If you were set the task of mailing all of your customers to advise them of, let’s say, a seminar you were running – how simple a task would that be?

Ideally, it shouldn’t be a problem at all – because you would hold your entire customer’s contact information and their preference as to how they want you to communicate with them (email or mail).  The pulling of the distribution list together should be simple – put the mailer together, merge with your customer base and press print or send.  The real effort should be focused on getting the seminar together and creating the marketing campaign. 

However, for many businesses, communicating with customers just isn’t that simple. 

In many businesses there are a number of ‘databases’ relating to different products or services.  Therefore, the total customer base is spread across different platforms and often fragmented – and it then becomes a considerable task to  pull together the entire customer base onto one centralised electronic database – the core marketing hub.

However, that’s what’s needed for efficient and effective customer management and effective marketing.
Building your marketing database

To build your marketing database, start with the basics and then add on the information that is of particular interest to your business.  Be sure to keep your database simple though – you need to be able to retrieve data quickly.

1. Customer Identity and Characteristics
* All names, addresses and telephone numbers
* Business: Type of business, number of employees, key personnel, current customer or  prospective customer.
* Consumer: Sex, date of birth, family members, hobbies.
2. Service Requested/Special Requests/Interests
* Services purchased
* Complaints
* Enquiries, Instructions, Agreements
3. Recency /Frequency / Monetary Factors
* Recency = when customer last bought your service
* Frequency = how often they buy
* Monetary = how much they spend on what
4. Media that influenced Transaction
* Advertising, Direct Mail, Tele Sales, Publicity
5. A History of Customer Relationship
* The information gathered will give you a complete history of your customer  relationship.
* You will be in a position to contact customers on a personal basis, through the most  appropriate medium.
6. Your Return on Advertising and Sales Budgets
* By recording all transactions in your database, including the medium that stimulated it,  you can break down the return you get from all advertising and marketing activity.

For more marketing news, views, tips and advice – why not subscribe to

I was recently asked to comment in a forum relating to the 2012 Olympic logo.  The forum thread focused on the likes and dislikes of the logo – and how that now we are seeing more ‘animated’ movies incorporating the logo (to promote the forthcoming ParaOlympics) the brand seemed to be far more acceptable and meaningful when animated.  Having seen some of the animations of the brand, I totally take on board the point about the logo coming to life as an animation – but I suppose if any logo is turned into an animated format  it can possibly bring another dimension to how it is interpreted.   The ‘2012′ logo is a ‘Brand’ – not just the logo or picture of the brand – like any brand it needs clear values and messages which are communicated when one sees the logo. 

For more marketing news, views, tips and advice – why not subscribe to

Given one of my related businesses is www.logotastic.co.uk – an online tailored logo creation and that the logotastic brand includes the use of fluffy clouds – I was amused to see this article in The Times recently.

“An inventor in Alabama has managed to create logos as foamy clouds. Francisco Guerro, who also makes fake snow for Hollywood, can create shapes up to 4ft wide, says his foam is environmentally safe and pops likes bubbles when it lands.”

So what’s the plan – to drop logo clouds from the sky?  The logo would have to be really distinct to work – wouldn’t it?  Even the most simple of icons – for example, the Nike tick, would lose context as a foamy cloud – and brands which depend on words, such as Sainsbury’s would possibly have trouble being legible (particularly at only 4 ft wide!).  I’m always open-minded however, and no doubt we’ll see Coke, Google and Skype clouds falling from above in the near future…

For more marketing news, views, tips and advice – why not subscribe to

Were you as captivated as I last night watching the BBC’s  ’Who do you think you are?’ featuring Boris Johnson?  I have to admit I’m a bit of a Boris fan anyway - as whilst he comes across as a bumbling fool – he isn’t – however, his self esteem is happy to play the ‘jester’ and he certainly doesn’t appear to take himself too seriously.  In my view he brings an ‘angle’ to the world of politics which often seems lacking: he comes across as personable; and, is usually hugely amusing - (and one of the better presenters ‘Have I got news’ has hosted) - very endearing traits.  In my view he is somewhat of an enigma as beyond the persona of the self depricating jester - is an extremely driven, passionate and successful journalist and politician – who isn’t afraid to ruffle a few feathers - yet still seems to win people round to his way of thinking.  

As one would expect of any successful politician, he’s well aware of his own ‘brand’ and the importance of  ’marketing’ to his target audiences – and it was sweet to see him reassuring his constituents in Henley that he also has ’several ‘British’ ancestors’ as well as the European and Turkish routes confirmed in the programme.  ‘Being a posh foreign toff is not good PR’ – Boris reminded us…

Boris Johnson as Prime Minister would be a most refreshing change – it could even be fun.   I’m sure there’s already a blog supporting Boris for Prime Minister – if so – send me a link, I’ll sign up!

For more marketing news, views, tips and advice – why not subscribe to

In an overcrowded market place – finding a point of differentiation or an ‘usp’ (unique selling proposition) becomes a distant desire.

Unless you are offering something extremely unique – then you generally have a number of competitors who are offering the market similar products or services.

Given my experience with the accountancy profession, as an example, take a look at a range of accountancy firms’ corporate brochures, or websites – you will generally see the same services being promoted; accountancy, payroll, audit, tax advice, etc.  And of course, they are all promoting these services, because after all – the nature of the profession is that these are the core services that general practices do indeed provide.

So thinking about your own market place, as I said, unless you are doing something truly different, new and innovative, it’s very difficult for businesses to create a ‘usp’ (unique selling proposition).  So what can you, with lots of competitors, in a possibly saturated market, be doing to ensure you attract the type of customers you want to work with?

If it’s a given that the majority of businesses in your sector provide a very similar ‘type’ of service or product, then the differentiating factors can only be ‘how’ those services are delivered and the general ‘personality’ of the business.

For a moment think about the personality of British Airways, Virgin and Ryan Air.  They are all providing a core service – air travel – but look at how very different just these three airlines are when we think of them from a ‘personality’ perspective.

Of course, there’s always the option to focus on a specific ‘strength’.  For example, if your business has a specific area of expertise – a niche offering, then it’s possible to build your brand identity to compliment this offering.  But how do businesses without any specific niche stand out from the crowd?

Instead of a USP – think about your ESP – your Emotional Selling Point.  Think about what your customers and your prospective customers think about you.  Do you think that your customers are with you because of the ‘range’ of services or products you provide – or is it that your customers are with you because a) they get on with you b) they feel comfortable working with you and the services or products that you offer,  or c) they enjoy the level of service they receive.

Such areas form your business’s personality – and whilst your range of services and products may be very similar to those of your competitors – a business’s personality is distinctly different.

It’s important to remember that a ‘brand’ isn’t just a logo on your business card or letterhead – it’s far deeper and more psychological than that.  A brand is what your customers and prospective customers, and indeed your team, feel in their hearts and minds when they exchange an experience with you.  Therefore, how a customer ‘feels’ about your services and products is key.
A great example of a brand that makes me feel great to experience is Innocent Smoothies; personal, tasty, simple – yet still innovative.  There are lots of companies in the smoothie selling business – but Innocent sell their personality.

So let’s look at some practical things you could be doing to get your personality across:

Assess your business’s personality – Your business’s personality dictates the type of people you attract – from both an employee and customer perspective.  Run a research exercise with the directors, the team, and a handful of customers.  What type of business are you?  What type of personality does your business have?  Get a clear understanding of what you currently communicate to the marketplace – and be sure it fits with the message you want to convey.

Communicate your personality – Project a clear message of who you are and what you offer.  Does your brand clearly communicate your values?  Is it friendly, laid-back or tight lipped and corporate?  Just what message does your brand communicate?   If you are targeting large corporate organisations, then your message and materials will be positioned quite differently than if you are targeting the start-ups market.  So ask yourself, who are you; who are you targeting and what is your message?

Be consistent –   Once you’ve agreed your personality – be sure to communicate it consistently.  Your brand, your values and your personality should be stamped firmly on everything you do and everything you communicate.  Ensure you have consistency of message, materials and personality.

For more marketing news, views, tips and advice – why not subscribe to www.carvillcreative.co.uk/blog.

Michelle Carvill is owner and Marketing Director at Carvill Creative – a graphic design and marketing services agency based in Maidenhead, Berkshire.  The agency covers all aspects of graphic design and marketing – covering social media marketing.