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Author Archive
Black Hat SEO will git you run out of town Pardner
Monday, March 28th, 2011 by David MorganJust like in the ole West, or at least as our Western movies tell us, Black hats are villains – and usually up to “no good”.
The New York Times recently noticed something odd when performing Google searches on terms as diverse as bedding, skinny jeans, area rugs and grommet-top curtains. “You could imagine a dozen contenders for each of these searches,” writes David Segal. “But in the last several months, one name turned up, with uncanny regularity, in the No. 1 spot for each and every term: JCPenney.” The retailer’s ranking even bested manufacturer Samsonite.com in Google searches for Samsonite carry-on luggage.
They discovered the strikingly unsubtle use of “black hat” optimization—including an array of phony sites that appeared to exist for the sole purpose of linking to the store’s website.
“There are links to JCPenney.com’s dresses page on sites about diseases, cameras, cars, dogs, aluminum sheets, travel, snoring, diamond drills, bathroom tiles, hotel furniture, online games, commodities, fishing, Adobe Flash, glass shower doors, jokes and dentists—and the list goes on,” noted Doug Pierce of Blue Fountain Media, a firm hired by the New York Times to investigate. He found an array of phony sites that appeared to exist for the sole purpose of linking to the store’s website.Though not illegal, black-hat tactics are strictly verboten in the Google rulebook. “The company draws a pretty thick line between techniques it considers deceptive and ‘white hat’ approaches, which are offered by hundreds of consulting firms and are legitimate ways to increase a site’s visibility.
Google retaliated with a “manual action” against JCPenney. In the space of two hours, for instance, the retailer’s No. 1 ranking for Samsonite carry-on luggage plummeted to No. 71. Rankings for other search terms underwent similarly dramatic demotions.
The Po!nt: In the end, cheaters never win. Sure, everyone’s trying to boost their search-engine rankings. Just make sure you follow Google’s ground rules when you do it.
Source:The full (and very interesting article) The New York Times.Force 5 Adds New Vice President of Client Development
Monday, September 20th, 2010 by David Morgan
South Bend, Ind. – Force 5, South Bend, Ind., announces the addition of William “Butch” Whitmire as Vice President of Client Development. Whitmire’s responsibilities include building long-term relationships with, and developing and implementing marketing strategies for prospective clients.
Whitmire has over 22 years of sales, management, marketing and leadership experience in planning, communicating and executing marketing initiatives and creative projects. Since graduating from Michigan State University with a degree in marketing, he has worked with companies such as Stanz Foodservice, Gordon Food Service and Granger Community Church to help them develop and exceed strategic marketing objectives and realize organizational growth.
Located in South Bend, Force 5 is a next generation brand development and marketing communications firm. The company combines expert technology with creative and soulful ideas to drive client’s goals beyond expectations through insightful brand expression, brilliant ideas and award winning marketing programs. Force 5 works with clients as strategic partners to build communities and exceed the expected. For more information, visit www.DiscoverForce5.com.Force 5 Adds Another Left-Brain to the Team
Thursday, September 9th, 2010 by David Morgan
Force 5, South Bend, In., announces the addition of Christian Mattix as web application developer and network administrator. Mattix’s responsibilities include technical design and development of web applications, along with building, optimizing, maintaining and trouble shooting complex and secure databases, among other duties.Mattix graduated from Purdue University with a Bachelor of Science degree in computer science and a minor in English. He interned with Microsoft and has worked with a variety of companies, including small start-ups, medical centers and Purdue University’s College of Education. Through his experience he has been instrumental in the development of an intranet search engine for arbitrary, unstructured data types and files; a retail and marketing management program for a mid-size grocery retailer; an artificial intelligence based expert system that handles process automation and information flow; and interfaces and applications that interact with electronic medical record systems.
Located in South Bend, Force 5 is a next generation brand development and marketing communications firm. The company combines expert technology with creative and soulful ideas to drive client’s goals beyond expectations through insightful brand expression, brilliant ideas and award winning marketing programs. Force 5 works with clients as strategic partners to build communities and exceed the expected. For more information, visit www.DiscoverForce5.com.
Facebook vs. your Brand Site
Monday, August 23rd, 2010 by David Morgan400 million…500 million…..and still growing. Whether you “like” it (pun intended) or not—Facebook is dominant in helping companies build relationships with their clients. Look at the chart in the article below (thanks to AD Age…)—and with the likes of Starbucks having 12.7 million fans, and growing at almost 79,000 a DAY-you can’t help but consider facebook as a dominant player for customer relationship marketing.
The article in Ad Age today (http://bit.ly/aHknVx) indicated that most of these brands while gaining popularity with their fans on Facebook were losing audience on their web site. But look closer—each of these facebook “pages” are consumer products. And each is driven by a contest, sweepstakes, free offer, etc. Facebook is a great channel for customer engagement—but don’t lose sight of an integrated campaign. While most of the sites in the top ten mentioned above lost web fans, there still is room for the web site in a marketing campaign.
Walgreens, while building a Facebook fan base of more than 500,000, has seen no dropoff in traffic, which hit 6.7 million in July. Within Facebook, Walgreens is finding what works best are fairly frequent short updates, often ones that involve posing a question that prompts a response. Sites with e-commerce are using Facebook as an integrated campaign tactic-driving the consumer to the other channel—and keeping them engaged.
The moral of this story? I’d say don’t keep all your marketing eggs in one basket. Facebook is a force to be reckoned with…to be sure-but keep it in perspective of your overall strategy. Keep the customer connected with you, using whatever tactic is best for them.
Call us at Force 5 if you’d like some assistance. We’re here to help!Its Springtime! – Time to dust off that Brand.
Thursday, April 22nd, 2010 by David MorganWith spring time comes spring cleaning. Dusting off the shelves, cleaning out the garage (still need to do that!…), and just a general wash down and clean up – it’s work, but it really feels good when you are all done!
Spring is a great time of year. Finally, FINALLY, the color green returns, flowers sprout, and everyone has a little more spring in their step as the sun gradually warms up the world.
So how about spring cleaning your brand? In the winter of 09, (actually all last year) many companies “hunkered down” just to make it through the recession. Amidst the layoffs and reduced sales, marketing and promotional activities also took a hit. Even though studies have shown that those who kept up their marketing activities in bad times come out of recessionary periods earlier and faster than those who didn’t –many companies just couldn’t do what they needed to do in regards to Brand building and marketing.
Now’s the time to get started.
Your brand is you life blood, it’s who you are—the soul of your company. EVERY marketing tactic, whether it’s a web site, a business card, or how you answer the phone is part of your brand.
Dusting off your Brand-
Let’s look at some basics to get you started this spring. We ask the question of our clients—Who are you, What do you do, and Why does it matter? These questions seem simple enough—but sometimes hard to answer—especially that last one.
You’ve heard the phrase “elevator speech”. That’s when someone says “Tell me about your company” when at a party, a trade show, or at lunch—or yeah, on the elevator. Do you have a concise statement that can answer all three questions? Do some work this spring on your elevator speech. The process of thinking through this is invaluable. After the elevator speech, you might be asked—“Wow, tell me more…” That’s when you might want to tell your back story…Back Story-
I really like this concept. Every Brand should have a Back Story. Basically, the premise is that every brand has a story—a story of how they got started, why they do what they do…. Brands don’t start at launch, they’ve been around awhile, and they have a story. And though a brand’s franchise is an important statement that tells us who the brand is, it doesn’t tell how the brand was born, or why it came to be. That’s why every brand needs a back story. Or else, why should anyone trust that brand? After analyzing a few brands’ websites and history, it was easy to see the ingredients in a great brand story: information delivered straight from the source and authentic. With authenticity comes transparency and credibility. The voice of the back story – whether that’s the company president or the employees also lends itself to credibility.
Look at these Stories:
One of my favorite companies is Kashi. Great marketing. Their story is told from both their marketing team and their product developers, inviting consumers to “meet us” on their website. Did you know they only have 70 employees?
Another one is Ocean Spray. Their story is told by a collective of three cranberry growers, citing their history as well as the history of cranberries and grapefruit.And the back story isn’t just a timeline and history of when Grandpa started the company, it’s the story of why.
What our brand samples are doing is a key example of a brand connecting with consumers on their level—a personal level. They’re not talking down to consumers – they’re talking with consumers. And with that approach, it opens up dialogue between the brand and the consumer.So, as part of your spring cleaning, do you have a concise elevator speech and brand back story? Sit out on the porch, watch the season come alive, and dust off your brand. Happy Spring from Force 5!
Okay…It’s Finally 2010…Now What?
Thursday, February 25th, 2010 by David MorganUnfortunately last year many business’s pulled back on their marketing and advertising efforts. “Well, something had to give”, a business owner told me. Unfortunately, marketing initiatives may have been the last thing he wanted to pull in a bad economy. Study after study has shown that during down times, the companies that continued marketing came back to “the black” quicker and stronger than those who pulled the blanket over their heads and waited for the storm to pass. However, money is money….and when you don’t have it….or want to keep what you have as much as possible, you try to focus on the most effective method for creating ‘awareness’ without breaking the bank. Many of our clients are saying their objective this year is to create awareness of their company and product and grow the business.
“All I need is a new brochure!” my business friend cries. But that approach is tactical. A new web site, a couple of print pieces, maybe a new logo—those are only tactics that need to be driven by a strategy—a marketing plan—and that plan HAS to be driven by brand. Without brand strategy, his brochure is just a waste of a good tree.
It’s all about the brand. At Force 5, we believe that to increase awareness and business, it’s essential to establish a powerful and consistent brand image.
So why is brand development so important, and why now? Brand development is an investment – a proven investment. A good brand sets you apart from the crowd. Your brand is your evidence of distinction, what makes you different and unique from your competitors. Without distinction, you’re just another vendor, brand X. Without distinction, you could be just a commodity. And we all know how commodities are traded—price-the lowest price. When price is the only measurement of value of your company or product-you lose. If you are fighting in the trenches with only the lowest price, you are fighting everyone in the marketplace. And in today’s economy, when everyone is looking to get back on track—the low price game is being played hard.
However, when you have distinction, a proven and defensible brand, you rise above the fray. You can command higher prices, you are a leader.
A good brand means equity –true value to the company. There are examples of proven brand equity on a national and local scale. Coca Cola is ranked number one on Interbrands top 100 global brands of 2009, a spot they’ve held for nine consecutive years, and their brand alone accounts for 51% of the company’s stock market value. That’s millions and millions of dollars. What would it cost you to buy the name Coca Cola—not the plants, not the product—just the name??…That’s brand equity.
Your brand differentiation carries more weight today than ever before.
Fortunately, no matter how young or old your business is, you can still bring your brand to life. You can help an existing brand evolve or you can develop strategies to re-establish your brand.
At Force 5, we ask our clients—Who are you, What do you do, and Why does it matter? On the surface, these are easy questions, but sometimes tough to answer…
Our brand discovery process, called “Soul Searching,” provides the perfect insight into a company’s distinction. When we facilitate a session, we recruit the CEO, VP marketing, marketing managers, sales managers, folks from operations and sales people with the clear pulse on the buyer. We spend hours in a process of distilling information. From simple facts, to identifying unique value propositions, we build in a delivery mechanism by empowerment and incentives like training, technology or new customer service guidelines to assure that the newly created brand distinction is delivered constantly and consistently. The outcome is the foundation for the new or revisited brand strategy and a crystal clear and memorable internal and external brand communication. Why involve the CEO? Because brand development is not a marketing initiative, it is a corporate initiative. It must start at the top, and permeate from the President down to each and every worker. When everyone has shared in the authorship of your brand’s unique distinction, then it becomes the foundation of all production, marketing and sales initiatives.
So, It’s 2010—What’s your brand?
Force 5 presents to the “Networking and all that Jazz!”
Thursday, October 15th, 2009 by David MorganForce 5 presented to the “Networking and All that Jazz Expo” in South Bend, Indiana. David Morgan, Certified Brand Strategist, gave a presentation on Brand Development and Director of Client Development Andrew Fletcher presented a workshop on Surviving and Thriving in Today’s economy.
David’s presentation was entitled “Who Are You? What Do You Do? Why Does it Matter?”
Brand Development for any company is important in today’s market as each of us strives to find that distinction that makes our company unique. If we are entering new markets our brand is especially important as we introduce ourselves to new clients and industries. David introduced the concepts of brand development and branding, a typical branding process, and how developing a brand for your company will provide direction for marketing, business planning, and growth.
The presentation centered around how Brand Development can help a company focus their business strategy and align it with their brand, using their resources in the best possible way and for the most benefit.
Andrew’s presentation, titled “Survive or Thrive?” wrapped up the day of socializing and networking with a powerful talk on thriving in any economy. He focused on what you can do instantly to take your next step personally and/or in your business.
Presentations from Force are also available for other organizations. Interested parties should contact Andrew Fletcher at Force 5 for more information (Andrew@DiscoverForce5.com) or by calling 574-234-2060.
About Force 5
Force 5 is a next generation brand development and marketing communication firm located in South Bend, IN. Force 5 is only certified Brand Development Agency in the Region, and one of only 30 in the country. For more information, contact Andrew Fletcher at 574-234-2060 or Andrew@DiscoverForce5.com
Force 5 presents to the NTMA
Thursday, September 17th, 2009 by David MorganForce 5 presented to the Michiana Chapter of the National Tooling and Machining Association last week. The Presentation was on “Brand Development in new Economy.” Vice President of Force 5, David Morgan gave the presentation while President Deb DeFreeuw and Director of Client Development Andrew Fletcher led the discussions.
“Brand Development for small and medium size businesses has taken on a much higher priority in these slow economic times.”, said Morgan. “Formal Brand Development used to be the property of only the larger corporations, but now all business must pay attention to their brand.”
The presentation centered around how Brand Development can help a company focus their business strategy and align it with their brand, using their resources in the best possible way and for the most benefit.
This presentation is also available for other organizations. Interested parties should contact Andrew Fletcher at Force 5 for more information (Andrew@DiscoverForce5.com) or by calling 574-234-2060.
About NTMA
The NTMA is the national representative of the custom precision manufacturing industry in the United States.
Many NTMA members are small businesses, privately owned and operated, yet the industry generates sales in excess of $40 billion a year. Our nearly 2000 members design and manufacture special tools, dies, jigs, fixtures, gages, special machines, and precision machined parts. Some firms specialize in experimental research and development work. For more information, contact Ms. Kelly Schneider, Chapter Executive at 574-220-9111 or mcntma@comcast.net
About Force 5
Force 5 is a next generation brand development and marketing communication firm located in South Bend, IN. Force 5 is only certified Brand Development Agency in the Region, and one of only 30 in the country. For more information, contact Andrew Fletcher at 574-234-2060 or Andrew@DiscoverForce5.com