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Webinars are everywhere. A quick scroll down your LinkedIn feed, a brief look at your competitor’s website, or a click on that email you’ve been ignoring and there’s a good chance you’ll find an invitation to another webinar. A great webinar not only makes your brand standout as a thought leader, it can also generate sales leads. So earlier this year DMA Partners conducted a survey with over 50 top marketing leaders to tell us what they believe makes a top-notch webinar. Here are some key findings: 52% of respondents believe the ideal webinar length is 45 minutes 82.4% believe content is the key factor in making a webinar stand out 57.9% say Zoom is their preferred platform 8.7% have attended more than 10 webinars in the last month And here are the full results!

So it’s Part 2 of our 3-part series, Reasons to be cheerful. I guess that could be described as the meat in the sandwich. So here are a few thoughts to chew on (ouch!) as we find ourselves (sandwich-like) wedged between relentless bad news, polarized media and constant speculation about all of our futures. It can feel exhausting. But we can relax. Yes, we really can. After the horrors of World War I came the roaring 20s and the Charleston. In 1946 just after the end of World War II, a blues pioneer called Arthur Crudup wrote and recorded ‘That’s All Right’. Listen here. A few years later the song was recorded by Elvis Presley and the world shifted a few degrees. Listen here. Crudup did not receive the recognition or royalties that he deserved, but his song hit the airwaves and travelled. In Liverpool, schoolboy and future Beatle George Harrison was tuned in. He later wrote the lyric. “Sunrise doesn't last all morning A cloudburst doesn't last all day…. ….All things must pass” He was right. It (life) keeps going. The wheel keeps rolling. For every sunrise, there’s a sunset and it all starts up again. We humans are resilient and we desperately want to keep on living. You can call it stoicism, optimism or perhaps an ever so slightly drunken delusion. But it’s what we do. We keep rolling. Reasons to be cheerful? We think so. hello@dma-partners.com dma-partners.com

It’s easy to feel down at the moment. The world feels angry. Big things are happening and we don’t have a lot of control. In the megaphone supercharged and amplified world of social media, nuance has gone missing. Twitter once invited us to “join the conversation”. It doesn’t feel much like a conversation, more like multiple sets of rival football supporters yelling at each other, except without the 90 minute limit. Meanwhile, back in the real world people are getting ill. Some are dying. Economies are suffering. Many are losing their jobs. Behind the numbers of collapsing GDPs there are real people with real problems. But. There is a but. We humans are survivors. We know how to fix things. We have no choice. We can’t emigrate (yet) to any other planet so we need to make this one work. And it will. We need to change some things and we need to leave some others well alone. But I think we’re smart enough to know the difference. Yes.  I’m going to be cheerful. Here are some of my reasons... A Kind of Blue by Miles Davis sounds as wonderful as it ever did. Book cover design. The smell of paper. Cold beer. Morning half-light silhouetting the trees outside the window. Radio which did not get killed by video (you see, some things, change some things don’t) despite the predictions. True listening that leaves others feeling reborn. The smell of coffee. Laughter. Whimsy. Nonsense. There are many more reasons to be cheerful. What are yours? hello@dma-partners.com dma-partners.com

Artists are some of the best marketers around. Kings of self-branding, masters of the publicity stunt, experts in beauty. They often do marketing better than the professionals themselves. And no artist has done it better than Andy Warhol. From pioneering self-branding to leading a whole new art-form (Pop Art!), his influence is seen across the globe. And like all great brands, when you see a Warhol, you know it´s a Warhol. The distinctiveness of his brand carved out his own, untouched niche in the market. So, what made Warhol so good at the job it takes years for so many to learn? The odd one out? Nobody looked, talked or made art like him. Cameras and onlookers couldn't help but be drawn to the distinct persona that his wig, voice and suit created. It can be seen in his interviews like this. And it's what made him so popular with advertising executives across the globe. Even his studio was unlike anything seen before. Self-labelled as “The Factory”, it became an open playground for artists, musicians and celebrities, with figures like Bob Dylan and Sylvador Dalí regularly popping in and out. His work reflected and changed pop culture Legendary designer and adman, George Lois, said “truly great graphic and verbal communication reflects, adapts and helps to change the culture.” Warhol did that. From his globally recognised screen-prints of Marylin Monroe, Michael Jackson and Mick Jagger to his paintings of Coca Cola bottles, Warhol capitalised on the power of brands and celebrity more successfully than almost any brand before or after. His influence is everywhere; Instagram filters, screen printed t-shirt designs and even the term “superstar” can all trace their origins back to Warhol. The spreadsheet talks In the world of marketing and advertising where success hinges on great ideas, it can become the case that what may engage and entertain might not do what it´s really supposed to – persuade the audience to purchase your product. It's clear Warhol understood this. In fact, he famously claimed “good business is the best art.” And it's reflected in his sales. Aside from a brief dip in the 1990s, his artwork value has only experienced an upward trajectory. Between 1987 and 2010 his average auction price shot up 3,400%. And in just 2014, Warhol's works sold for $569 million – more than a sixth of the global art market! But what is the key to his success? Through the relevance, freshness and accessibility of his work, Warhol captured the essence of the commercial age in which he lived unlike anyone before him. This made his work, as well as himself, become a cultural and historical artefact – something priceless. toby.carpenter@dma-partners.com dma-partners.com

E-learning is fast becoming the new normal for learning. For teams working remotely and at home, it is absolutely mission critical. So what does it take to make a successful e-learning? At DMA Partners we’ve worked on many e-learning projects for our clients over recent years. Over time we have been learning about what works best. So, here are our 7 steps to e-learning heaven. 1. Define your audience Who is the e-learning for? Company newcomers? Management? Multilingual teams in multiple locations? Develop a clear profile of your ‘target’ learner and never forget their needs as you develop your e-learning. 2. What is the learning objective? What’s the point of your e-learning? Build a very clear idea of what you would like the ‘students’ to learn. Think of it this way; by the end of the program what will your students/audience have learnt? What knowledge/skills will they have that they did not have before? Make sure that your target learner and the learning objective really connect. Does it make sense? Is your e-learning goal too ambitious or too modest? All e-learning students want to be challenged. Don’t teach them what they already know! 3. Research and decide on your platform Once you have your clear idea, familiarise yourself with the different platforms used to build e-learnings. Some may not have the features that you want, so it is important to know exactly what you can and cannot do on each platform. To make it easy, start by building your first outline version in PowerPoint. At DMA Partners, we like Adobe Captivate, but here is a link to an article that compares available platforms: https://www.techradar.com/best/best-elearning-authoring-tool 4. High quality content This is where the buck stops. Your content must be high quality. This will define the success of your e-learning. Start with a big sheet of paper and write down all your content ideas. And then CUT! Reduce it down to the essentials and work hard to make the content really memorable and interesting for your e-learners. 5. Flow From sentence to sentence and from slide to slide there should be a natural flow that allows for a seamless user-experience. Start with a content overview so users can see what the program is and where they’re going. Break your content into short modules or chapters. Users like to feel a sense of progression. They are often e-learning in short sessions as they relax after work, during breaks or even on the train to work. Summarise key takeaways at the end of each module – your e-learning users will love you for it. Once this is done you have the flow of your e-learning ready. Now get creative!... 6. Creative, interactive and engaging What about these ideas to bring colour and life to your e-learning? Quizzes are always popular. You can have these at the end of each module or at the end of the entire e-learning. Users can check their scores and pass rates as they go. Video links to short, content-rich and entertaining content. It doesn’t have to be comedy but something light-hearted, if appropriate, can help to get a point across. Graphics/diagrams/illustrations can sometimes be much more effective than text or audio voiceover. We process images 60,000 times faster than text, so pictures really can be “worth a thousand words.” Gamification methods like progress reports and competition ladders. Comparing performance to other learners can really help enthusiastic participation. People may say that they are not competitive, - but they are! 7. Design Humans love beautiful things. Design can make your e-learning look good but even more importantly, it makes the whole user-experience simple and easy. If design is not your strength then find a top-notch design team to help you. It will be so worth it once you see your final e-learning program and you start to get positive feedback from your users. And remember that some of your users may have some visual, hearing or other impairment. Make sure that you make your learning as accessible as possible for all. You can read more about accessibility here: https://elearningindustry.com/designing-accessible-elearning-6-tips And good luck! hello@dma-partners.com dma-partners.com

Online video marketing is on the rise and is quickly becoming the go-to content format for savvy B2B marketers. With Cisco estimating that by 2020 online videos will make up more than 80% of all consumer internet traffic, there has never been a better time to embrace video within your marketing strategy. One of the key perks of video content is that it is so versatile and as such, it can be used in a manner of different ways, from long form to short form and from entertaining, to inspirational and educational. So which types of videos should your business be creating? Let’s take a closer look at 3 of the most popular types of B2B video content. 1. Explainer or Teaser Videos Explainer videos are one of the most commonly produced styles of video content today. Whilst their name is pretty self-explanatory, these videos are typically short and snappy and give prospects a quick insight into who you are, who you serve and what you do. More often than not these videos are animated but they can contain real footage too, as well as a mix of both elements. One of our favourite explainer videos is the below example from HubSpot. Let’s break down why HubSpot’s video works so well: they immediately create rapport with the audience, as the narrator demonstrates that HubSpot understands the problems people face on a daily basis in their roles as marketers they create a need for their solution by explaining why other marketing tools and tactics aren’t as effective as they once were they provide their prospects with an intriguing vision of the future and show that it can be easy with their solution, especially in comparison with other solutions in the marketplace they close with a compelling call to action, backed by social proof and a final summary of the benefits to seal the deal Wouldn’t you agree that it’s quite an achievement to communicate all of these critical components in under 2 and a half minutes? Can you envisage how the HubSpot explainer video structure could work for your business? 2. Vlogs Vlogs are perhaps the easiest type of B2B video content to produce, as they can be produced with very minimal equipment and editing capabilities. There’s no need to hire an expensive cast of characters either, as some of the most engaging B2B vlogs come straight from a company’s employees. This adds to their charm, as today’s consumers view vlogs as being more genuine than some of the more staged and polished video styles. You may have some budding actors that you may never have considered before. Depending on the context, vlogs can be loosely scripted or recorded completely off the cuff, and the possibilities for content are endless. Here are just a few examples you could experiment with: 60-second roundup of the key points from an industry conference your business sponsored or attended Day in the life’ style vlog documenting the life of one of your company’s key employees Behind the scenes tour of your company’s new office Commentary on industry news and developments So, when it comes to creating B2B vlogs, all you really need is some content ideas, some willing employees, and an iPhone! Are your creative juices flowing yet? 3. Customer Success Stories Customer success videos, featuring case studies and testimonials, are a fantastic video format to use to connect with prospects who are close to a buying decision. Customer success videos work so well because they allow you to showcase your company’s expertise, with the added benefit of social proof from a happy client. This puts your prospect in your successful client’s shoes and gives them a tantalising taste of what it could look and feel like to work with you or use your solution. The below example by FreshBooks is a fantastic example of an engaging and inspiring customer success story video. The viewer is quickly immersed in Sarah’s story about her life as an interior designer and through the power of storytelling, finishes watching the video feeling like FreshBooks made a real difference to her business. Which customer success stories could you leverage to create compelling video case studies? --- All in all, B2B video has been proven to generate fantastic results for businesses who embrace it and put it to work strategically and creatively. In fact, according to recent research carried out by the Aberdeen Group, video marketers get 66% more qualified leads per year. Would you like to achieve similar results? Get in touch with our Managing Partner, Philip Martin, at philip.martin@dma-partners.com to discover how we can help you create and execute a winning video strategy from start to finish.

Did you know that most B2B marketers believe that event marketing is the single most effective marketing channel for achieving business goals, according to Bizzabo? With this in mind, it’s important for SMEs to extract the biggest return on investment possible from participation in live events, whether that be trade shows, conferences or seminars. Recently, Traveknowledgy engaged DMA Partners to help them maximise their ROI from event marketing. Our brief was to help Traveknowledgy explain what they do in a clear, concise manner that would make them stand out and become ‘top of mind’ within their target market at key industry events. In this article, we’ll walk you through 4 of the key steps we took to help Traveknowledgy to make their appearance at Travel Technology Europe a roaring success. These tips are applicable to almost any SME looking to supercharge their event marketing success. 1. A Strategic Approach The first step in a successful event marketing plan is to adopt a strategic approach and set clear goals about what you want to achieve. Here are some examples of potential event marketing goals you may want to consider: increased brand awareness lead generation customer acquisition The SMART goals framework is a simple format you can implement to set your objectives in an organised manner. 2. A Solid Event Marketing Budget In order to achieve these goals, it’s important to invest accordingly so that you can make the best possible first impression. Forrester reports that event marketing makes up for 24% of B2B marketing budgets, however, Bizzabo reports that “the most successful businesses are spending 1.7x the average marketing budget on live events”. We’re firm believers that investing that little bit extra in preparing for events leads to the best possible outcomes. In our experience, businesses that do this, such as Traveknowledgy, have a much easier time communicating their value proposition and therefore achieving their event marketing objectives. 3. Eye-Catching Stand Design At most events, your primary objective while there is to get people to stop by your stand and engage with your employees. This means that your stand needs to be in a prime location and must catch the eye of members of your target audience, highlighting some key messages as they make their way through the event space. Before engaging DMA Partners, Traveknowledgy suffered from disjointed visuals and a stand design which had too much text. This meant that their key marketing messages were lost and people were less likely to engage with them as they were unsure of the value they could bring to their business. We worked with Traveknowledgy to simplify their marketing message and make the benefits of working with them explicitly clear with a modern, eye-catching stand design. 4. A Memorable Marketing Toolkit Often, customers need time to think before committing to making a purchase, so it’s important that you give marketing collateral to visitors to your stand. This collateral should reinforce your marketing message and give people a means to connect with you after the event so they can move further down your sales pipeline. It should also echo the look, feel and messaging of your stand, to further reinforce your brand across all touch points. To help Traveknowledgy become memorable within their target market, we helped them design an event marketing toolkit. This toolkit comprises of various marketing materials that communicate their value proposition in an attractive and clear manner. --- The results: “Two super intensive days, we’ll see what it leads to. You did a great job on the stand, lots of compliments and was overwhelmed with work :)” - Max Sevastianov, Founder, Traveknowledgy - --- Could your event marketing strategy benefit from an upgrade to boost your ROI? Get in touch with Philip Martin to discover how we can help: philip.martin@dma-partners.com.

Rather than looking at office facilities as a pure balance-sheet expense, forward-thinking companies consider their offices as a key component of corporate strategy. A better office design can make employees happier and healthier, but from a “numbers” point of view, is it worth it? One of the main objectives of redesigning an office is to increase employee productivity, - and unless concrete figures are offered, it can be difficult to envision this project as having a solid return on investment (in dollars!) Studies differ in the variables examined from one to the next, but overall, we can describe two key components  that affect office workers’ productivity: the quality of environment (ventilation, heating, natural lighting, décor, cleanliness) and the office layout (Informal/formal meeting areas, quiet areas, privacy, storage, desk, circulation space) Quality of environment: The World Green Building Council (WGBC) research on productivity identifies some key factors*: Air quality - There are clear health benefits from good Indoor Air Quality (IAQ). Better IAQ can improve employee productivity by 8 – 11%. Joseph Allen, a professor at Harvard University, recently conducted a series of experiments to test the effects of green buildings on workers. Participants inside a green, properly ventilated building scored between 61%-100% higher in cognitive function than those that were monitored in conventional office blocks. Allen and his team estimate that it costs up to $40 per person per year to double the ventilation rate in a building – but the study suggests that productivity benefits range from $6,000 to $7,000 per person per year. “The costs are trivial compared to the benefits, any way you look at this,” he says. Thermal comfort - employees experience a 4% reduction in performance at cooler temperatures and 6% at warmer temperatures. Lighting - office workers with windows sleep an average of 46 min more per night and experience 27% less headaches. Noise - office workers’ performance drops by 66% when exposed to distracting noise. Office layout: Research shows that benefits and penalties to workplace productivity are experienced equally across open-plan and enclosed office environments. Apart from requiring less space per person (and therefore less costs), the open-office plan can enhance information flow, communication and teamwork. However, for activities that need a high-level of submersion and concentration (like writing long reports or developing software), this design can be detrimental as the number of interruptions and level of noise is higher. Clearly, no office-design can be applied blindly to every type of business and work function. Differences have been found in what is optimal for different business functions and groups of workers (younger/older, female/male). At DMA, we believe that productivity is directly associated to the workplace and are advocates of high levels of customization and variety. We have designed award-winning task-specific spaces that fit the purpose and maximise the benefits whilst minimizing the detriments for productivity when carrying out each task. Does your workspace require a makeover that boosts productivity, employee health and happiness? Discover how we could help you develop a workplace that makes your business thrive by contacting our Managing Partner, Philip Martin, at philip.martin@dma-partners.com. --- * Haynes, Barry, Suckely, Louise & Nunnington, Nick (2017). Workplace productivity and office type: an evaluation of office occupier differences based on age and gender. Journal of Corporate Real Estate, 19 (2), 111-138.

Since making an appearance on Google Trends in 2015, Account Based Marketing (or ABM, for short) has well and truly graduated from being a marketing buzzword to one of B2B’s most sophisticated and celebrated marketing strategies. If you’re unfamiliar with the term, Account Based Marketing is simply a marketing strategy that flips the traditional B2B demand generation funnel on its head. We love Marketo’s definition, below: “Account-based marketing (ABM) is a strategic approach to lead generation in which your time and resources target a key group of specific accounts. Lead generation draws in the numbers, and ABM qualifies and targets those leads before you market to them. In other words, by inverting the traditional early-stage marketing process, you target your campaigns to specific customers the moment they enter your funnel, and you do it with real-time, personalized content.” So why should you consider implementing an Account Based Marketing Strategy? Let’s take a look at three core reasons. 1. Sales and marketing teams evolve to work in harmony The days of marketing and sales teams being siloed off from each other are coming to an end. With Account Based Marketing, the walls between sales and marketing are broken down as each function must evolve to support the other strategically. To effectively treat accounts as individual markets in and of themselves, marketing and sales teams must collaborate to identify these accounts, and then to plan strategic campaigns to connect with them throughout every stage of the buyer’s journey. The result of this is almost always a better customer experience and a more harmonious, results-driven organisation. 2. Less waste and more success In a sense, Account Based Marketing could be described as the application of the Pareto Principle to B2B marketing. With more traditional B2B marketing strategies, there has been so much emphasis on marketers generating as much demand as possible. However, the evidence shows that a more mass-market approach leads to more generalised messaging which, in turn, leads to a lower conversion rate. On the other hand, ABM forces marketers to focus their efforts and budgets on a series of much narrower, clearly defined targets. As a result, their activities have a much higher success rate, and they tend to use a lot fewer resources to achieve these optimised results. In comparison with ABM’s laser-targeted approach, more traditional marketing efforts begin to look wasteful, inefficient and ineffective. Wouldn’t you agree? 3. Return on investment is more likely According to the ITSMA Account Based Marketing Survey, 84% of companies say that Account Based Marketing delivers a higher ROI than other types of marketing. So why is this the case? There are a few factors at play here. Firstly, ABM allows you to connect and engage with multiple stakeholders within single accounts. This is critical because a buying decision is likely to be made by a group of people rather than a single individual - especially in larger organisations. Secondly, communications stemming from an ABM strategy are more likely to be personalised, relevant and received at the right time. This means that people are more likely to remember the key messaging and take action on the embedded calls to action. Finally, when combined with Artificial Intelligencecapabilities and an integrated approach, ABM campaigns can reach prospects across multiple channels, providing brands with true real-time opportunities. --- If you’re looking for a more integrated approach to B2B marketing that allows you to engage with multiple stakeholders within an organisation, adopting an Account Based Marketing approach should be at the top of your to-do list. Get in touch with our Managing Partner, Philip Martin, at philip.martin@dma-partners.com to discuss how we can help you get started.

5 years ago Gartner research unveiled their thesis that Customer Experience (commonly referred to as CX) would soon become the “new battlefield” for brands. Now, in 2019, it’s becoming increasingly clear that Gartner was correct, with numerous follow-up studies confirming the importance of customer experience and its direct effect on customer loyalty and advocacy. In fact, a study by Walker found that by as early as next year, “customer experience will overtake price and product to become the key brand differentiator”. With CX being one of the best ways to stand out from the crowd and build a loyal customer base, let’s examine some simple CX innovation projects B2B tech firms can implement to create a stellar experience for their customers. 1. Use Storytelling to Communicate Your Value Proposition It’s easy to forget that a great customer experience often begins before a prospect actually decides to become a paying customer. If your marketing materials don’t create an emotional bond with your prospects, you’ll never have the chance to take the relationship further. Data and statistics are often forgettable, so this is where great storytelling comes into play. If you want a customer to feel emotionally connected to your brand, and therefore make your business stand out, they need to be aware of your company’s mission, values and the benefits of doing business with you. So how can brands use storytelling to do this? Video is the perfect medium, as it increases the retention of your message and is often a customer’s most preferred way to consume content. Within each video you produce, you want prospective customers to see themselves at the heart of the story you’re telling - by putting themselves in the shoes of your current happy customers, or seeing themselves as going through the same pain points that your business so clearly understands. This paints a picture in the prospects mind that they, too, will have a positive experience with your company. 2. Implement an Engaging Onboarding Campaign When a business acquires a new customer they have a small, yet significant window of opportunity to set the context for a positive and lasting customer relationship straight off the bat. In our experience, designing and implementing an engaging onboarding campaign for new customers is a simple way B2B brands can “set the tone” and improve customer retention. One of the easiest ways to do this is via a simple email campaign, which walks customers through a series of steps they need to take (or information they need to know) to get the most out of the product or service. For businesses with larger budgets, a dedicated online e-learning hub is a more interactive way of achieving the same objective. One really creative way of ensuring customers actually complete the onboarding process is to “gamify” the process with specific setup milestones customers must achieve or a series of “quick start” lessons they can complete to win badges or certifications. 3. Help Customers to Help Themselves In today’s digital world, customers are becoming increasingly self-sufficient. This is evidenced by the fact that the majority of customers now prefer dealing with businesses who allow them to help themselves first before reaching out to customer support. As studies have shown that 70% of customers feel that a brand’s website should include some form of self-service support, this is an easy focal point for brands who wish to improve their customer experience. A simple way to do this would be to create a dedicated area of your website for self-service support, such as a well-organised FAQ bank. There, customers could search for answers to their most pressing questions and find solutions in a matter of minutes. When you consider the traditional approaches businesses have in place, where customers call a hotline and end up sitting on hold for 5 minutes, or have to wait 24 hours for a response to an email or support ticket, it’s easy to see why this approach will win you brownie points with your customers. --- Do you want to transform your B2B customer experience into one which will surprise and delight your customers, inspiring loyalty for years to come? Get in touch with Philip Martin to discover how DMA Partners can help: philip.martin@dma-partners.com.

Colour Psychology in Marketing The psychology of colour and its impact on branding is a fascinating and widely discussed aspect of marketing theory. While it’s not an exact science, the colours you choose do make a difference. They can impact the way we feel about a product, and can help differentiate between brands. Colour has also been shown to increase brand recognition by up to 80%, and can improve comprehension by 73%. The study of colour psychology in marketing is an attempt to encourage trust and influence perceptions, both positive and negative, calming and energising. A study on the impact of colour on marketing showed that “people make up their minds within 90 seconds of their initial interactions with either people or products. About 62‐90 percent of the assessment is based on colors alone.” And while there are many debatable tropes and myths around the topic of colour psychology – such as using red in fast food logos to stimulate hunger – most marketing experts will agree that there is a benefit to understanding the interplay between colour and brand perception. The Meaning of Colour The emotional response we have to colour is greatly influenced by the framework through which we view it. Consequently, colour symbolism can vary widely based on culture, individual experience, and personal preference. Still, there are some common meanings that can generally be referenced when considering which colours to choose for your branding. Colour can also have a psychological effect beyond its symbolism. Purple balances stimulation and serenity, while blues and greens are peaceful, calming, and restful. From a scientific perspective, green has been shown to reduce eye strain, and blue can actually lower blood pressure and slow your breathing. Warm colours such as yellow or orange, on the other hand, are exciting and energising, and are thought to increase appetite. However, these colours should be used in moderation, as they can be over-stimulating. While it’s impossible to factor in the unique tastes of each individual consumer, it is crucial to consider a colour’s potential differences in meaning cross-culturally, especially when marketing outside of your regional context. For example, while black is largely considered the colour of mourning throughout the western world, it varies greatly across different cultures and countries, including the following: India: White Thailand: Purple Korea, Iran: Blue Egypt, Ethiopia, Mexico: Yellow South Africa: Red Even commonly used branding colours, such as red, blue, and green, can have vastly different meanings in different countries. In the UK, red is often associated with danger, while in China, it represents good luck. Blue invokes patriotism in the US, while in Italy, it signifies religion. Green represents life in Japan, and death in South America. With so many factors to consider, how do you choose? The best approach is to select the colour palette that best fits what your brand wants to convey: Red: good for action-oriented products and brands Orange: indicates value and discounts Yellow: attention-grabbing Green: eco-friendly, natural Blue: most commonly used corporate colour, and the most well-liked colour in the world Case Studies: brands that have trademarked colours Studies have shown that people have a strong, immediate reaction to brands they recognise, and as a result are more likely to trust and purchase from them. Some companies have taken the idea that colour increases brand recognition a step further, by claiming specific colours as an integral part of their branding. Tiffany blue, Louboutin red, T-Mobile magenta, and John Deere’s green and yellow colour scheme are all examples of companies that have trademarked colours and used them to such effect that consumers can identify the brand by that colour alone. How to Choose the Right Colours for Your Brand While you don’t need to design or trademark a specific colour for your brand, the above examples highlight how important colour can be when it comes to brand recognition. Here are some tips to help you decide: Look at other logos and branding themes in your industry. Which colours are commonly used? Are there patterns? Do the colours you’ve chosen seem to “fit” with your company and industry? What associations will people make with your colours? Research the cultural associations of your colours to determine what messages you are sending internationally Determine if your branding colours will rely more on shades or tints. Studies on colour perception and preference have shown that women prefer pastels and softer colours, while men prefer more saturated or darker colours. It is worth noting that both prefer blue overall. Decide if you want to use a complementary colour scheme or a contrasting one. Complementary colours are usually perceived as calming and peaceful, while contrasting colours draw attention. Studies on colour combinations found that most consumers prefer palettes composed of similar colours with a strongly contrasting accent colour. According to the article “Psychology of Color,” effective colour coordination can be achieved by “creating a visual structure consisting of base analogous colours and contrasting them with accent complementary (or tertiary) colors.” Case Studies: how contrasting colours can boost engagement Once you have established a colour palette for your branding and website, it is interesting to note that a contrasting colour can be used to great effect to boost engagement. Here are two case studies of companies that showed significant increase in conversions after changing the colour of their Call to Action (CTA) button on their website: A famous test pitted two button colours against each other: green and red. Green was the colour of the website’s branding, and the original colour of their CTA button. However, by simply changing the button colour to red, the website saw an increase in conversion of 21%. Another website put this same test into action, changing their CTA button from green to yellow, which resulted in a 187.4% increase in conversions on their website. These results indicate that it’s not necessarily the specific colour, but rather the contrast that makes the difference. Conclusion When evaluating colour choices, it’s important to be open to new ideas, to experiment and try different things to see what works for your company and your brand. Don’t be afraid to take risks, but consider the messages you want to convey with the colours you choose. While there are no absolutes when it comes to colour psychology, these theories can offer valuable insight into what motivates consumers and influences their perception. Do you need help selecting the best signature colour(s) for your brand? Get in touch with our Managing Partner, Philip Martin, at philip.martin@dma-partners.com to discover how we can help you use colour to maximise your visual impact.

We have dedicated the past 15 years to helping our clients tell brand stories that win the hearts and minds of customers. Over the years, we’ve learnt a thing or two about collaborating from our clients and the ingredients required to create successful, long-term relationships. We wanted to share our learnings to give something back to the business community, as we know that deciding to work with an agency can be a very daunting process - especially when you’re used to doing everything in-house! In this article, we have distilled our learnings into 4 key pearls of wisdom that will help you navigate the world of building a successful partnership with confidence and enthusiasm. With that being said, what works for one partnership may not work for another, so this list is by no means exhaustive or set in stone. Instead, think of it as a starting point, with some helpful principles to follow! 1. A Shared Vision When a client first approaches an agency, they often know which targets they need to achieve, but don’t know the best way to do it. An experienced agency will guide you through the process of unravelling the many different threads that make up your business and help you map out a clear journey for achieving your goals. This is often achieved through a series of ‘onboarding’ sessions, where an agency will ask a series of thought-provoking questions so that together, you can create a shared vision of what success looks like. Reaching a shared vision is profoundly important because if agencies and clients aren’t on the same page from day one, it can lead to issues cropping up at a later stage of the relationship. 2. Pure Chemistry Agencies are made up of people who are specialists in their respective fields, as are businesses. Often when it comes down to a client comparing agencies who have a similar track record, chemistry is what makes one agency stand out from the rest. Not unlike a first-date, chemistry sessions allow you to spot any red flags early on and get a feel for whether or not your relationship is likely to be a good fit for both parties. So what should you look for in terms of chemistry? Similar values - do you share a similar outlook? A cultural fit - do your organisations share a similar working style? Synergistic personalities - do your teams’ personalities complement each other? We believe that the best partnerships arise when an agency becomes an extension of your team and if these elements of chemistry are present, it can make for a much more seamless relationship. 3. Clear Expectations Once you have created a shared vision and established chemistry, it’s important to set clear expectations for both parties. A successful client-agency relationship is built on the premise of an equal partnership with give and take required on both sides. Clear expectations should be set around areas such as: Timelines Resource allocations Deliverables Brand guidelines Budget Response times Scope of work We have found that creating and then sticking to these expectations will allow agencies and clients to maintain an efficient and happy long-term partnership where both sides feel equally valued. 4. Great Communication Last but not least, we firmly believe that great communication is the true secret to success in building and maintaining client-agency relationships. (And not just because we’re a communications agency!) The agency should take on the role of listening to the client’s needs and, as experts in their field, advise them on the best course of action. This requires a truly collaborative approach and therefore, the client should be willing to be open to fresh ideas, new perspectives and often, some healthy debate. Beware the ‘yes man’ agency! Furthermore, once expectations have been set and work begins, transparent communication is what keeps a relationship flowing and growing. Regular contact via calls and email with project managers on both sides is one way to ensure this happens. ---- Are you looking to find the best matching design and communications agency to partner with and take your brand to the next level? Get in touch with our Managing Partner, Philip Martin, at philip.martin@dma-partners.com to discover if we’ve got chemistry!