Cogent Design was appointed in a competitive credentials pitch to design and build the brand presentation because we demonstrated empathy with the brands values.

The resulting presentation features music, video and animated diagrams and is now being used in licensing and new business meetings and has been made available to licensees who can adapt it for their own use.

Our client comments:
“We were impressed in Cogent’s overall quality and timely delivery of the project”

Cogent Design has devised a new approach tailored to the European market under the headline “Take the Rough – with the Smooth”

The concept highlights the outstanding ability of an Outer Reef Yacht to be used for safe and stress-free offshore cruising in less than ideal conditions. The engineering excellence of the vessels dovetails with exclusive interiors from the award-winning superyacht designer Ken Freivokh. The advertising also promotes the brands value proposition, and the ability of owners to customise a yacht to their exact requirements”.

Cogent has redesigned and reprogrammed the GPI website in line with the new messaging first seen in the 2011 GPI brochure. The new site has been programmed in Joomla 2.5 to provide enhanced security and features. The system allows GPI to update all aspects of the site in-house especially the news sections.

Clients were invited to rate Cogent confidentially giving a score between 0 – 100. Their ratings broke down as follows:

• Client Service 93.1
• Creativity 89.7
• Effectiveness 90.7
• Strategic Thinking 86.2
• Value for Money 88.0
• On Time 92.6
• On budget 92.8

Client feedback included:

• They have been designing a new web site and have been innovative and very helpful

• Their designs have always been fantastic; They give us a number of options to choose from – all of which are excellent. They listen to what we need and go above and beyond to ensure customer satisfaction and the best possible design. We wouldn\’t think of going anywhere else. No job is too small or big for them!

• Excellent design skills and knowledge of our industry. Very helpful and willing.

• They designed the www.babymusic.com website, which is quite intricate and was a demanding job. They put into place all the design elements required and got all the e-commerce working with a minimum of fuss.

• Cogent supplied us with logos, branding and design for 3 TV show pitches as they have done on many occasions. They took the brief well,gave us excellent and appropriate options and supplied us with well designed final presentations to a tight deadline.

• Good reactivity, good understanding of our model and stakes the work process was effective. the concepts were good and were then refined according to our wishes in an effective way. The work was done quickly and on time. rnHowever, there was a limited range of website functionality which we could use within our budget.

• Web and logo design. Well thought out approach and implementation taking on board client requirements.

• Cogent designed a new brochure for distribution to clients, and oversaw the print production. The finished brochure was a big success. It conveyed quality and attention to detail, and we felt that it represented our brand well.

• Cogent were able to help us with modifying an image at short notice. The designer was very helpful and patient considering all the changes that we kept requesting, and the cost was very reasonable.

• Radical assessment / review of our European target markets and our image within it. Re-adaptation of our advertising and marketing to suit that audience.

• Work done for our Medical Centres development company which operates in England and Scotland. Brand had to fit both situations. They were very attentive to our needs, paid close attention to the particulars of our company, our strategy and vision, and applied unusual creativity to tailor the right solutions

• Cogent produced business cards for us on a very short timescale and with excellent results! Using our logo they created sleek and stylish cards in keeping with our brand identity and they were delivered quickly with plenty of good communication along the way. The whole team are a joy to work with.

• We have worked with them for several years and consistently improved what they have done and the look and feel Cogent were able to understand our business well and play back to us key ideas using some great new concepts. Our comms benefit from their insightful perspective.

• Innovative logo and clean attractive website that fully met our phase 1 specification Website.

• Have used Cogent\’s services many times over last 10 years. Good clean creatives.

• Cogent Design worked closely with us to develop the strategy for creative brand development and delivery across digital/online and print media. They are innovative as well as being pragmatic and the results are fresh and impactful. We’re very happy.

• Cogent implemented Joomla CMS for our website and ensured a smooth transition.

• Outstandingly creative design director, who has produced two powerful websites for us–calarecords.com and babymusic.com–and a series of CD covers which remain striking and original in their impact to this day.

• Created television series website and various other printed/brochure design pieces. Work always completed on time, to a very high standard and on brief. Nice people to deal with too.

• Producing magazine advertising to put across a brand new message in a clear and professional way

Firstly let’s look at the advantages that B2B social media marketing has over the B2C markets:

You’re in control – generally B2B have less people talking about their brand, which means less negative attitudes. Therefore B2B companies have more control over their social content, which makes it easier to channel the right message to the correct audience.

It is relationship based – B2B companies will do their research on products and services and prefer referrals and recommendations; from a social media perspective this is ideal because you can give your potential customers a snap shot of how you operate through your platforms. B2B buying decisions are more considered and the sales cycles are over a longer period of time. Therefore the quality of the relationship is very important; the quality ensures a long lasting relationship. Once the sale has been made, it’s now become common practice that social media is used to maintain this relationship by educating and supporting.

Targeted markets and cost effective – Compared to B2C, B2B have a focused and smaller target audience meaning it’s easier to connect and build relationships. B2B products change less frequently than B2C so the social media content that’s produced means it will last longer making it less expensive than B2C.

WHAT TO USE AND WHY

LinkedIn:
• Acts like an online CV and is ideal to showcase company’s history and expertise.
• Easy to use search facilities to find other business, groups and individuals.
• Has an ‘answers’ section where you gain advice and answer questions – useful for presenting yourself as an ‘expert’.
• Provides you with an option to be recommended by those that you’ve worked with before.
• According to a 2011 Lead Formix Report, nearly 45% of the leads generated from LinkedIn were first time visitors.

Tip: Change your professional headline to something that is specific to what you do so that potential clients can find you. Also link your account to Twitter as it’s good for your SEO!

Twitter:
• Content is open to everyone ensuring you reach a wider audience.
• A 140 character limit is designed to get your message straight to the point and encourages a quicker call to action.
• Directories such as Twellow (http://www.twellow.com/) are useful as they narrow down who you should be following.

Tip: Do not spam, join in with the conversation and post up engaging topics to encourage interactions. According to a recent Twitter survey 58% of people said they stopped following someone because their tweets appeared automated.

YouTube:
• Used for webinars and product demonstrations etc.
• It’s ideal because texts can get tiring so it adds variety.
• A chance to promote yourself internationally.
• Videos are easy to share across all platforms and becoming viral is key!
• It can demonstrate how knowledgeable you are in your given area.

Tip: Customize your page with your business logos so that you create an anchor with your viewers.

Facebook:
• It’s another communication channel that will help you with SEO.
• As of May 2011 687 million people are active more than once a month on Facebook.
• A chance to show others your branding, ideas and concepts that you have.
• It helps to demonstrate your customer service and communication skills.
• A 2011 marketing report from Hubspot: State of Inbound reported 41% of B2B companies are acquiring customers through Facebook.

Tip: Always have a customized landing page with a noticeable call to action for example a newsletter facility or your website URL. Make use of customizable tabs, and your unique Facebook ULR.

Blogs:
• Ideal to have one on your website as it keeps traffic on your site as well as directing more traffic to it.
• Helps to present you as an expert in your field.
• It makes your website interactive.
• It’s great for SEO purposes as you can use SEO rich key words.
• It gives you a chance to expand in greater detail on the contents that you’ve posted on other media platforms.

Tip: Engage with your readers, it’s not about selling to them. It’s about giving the customer something back i.e. education and support. It’s a form of indirect selling, showing your customers that you know what you’re talking about.

Things to consider

Learning-When you’re embarking on something new; it takes time to learn it fully so it’s wise to use other examples to aid you. Dell for business (http://www.facebook.com/DellBusiness) and PayPal (http://www.youtube.com/paypal ) are ideal to learn from. These are prime examples of good social branding, engaging content, and both are more than knowledgeable in their industries.

Targets- Set a target of 1 blog per week, 2 Twitter updates a day, 3 posts on Facebook a week and a couple of LinkedIn updates a month. One reached build upon it.

Cost- Most social networks are free, there are options to pay for certain premium services and target add campaigns. However the real cost is the time you put into it. Business networking can easily turn into social networking so you need to think just how much this will cost your business. Like all marketing strategies you must make a detailed plan stating your aims and objectives.

Tip: Use a mixture of videos, blogs and info graphics to give variety!

To conclude then; the more platforms that are used, the bigger your online presence. Taking into consideration of how you present yourself on social media in terms of branding, content and your overall conduct can determine your sales. It’s important to look at social media as a tool to help you reach more people at a quicker rate – although quantity should never compromise quality. It’s not a quick fix; it’s about building up good quality relationships. Social media for SME’s means you are no longer confined to your local geography!

© Cogent Design 2012

Please link to this article and do not to copy it in whole or in part

Cogent’s challenge is to create a brand and promotional material which matches the ingenuity of the device. It will be essential to capture the target market’s imagination, clearly explain the product’s benefits and position it as a premium product.

The success of this project has led Micro Focus to commission  Cogent to create a further high level corporate presentation aimed both at customers and staff.

Derek Britton of Micro Focus comments “Cogent Design has helped us to better communicate messages that go to the heart of a our strategic marketing initiative”