Marketing without the fancy clothes
September 21st, 2009 • Marketing
Langford Ink came about partly out of disillusion. I have rarely liked the way the concept of marketing is sold; either it’s all buddy-buddy to show that we’re on your team (high cringe factor), or it is pitched using language best left in the corporate boardroom (sore head).
I wanted to take a really practical approach, cutting out the jargon that leaves us feeling rather inferior. Really, marketing is just about showing your best angle to the right people, whilst highlighting what makes you different. There’s no reason why we have to dress it up in fancy clothes.
That’s not to say that we don’t aspire to be clever, smart and sassy; we all watch those brilliant campaigns develop - for Virgin, Dove, Yellow, The Economist etc. – and admire the sophistication and apparent simplicity. But clever, smart and sassy is not essential for everyone. What is essential is professionalism – your marketing strategy, which includes your visual identity, must be well thought out and true to your business. There are other essentials of course, like “Keep Plodding On” (don’t ever think that your marketing work is done – is your brand identity a bit stale? does your website need a shopping cart, a blog, different images? should you redesign the brochure?) but that’s a topic for another day.
So how does Langford Ink help? For those small businesses who are new to marketing, I help strip away the ‘fear’ that can obstruct you from making progress. When you’ve got the fear, it’s easy to duck out of finding the tailored marketing/design solution and risk settling for second best. I will guide you toward a professional solution within your budget, with some gentle education along the way to make it less scary next time round.
For those who are experienced in marketing but time poor and perhaps wary of overspend in this area, I offer a sensible, down-to-earth marketing service. No jargon, I promise. First of all, I listen to you because you know your business better than I do. Secondly, I do what I say I’ll do because it’s all about delivery.