Katrina Olson

Strategic Communications

Market Boldly 014 – Digital Transformation with Michael Evanko of Fromm Electric Supply, Part 2

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Market Boldly
Market Boldly
Market Boldly 014 - Digital Transformation with Michael Evanko of Fromm Electric Supply, Part 2
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Join me with guest Michael Evanko, VP of Reading, Pennsylvania-based Fromm Electric Supply in this second installment of this discussion about the digital transformation in electrical distribution. If you’re still figuring out how to get started, tune in to learn:

  • What to think about when adopting a new technology like CRM
  • Why marketing must take a strategic leadership role in the digital transformation
  • What to consider when deciding between outsourcing or adding marketing staff
  • How (or if) one person can manage a distributor’s entire marketing function
  • Why you can never stop learning

Michael discusses his experience and offers suggestions for those just beginning their digital journey. It’s not as difficult as you think if you have the right approach and the right people on your team.

What’s Your Type?

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By Katrina Olson

This article originally appeared 8/3/2015 as an Exclusive Feature on tedmag.com.

The last of the “big three” tools in the graphic designer’s toolbox is typography—the art and technique of arranging words on a page to convey a desired look and feel in an ad, brochure, flyer, catalog, website, flyer, blog or other communication piece.

Typography—the font or typeface, size, capitalization, weight (thickness) or special treatments (i.e. bold, italic, outline)— is both functional and aesthetic. It needs to be legible, readable and attractive; and it needs to work with your design.

It’s easy to default to Times New Roman, which American Typographer Matthew Butterick says, “…is not a font choice so much as the absence of a font choice, like the blackness of deep space is not a color.”

However, by experimenting with typography, you can breathe new life into a case study or brochure. Font choices are as much a design element as color or visuals. As German designer Helmut Schmid said, “Typography needs to be audible. Typography needs to be felt. Typography needs to be experienced.”

Consider how the following fonts make you feel and where you might use them:

Okay, these were pretty obvious. Fortunately (or unfortunately), many large, established companies have branding guidelines or corporate identity standards that dictate specific fonts and provide logos to be used in all marketing materials.

However, for an independent company choosing a corporate font or updating a logo, the almost unlimited number of font choices makes it more complicated. In this case, it’s best to call in a graphic designer.

Whether you’re designing your logo or materials in-house, or working with a freelance graphic designer or agency, these tips will help you make good design choices.

Choosing and Using Type

Following are a few conventions and guidelines for using type in your marketing materials.

Choose an appropriate font.

Some fonts—like Goudy, Palatino and Garamond—are considered “Old Style.” They are are classic, traditional and readable. Others are more modern—like Bodoni and Didot—and are strong, stylish and dynamic. Sans-Serif fonts are based on geometric shapes and are minimalist in design. These fonts—which include Helvetica, Univers, Futura and Avant Garde—are clear and objective; but they can also come off as cold, impersonal and boring.


https://visualdesignstudio.files.wordpress.com/2011/07/typography_poster_by_kidcasanova.png

When considering your options, choose a font that:

  • best reflects the personality and brand of your company;
  • reproduces well in various sizes and applications (print, web, etc.); and
  • offers a variety of options (bold, italic, condensed, narrow, expanded, etc.)

Once you’ve chosen a font, stick with it. This will give your materials a consistent look and feel (along with consistent use of color and images).

Pick one: correspondence or contrast.

Correspondence and contrast are general principals of design. Correspondence means things look good together because they are similar. Contrast means they are so different—and sufficiently different—that they look good together.

Contrast:  Garamond & Helvetica

Correspondence:  Perpetua & Gill Sans

Garamond and Helvetica work together because they are so noticeably different. Garamond is an older style font with “serifs” (a small line attached to the end of a stroke in a letter) while Helvetica is a more contemporary font with no serifs.

Perpetua and Gill Sans work together because they are similar in style. If you look at the entire alphabet for each, you’ll notice the a, m, n, r and t in both fonts are very similar. To achieve correspondence, graphic designers will often choose fonts from the same time period, with the same height or weight, or from the same designer.

If that’s too complicated, opt for contrast. Choose one san serif (font without serifs, such as Gill Sans) for headlines, short copy and web copy; and another serif font (like Garamond or Palatino) for body copy in brochures, ads and other long documents.

Notice that this ad uses a serif font for the headline and a san serif font for the body copy. On a related note, for years we’ve heard that serif fonts are easier to read than san serif fonts. But recent research has debunked this myth. If you’re fascinated by this debate or want to win an argument with your fellow designers or boss, see this blog: http://alexpoole.info/blog/which-are-more-legible-serif-or-sans-serif-typefaces/#part2

Follow the “less is more” principle, especially with display fonts.

Remember those funky fonts from the beginning of the article? They’re called display fonts. They’re cute and kitschy and would look adorable on your kid’s birthday invitation. But use them sparingly in business… or not at all.

Obey the rules… or don’t.

Fonts literally come in all shapes and sizes; some have thick lines; some have thin lines. Some are narrower, taking up less space; others are wider, taking up more space. Some are older; some are more contemporary. Some are taller and some are shorter.

Certainly, there are guidelines and conventions about using type. But if you follow them, your pieces will look like everyone else’s. Talented designers know and understand the rules and why they exist—and they know how to break them and still make a piece look good.

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Olson is a veteran marketing and public relations consultant. She has written for tED magazine’s print edition since 2005, judged tED magazine’s Best of the Best Competition since 2006, and emceed the Best of the Best Awards ceremony for a total of seven years. Reach her at katrina@olsonmarketing.net or at olsonmarketing.net.

Picture Your Ads With Photos, Illustrations and Images

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By Katrina Olson

This article originally appeared 7/27/2015 as an Exclusive Feature on tedmag.com.

Last week we talked about using color in advertising. But that’s just one of the “big three” tools in the graphic designer’s toolbox. Another is visuals.

A picture in a print layout captures more than twice as many readers as a headline does. And the bigger the image, the more attention the message grabs. Further, visuals draw more readers into the body copy than just a headline does—and people remember layouts with pictures more readily than those with mostly type.
What about digital content? Following are a few facts based on research conducted by MDG Advertising:

  • Digital/social content with compelling images attracts 94% more total views on average than content without.
  • 67% of consumers consider clear, detailed images to be very important and carry even more weight than the product information, full description, and customer ratings.
  • When Facebook posts include photographs, they see a 37% increase in engagement.

In short, visuals help create more attention-getting, interesting, memorable and believable marketing messages. Here’s how.
Visuals grab attention.
Advertisers use many different types of imagery to get attention. Sometimes it’s as simple as a product shot, especially when the audience is actively seeking information. Other times, they have to work a little harder and use babies, children, animals, celebrities, cultural icons (e.g. Washington Monument) or distorted images (e.g. oversized heads).

This highly “visual” billboard appeared on the Marina City Towers building in Chicago in 2008 to advertise Allstate’s accident forgiveness policy.

The ad was part of a campaign that also included magazine and TV ads showing a car plunging into the Chicago River.
You don’t have to hang a car off a building to get attention. But you can dramatize a feature or benefit of your brand to get attention. If your product saves time, focus on a watch or clock, for example.

Visuals enhance memory of the ad.
Think about every TV ad you’ve seen for Target. The red and white logo is always a focal point, helping you remember the brand. When you see a UPS ad, the color brown and images of their trucks are usually prominently featured.

Since this ad in 1980, Absolut Vodka has consistently included a picture, shape or otherwise “adapted” image of the bottle in their ads. For more, go to http://www.buzzfeed.com/copyranter/the-best-of-the-great-absolut-ads.

To get the most bang for your buck, use a similar style of imagery in all your marketing. For example, don’t switch back and forth between illustrations and photos, or product shots and people. The key is consistency—maintaining a familiar look and feel.

Visuals communicate quickly.
Research by 3M Corporation concluded that we process visuals 60,000 times faster than text. Think about it. When you’re hustling through an airport to catch a flight, but you need a restroom break, what do you look for? Most people look for these symbols:

Okay, maybe something similar. What images do people instantly associate with your brand? Is it the product, a building or a local landmark? What visuals can you capitalize on appropriate (borrow) to signify your brand?

Visuals can reinforce the written message.
Sometimes words aren’t enough. But when used with images, they’re more powerful. The combination of visuals and words make messages easier to comprehend and remember than text alone, according to Robert Horn, Stanford University scholar.

If you’ve fallen recently and you’re over 30, you might remember this one:


Try to visually demonstrate a benefit for the customer in addition to telling them. As much as we all hated the Life Call/Life Alert, “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up” commercials of the late 1980s, they’re still parodied today.

Visuals can demonstrate abstract concepts.
How do you demonstrate the effectiveness of an antiperspirant/deodorant? It’s not easy…because if the product works, you don’t notice.


Sure used the image of people raising their hands to illustrate the confidence felt by people who used its product.

How can you demonstrate trust, loyalty, dependability, selection, expertise or whatever unique and important (to the customer) benefit your brand offers?

Visuals can anchor brand associations.
To stand out in a crowded marketplace of “me too” products, connect your product to a lifestyle, image or type of user. For over 15 years, Gatorade has associated its brand with intense, highly competitive athletes like Michael Jordan, Derek Jeter, Dwayne Wade and Peyton Manning.

Can’t afford to hire professional athletes? You can still associate your brand with hard-working electricians, savvy contractors or family business owners. Or you can associate it with concepts like trust, reliability or partnership; then use images and copy in your marketing materials to support that association.

Visuals can tell stories.
Remember this 2015 Super Bowl commercial? The only words were the lyrics from a cover of The Proclaimers’ “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles).” The visuals told the story.

 

What’s your story? Is it about how you solved a problem for a customer? Or how you saved the day by making a special delivery to a job site? Try your hand at visual storytelling—a trendy, new buzzword that’s the modern-day equivalent of prehistoric cave drawings. Only now we do it with pictures and video.

Images make marketing more interesting.
This Nationwide Insurance uses an oversized baby to represent a car. It’s interesting…and a little creepy.


What comparisons, analogies or associations can you make to add interest to your marketing pieces? (Make sure they’re images your customers can relate to.)

When and where to use visuals.

When? Anytime! Where? Everywhere! Don’t limit your use of visuals to your ads, website and Facebook page. Use visuals in your blog posts, newsletters, fliers, slide presentations, sales literature, tweets, LinkedIn posts and anywhere you communicate with customers.

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Olson is a veteran marketing and public relations consultant. She has written for tED magazine’s print edition since 2005, judged tED magazine’s Best of the Best Competition since 2006, and emceed the Best of the Best Awards ceremony for a total of seven years. Reach her at katrina@katrinaolson.com.

Color Me Happy, Loyal or Trustworthy

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By Katrina Olson

This article originally appeared 7/20/2015 as an Exclusive Feature on tedmag.com.

We’ve been talking a lot about writing, content and strategy.  So, I thought we’d take a break to talk about something we don’t often think about in marketing…color.  Did you know that different colors carry different meanings?


Green is a calm and restful color. It traditionally conveys images of freshness, nature, fertility, the environment and safety. Greed, jealousy and luck are also emotions attached to the color green.

Green is often used with medical products to inspire hope, safety and healing. Banks often use dark green because it is associated with greed, money and stability.


Blue is a masculine color; it’s also calm and symbolizes trust, loyalty, wisdom, confidence, intelligence, faith, truth, integrity and harmony. Its deeper tones are associated with depth, expertise and stability.

Blue is often used to promote products and services related to cleanliness, and to indicate precision when promoting technology products.


Red is an emotionally intense color. It exudes passion, love, energy, danger, strength, power, and determination. In Eastern cultures, red represents good luck.

Red is a highly visible color, used to stimulate quick decisions with “click here” or “buy now” buttons, on banners, or promoting products related to safety or energy. Red also makes elements pop, bringing them to the foreground.


Purple is a rare and somewhat artificial color, so use it cautiously. Usually associated with royalty, power or extravagance, purple also stands for independence, wisdom, dignity, creativity, inspiration, mystery and magic.

Use purple cautiously as light purple evokes feelings of nostalgia and romance, while dark purple evokes gloom, sadness and frustration.

Children’s products often use purple, as 75% of pre-adolescent children prefer purple to all other colors.


Yellow is a pleasant and happy color that produces a warming effect, arousing feelings of cheerfulness and conveying happiness and joy. Yellow is said to generate muscle energy and stimulate mental activity.

Often used by taxicabs, yellow captures attention. But it’s also considered unstable, spontaneous and childish, so don’t use yellow to indicate stability and safety. Dull shades of yellow are visually unappealing; dingy yellow represents decay, sickness and jealousy.

However, yellow is good for highlighting or drawing attention to an element, especially when contrasted with a dark color.


Orange combines the energy of red and happiness of yellow. It’s a “hot” color but not as aggressive as red. Orange increases oxygen supply to the brain, invigorating it and stimulating mental activity.

Young people prefer orange which is often associated with healthy food or harvest time and supposedly stimulates appetite. Orange symbolizes friendship, strength, endurance, enthusiasm, fascination, creativity, determination, attraction, success and encouragement.

Sports teams, toys and fast food restaurants often use orange. It’s also useful for catching attention and highlighting important design elements in contrast to dark colors.


Pink is a feminine color, often implying romance and love. It also symbolizes nurturing and compassion, and is often associated with women.

It is used to promote breast cancer awareness and products supporting this effort. (In fact, a cement company in my city actually has pink trucks!) Perhaps surprisingly, pink has not always been a “girly” color. Back in the 1700s, men and women wore pink.


White is a wholesome color, often associated with light, goodness, innocence, safety purity, and cleanliness. Unlike black, white has a positive connotation and symbolizes perfection.

White is also used for charitable organizations, foundations and hospitals and is associated with angels, brides, newness and “good guys” wearing white hats.

Use white to suggest simplicity in processes or technology, or to indicate “newness” or a beginning of something.


Gray is a neutral color that is considered impartial, sometimes sterile. No major emotions are connected to gray, although it reminds some people of clouds or overcast skies.


Black is the color of death, grief and evil…but also elegance, power, formality and mystery. While it often carries a negative connotation, black also represents strength and authority.

Use black to highlight perspective and depth, and to make other, highly contrasting colors like yellow or orange stand out.

Although reverse layouts (white type or elements on a black background) are unique and attention getting, use them sparingly and carefully. Especially in newspaper printing, the black ink often bleeds onto the white, making your copy difficult to read.

Just don’t color me bad(d).

If your company logo is only one or two colors, consider adding one or two complementary colors to liven up your marketing pieces or for specific campaigns. Just be cautious when choosing colors; you don’t want to makes customers sad with dark purple or nauseate them with dingy yellow.

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Olson is a veteran marketing and public relations consultant. She has written for tED magazine’s print edition since 2005, judged tED magazine’s Best of the Best Competition since 2006, and emceed the Best of the Best Awards ceremony for a total of seven years. Reach her at katrina@katrinaolson.com.