All posts by tnewhard

Par 3 Selects Serfwerks to Create Corporate Brand

November 19, 2009, SALT LAKE CITY –  Par 3 Landscape and Maintenance has selected Serfwerks for its corporate branding campaign. The branding initiative will involve the creation of marketing collateral for all customer touch points including a new website.

Serfwerks co-founder, Nate Gibby said, “We are happy to be on board with Par 3. They are one of the premier landscape and maintenance companies in the western United States. ” Continue reading

10 Well Branded and Positioned American Businesses

Now that we have made the distinction between branding and positioning abundantly clear – what are the best branded and positioned American companies in our opinion?

Keep in mind that magazines like Fortune, Business Week, and Forbes have scads of lists that tell you how good or successful businesses are at all kinds of things. This list is different in that it comes from the collective experience and perspective of marketing people. Who better to dissect a brand or position?

We chose companies that stand for something. Not the kind of stand for something that means they donate lots of money to charity (though several of these companies do a good job at that). We are talking about standing for something in the minds of their customers and prospects.

These businesses are worth looking at if you are looking for case studies about proper branding and positioning strategy.

Here is our 2009 List: Continue reading

Branding or Positioning

t_newhard_kDo you know the difference between the branding and positioning? Perhaps you use them interchangeably. Perhaps you use them instead of the word marketing. Let me posit that the two words mean different things.

First of all, why does it seem like I care so much about semantics? It seems like I care because I do care. For this reason: where there is a lack of common language progress cannot be achieved. Continue reading

Not-So-Heralded Social Media for Business

t_newhard_kSocial Networking has become quite the thing, and it has happened quickly. I can still recall that when I was in college Facebook was just starting to become popular, it now has over 300 million members. Every eight days Facebook grows a Twitter worth of people (about 10M people).

Why does social networking matter for you, the business person? These things are for kids, right? Sort of.  Some social networking sites are for “kids,” but others work like extensions of your “in-person” business network. Is networking important to your business? If it isn’t, it should be. Social media is a way for you to take your business network to the next level by providing you with millions of prospective customers to engage while developing your value perception.

Many social networking sites are for connecting friends and family, like Facebook, but there are several sites set up to help you network with worldwide and local business communities. These are sites that encourage business networking, so you need not be afraid of promoting yourself and making connections for business sake. Continue reading

Marketing Food for Thought

t_newhard_kHow well do you know grammar? When do you use “its” or “it’s”? When do you say “who” or “whom”? Does it drive you nuts when people say that something is “ironic” when it is actually “coincidental?” Call me weird, but I like to use grammar and words properly, most of the time. That brings me to the word “marketing.” What does it mean?

The Problem

The American Marketing Association defines marketing as: the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large.[1] The term developed from the original meaning which referred literally to going to a market to buy or sell goods or services.

A close examination of this definition reveals that marketing involves many things in order to get a product to market. Please allow me to expound an analogy that might shed some light on this. Continue reading

Serfwerks to Present to BYU Young Professionals

July 28, 2009, SALT LAKE CITY—Serfwerks has been selected by the Brigham Young University Young Professionals Alumni Association to present at its monthly luncheon on August 28, 2009. The 60-minute presentation will focus on marketing ROI and improving marketing results. Attendees will learn how to quantitatively analyze the performance of their marketing efforts, identify opportunities to compete more effectively, and use marketing tactics to significantly improve their marketing results. The event will be held at 11:45 a.m. on August 28 at the Wells Fargo Building (86 No. University Ave.) in Provo, Utah.

Serfwerks to Present at Chamber University

July 22, 2009, SALT LAKE CITY—Serfwerks has been selected by the Provo • Orem Chamber of Commerce to present at its monthly Chamber University series. The 90-minute presentation will focus on marketing ROI and improving marketing results. Chamber members and attendees will learn how to quantitatively analyze the performance of their marketing efforts, identify opportunities to compete more effectively, and use marketing tactics to significantly improve their marketing results.

The Chamber University featuring Serfwerks will be held September 17, 2009 at 7:30 a.m. in the Zion’s Bank located at 462 W. 800 North in Orem, Utah. The presentation is scheduled for 30 minutes. Breakfast will be served. To register for the event, visit the Provo • Orem Chamber of Commerce’s web site at www.thechamber.org

Clyde Companies Selects Serfwerks For Executive Meeting Branding

July 15, 2009, SALT LAKE CITY—Clyde Companies has contracted with Serfwerks to provide the branding and signage design for its annual executive business summit. The retreat will include the executives from all of Clyde Companies’ subsidiary companies, including Geneva Rock, Sunroc, WW Clyde, Gorge Rock, Clements Concrete and Beehive Insurance. Given the success of the marketing, branding and signage developed for Clyde Companies’ annual Ineterchange event, Jake White, director of corporate learning for Clyde Companies, received the commission to do the same with the annual business retreat. “Serfwerks helped us take our annual Interchange event to a new level of respect and prestige among our core management team,” said White. “As such, they were the natural choice to help us do the same with our annual executive summit.”

Clyde Companies is the Orem, Utah-based parent company of Geneva Rock, Sunroc, WW Clyde and several other heavy construction-related companies. With close to $700 million in annual revenue, Clyde Companies is one of the largest construction companies in the Intermountain West.