" Synergist Communications is a true partner. On top of excellent creative, Synergist provided Tourism New Westminster with outstanding customer service and went above and beyond to provide solutions that fit within our budget and timeline. "
Tej Kainth Tourism New Westminster
" It was a wonderful experience working with Synergist Communications to take our website to the next level. They truly work with you as a partner to make the experience as painless and rewarding as possible. You feel engaged throughout the process, and what begins as needs and wants on paper is transformed into an end product that you can get excited about. "
Stephanie Leung Burnaby Hospital Foundation
" Synergist has been incredibly helpful. They made the startup company branding process easy and even enjoyable. I would highly recommend Synergist for anyone requiring marketing or branding support - whether you're a new startup or an established business.
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Dr. Matthew Greenwood, ND
Agency Health
Synergist Blog
Synergist’s Celebrity-like Status
And the Oscar goes to…
With all the buzz surrounding the Oscars this past week, we can’t help but get in on the name-game! Dan Olsen, a chef to the stars, prepares an Oscar-worthy dinner featured on CTV. He has cooked for countless celebrities including the likes of Brad Pitt, Denzel Washington, Hugh Jackman and Bruce Willis, to name a few of our favourites! In this video interview Chef Dan features Northern Divine Caviar, a brand proudly designed and named by Synergist Communications (our claim to fame)!
Northern Divine’s fresh branding took them from the Cold North (brrrrr!) to rubbing shoulders with the finest of celebrities - or at least tantalizing their taste buds. Now, how many can say that?
Does this call for some champagne with our Canadian Caviar? Yes, please! After all, it’s not just caviar, it’s Northern Divine!
-->Insert Oscar Acceptance Speech Here<-- Or, just click the link to watch the video interview! ;)
I’ve heard a couple times now, “We’ve got this great employee newsletter that we want to share with our clients. What do you think?”
Well, I think it’s great that you have an employee newsletter you’re proud of. And I think it’s fantastic you want to engage your clients. And I think it’s a terrible idea. Correction, I think it’s a terrible idea unless your brand is one that has you treating your clients as employees. See the difference?
Internal communications and external communications are very different. The ideas, the tone, the look and most importantly the goals are completely different. Yes both internal and external stakeholders want to be engaged, they want to know what’s going on with your company but it’s how you engage and speak to them which is the point. External communications remind your client base of your brand and entice them to get involved. Internal communications work to keep your workforce involved and engaged. Your workforce IS your brand. Both on the frontlines and behind the scenes they represent your corporate ideas and you need to speak to those ideals to keep them caring about being that brand representation.
Think of it this way, if you’re a GM of a professional hockey or baseball team. The way you speak to your team/players is very different than how you speak to your fans. You need to motivate your players (and occasionally discipline) and you need to excite your fans. How you do that are two very different techniques.
Being open and honest with your clients is a great idea, but you need to recognize that their expectations are different. It’s a great idea to try to save money by using an internal communication piece as an external marketing piece. But think of the damage that it could be doing to your brand. Saving those funds short-term is going to hurt you in the end. Like accidentally divulging your wife’s real age, you’ll be saying to yourself “inside voice, inside voice”.
Scott Holmes is the Director of Marketing Operations at Synergist Communications (www.synergistcommunications.com). He has extensive experience developing travel and corporate brands in Canada and overseas, through strategic, creative programs that resonate with their identified targets and goals.
‘Tis the season to overspend and overeat and I do it in spades. I’m also the dad/uncle/son that likes wrapping my own gifts…terribly. I’ll admit it, my presents look like they were wrapped by a mountain gorilla; too much paper, so much tape the gifts are hermetically sealed, and bows hazardly adorned. But when Christmas comes around, everyone knows which gifts are from me. I’m consistent and everyone knows my style. My wrapping reflects my personality…my brand. Does yours?
My wife likes to shop (surprise) so I get to see a lot of bags, paper, boxes etc. and I’m continuously surprised at how bad they often look. Just because it’s Christmas, you shouldn’t completely ignore the fact that your company has a personality. Christmas packaging should enhance and reflect your brand, not detract from it. Subtlety is key. Everyone knows it’s the Holiday Season, you don’t need to beat people over the head with it.
High-end brands do this exceedingly well, instead of adding Christmas to their packaging portfolio, they use Christmas as a opportunity to show off their brand. Checkout Tiffany’s or Holt Renfrew. Their colors and packaging remain true to their ideals. The blues and pinks (respectively) adorn everything still, only small things change like a little more flourish on the bows.
Their packaging remains consistent because they know their brand. They’ve developed a specific style guide and they don’t deviate. Both brand are aware of their personality and are meticulous in adhering to it. Christmas packaging is an opportunity to get in the holiday spirit and show off your personality. But just like the office party, it’s best not to get carried away with the spirit. Understand, plan, execute are words to live buy for developing packaging for your brand. That and have a Merry Christmas!
Scott Holmes is the Director of Marketing Operations at Synergist Communications (www.synergistcommunications.com). He has extensive experience developing travel and corporate brands in Canada and overseas, through strategic, creative programs that resonate with their identified targets and goals.
I’m not sure when "content" entered the modern lexicon specifically referring to material on the internet, but for the past five(ish) years, content has indeed been king. If you’re a small business owner (or for that matter, a large business owner) content it is something you need to be aware of.
Ask yourself why you buy magazines? Is it to be in the know, learn a new improved way to do something, look at beautiful photos, check out the latest products and trends? Essentially, you buy the magazine for things you find interesting. Web content is no different; it is compelling articles, photos, videos, blogs, and things that your market finds interesting.
Sound easy? Unfortunately it’s not. Content takes effort. First, as always, you need to define your brand. Who are you, what do you do, what do you want to say and how you say it? Once those questions are answered you can start developing content.
But how do you develop good content? Here are some ideas:
Be Cheap Take advantage of what’s free. YouTube, Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook and so on, allow free accounts and are customizable to match your brand look and feel. They also allow integration into your own website. Every outlet can find a different audience member (aka potential client) and each allow for developing specific content types.
Be Aware Seems logical, but it’s often ignored. Be aware of what’s going on in the world, be aware of the time of year, be aware of what’s happening in your company and develop content around it. A great example of this was a video LG recently did for Halloween. Check out a recent video they created to scare unsuspecting elevator riders. It was on-brand, it was apropos to time of year and it was awesome:
Be Consistent There is nothing worse than a stale website with content from 2007, with empty twitter feeds, a blog with one entry, a calendar that lists nothing and a video channel with no videos. The point of content is to interact and inform. If you’re going to have a twitter account, make sure you’re actually tweeting something 2-3 times per week (at least!), add something new to your website weekly. Not only is it good for people dropping by, it’s recognized (and rewarded) by search engine algorithms.
Don’t Be Consistent Consistently develop content but make sure it's something more than “Buy my stuff”. Give updates of what’s happening in the company, comment on what’s happening in the world, take time to acknowledge users and followers. Plan ahead for what’s down the road and create something (have you thought about what you're doing for Christmas yet? you should've in July). If you have a staff party, make sure you video it and throw it up on the website. You never know what might resonate with people and the next thing you know 2 million people have watched it. Don’t believe me? See how many people watched this:
Learn to Write Correction, learn how to write for your company. Anyone can write, but can you write with the voice of your brand? There’s a difference. Visualize Starbucks, Red Bull and RBC. All are distinctly different in their brand and if you read the content on their respective websites all are very different. Your followers are interacting with your brand, not yourself. Learn to write like your brand…or hire someone to do it for you.
Scott Holmes is the Director of Marketing Operations at Synergist Communications (www.synergistcommunications.com). He has extensive experience developing travel and corporate brands in Canada and overseas, through strategic, creative programs that resonate with their identified targets and goals.
Watching the ubiquitous coverage of the U.S. election got me thinking about a couple things. First, how much I dislike modern-day politics and second, the lessons we can learn in branding by watching the electoral races:
1. The Importance of Research I would love to see the budgets for these races. Not only for their sheer size, but even moreso the percentage designated to research. People in politics recognize the importance in recognizing who you’re talking to and understanding how they think. This allows you to target your communications precisely to get the expected response and maximum benefit.
2. Consistency of Message In politics, as in marketing, you must be consistent with your message. This has been a big theme in the Obama criticism of Mitt Romney; that his ideas seem to change. If your marketing campaign isn’t consistent in reinforcing your brand, your audience will become confused and lose interest. This isn’t saying to ignore trends (see point 1), rather it requires you to define a path that supports your brand and continue with that path. It will develop a level of recognition with your audience and they’ll know your brand and what it stands for.
3. Recognize, and Take Advantage, of Opportunities for Exposure Modern-Day politics is all about the sound-bite. Any little mistake or error allows the opponent to jump on it and use it to their advantage portraying their opponent in a specific light. In marketing you need to be aware of what’s happening and take advantage of it. For instance, are you developing a Halloween theme? What are your plans for a unique Christmas card? Does your winter marketing campaign differ from your summer? People get bored quickly so it’s important to on top of your content, making it relevant and interesting to what’s happening in the world.
4. Targets, Targets, Targets Mitt Romney got blasted for saying it was worth ignoring 47% of the electorate because he wasn’t getting their vote anyway. Was he being ignorant or targeting a specific demographic? Not for us to say, but it has been interesting who each of the candidates is speaking to, where they’re campaigning the most, and which states are most important. You hear a lot about Ohio and Florida, but not a lot about Hawaii (Obama’s home state) or Alaska or Washington. A good marketing campaign knows exactly where to spend your money and who you want to speak to. Know who you’re going to target and know what you need to say.
5. Prepare for the Unexpected Stuff happens. It’s a simple truth that you need to be prepared for. No better place is that exemplified as in politics. Each party has their own spin (ad nauseum) and they’re borderline maniacal on how it’s preached. Your marketing campaign doesn’t need to be as rigid (and often vapid) but you should have something prepared to address problems and/or opportunities. Don't get caught in a panic. What is in your emergency communications kit?
Scott Holmes is the Director of Marketing Operations at Synergist Communications (www.synergistcommunications.com). He has extensive experience developing travel and corporate brands in Canada and overseas, through strategic, creative programs that resonate with their identified targets and goals.
