Catholic Advertising Conversations

Sound is most commonly used when advertising over radio (obviously) or some sort of music streaming service. This makes absolute sense, as those types of media are entirely reliant on sound. I am writing this post today to discuss my opinions on the use of sound in some of its forms. Sound is clearly a very broadly defined word. I can be talking about music, voices or even - if you ascribe to the same philosophy as Simon and Garfunkel - the complete absence of sound; silence. I actually want to start with silence. Silence can be extremely impactful, drawing your attention to the visuals in order to compensate for the lack of noise. When done correctly, this can ad a true sense of gravity to a moment. In the context of advertising, silence can be an excellent tool when seeking to grab attention. People have a tendency to lose attention during commercial breaks on television, and so a very sudden shift, from music and voices to utter silence, can have quite an affect, causing the viewe...

If you're a business, it is important to have a brand. Your brand is who you are. It is an amalgamation of your words, your actions and how you are seen. Your brand also conveys your personality. Think of some businesses that have a lot of personality, such as Wendy's or Nike. Each of these brands has a very strong sense of self. You could probably watch a commercial for Nike, minus the name and logo, and still be able to identify it as a Nike ad. That is a sign of success. That instant recognition means that your branding has been effective. How do I make my branding effective? Well, one of the most important things is consistency. By being consistent, you begin to build a concentrated image. This image provides stability, recognition and verification. Without consistency in branding, an organization runs the risk of appearing shallow or fake. This can be the result of a brand who is inconsistent with its advertising or with its own positioning. Imagine if Hallmark suddenl...

So a few days ago I talked about how the use of color can affect the impact generated by your ad. In that post, I teased the fact that I would be writing a post about what different colors mean to consumers. This is that post. First up, we have the color purple. Purple symbolizes things such as wealth, royalty, wisdom, power and magic. Take a look at these two pictures. The top image shows Asprey, a brand which sells, among other things, a citrus fragrance called Purple Water. This use of color, both in the graphic and in the name, denotes a sense of luxury and prestige to the brand. The second example here is Hallmark, a brand primarily known for cards, religious themed gifts and heartwarming films that my wife loves to binge-watch. Hallmark doubles down on the royalty imagery with the combination of its purple color-scheme with its distinctive crown logo. This also supports the embracing of the magic of the holiday seasons which Hallmark definitely capitalizes on. Wha...

When working on a plan to advertise, one of the bigger decisions you may have to make revolves around whether or not to use color. It is, of course, possible that budget limitations may prohibit you from using color at all, or that you may have such an excess of funding that the extra cost associated with color printing is a non-issue.  But let's say you land somewhere in the middle. You have the money, but maybe not a huge cushion in the budget. How can you justify paying the additional charge that so often comes with using color? One of the primary advantages of color is that it makes your ad pop. On a page of black and white images and print, it is easy to simply scan over yet another grey-scale graphic. Color, even on a page surrounded by other color ads, gives your ad the chance to truly stand out. This is not to say that black and white ads can't have a similar effect, but it is more difficult to guarantee that the ad will be noticed. The other reason why color is s...

So I've been running this blog for a little while now, and while its not the first blog I've written (I've had at least 3 or 4 in the past), it is likely the one that I've put the most work into. One thing I like about Blogger is the fact that I can check the stats. With the click of a button, I can see the number of views on posts, the time they were viewed and even the country from which they were viewed. Unsurprisingly, the largest concentration of views come from within the United States, but I also have, much to my surprise, quite a few readers in Germany as well. This ability to get a sense for who my readers are has led me to wonder: What do you all want to know? This is not a hypothetical question either. I genuinely want to hear from you.  In the top right corner of your screen is a little drop-down menu where, should you click on it, you can send me a message. You can also comment on the individual posts as well. I welcome any and all correspondence, ...

What is a SWOT analysis? A SWOT analysis is an in-depth look at a business's Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. Each of these is equally important. Obviously, it is important to figure out your strengths, but why your weaknesses? Weaknesses are areas where you could stand to improve. One weakness may be that your social media is not up to par, or that your store is too far out of town. Some of these are easy fixes, and some are more difficult. Opportunities are things that have to possibility of becoming strengths. One such opportunity could be a prime location, or even a large under-utilized twitter following. Opportunities are important to note, as they may become the base upon which you build your strategy. Threats are anything that threatens your business. Most often this list is mainly composed of competitors, both direct and indirect. However, I have learned that one thing which should always be on a list of threats is apathy. Apathy is the number one thre...

Doubling up on the posts today, but for a very good reason. Something big just happened in my life, and I think it is something worth sharing with you. On September 6th, I got married. This is a very large change, one which will take a little bit of getting used to. Big changes are something we all must face, and though change is naturally intimidating, it is often a good thing. In my particular case, this is a much welcomed change -- one which was the result of much planning and though. However, often times big changes aren't the result of planning. Changes happen, and we must adapt to them. Regardless of whether or not the changes in your life are planned, I will argue that change is good. Change allows for growth. Change allows for experience. Change forces us from our comfort zones and pushes into the current of life. Change keeps life interesting, preventing us from settling into a rut of stagnation which leaves us unproductive and unfulfilled. I encourage you to always emb...

So, you're sitting there with your phone, ready to call up the advertising representative at your favorite publication, The Catholic Globe,  and tell us you would like to start advertising. That's great. But before you pick up the phone, there are a few questions to ask yourself. Am I happy with my current level of business? The fact that you are looking to advertise already answers this question. While you may not be discouraged by your current level of business, you are not content. Why do you want to advertise? Of course the end goal of advertising is to make more money, but that's not what this question deals with. Why do you want to advertise? Do you want more customers? Do your current customers to shop more? Are you running a limited time deal? These, along with many more, are all reasons why people advertise. Who is your current customer base? Drawing in new customers is important, but it is also important to keep hold of your established patrons. I...