As marketers, our most notable objective is to engage with consumers. While that sounds nice, it is often a pretty difficult objective to excel at consistently. Consumers are fickle, their attention is being pulled a million different ways, and our message may one day be their priority, but the next day may not. One way to cut through the clutter is to deliver a recognizable brand experience. At a recent Kansas City Direct Marketing Association luncheon, Darryl Mattox from Gragg Advertising and Julie Pinedo from Guadalupe Centers talked about how a rebranding project led to more consumer engagement.
Conduct Surveys
The first step of the rebranding project was to conduct a consumer survey. This survey was to all Guadalupe Centers stakeholders and delivered in both online and printed form and in Spanish and in English to ensure equitable participation. While the survey asked for specific feedback, it also gave the team the opportunity to take the temperature of others on the rebranding project and see what opposition they might face along the way. There were five consumer survey best practices the Gragg & Guadalupe Centers team kept in mind.
But as Mattox said, “Data is just data until you do something useful with it.”
Identify Your Brand Essence
After the survey results came back, it was time to identify the Guadalupe Centers’ new brand essence. They knew the mission statement was staying the same, but the logo needed updating. One logo would bring together 39 different entities and make the all one. Their new logo would give them visibility in the community and help consumers, and the organization, understand how they could all work together.
Engage Your Consumers
Now it was time to dig into how Guadalupe Centers could engage with consumers. The first aspect they looked at was a new website. According to Mattox & Gragg Advertising “Your website is your online lobby. Provide a welcoming, engaging and intuitive experience for all visitors – one that tells them who you are, but in a way that makes them want to learn more.” To do this, Maddox explained, the website must be responsive, be focused on producing results, and include ways for consumers to provide contact information at every stop. Before the website redesign, the Donate button was only on one page of Guadalupe Centers’ website. With the redesign, it was on every page. According to Pinedo, online donations went from $41 in December of 2015 to $6,000 in December of 2016. But Mattox also added that no new website starts off hitting all the marks when it comes to user experience. Components have to be tested and refined along the way. Search Engine Optimization can’t be overlooked either. “It doesn’t matter how good the website is if nobody can find it,” said Mattox.
All other elements of the marketing mix filter in to correspond to the new brand and website. Organizations have to take note of what other components are providing results. Mobile impact continues to grow through website hits, social media, and messaging. Mattox showed one slide that distinctly showed the power of text messaging.
As we often say with text messaging, you have to make sure you are reaching people who want to be reached. For remarketing to consumers who have expressed interest, Mattox noted organizations should outline an internal data management strategy that takes into account the rules of the channel and outlines the touch strategies to contact people. He also encouraged monthly management and cleaning of databases.
The evolution of Guadalupe Centers’ brand is not finished, as they continue to implement new marketing tactics and employ traditional means like attendance at cultural events to engage with the communities in which they operate. However, through the work with Gragg Advertising and the development of a new brand, they have made significant progress in uniting their disparate entities and bringing recognition to the message of One Guadalupe.
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