Starting tomorrow, 32 fonts (sans vs serif) are going head-to-head in a fight to the death (not really) to be selected the Font Faceoff Champion. Last year, sans Frutiger ran away with the title.

Danielle and Spence have made their picks:

Danielle's bracketSpence's bracketCheck out Gavin's Facebook Page to see how Danielle and Spence do in the competition. May the best font win.

Want to join in the fun? Download your bracket here.

To sum it up, the new NetBase/JD Power and Associates report notes that a growing number of consumers think that brand interactions on social media are too intrusive—noting that many don’t want brands to “listen” and that it is seen as big brother-ish.

We were a bit surprised by these findings and agreed with Brian Solis’ blog post stating “a double standard may exist in social media customer service where consumers say that listening is intrusive except when it’s not.”  

Just as we were all getting settled into how to effectively manage brand behavior, we were thrown this curveball. We know it is just one study, but it definitely got us thinking.

So, what’s a brand to do with this new information?

Brands, just like people, alter their behavior based on real-time responses and feedback (reactions). Thinking, before you speak, is essential. We've found that most people intentionally and purposefully note a brand name in a post/tweet and are pleasantly surprised when a brand interjects or shares their feedback, but not in a robot manner. Personal interest combined with the element of surprise, can bring big rewards for building brand persona and evangelism.

Just like someone you follow on twitter or Facebook, overzealous behavior or interactions can turn you off. The same goes for brands. 

We standardly advise brands to listen intently, but not necessarily connect with every person posting public feedback. Some posts warrant direct contact from a brand, while others help the brand to evolve their approach at large. Public feedback can assist a brand in collecting market sentiment for improving an overall approach, and then sharing their changes in public in general either through behavior or through a change in an offering, can bring kudos. 

We have also found that someone on Facebook has a different view of brands interacting versus someone on Twitter. Each media brings with it a different set of rules of engagement. 

Consumers expect brands to be creative, responsive and true to their brand persona online, while being authentic. Part of brands' success on social media will be to evolve their approach as the media evolves itself. Social is indeed social, which, like human behavior, is a moving target. 

During last night’s Oscars, Oscar Mayer joined in the fun with a promoted (i.e. paid) tweet:

A clever way to tie their brand to a big nationwide event. Oscar Mayer wouldn’t normally be the type of baloney you’re thinking of when you watch the Academy Awards… but you are now. Well played, Oscar Mayer, well played.

During the red carpet pre-show on E!, Anne Hathaway told Ryan Seacrest that she enjoys playing the board game Cards Against Humanity (she actually said “Crimes Against Humanity,” but… close enough.) The game then followed up with some cheeky quick-on-the-draw SEO, knowing that people would most likely be Googling them after the Oscar nominee’s shout-out:

Again, a board game company wouldn’t necessarily have a direct tie to the Academy Awards broadcast, but by watching along with the audience (their consumer), they were able to take advantage of a fantastic PR opportunity.

How could real-time marketing work for your brand? Even if there’s no chance of a celebrity shout out for you on national TV, keep an eye out for opportunities during industry events, conferences, webinars, tweet-ups, etc. If you know where your audience will be online, play along and have fun with it. Making your brand part of the conversation is a great way to stay top-of-mind.

Gavin creates more than websites; we create complete goal-oriented designs and online branding and consumer experience strategies. Every web project starts with an idea and a set of objectives and goals. Our development teams use a multi-phased approach with focus on aesthetics, usability and overall experience, client objectives both now and in the future, and search engine optimization. That's how we can go from this to this:

For 3 Cord, Inc., Gavin went beyond a standard website update to refresh the brand itself, complete with a new logo and streamlined message delivery. At Gavin, messaging is a religion—providing boundaries and setting expectations and the tone for decision-making. We identify and claim a core message, and then communicate it consistently across all channels.  We created fresh visuals and concise wording to tell our client’s story. The result was a clean design, clear messaging and the establishment of new brand aesthetics that will carry through all the client’s future marketing and communications materials.

When an organization, like Family First Health, already has an established logo and brand theme, we look to the core messaging to drive the creative process to creating a cohesive look that truly embodies the organization’s mission, values and objectives. The more consistent your message is—in both visuals and language—the more likely your target audience is to perceive your organization as being a suitable match to their needs. It is the first step (the handshake) in starting a relationship. So, Reader, meet the Family First Health website, before and after:

We believe a website is an essential tool in a company's communications, and building an effective site starts with a clear, simple understanding of the message itself. Messaging and visuals should be used to guide the new site’s overall strategy. The success of a website, of course, all boils down to user experience and ensuring the website is meeting the target audience’s needs, and the client’s goals.

So much of our job as expert communicators, is to breakdown a message into digestible pieces—bite size pieces. Complicated jargon can create a barrier to moving a consumer along the desired decision-making path or action.

To improve Family First Health's user experience, their new site features an expanded Spanish-language section to accommodate a very large portion of their target audience. We also created an awesome (if we do say so ourselves) mobile website that allows users to access the most critical info with just their smartphones. Go ahead, test it out:

So there you have it. We put substance behind the pretty and challenge the why in what you do. Wanna talk web with Gavin? Contact us now.

Since our first hire, I’ve always taken the approach of assembling the team I wanted to share success with.  And with what we’ve been able to accomplish in just 12 months, we’ve been sharing a lot of successes.

In our first six months, we signed some of the leading names in Central PA, picked up clients up and down the East Coast, and as far away as Seattle. In nine months we were profiled for smart growth in Advertising Age, our industry go-to publication. At 10 months, we were named a finalist for Central Penn Business Journal’s Emerging Business of the Year.

Let me toot my team’s horn for a moment more. Gavin is made up of talented folks who can rock out any client pitch and turn naysayers into cheerleaders. Our entire team pushes each other to do great things we didn’t even know we were capable of, and we share success, together. Our culture is one that supports learning, collaborating, motivating and sharing. This is balanced with our no-nonsense approach that is founded on remaining true to our mission of being devoted to truth in branding and driving action, and we live by a code of team respect.

Our work has delivered campaigns that we were told, "could never be done." We elevated creative work in the region, brought new marketing solutions to teams who said it would never happen, shifted perception on tough issues and influenced decisions that affected our community and our clients. We accepted challenges, and we delivered. In the process, we are quickly becoming the go-to advertising, marketing and public relations partner for leading businesses throughout the region and beyond. 

What’s next for Gavin? Well, we’re growing again and moving to a new location (details coming soon).

We’re going to continue on our path of being devoted to truth in branding and driving action.

After 12 months, I’m simply grateful. Grateful for a wonderful group of talented people at Gavin, great clients and a supportive community, including my husband, who none of this would have been possible without.

Here’s to many more 12-months of success.