What's In It For Me?

This is likely the first and most important question that comes to mind for anyone learning about your business. The answer, however, is what's important to your customer.

In the business, we call it "the benefit statement" and it's what every single piece of information that bears your company name should pay homage to. Whether the answer is "the best price in town", "unbeatable service", or "the largest selection west of the Mississippi", the benefit to your customer should be crystal clear and relevant to their needs.

Without a clear answer to that crucial question, it's likely that your potential customer will move on. Not because your product or service isn't the best, but because your marketing or advertising message was unclear, or altogether hidden, and didn't tell the customer that you're the best around.

The more obvious, relevant, and consistent the brand's benefit statement is, the less apt the customer is to forgetting or completely missing it. A great answer to that ever-looming question is what can set your business apart from the crowd and keep your name (and what you'll give them) at the front of the customer's mind.

At Urban Geko, our seasoned staff of creative professionals dive deep into your brand and help answer the question of "what's in it for me?". You can rest assured that creative design and marketing from Urban Geko will leave your clients with only one question; when can you start?

How's your branding?

"Just fine", you may say. Here are a few things you may want to think about what your brand says (or doesn't say) about your company.

Branding is monumentally more than a company's name at the top of a weekly memo. It's the face of the company for the entire world to see. Branding is quite literally the foundation for a company's entire marketing communication. Without solid, well thought out branding, everything else is far less effective. Your brand is what establishes your credibility as a provider of goods or services and acts as a promise to your customer. Good branding for any business, large or small, begins by having a solid fundamental sense of who and what the brand is and stands for. Ultimately, effective branding will express who the company is and what it offers to your customers in the blink of an eye.

Arguably, branding is one of the most important aspects of a company's identity. In many ways, it is the company's identity. Why, you may ask? 1.) Because your brand is the voice of the company. 2.) It's what customers identify with and relate thoughts and feelings about your company to. 3.) A brand is a company's personality, and we all know how much personality says about anyone or anything. Branding is so important, in fact, that it alone can be the key to success because it's what greets the customer before they even know what you offer.

So, we've established that your company needs rock-solid branding, but what should it say about your you? First and foremost, your company's branding should communicate your mission and deliver a brand promise. One of the major reasons successful companies focus so much of their effort on branding, is because it's what ultimately differentiates them from the competition and raises them above the "noise" in the marketplace. The most efficacious branding campaigns are able to convey a message and feeling about the company in the shortest of instants. Think Nike, Coca Cola, Microsoft. Each of these companies have brand identities that instantly communicate their value and mission without any confusion.

One of the most recent and successful branding ventures was Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign. The message was strong, the logo clean, and the impression memorable. Whether you voted for him or not, the message was consistent and not easily confused or lost in any clutter. Comparably well done has been the "I'm a Mac, I'm a PC" campaign by Apple. The message is unchanging and always answers the question, "why should I buy a Mac?" or "why is a Mac better?". Their clean design and memorable content also helps them stand above the crowd and has helped the campaign reach icon status.

At Urban Geko, we eat, sleep, breathe and live branding. Outstanding design is only one of the tools we use to achieve a strong, cohesive and memorable branding message. In order to develop the most effective branding campaigns and packages possible, we strive to become as knowledgeable about your brand as you are. Once we understand the very essence of your brand, we use our keen sense of design to craft a message that will tell your clients exactly who you are, what you stand for, and what you provide. Our creative capacity will help to establish your brand, increase recognizability and maintain consistency. Whether you're starting from scratch or breathing new life into a moth-eaten brand, Urban Geko can put you on the path to success.

Creativity Gone AWOL?

Creative block. It happens to all of us eventually, and to some more often than others.

So, what happens when the creative juices are clogged, choked, plugged or otherwise stopped up? The obstruction needs to be cleared by whatever means necessary. Here are some ways to thwart the beastly block of creativity.

• Sleep on it.

Your brain borders on hyperactivity at night while you're dreaming, often solving problems from your creatively stumped waking hours.

• Walk it off.

Take a 10 minute break from work, go outside and get some fresh air. Even a short break can give you an opportunity to look at your project with fresh eyes.

• Art imitates life.

Look to your personal life or hobbies for ideas or concepts that may stir up the winds in your creative doldrums.

• As good as new.

Try doing something you've never done before. Many times, new experiences prompt your mind to work in different ways, possibly unearthing ideas.

• Clear as mud.

If you're at a complete and total loss for even the smallest shred of an idea, get another briefing on the project. A little clarification can do a heap of good since creative blocks can sometimes be the result of a lack of information.

• Anything.

Sometimes, something truly accidental can break a creative block. From the mundane to the insane, an act as simple as eating lunch can spark an idea that launches into the stratosphere.

Is Graffiti Art?

Graffiti can be defined as "unauthorized writing or drawing on a public surface" and has been in existence in some form or another since before the days of the Roman Empire.

The word "unauthorized" can imply that the result is somehow unappealing or offensive, which in many instances and to many people, it is. But what if the unauthorized drawing is a work of art worthy of being framed or placed on exhibition?

Several artists use graffiti as a means to express themselves, and whether authorized or not, it can be hard to dispute the graffiti's value as art. One artist in particular, an anonymous Briton going by the pseudonym Banksy, has been using the medium since the mid 1990's as a forum for social commentary. The themes of his art are generally anti-war and anti-establishment in nature and in some cases, have become so popular that the property owner has allowed the art to remain.

The question is this: where does the line between a nuisance and art get drawn and who draws it? Should a property owner remove graffiti regardless of artistic value or public acceptance of the art? Is one person's eyesore another's Mona Lisa?

The answer truly lay in the eyes of the beholder.

Giving Back To Our Community

At Urban Geko, we are committed to doing our part to keep our community and environment clean. Starting this weekend, we will be donating our time to local beach clean-up efforts and doing our part to give back. We believe that keeping our beaches clean is especially important considering southern California is home to some of the most beautiful and popular coastline in the country.

In 2007, there were 22,571 beach closures recorded as the result of pollution, much of which could have been prevented. Although there is no single cause for beach pollution, heavy rain that overwhelms sewage treatment plants and storm drains, and forces waste into the ocean through discharge pipes is a major contributing factor. Swimming in the ocean when pollutant levels are high can be dangerous and cause everything from rashes to respiratory irritation and even hepatitis.

A natural occurrence called a red tide, which is a bloom of microscopic algae, can also be exacerbated by pollutants that the algae feed on like sewage, fertilizer and farm runoff. These algae release a potent toxin which is harmful to sea life, as well as humans, and can cause potentially serious illness.

How can you help the problem? Simple. Don't leave any trash at the beach on your next visit, minimize runoff from your property, and make sure that the only thing going down storm drains is water. We'll be doing our part, leave a comment and tell us how you're doing yours.

The Big Book Of Self Promotion

The Big Book Of Self Promotion, published in 2009 by Harper Collins and Crescent Hill books, is a compendium of all things promotional. From in-house to client promotion and everything in between, the book is an abundance of creative material by hundreds of firms, including Urban Geko.

Of the over 1,500 firms that submitted work to be published, only 220 were selected and Urban Geko was among them, having work featured on 6 pages in various sections throughout the book. 

We consider this both an honor and a treat, to be featured along side the hundreds of other firms around the world as leaders within our industry. You can count on us to graciously accept this fantastic praise and take this as an opportunity to challenge ourselves creatively and continue to act as trailblazers in the design world.

The Big Book Of Self Promotion is available for purchase online or in bookstores everywhere.

What Makes A Website Stand Out?

Many people have tried to answer this question and only the best can get it right.

First off, simple navigation is essential. If visitors to the site are overwhelmed with too many choices, they'll end up confused and click the "back" button. Hand-in-hand with easy navigation is clean, elegant, and creative design. A site only has a few seconds to make a great first impression and show the visitor the "wow factor". Without first class design, intuitive navigation can only do so much.

Next, the content needs to be relevant, fresh and engaging for the visitor. Anyone can dish out the basic "who, what, when, where and why", but turning them into interesting and meaningful components of the site takes true creativity and forward thinking.

Lastly, on top of great design, easy navigation, and intriguing content, the site needs a call to action. Every web site has a purpose and the call to action should fulfill it. Whether "contact us", "request a quote", or "checkout", the call should be clear and easy for the visitor to find.

At Urban Geko, we keep all of these (among other) important ideas in mind when designing web sites for our customers. Our goal is always superb design, intuitive navigation, and customer service that's second to none.