level, they needed a cohesive look that measured up to the visual attractiveness suggested by their name and the professionalism inherent in their philosophy.

As far as marketing collateral to go with their new image, SI had a tall order to fill. The two sides of their business meant they had both a commercial and a residential audience to reach – two different groups with different needs and questions. For each target group, they would not only require something to give potential clients they met with in person, but also something that could be mailed out. Like any savvy business, they were looking for maximum cost effectiveness. Also high on the list was a flexible piece – they wanted the ability to offer coupons or seasonal promotions and other time-sensitive material without their entire marketing collateral becoming dated and unusable.

All this meant that it was SI’s turn to call in the experts. A friend of the owners recommended they call Visage.

Cost Effectiveness Meets Creativity
Sharper Image presented Visage with their wish list, and we rose to the challenge. First, we integrated their existing logo into a more professional level of branding. We then found a creative solution to meet their needs for attractive, informational, flexible and cost-effective marketing collateral. The answer came in the form of a 6×9 inch presentation folder. Smaller and sleeker than a standard folder, this is the perfect size for mailing in a standard #10 envelope or simply handing to an interested party. The folder is filled with a cover letter and pages on different topics – reasons for choosing SI, services offered, the partnership that began the company, etc. SI can easily tailor the piece to any audience, whether residential or commercial. As the business grows, they can add or replace pages without having to reprint an entire brochure. Finally, Visage created a promotional postcard and a mailing label (which fits both envelopes and packages) that reflects SI’s new business identity.





© 2006 Visage Creative Business Services, Inc.

Branding Basics | Part 1: Branding to Sell

Q | How can you set yourself apart?
A | Branding

So you’re in business. You know what makes your company great and why people should choose you over anyone else. But do your potential clients know that? In a marketplace flooded with products and services of every imaginable description, you have to stand out in order to survive. How can you set yourself apart?

The answer is branding. A company’s branding is a unique identifier like a signature or fingerprint. Good branding sends an intentional message. The more ways you send your message, the stronger your branding. By reiterating that message – in everything from advertising campaigns to the look of your storefront to the packaging of your product or results of your service – you make your voice a little louder and a little more likely to be heard above the din.

Your branding message should include more than just the black-and-white description of the type of business you’re in. It should be the emotional connection that keeps customers coming back. Look at the marketing strategies of Coca-Cola and Pepsi. Neither company distinguishes itself through difference in physical properties (neither claims to be sweeter, more bubbly, have a higher concentration of “cola” flavor, etc.), but each has a very different “feel” when it comes to their branding. For example, Coca-Cola portrays itself as “classic” with a logo that has changed very little since the product’s inception over a century ago. Pepsi, on the other hand, reconfigures its logo every few years and markets itself as being for the “next generation.” I would venture to guess that most consumers’ loyalty to either product is based as much (or more) on identification with the brand as it is on taste.

Your company, whether large or small, is – intentionally or unintentionally – sending a message. What is it saying? What would you like it to say? The key is to let everyone know what sets you apart by broadcasting your message through branding.

Stay tuned for “Part 2 | Selling your Brand”

© 2006 Visage Creative Business Services, Inc.

Client Kudos | Desert "Cool" Foods, Inc.

"We have been working with Visage Creative since 2002. Their service levels are exceptional only to be superseded by their creative work. Visage Creative is a go-to company." ~ Walter E. Barker, President & CEO, Desert “Cool” Foods , Inc.

Quiz: What is a logo?

So, just what is a logo?

a) a picture that represents a company
b) an organization’s name in a certain font
c) a combination of words and symbols that an entity uses for self-representation
d) any of the above
e) none of the above

Answer: D

A logo can be any of those things. In general, you can think of a logo as a symbol made up of text (employing specific spacing, color and font) that may or may not have a graphical element associated with it. Contrary to popular belief, you CAN have a logo without any kind of picture, icon or graphic outside of the text. (For example, Google, the New York Times and Pottery Barn all have logos that are strictly text.) However, many logos do include both, like those of the Olympic Games, Pepsi and, of course, Visage Creative. Some businesses have an “icon version” of their logo that is just a graphical element. (Think of Nike’s swoosh, McDonald’s golden arches or Target’s bullseye.) There are logos to represent businesses, individuals, brands, bands, products, political campaigns, universities, committees, events, organizations and even cities.

© 2006 Visage Creative Business Services, Inc.