Branding
Published April 11, 2013 | 
The Belford Group works with a variety of clients. Although most of our clients are local here to Northwest Arkansas, we do have a couple of national clients as well. By working with a variety of clients of different scales we have the skills and experience you need to help name your business, create or redesign a logo for your business, and help you rebrand your business completely.
Business owners fret over packaging and a long list of other details as they get started, but then leave one of the most important aspects as an afterthought, their name. That’s where The Belford Group comes in. We will not only help you choose a name with significance, but we will also help you choose a name that breaks through the clutter and represents your product or service at its best.
Once your business has been named and your brand has been created, The Belford Group’s imaginative and prolific team of graphic designers will design several options of logos they believe best communicates your brand to the public, for you to choose from.
Once each of these branding steps have been completed your business will be successfully branded, your dream come true!
Call us today and let us help you bring your dream to life!
479.443.975
Branding for Startups
Published March 25, 2013 | 
Brand identity is an important factor for any business, but it is especially critical for a startup business to determine their brand identity. Company branding is the first step in creating company culture and what customers will experience. The Belford Group specializes in helping startups and small businesses determine the future of their business and the path they want their company to take. These are some of the services that startup businesses should take advantage of in order to get off the ground:
- Logo design: Begin with a unique identity that represents your new business and that will attract the attention of potential customers through a cohesive color pattern and design.
- Web site development and design: Your website will build on the identity presented in the logo and should be expertly designed to encourage brand enhancement and search engine optimization. There are several additions that can be incorporated into your website design which will transform viewers into customers, such as industry news blogs and keyword filled quality content. These will ensure that your company ranks highly when people search for the services your business provides.
- Business card/promotional material design: Your business card is a critical part of your brand identity that will either help you attract business or cause customers to use a competitor’s service.
- Electronic letterhead: You’ll be sending letters and proposals in electronic as well as printed formats, so be sure your letterhead matches your brand identity and embodies a professional image.
- E-Newsletter Setup: Build your network with a custom-branded e-mail template that can be sent out to customers and associates.
When it comes to investing in the future of your startup business, it is imperative that you start out on the right foot and build the identity of your brand. Your businesses identity is the first component that customers come in contact with so it is important that you allow an established brand consultant to design and produce brand materials. Does your startup company understand the importance of a cohesive brand identity?
As a full service marketing agency, The Belford Group creates branding, websites, marketing, social media and search engine optimization solutions to assist our clients in finding and reaching their ideal audience.
Call us or email us. We’d love to hear from you.
479-443-9945
info@thebelfordgroup.com
Branding
Published March 14, 2013 | To be noticed you have to be different! Who’s going to remember you if you are just the same as everyone else? NO ONE! That’s why you should come to The Belford Group for all of your branding needs, because no one here thinks anywhere but outside the box! Our team is dedicated to creating and building our client’s brands to be the best and most creative brands they can be!
Branding is more than just a logo, it’s having a cohesive message throughout your name, website, image, slogan, and any other materials used to communicate with your customers. It tells consumers who you are, what you stand for, and why you’re in business. We are able to help you do this by creating a marketing design guide specific for your business that will establish consistency among each of your marketing materials.
You must brand your company creatively and positively to bring recognition to your company and set yourself apart from the mass of companies offering the same thing. Here at The Belford Group we help you do that by asking you “why”. Why are you in business? Why do you believe in your brand? Why should people buy your product or service?
Once you can tell us “why”, we can help set you apart from all the others and build your brand to attract the customers you desire.
Contact The Belford Group today at 479.443.9945!
Why should companies consider Olympic branding?
Published July 16, 2012 | 
Olympic Branding Photo courtesy of Flickr user Ben Sutherland
The Olympic Games are both a celebration that allows the world to share in a spectacular athletic event, and a showcase for advertising that has helped to bring the spirit of the Olympics to the consumer. Corporations including Coca-Cola, McDonald’s and Visa have spent millions to get their products before the eyes of the world.
What does an Olympic sponsorship mean for companies?
Companies invest in the Games because the Olympic symbol is one way to reinforce a sponsoring company’s positive attributes by giving the sponsor the ability to attach its brand name to something positive and known worldwide, such as the Olympics. The sponsorship fees allow companies to claim sponsorship in all their advertising marks and on all collateral, and in most cases license the Olympic marks to use on their own products. Continue reading
Famous mascots keeping up with new social media trends
Published June 18, 2012 |
Everywhere we look we find a wide range of brand mascots that have an identifiable character, funny catchphrase or catchy jingle. Some of them we remember from our childhoods and others have just recently become prominent within the minds of consumers, but what do mascots do for brands?
By having a mascot it allows a brand to be distinguished in even the most cluttered advertising. Over the years they have served as the backbone of companies that are striving for a quality social image.
Here are some of the brand mascots that have stood out in our minds throughout time:
Now that these brands are established within the market, what can they do to keep up with the competition through social media?
Posted in Branding, Services, Social Media | 
advertising, Branding, Brands, Business, Company, market, marketing, Mascots, Social, social media, target audience | 
Leave a commentBranding on social media more than a logo
Published May 28, 2012 | All too often companies forget that branding is just as important online as it is offline. Maintaining a consistent brand image across all platforms is crucial to ensuring that a company’s brand is easily recognizable. This means using the same colors, graphic icon elements and typography in all places where the branding appears such as print marketing material, social media, signage and other forms of marketing.
The cover photo for client Oh Baby Food's Facebook page is clearly associated with its packaging, its website and all other forms of communication. The status updates provide the same type of information and carry the same informal tone that parents of babies would appreciate across all platforms.
Maintaining the corporate branding on social media goes beyond just having the same logo as the profile picture. Continue reading
Posted in Branding, News, Social Media | Branding, consistent branding, social media | Leave a commentYour graphic design is talking, but what is it saying?
Published May 14, 2012 | Everything about a business sends a message: the type of customer service provided, product quality and of course, the branding. Every activity—or lack of activity—sends some kind of message to the world.
The question is, what message does the branding send? For that matter, what message is coming from any of the graphic design projects completed for a company, be it printed marketing material, logo design or social media icons?
It’s easy to assume that the actual words used with a design, from the company name on the logo to the advertising message on a rack card, are the only message. Every component in a piece of design sends a message, including the typography, color usage and graphic icons. These messages can be both intentional and unintentional. It’s important for the intended message to be effectively conveyed, but it’s equally important to make sure that unintentional or subconscious messages do not override or somehow damage the primary message.
One of the most well-known messages found in corporate branding is the arrow in the FedEx logo. If you've not seen it, look at the forward-moving arrow created by the E and X in "ex." All messages that are generated by a logo should work together towards the same goal. (image courtesy of Flickr user adactio)
In an overall sense, a good design should never:
• Be overly complicated
• Have a message that is too vague
• Incorporate ideas that don’t accurately complement each other
Beyond those over-arching ideas, there are questions each business owner should ask themselves when asked to approve a graphic design piece to represent the company. Continue reading
Posted in Branding, Graphic Design, Services | Branding, branding message, FEDEX, graphic design, marketing message | Leave a commentRebranding is a different process than branding
Published April 23, 2012 | When a company goes through the branding process, there are specific steps that need to be followed for the brand development to be successful. When rebranding, it might be easy to think that the process will be easier or that it’s not as important to pay attention to detail because, after all, it’s been done once it can be done again, right?
McManus Law Firm recently went through the rebranding process. The Northwest Arkansas law firm's logo went from being red and black to gold and blue.
Rebranding is actually not that simple. Rebranding actually takes additional steps because those who are accustomed to the original branding—including the internal staff—will need to be educated on the changes. Continue reading
Posted in Branding, Services | brand redesign, Branding, corporate identity, logo, rebranding | Leave a commentQR Codes Merge Online, Offline Worlds
Published February 20, 2012 | We’ve all seen those funny looking little square boxes with either squiggly black lines or some kind of artistic array of black splotches.
What looks like it could be an elaborate form of a psychiatrist’s ink blot is actually a sophisticated piece of technology that opens countless doors for marketing, customer relations and just some plain old fun.
Those little boxes are called QR (quick response) codes. They are a two-dimensional barcode with encoded information such as a website address, text, or lots of other pieces of information. QR codes can be read by a QR code scanner (imagine that!) including QR scanner apps that are available in most smartphone app stores. If you have a smartphone (and the right app), all you have to do is click a picture of the QR code and watch the magic happen.
Continue reading
Posted in Branding, Graphic Design, Marketing | Branding, event marketing, marketing, offline, online, online ads, QR codes, want ads, website | 2 CommentsMarketer We Love: Anthony Clark, Realtor
Published February 14, 2012 | 
Real estate agents by their very nature need to be “people people” and Realtor Anthony Clark clearly “gets” that. Clark’s use of social media is just what it should be (and is a lot like him): fun and informative. It’s also what earned him a spot on The Belford Group Blog as a “Marketer We Love.”
Continue reading
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