Have you ever run out of business cards only to search frantically for the last person who printed them? Or have you asked an assistant to create a quick flyer for a new program only to be dissatisfied with the lack of branding? Or do you have a remote team that likes to run rampant with their creative side and now you have 22 versions of your logo, none of which look the same? Then you are not alone. 

All organizations have some sort of branded collateral, whether it be as simple as a business card and letterhead or as full blown as sales materials, marketing flyers, and trade show graphics. Often franchises, companies with multiple locations, organizations with a remote work force and many others begin to lose control over how and when their brand is being represented. When an organization is reactionary towards their marketing assets, a few issues can arise.

Inconsistent branding is among the most common problem when marketing assets are being produced ad hoc. When left to each office, remote employee or random contractor, creation of marketing pieces can be substandard. Often, logos are added at low resolution levels, colors representing the brand are incorrect and messaging can be skewed. A brand left to itself, will begin to dilute and become less recognizable by the consumer. Sloppy and pixelated logos     can lead to poor brand perception and ultimately lose the company money. A study by McKinsey & Company states that a company with a strong and consistent brand outperforms their less branded counterparts by as much as 20%. This same group also reports that consumers who have been presented with a consistent brand across their entire purchasing journey are more likely to trust, purchase and refer. 

Overhead cost increases can also be felt. How many times has your mail room, sample area or a vacant desk been littered with unused marketing flyers? Or how many times have you printed a thousand brochures only to find within a few months, the programs are outdated. The Environmental Protection Agency reports an average office throws away 45% of their paper within one year. With U.S. companies spending nearly $120 billion on printed forms alone, do the math. How much are you throwing away each year? 

Aligning all of your brochures, business cards, sales flyers and marketing materials into one location for print and delivery, allows for brand consistency to remain in your control and costs to be mitigated. If you are starting to think about centralizing your marketing assets, contact Plumb Marketing to learn more about our marketing asset distribution program. After all, a good brand is a bad thing to waste. 

Not sure if your business would be impacted by centralizing all of your marketing assets? Contact us! 

Sources: 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/mckinsey/2013/06/24/why-b-to-b-branding-matters-more-than-you-think/#7d6367ba59dd

https://www.thepaperlessproject.com/facts-about-paper-the-impact-of-consumption/