Webtivity Internet Marketing Blog

Can You Change?

We often have well-established companies tell us they hate their logo or their branding.  (That’s right… I’m using the word hate here.)  They tell us when they started the company they didn’t put enough effort toward their branding, identity or their online marketing.  Now with hindsight in their favor they see the mistakes they made and want to fix it!  But how easy is it to change your company’s image once the marketplace gets to know you?

Freshening your branding is one thing.  That is a healthy part of managing any company’s identity.  Times change, you change, standards change. Think of all the world’s biggest brands.  Over the years they religiously refresh their branding to keep from looking stodgy or outdated.

Here are a few things to keep in mind if you plan on making some major changes:

1)  Develop a regimented plan
Often companies delay things that are perceived as painful until the time comes where someone in the organization gets fed up and yells, “Just Get It Done!!”  When it comes to your company’s identity nothing could be worse.  There is some background work that needs to be done first.

2) How do people view you?
Before you know where to take your branding, you first need to understand how people perceive you.  Talk to long-time clients and ask them why they’ve continued to do business with you.  Talk to new clients and ask them why they decided to work with you.  Through your research you may find you don’t like the way people perceive your company. If that’s the case you may need to make a more substantial overhaul to your company’s brand.  Also remember you have to remove your personal tastes and likes from the equation.  I know this is hard to swallow, but your tastes may be bad for your brand.

3) Research the competition
What are your competitors doing well?  What aren’t they doing well?  See if there is a niche you can fill where your competitors are lacking.  You may find there is a whole new customer base out there you want to target.

4) Buy-in
As with any plan, if you don’t have 110% buy-in from everyone in your company you’re starting down a bumpy road.  Be sure everyone from the top down understands why you’re making the change, your vision for the future of the company, and how this is an integral part of accomplishing that vision.

5) The Relaunch
Prepare people for the “new you”.  Help them understand why you’re going through this transformation.  Tell them why it’s in their best interest.  If you change completely and suddenly without notice, your customers and the general public may get confused.  And sometimes consumers get downright angry!  As some brands have found out.

If you’re going to make a major change to your branding, do your research and make a smart transition.  If you don’t, you risk making these changes at your peril. (SyFy anyone?)

Designing an Effective Website

I had the pleasure of working with the Custom Carts team on refreshing their branding and re-design of their website.  Before the Initial Project Conference at our office, I toured their facility to get a feel for their personality and approach.  As a designer, I was especially interested to learn about the design and fabrication process for their custom golf carts.

I was genuinely impressed with their operation, and it became clear from the moment I walked into their showroom that their old website was doing their company a great disservice.  The former website was developed in FrontPage, looked outdated and was extremely difficult to navigate.  As I spoke with the owner Louie Hasbrouck and his Sales Manager Tim Cavanaugh, I immediately understood the strong sense of pride that goes into their work and the comraderie between staff.

The catalyst for the project however was to help promote the launch of their new product line, the All-American Series.  This is a new line of “green”  Low Speed Vehicles that require no gas to operate.  These vehicles can utilize up to 50% of recycled or certified remanufactured parts and materials, and is covered by a new vehicle warranty.  They even have optional solar tops for optimal energy efficiency.  Custom Carts knew they needed to have a highly professional website so when they begin promoting this new line of golf carts, the website will help sell them as the highly skilled professionals they are.

Once I familiarized myself with their products and process we discussed their new website design.  Because they are a creative, cutting edge company in their industry, we wanted to implement a much more contemporary design for the new website.  We incorporated bright, vibrant colors to make it visually stimulating, whereas the old website primarily used black throughout.  The old website also had long, run-on pages because their photos ran serially down the page.  This caused long page load times and was not very friendly for website visitors.  So we integrated a photo slideshow software that allows the staff of Custom Carts to keep it up to date when they finish a new project.  Because they had a fair amount of content, we used Spry to show/hide content to help consolidate their information and make the website more user-friendly.

When we launched the website, Tim said, “At the beginning I wasn’t sure how things were going to turn out.  But now that we’re done, I can’t imagine our website looking any other way.”

Take a look at the new Custom Carts website and see they have to offer.  You just might find the golf cart of your dreams.  Eat your heart out, Tiger Woods!