Mark Clement

Is Your Organization REMARKable?

Over the last few months we've been talking a lot about things like customer satisfaction, brand loyalty, great service...things that turn your customers/clients/members into fans, fans that talk about your thing and spread the word. People make REMARKS about something when it is REMARKable. Our world, our culture, and the way we communicate with that culture, is changing. No one addresses this better than Seth Godin. Check out this awesome vid about going from ignorable to REMARKable.

Would love to hear stories about how your organization became REMARKable. Let's hear it!

4 Questions to Ask Before Designing Media/Marketing

So many times when clients call us they have big ideas and plans for their new media or marketing projects. It's all about 'look' and 'feel' and getting it done fast. But the first thing we always do is call a quick time out in order to ask some incredibly important questions. Whether it's a web site, print or video, a marketing campaign or a media piece for worship, the most important thing is not the look or feel or even the cool factor.  The most important thing, above all else, is whether or not it works. If your media doesn't 'work' for you, it's a big waste of time and money.

Any time your organization is getting ready to create some new media/marketing, you need to ask some key questions about your project.

1) Who is your target? Always keep in mind that marketing is more about your customer than it is about you.  Your image means nothing to them unless it helps convey how you are going to meet THEIR need. So always design target specific. Make sure you are speaking their language, using images that they can relate to, and using media/mediums they are comfortable with. All of these things say 'we get you'. If you're not asking this question it's because it's too much about you and not enough about them. Effective media/marketing is always about them.

2) Why are you doing this? If you don't have a clear answer to the question 'why' or to the question 'what are we trying to accomplish' then you need to step away from the designer and drop your checkbook. Seriously. Before you even think about design, you must have a clear picture of what you want to accomplish. The answer to that question should drive your copy/language, your images, color palette, everything. As the design firm, trust me, we like your checkbook very much. It helps feed the children. Our children. But if we design the coolest thing ever for you and it doesn't accomplish your goals, it's a fail. Period. And if you fail, then we fail. And we don't like to fail. So help me help you. Ask the question 'why'.

3) How do you measure success? Question #2 must always be followed by this one. You've got to have some goals, some way of determining that your project did in fact accomplish it's mission. It's important that this is determined before you launch the project, totally objective an uninfluenced by 'perceived' success on the back end. Decide how to measure before you proceed.

4) What medium(s) will you use? Ideally you want to determine what types of mediums you will use, and therefore what type of media you need to create, right up front. This is a decision to be made not on feeling or what you think is the cool thing to do. This is a strategic decision that should be based on knowledge and facts. A decision based on what's best for you, for your customers, based on what you can afford and where you think you'll get the most bang for your buck. This decision also helps you be efficient during creation and design. If a designer has all the end uses and goals in mind, he can often kill two or more birds with one keystroke, saving time and money.

Vendor or Strategic Partner?

It always surprises me when our clients seem shocked, surprised, even overwhelmed by the high level of service Big Picture Media brings to the table. I have to confess it was never a strategic decision to truly partner with our clients. As a former staff member I never imagined doing it any other way. It was part of my DNA and therefore the DNA of our team to embed ourselves with our clients. Their challenges, their dreams, their victories were ours. 

So it was cool to see this great post from Kem Meyer at Granger Church regarding what they look for in a Strategic Partner. Check it out here and make sure to add her as one of your regular blog checks. It's always good stuff. Enjoy!

When we're looking for outside help, we need more than templates, products and a one-size fits all approach. We're looking for "A trusted advisor. A mental sparring partner. Someone with the flexibility of a great vendor, yet the resolve of a doctor who is not prepared to give bad medicine." With inspiration from this FutureLab document, I've created a list of things to look for in a partner.

1. Someone who focuses on solutions instead of products. Many consultants listen to a client's request for a solution and come back with an answer that fits their in-house capabilities and compensation models. We're leery of people who are quick to offer a product-only solution (their product only). I count on outside experts to help us navigate and give us good working options from which to choose. Third-party solutions are a good thing--don't build from scratch just because you can. Proprietary methods and strategies can take years instead of months to implement. In one short conversation, it is evident whether someone is interested in selling products or taking a personal interest in your continued success.
2. Someone who improves upon your ideas. Many consultants will do what you want--no questions asked. That's not a good thing. We're interested in someone who will tell us what is out there, challenge us and help us see potential problems with our objectives. We may have a great vision and plan to reach the vision that won’t sustain today’s technology or client environments. A partner will help us continually look at the big picture and avoid making decisions with blinders on. It’s their job to educate us about the potential consequences of our decisions, good and bad. Do they have the ability to serve as our "mental sparring partner" or not?
3. Someone who can reveal the cost of failure. Most consultants don’t talk ROI. Instead, they emphasize the budgets they manage as well as the client list, certifications and awards they have. While some of that is important, it’s more important to demonstrate they’ll make back more than they spend on your services. Name dropping is not a good sign--run away.
4. Someone who owns the troubleshooting. Our long-lasting partnerships are with people who demonstrate client-service to a fault. A “can-do” attitude is overlying tone of all interactions. As the expert, it is their job to tell us how something will work and ensure that it does. With all the technology solutions and resources available today, there is always a solution. It is our expectation that we will never hear “it can’t be done” but rather "here's what we CAN do."
5. Someone who educates your team to be self-sufficient. How our partner plans to transfer their knowledge to our in-house team needs to be part of the deal. Proactive is better than reactive. I want someone who will bring solutions to our attention that will improve our situation.
6. Someone who helps you grow into it. It's important to partner with someone who not only sees the current picture of today's reality, but also helps prepare you for course changes or growth without breaking or forcing you to start from scratch.

If you're looking for this kind of help in creating a brand, communicating a vision, or conquering the web, give us a call. We would love to TRULY partner with you and your team to make it happen.

Oh My God

Came across a really interesting movie trailer today, wanted to share it. I think the premise of this movie is extremely important and serve as a reminder about where people are coming from. Check it out here:

New Look For Cogun

Nothing excites our Big Picture Media team more than getting a call from a client that says 'we need a design, no limits, do whatever you want to communicate our message.' Just last week we got 'the call' from Cogun to do just that. Cogun is one of the premier church builders in America. They are the best not just because they know how to build a great building, but because they truly 'get' church. That's why churches like Elevation Church in Charlotte (fastest growing church in America last year) depend on Cogun to knock it out of the park for them. 

So when Cogun needs great design, they depend on Big Picture Media. Our relationship began 3 years ago when Cogun first approached us to rebrand their entire company from the ground up. Since then we've partnered on multiple projects including video productions and consulting for their Cornerstone Knowledge Network events. For the upcoming Catalyst conference in ATL, they wanted to create a shirt that capured their unique design-build process in a fresh new way. With an incredibly short turnaround time, our creative team including artist Joey Seales rose to the challenge. The design below captures Cogun's process: inspiration from God, assembling the right team, construction A-Z, a result that represents the fingerprints of God here on earth, the worshiper giving thanks to the God that created it all - a full circle experience. Or what Cogun likes to refer to as 'building the RIGHT ministry space.' Check it out:

If you need a partner to help you communicate your unique vision, let us know. You can also see multiple examples of our work at bigpicturemediagroup.net.

The Change Group Web Site

If you haven't already seen it, wanted to share a link to a new web site we just designed for The Change Group out of ATL. This is a great example of 'what we do'. We did all the design including branding, logo, copywriting, video/animation production and marketing/launch strategy.

This project moved pretty quick, from blank page to finished product(s) in less than 90 days, which is lightspeed. We utilized social networking tools like Twitter and Facebook to share previews with select audiences, poll user preferences, bounce ideas around and solicit suggestions like those that led to things like the tag line 'We keep the books. You keep the change.' 

Check it out and let us know if we can build something amazing for you and your organization. You can see other great examples of our work at bigpicturemediagroup.net.

Change Group Sneak Peek

The Change Group web site will be launching in the next 24 hours and I can't wait to show it off and talk about the process of branding, design, video, print and web that went into it. BUT, until then, check out one of the 4 videos we produced for the site. Stay tuned for the site launch announcement.

Customer Service Gone RIGHT

There's no shortage of stories where customer service has gone wrong. Unfortunately that has become somewhat the norm, even in our churches. But this past weekend I experienced three very cool examples of excellent customer service. Examples that bear repeating.

Saturday I had to go to Lowe's for some lawnmower parts. I was dreading it. My expectation was that they either wouldn't have what I needed or the parts would be impossible to identify or find. Imagine my utter delight to discover all three parts right there on the shelf next to the lawn mowers, right where they should have been. It was like they knew I was coming and had them set out just for me. To make it even better they had multiple registers open and I checked out immediately. 

Sunday after church we hit Taco Bell to make a run for the border. The checkout girl was shockingly polite and professional. When one of our orders was going to take a minute we got the dreaded 'can you pull forward and we'll bring it out to you?' line, she offered us free drinks (we hadn't ordered any) for us to enjoy while we waited. Then when she brought the late order out to us she apologized yet again then informed us that to make up for it they had given us 3 extra tacos. This girl and this Taco Bell scored big with us. 

Monday I received a letter from Southwest, a company I'm already pretty high on. To celebrate my recent award of a free flight they were sending me free drink coupons to 'toast' the occasion. Icing on an already great cake. 

All of these things were small and simple, yet they made a huge impression on me. The truth is that people talk. They talk about the bad things AND the good things. By doing just a little bit more than their competitors they have made me want to come back and tell everyone I know how great they are. Remember, the best marketing isn't the kind you buy. The best marketing is the kind you earn.

Church leaders, how can we exceed expectations so that people want to come back AND tell everyone they know how great it was? Would love to hear some feedback and examples of churches knocking it out of the park in this area.

Going Deep: The Key to Just About Everything

"Having impact spread wide and having impact that resonates deeply are two very different things. They are not mutually exclusive, but more often than not, we settle for a season of brief popularity." unknown

Often times when we build organizations, churches, small groups...anything built on relationships...we want to grow them as quickly as possible. It seems natural that more is better. Why impact only 5 people when you can impact 10, right? That's all well and good, but the key is not how many you reach, rather HOW you reach them. Without really thinking about it, our tendency is to go out and reach as many people as WE can. So WE invite OUR friends, and OUR family, and OUR neighbors, and OUR coworkers, and if WE work hard at it then pretty soon WE have a group that looks something like this:

 You may have 5, or 10, or 100, but this is the basic structure, lots of people connected to one thing: YOU. Now don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with this...at first. It's a great start and you've got some momentum and everyone is excited, but how long can it last? The answer is not long. Because eventually YOU are going to get tired, or sick, or complacent, and as soon as YOU stop doing what YOU did to get the thing started, it will die. Now if you're a super duper hard worker you can keep it up for a while, but sooner or later the ball will be dropped. You can only spin so many plates for so long. This is why so many small groups die young. 

Have you ever taken a good look at the roots of a tree that has been blown over in a storm? If you have you probably noticed that the root system was very shallow. It may be super wide, but shallow nonetheless. The key to strength and health and sustainability is going deep. 

Now the truth is that going deep is a bit harder, and may take a little bit longer on the front end. But long term your job gets easier and easier, because once you have a strong, deep root system in place, growth is virtually unlimited. The key is to not just connect new people to yourself, but to dive down deep through the people you are already connected to. Find 2 or 3 in your group with the most leadership potential and help them make some new connections. Then help them identify a potential leader under them and repeat the process over and over until it starts to look like this:

You are leading and training by example. After you go down 2-3 levels then you can step back and the guy next to you keeps diving and then he hands it off to the next guy, etc...  Now which model do you think is stronger? You get 2 or 3 legs going like this and you are set. And think of the benefits: You're identifying leaders at every level. You're modeling true Biblical discipleship. You can easily break off one of these legs and let it become a new group unto itself, duplicating the process infinitely. This works in church, in small groups, in business, in networking.

Bottom line: if you want longevity, strength, sustainability, duplication, health...you've got to go deep. 

Lead With The Need

So often when we meet with new clients and they show us their current or past marketing materials, the problem is almost always immediately obvious. Most people make the mistake of thinking that the way a marketing piece (print, online, whatever) looks is most important. Don't get me wrong, looking good is important, but not MOST important. The most important thing to a prospective client is 'can these people help me with my problem/issue/whatever?'  It's what we call leading with the need. There's a number of ways to do this.

The first way is to ask a direct question? Let's say your product is a fence made especially for frog ranchers. Work with me :) The first thing you want them to see is a question, like 'Are you having a problem keeping up with all your frogs?' Or you can get cute and say 'Do your frogs have you hopping mad?' 'Now if I'm a frog rancher these questions tell me all kinds of things. They tell me these guys understand the unique problems of frog ranchers. They tell me that they have addressed the problems and that they are most likely offering a solution. After all, why would someone ask me that if they didn't have a reason for asking? Most importantly it makes me want to open the piece (or click on it or whatever) and find out the answer that's going to change my life. 

Another way to lead with the need, and I know this is way out there, is to simply say what you do. Your line might be 'We make solutions for frog ranchers.' Twitter is great at this. You go straight to their home page and BAM, they ask and answer the question for you:

Now the key here is to keep it simple. Don't get too technical. Don't give all of your credentials. Don't tell your life story. Just say it straight up, preferably in one sentence. 

The other way to lead with the need is visually. In this case I would, oh I don't know, put a picture of a frog ranch right up front. Or a guy chasing a frog. Again, a little cute, a frog driving a getaway car. But whatever you do, keep it simple and very obvious. If they have to think about it you've gone too far. It needs to immediately strike a chord of familiarity.

Image pieces are only good for multi-million dollar companies that have incredible brand recognition and money to burn. If that's not you, then keep it simple, and lead with the need. You and your clients will be glad that you did.