The ACE Awards, presented by ECM Connection magazine, are designed to honor the vendors that have gone above and beyond the call of duty to help their clients achieve the best results possible from their ECM implementations. Sitrof, an information management solutions provider, recently completed a huge project in transforming CGIRB into a paperless company. CGIRB, an Institutional Review Board, was able to improve efficiency, reduce the need for paper (for cost, storage and environmental reasons) and, most of all, to improve their competitive advantage.

This installation proved worthy of the 2010 ACE Award because of the level of collaboration, the best-of-breed solution implemented over time and the commitment to excellence by both clients involved.

The ACE Award winners will be announced in the September issue of ECM Connection magazine along with a featured story.

It’s impossible to put together a fire prevention plan when you’re always busy putting out fires. Regardless of the size of the company, the industry or the expertise of the people involved, the urge to jump straight to tactics consistently overwhelms the far more effective (and sustainable) strategic approach. The net result is wasted time, wasted money and wasted opportunities to grow the business.

Years ago, new prospects would tell us, “We need a brochure.” It became an in-joke around the office. More often than not what they really needed was a plan. Office closets around the country are cluttered with boxes of unused print collateral, long since outdated. Typically these were commissioned by well-intentioned managers responding to pressure from above to “get something done”–with no real clue of who the audience is, how it would be distributed, or how it would integrate with other marketing efforts.

Today “we need a brochure” has increasingly been replaced with “we need a website”–but the principle is the same: Jumping to tactics without a plan. How can you decide where to go if you don’t know where you are?

It’s impossible to put together a fire prevention plan when you’re always busy putting out fires.

It’s easy to understand why people want to skip planning and get right to tactics: They’re tangible. They provide a sense of accomplishment. And they can be shown to the boss. But in the end, if you let the tail wag the dog, you’ll be following your business instead of leading it.

Last year we landed a new client and spent the first two weeks mapping out a year-long marketing strategy. We took a very systematic approach. According to the plan, phase one called for refining the brand message. (It was amazing to hear four different senior managers describe the company in practically opposing terms.) Messaging came first–because if messaging isn’t consistent, if it doesn’t resonate with target audiences, then the slickest collateral, biggest tradeshow presence, best sales presentation and most souped-up website will ultimately fail.

Phase two planned to rebuild a weak marketing foundation–redesign the website, create key print collateral and new tradeshow displays. We also recommended implemented a lead capture system on the website to allow the client to track who downloads case studies and white papers. This information, in turn, would be sent in real time to the VP of sales for followup. Concurrently, the case studies would be chunked into press releases, applications for trade show speaking engagements and award nominations in vertical and horizontal markets. Rock solid stuff. You can just smell the ROI!

Well, that was the plan. But the CEO didn’t bother to look at the plan. He wanted “PRs” and “Google Ad Words” and “sales slicks.” And he wanted them now. He didn’t want to talk about planning. Or messaging. Or solid foundations. He wanted action–which he mistakenly equated with results.

Let’s look at a Google Ad Words campaign as an example.

A “campaign” implies planning and knowledge. But we didn’t yet know what keywords the competition is buying or which terms people were using to search for similar companies. And the company’s website was so woefully inadequate that prospects who did click on a Google ad would find no clear messaging, no calls to action. And there was no lead generation process in place to capture them. Jumping right into a Google Ad Words buy would have been a costly mistake–one that could have done more harm to their image than good. Eventually, we won this battle, but the war for planning waged on for months.

There’s a method to the madness of marketing–a logical order of what needs to be done. So if you are asked to launch an Ad Words campaign, create a brochure or commission a new website, ask what other elements need to be put in place. If your CEO is more focused on updating logos than discussing macro level issues of vision and positioning, push back. If you are engaged in a discussion about branding and all one of your key stakeholders wants to do is talk about making the blue line around the text box yellow, ask her to look at the big picture. And when you get into the critically important discussion about how you are going to grow your business, don’t let the tail wag the dog.

In celebration, Altitude will be giving away a new website valued at $7,500—including planning, programming and design—to a local company in our 8-county eligibility area. Business owners and customers can submit companies (anonymously if they choose) on the Baddy Awards website.

Altitude believes that every business, regardless of size or budget, deserves a meaningful and useful web presence. Altitude is committed to Lehigh Valley and regional businesses, especially small- to medium-size businesses like ourselves, thanks to our years of work with the Ben Franklin Technology Partners and to the local entrepreneurial community. A point of pride for Altitude is educating others on the elements and values of a good website.

The Baddy Awards is a way for Altitude to spread its mission: beautifying the web presence of Eastern Pennsylvania businesses. The Baddy Awards program encourages both business owners and customers alike to nominate websites to win a new website, designed, developed and implemented by Altitude.

Altitude will select a group of finalists from all entries that meet eligibility requirements and are approved for inclusion by the nominated business. The general public will then get to vote which finalist wins the grand prize. All voting will take place online at baddyawards.com. The winner will be chosen based on total number of votes.

Altitude will work closely with the winning business to develop a new website. The website will be developed in a leading-edge open source platform, which Altitude will customize for the winner. Full details, terms and conditions can be found here.

To learn more about the Baddy Awards or to nominate a business today, click here.

It floored me a few years back to learn that a very reputable college in our region paid mid-five figures for some “rebranding” work. The firm they hired took the school’s existing logo, changed the font and swapped the colors of the two lines that underscored the name. Rebranding? Not by a long shot. Did it do anything to communicate the essence of the college to prospective students? Did it generate the emotional appeal necessary to move alumni to donate? Did it articulate why a Ph.D. should apply for a teaching position?

The reality is that many small business owners equate their “logo” with their “brand.” This misperception is reinforced by graphic designers who advertise “branding” work when what they are actually doing is designing a logo, letterhead and matching business cards. I’m not dismissing good logo work or the role it can play in the overarching identity of a company. But let’s be clear: If it doesn’t involve strategy, messaging, emotional appeal AND visual identity—then it’s not branding. Period.

If you trace the concept to its origins, you can see why people equate a brand with a logo. A “brand” is an identifying mark. Ranchers used them to tell one cow or horse from another. If you’re lucky (and spend a lot of money on marketing and advertising), a logo may one day come to represent your brand. Think Nike swoosh, McDonald’s golden arches, Major League Baseball red-white-and-blue. Instantly identifiable. But your logo is not your brand. In fact, many companies do just fine without any logo whatsoever.

So what is your brand? Most simply, it’s your promise to your customers. It’s the combination of visual, verbal and emotional attributes that define your company and distinguish it from the competition. And it should be consistent everywhere. Sales pitches. Magazine and newspaper ads. Website. Billboard. Truck signage. Even down to how the receptionist answers the phone. Your brand permeates everything you do, everywhere.

Building a strong brand is a multi-step process. It starts with a hard look at the core values of your company, whatever they may be: Customer satisfaction. Responsiveness. Hipness. Price. Honesty. Tech savvy. Quality. Atmosphere. (Haven’t done a line-item of your company’s core values? What are you waiting for?)

Once your specific core values are written down, take a hard look at the competition and figure out what you do better, where you fall short, where you want to compete and how you are going to win market share. With that competitive environment in mind, the next step is to create compelling, credible, consistent messaging that supports your business goals. This is easier said than done. Many businesses struggle with creating truly effective and distinctive messaging. Once your core messaging is final, then—and only then—do you have the emotional foundation for creating a look and feel (design, logo) that mirrors your values and supports your messaging.

Customers and prospects are initially attracted or repelled because of the emotional impact of your brand. First impressions matter. How your brand makes people feel and react are the two key drivers of brand perception. So when a logo design shop says they’ll create your brand, ask them if they’ll interview your executive team. Find out if they’ll craft your “elevator speech”—that short verbal overview that defines your business and engages prospects. Will they help you extend and reinforce your brand through a trade show strategy? PR? Point-of-purchase? Advertising? Social networking? Sponsorship?

So go ahead and hire a graphic designer—when the time comes. But you’ve got a lot of homework to do before that happens.

It is about the customer experience that gets consistently created. It is about the values a company holds. Sometimes these values are spoken. Sometimes these values make it into a slogan. But more often than not they don’t – and that’s okay as long as those values are reflected in the customer experience.

Home Depot delivered (literally) and has earned my brand loyalty.

Last weekend. Saturday. A house full of guests. My microwave craps out.

I Google “Home Depot Allentown” on my Blackberry. The phone number instantly pops up, one click and I have customer service on the line. I get clear, immediate answers to my questions about delivery, what’s on sale, installation and removal. Contrast this with another big box store where I sat on hold for 5 minutes, got transferred, got disconnected, had to call back, sat on hold and couldn’t quite get a straight answer once I got through.

So I pack up the family and head to Lehigh Street. Within three minutes, I find the associate I spoke with, he narrows down our selection to two. It’s on sale. Delivery is free. Installation is on special for only $50 as he promised on the phone. A computer screen shows me all the available times for delivery. I can’t be there during the week for the install? How about Saturday. Morning. Between 9am and 10am.

They show up at 9am on the dot. In and out in 20 minutes. Old one hauled away.

Home Depot made this a seamless and painless experience. They gave me a good product, excellent value and more importantly, let me keep a good chunk of my weekend. No running around town. No haggling. No struggling to do an installation on my own because they made it a no-brainer to have them do it. No sitting around for an entire day part waiting for them to show up. They followed through on their brand promise and that is a powerful message to send.

Unfortunately, marketing professionals often stick to the status quo out of fear–it’s easier and safer to toe the line than to rock the boat. Take one of our biggest clients–a respected powerhouse in the traditional direct marketing arena. It took years for them to understand the ramifications after the website surpassed the print catalog as the company’s primary source of new customers. Direct mail business was in steady decline, but the internal inertia against new-era marketing was almost insurmountable. While “tried and true” might not get you fired, in the long run it’s a business (and career) limiting move.

Today a successful marketing strategy requires wholeheartedly embracing the fact that it is truly an “and/both” world: Both print and web, snail mail and email, public relations and social media, one-to-many and one-to-one.

Of course, adapting to the evolving ways in which prospects and customers receive and consume information is easier said than done. Reactive tactics rule the day over well-planned strategy. Today a successful marketing strategy requires wholeheartedly embracing the fact that it is truly an “and/both” world: Both print and web, snail mail and email, public relations and social media, one-to-many and one-to-one.

Take, for example, the subset of marketing known as “public relations.” Gone are the days when grinding out a press release was the primary tactic. PR is no longer about who has the beefiest Rolodex–it’s about who has the most integrated and resourceful PR strategy that translates across all marketing disciplines and all media.

No matter the industry…no matter whether it’s business-to-business or business-to-consumer, penny product or high-end service…there’s a proliferation of targeted outlets all over the internet run by both highly influential people and motivated enthusiasts. These are the perfect complement and gateway to the more traditional influencers at trade publications and major consumer magazines. Sure, some are more credentialed than others. Some are part-timers. But it’s pretty easy to recognize which ones get a ton of site traffic. Get to know these new gatekeepers and make sure they are part of your PR plan.

Let’s put this into context. We have a fictional company selling a high-tech consumer electronics widget. (Could be just about any product or service.) In the past, to get this widget reviewed, you’d send a pitch and a product sample to Walt Mossberg at the Wall Street Journal and a small handful of traditional experts with wide reach and influence. This pitch letter and product would sit in a pile of boxes for weeks or months. Assuming you had a well-articulated value proposition, some luck and hours of persistent follow-up, one of those influencers might very well open the box. Then they might test the product. Then they might actually write about it.

But the blogosphere has turned this old-school PR paradigm completely upside down. The balance of power has shifted from the print dailies and monthly magazines to the masses–enthusiasts and thought-leaders sitting in front of computers around the world.

So what is a marketing director to do? Well, how about a handstand?

Rather than jump out of the gate by pitching to New York Times tech editor, for example, start by identifying the top two or three power bloggers at key websites who are the most likely to write about the product. Craft a compelling, benefit-oriented subject line that speaks to their audiences. Include a lead sentence that grabs the blogger by the ears and compels them to want to read more. Offer to send the product. Include a link for more information and product image download. Include nothing as an attachment until you establish a relationship. And get in and out in about 100 words–the size of this paragraph.

Okay, some disclosure–this isn’t about a fictional company. This actually happened. New media has a voracious appetite for fresh daily content, and many bloggers will post press releases nearly verbatim. In the case of this high-tech electronic widget, the initial blog posts simply noted that the product existed and was available for sale. These posts were quickly picked up by a dozen other related but smaller sites. Then a dozen more. This in turn led to a solid list of highly qualified tech blogs calling us, asking for review units. We sent these out and immediately blog reviews and viewer comments followed. These in turn were picked up by other sites.

After three months and more than 200 electronic media hits all around the world, guess who picked up the phone and asked us for a review unit? Guess who wanted to book an interview with the company CEO? Because enough people had been raving about the product, it caught the eye of one of those very same highly influential, traditional gatekeepers whom we sidestepped at the very beginning. The public relations paradigm has truly flipped upside-down.

Don’t shop for a website on price alone.

The old axiom “you get what you pay for” holds just as true for websites. Now, this doesn’t mean you have to spend tens of thousands of dollars. But you should think about your website as an investment. After all, it is the single most important external face of your business. It’s the canvas on which you paint your brand. The look, feel, messaging all need to be built on an intuitive information architecture that guides prospects and customers through a logical path and towards a desired action. Don’t undersell its importance.

Don’t let your neighbor’s kid design it.

You can throw a stick out a window on any busy street in the Lehigh Valley and hit someone who says they can “design a website.” But do you really want to trust your most important marketing tool to someone just because they know HTML or can throw up a WordPress blog? Your website is a marketing tool and must be approached with a strategic lens–not from a programmatic or design standpoint.

Don’t start designing until you have thought through the “information architecture.”

Form follows function. Don’t start with design. Start with the flow of information/pages and how you want your audience–prospects, customers, member of the media–to navigate your site. What do you want them to do–download free information? Fill out a form? Pick up the phone? Understand your capabilities? Make sure those decisions are decided before the design is even started.

Don’t build it all in Flash.

Please. Don’t. Flash is great for websites–if you hate Google. The be-all buzz-all of web development from the early 2000′s is terrible for search engines and even worse for mobile devices. Google can’t read content locked up in Flash, so all your great messaging is invisible. Flash is good for finishing touches and wonderful for online games, but don’t be sold a website in Flash. Unless you are hiding something. Like your business.

Don’t underestimate the time it takes to build a good website.

Done right, a good website is an involved process that includes information planning, layout, design, content development, build out and launch. Plan for 8-12 weeks from start to finish for a basic website–and this assumes you can hold up your end of the bargain on deadlines. And remember, the element that holds up web development more often than anything else is content. Most web developers don’t “do content” so you are often left to do it yourself. So get started even before you start shopping around.

And as some added value, here are some more “musts” and “must nots” to keep in mind when working with a web developer and planning a new or redesigned website.

• Do ask for proof of the developer’s marketing expertise. (Web development alone is not proof of marketing experience.)
• Don’t let them start coding until you are 100% satisfied with the information architecture and the design.
• Do include compelling, easy-to-find calls to action for prospects.
• Don’t be upsold on “bells and whistles”–features you can’t or won’t use right away.
• Do include your full contact information (email, phone number, address) on every page.
• Don’t let the content get stale–a website is a conversation, not a brochure.
• Do make sure that the site is “search-engine-friendly” with an XML site map and proper tagging so Google can index it properly.
• Don’t use a web developer who programs in tables and iframes–outdated technology that is not search-engine-friendly.
• Do plan for mobile accessibility now, not later.
• Do plan to redesign and redevelop your website every three years.

So let’s look at some of the benefits of blogging.

• An important component of SEO (Search Engine Optimization).
• Creates fresh content for your website (Google loves that).
• Puts more relevant key word (or key phrases) for better indexing.
• Demonstrates and enhances your company’s thought leadership position.

Blogging can be fun, profitable, and many find it is a great creative outlet.  But there are some “watch outs” too.

Just because you blog, doesn’t mean anyone will actually read it. A better tactic is to post comments on other thought leaders blogs who are heavily trafficked, with your own spin or opinion and a link back to your website’s relevant article. Success in blogging revolves around creating and sustaining a meaningful dialogue.

Make sure you first know the stats on the key words/phrases you may be focusing on. Altitude found that for one of our clients in the insurance industry. In one particular month, 3,000 people searched on “property and casualty insurance software”, but 300,000 preferred the short cut “p&c insurance software.”

Don’t start then stop. Make a commitment to blog regularly for at least 6 months. Set up a weekly or monthly schedule. If you give up, take down your blog. There is nothing worse than “last blog post- October 2008.” To develop passionate readers and fans you need to give them something to rely on, posting regularly doesn’t mean posting every day, it means posting in a predictable manner.

Keep it relevant. Even if you go on a rant about the local recycling center, relate it back into what you do for your customers. Or, describe a similar situation you faced and how you reacted, or how the situation could have worked out better – any way you do it, be sure to make it your own and tie it all together.

So here I am, blogging about blogging.  It can work for  B-2-B, but do your homework, be consistent and don’t expect miracles (at least not right away).

Further reading >> Social Media: Jump In

Top to bottom, this was a very effective bit of direct mail to get people to go to the dealership. But once recipients get to the showroom and find out they didn’t win anything of substance, likely some stink was raised.

The over-sized plain manila envelope with “For Immediate Use Only” and an Eden Prairie, MN return address caught my attention. First hurdle cleared – I opened it. Inside was a four-color, glossy “Congratulations – You Win!” promo slick. Normally I toss these. But this came with a “Scratch Here to Win” type game.

If I had to fumble for a quarter to rub it, it would have wound up in the recycling bin. But there was a car key attached to the mailer. Second hurdle cleared. So I scratched. Then the piece read, “If the lucky number above matches the number you scratched off, YOU HAVE DEFINITELY WON ONE OF THESE 5 PRIZES.” Guess what? My lucky number matched! Ok, I was sucked in.

• 2010 Chevy Cobalt
• $2500 cash
• Scratch of worth up to $60,000
• Honda ATV
• $50 cash.

A quick read and I could win $60,000. Right? I better head to the dealership. At a minimum, I won $50.

Too good to be true, indeed. First read, which is often all people will give something, I saw $60,000 as one of the 5 prizes I may have won. This meant the minimum I would get for my efforts of going to the dealership would be $50. The deceptive hook here is on the “scratch off worth up to.”

Let’s assume I didn’t pick up on this hook and I go to the showroom to claim my prize, expecting a minimum of $50, and I get handed not a new car, not $2500 in cash, not the keys to an ATV, but a scratch card.

When I find out I won nothing or something a lot less than the $50 minimum I was thinking I’d get for walking in the door – am I going to be an excited prospect ready to do business with them, or will I feel duped? People are very cynical about car dealerships. Promos like this reinforce the belief that when a car dealer pitches you something that sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

But I will give credit where credit is due. This was slick and no doubt works to get bodies in the showroom. I just wonder how many of those people walk away really ticked off.

With this campaign, Altitude emphasizes QNB’s strong foundation, willingness to lend, and their commitment to customer service and community ties.

QNB has been in business for 133 years, and most QNB employees have been with the company for multiple years. The majority of department heads have been with QNB for 10, 15, even over 20 years.

“This kind of longevity leads to a rich understanding of the community, the bank and customer needs,” said Brian Schaffer, Vice President of Marketing for QNB. “It is the faces behind QNB that make it special. QNB’s strength resides in its people – and its customer relations.”

There is something to be said about a bank that hasn’t gotten caught up in all the “merger mania.” In an industry with lots of turnover, QNB Bank has always remained the same trusted, independent bank for the same loyal customers, hence the campaign tag line, “Always you. Always QNB.”

This new campaign will appear in everything from print, online, in-branch video, pole banners, fliers and more. QNB partnered with Altitude Marketing for their expertise in digital campaign design. Altitude previously worked with QNB to design their annual report, sent out in May.

“For the annual report, we had already taken photos of long-time employees who were dedicated to building customer relationships,” said Stan Zukowski, Vice President of Altitude. “The images we used for the annual report were a perfect fit for this campaign, and in the end, this cut some costs while creating a fully integrated campaign.”

About QNB

QNB is a financial institution based in Quakertown, PA with 9 locations serving the greater Lehigh Valley area. QNB helps customers achieve their goals by providing a total financial relationship built upon exceptional personal service and a sincere interest in their success. Visit QNB at www.qnb.com.