Brand in the Hand

Business cards and printing is an important part of your brand's sensory experience for it's members.  It's the brand in the hand that gets to be touched, felt and experienced in the real world, as opposed to visual and aural branding on media screens in a virtual world.

Even though a business card may display the same graphic as an online ad, there is something organic and natural that humans feel when they experience your brand on real matter in their hands. Television and internet really is a virtual world of make believe and fantasy, and even thought real content and truthful messages are delivered on screen, we have learnt to be cautious of what you hear on television, or read on the internet.  Printed material such as business cards, handed to you by a real person are hard to beat in terms of authenticity.

Touch, is the one human sense that will always keep print alive, as an effective branding medium. Sure you now touch your iPad or tap your mouse, but it's not the same as flicking a business card between your fingers, or turning the glossy pages of a catalogue.  Printing has different stock weights and textures, finishes, cuts and shapes.

Smooth and silky matte laminate adds sophistication and class to a brand, while sleek and shiny gloss finishes adds excitement and "wow" to a marketing message. Foils, inks and special-shaped die cuts of different print media are all physical attributes that are gifted to business cards, that will always keep print alive.

Business card branding may be old school, but don't forget that people like to touch, and see a real brand in their hand.

Business Card Des'irony

I added a new business card to my arsenal of networking handouts. I have a different business card with different title and layout, brand and content for different networking circumstances.

Recently I attended a networking event for creatives, designers and advertising types. As I sat down to design the most incredibly creative business card I could think of, I thought it might be a little more bold to design the worst card possible.

I thought of the countless thousands of examples of bad artwork I've seen over the years, and thought it might be fun combine all the artwork faux pas in one cracker design. So I designed a low resolution, very lossy, crop marks included, watermark left-in business card to shock and amaze my creative network.

When I printed these business cards, both my prepress and press manager both asked me to resubmit my artwork, even though it was technically perfect... it just looked horrible. It's funny though that non-designer types just take this card and say thanks, while designers smirk and see the des'irony.

Free Airport Advertising

Another free and "simple" advertising idea :P

Step 1. Change your legal name to the brand name or URL you would like advertised.
Step 2. Always board your airline flights as late as possible so that your brand name is declared over the PA to thousands of ears throughout the airport.

It's just crazy enough to work! Can you think of any other customisable variables where you can easily "INSERT BRAND NAME HERE"?

Odigo Logo

This nice little business card caught my eye, from Odigo Media.  I must admit it did actually catch me, as I turned the business card upside down, and then around again... possibly a third time to confirm what I was reading.

It's what every logo designer dreams of, getting a reaction from everyone that looks at your design. Of course, the reward for the brand is that I turned over the card to read more about what this web agency has to say.

This palindromatic logo takes full advantage of a simple idea, and gets a great reaction. Perfect business card branding!

Vending Machine Evangelists

This morning walking through my bustling little alley way to feed on my "beetroot charge" breakfast juice, I noticed a new addition to the scenery. A Red Room DVD vending machine now stands proudly in a nook. It looks like a cross between an ATM and a coke machine, and it dispenses DVD rentals. The machine looks like a brand evangelist, standing on a street corner sharing the good news about it's brand.

Not every brand can work out of a vending machine, but every brand can use clever thinking to place brand evangelists on the right street corners. I'm sure the lease manager for the alley way wasn't advertising for vending machines to fill the space, but with the right approach and price the vending machine now has it's place.

Where can you place your brand evangelists? Never settle for advertised opportunities, either in the real world or online. The best opportunities haven't been discovered yet, and require you to do a little investigation and make a few calls. If you see a busy shop counter, blank wall, or popular blog online that has potential, do your sums and go after it. For the right price or deal, you will secure the space and your brand evangelists will hand out your business cards to everyone that passes by.

Skin This

Nice little business card design that caught my attention from my bud Chris at Saltprint.  Why spend priceless space and time explaining what your brand does? Instead just show them.

Facebook vs Business Cards

The business card is not dead, nor dying.  In fact the printed business card is a dynamic and evolving branding tool for business that is being redesigned and reprinted much more frequently today by brands of all sizes.

The sworn competitor to the printed business card is often stated to be the online social or professional networks such as Twitter or Facebook.

We all know that there isn't really any war between printed business cards and online networking tools, so I won't preach to you about the pros and cons of either, which we've all read before. What I do have to add however, are some nifty thoughts to galvanize the relationship between your printed business cards and online networking tools.

The link between your branded business cards, and your co-branded online profile is very important, because the plain fact is that most people do actually use these networking sites. Go ahead and print your profle address on your business cards. Often printing your Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn account on your business card will entice your prospect to check you out more than visiting your own branded domain. This is because browsing Twitter feels like home, and stalking Facebook is a part of the daily schedule. The visiting prospect feels familiar with the site they use regularly, and doesnt need to take too much of a detour to check out your online profile.

If you're worred about watering down your brand by placing other brands on your business card, get over it! The world's biggest brands are happy to co-brand because it works. If printing a Facebook logo or Twitter address on your business card means more prospects connecting with your brand, then make it work for your brand.

If anything, adding a profile link on your "static" business cards hints that your brand is active and growing, because your brand is linking to a forum that is constantly updating. It is true in most cases that your brand's Facebook will update more regularly than your website.