Allegra | Integrated Marketing & Print Solutions

Celebrating the Independent Spirit of Arizona

Posted on February 14, 2012 by allegraaz

Today is a day of celebration. Not only is it Valentine’s Day, it is also Arizona’s 100^th birthday. So take a look around you…what do you love about Arizona?

Take a moment and jot down five things that you really really love about Arizona. Is it the glorious weather? The gritty determination of Arizona’s founding families? Is it the smorgasbord of cultures? The fiercely independent spirit of the people? Or perhaps the hundreds of square miles of national parklands? There is much to appreciate here…and investing some time in looking at what is good and right about the state is time well spent.

Now take a look around your business or organization and perform the same exercise – jot down five things that you really really love about your company. (If you can’t do this, you need to change either your outlook or your job.) Is it the value you bring to your clients? Your coworkers? The way you feel when you tell strangers what you do? Next, think about strengths. What does your organization do really well? How about your teammates? What do they do well? When was the last time you told a teammate how much you admire and appreciate his/her talents?

According to Marcus Buckingham, author of First Break All the Rules, the best managers share one talent – the ability to find, and then capitalize upon, their employees’ unique traits. Buckingham writes “Great managers know they don’t have 10 salespeople working for them. They know they have 10 individuals working for them …. A great manager is brilliant at spotting the unique differences that separate each person and then capitalizing on them.”

So be sure to take a look around…and take a moment to appreciate, celebrate and acknowledge the independent spirit of a unique state and its people…and the love that ties us all together.

Today is a day of celebration. Not only is it Valentine’s Day, it is also Arizona’s 100^th birthday. So take a look around you…what do you love about Arizona?

Take a moment and jot down five things that you really really love about Arizona. Is it the glorious weather? The gritty determination of Arizona’s founding families? Is it the smorgasbord of cultures? The fiercely independent spirit of the people? Or perhaps the hundreds of square miles of national parklands? Look around…there is much to appreciate here…and investing some time in looking at what is good and right about the state is time well spent.

Now take a look around your business or organization and perform the same exercise – jot down five things that you really really love about your company. (If you can’t do this, you need to change either your outlook or your job.) Is it the value you bring to your clients? Your coworkers? The way you feel when you tell strangers what you do? Next, think about strengths. What does your organization do really well? How about your teammates? What do they do well? When was the last time you told a teammate how much you admire/appreciate her talents?

According to Marcus Buckingham, author of First Break All the Rules, the best managers share one talent – the ability to find, and then capitalize upon, their employees’ unique traits. Buckingham writes “Great managers know they don’t have 10 salespeople working for them. They know they have 10 individuals working for them …. A great manager is brilliant at spotting the unique differences that separate each person and then capitalizing on them.”

Today is a day of celebration…a day to celebrate and acknowledge the independent spirit of a state and its people…and the love that ties us all together.

Posted in Arizona, innovation, leadership, marketing | Leave a comment

If Your Brand was an Automobile, What Would it Be?

Posted on February 3, 2012 by allegraaz

Here’s a great branding exercise for you…

If your organization’s brand was an automobile, what would it be? A Jeep Cherokee? A Mercedes-Benz E-Class? A Cooper Mini?

Why? Here are some adjectives to get you thinking: affordable, green, reliable, high tech, throwback, sporty, glamorous, tough, friendly, youthful, fun, traditional, edgy, economical, spirited.

Does the auto you chose represent your brand as it is today… or your vision for your brand?

Now let’s look at the question from your clients’ point of view. If I asked your clients to describe your organization as an automobile, would they select the same one you did? Or is there a disconnect?

Finally, how do your clients see you in your brand?

Be honest… do you even know?

Posted in brand identity, marketing | Tagged brand identity, brand quiz, branding, marketing brand | Leave a comment

Measure Once, Cuss Twice

Posted on January 27, 2012 by allegraaz

My father was a carpenter. For dad, the maxim “measure twice, cut once” wasn’t an old saw, it was the blade of truth by which his business succeeded or failed. (He had an alternate version of the expression…measure once, cuss twice…but I digress.)

I think this expression applies aptly to marketing as well. Before cutting any project loose on the masses, it is critical to:

understand the scope of the campaign
clearly define its length and breadth
visualize what the finished project should look like

At the end of the day, craftsmanship is all about skilled execution of a good plan. Sounds like marketing.

Posted in marketing | Leave a comment

Think SEO Doesn’t Matter? Think Again

Posted on January 11, 2012 by allegraaz

Did you know that three out of four people never scroll past the first page of search results?

Think about your own search behaviors – are you part of the 75% that starts a new search rather than look at what’s on page 2? I know I am.

And how do your web pages stack up? If the answer is “not so hot” you may want to read up on the 21 Essential SEO Tips & Techniques by Matt McGee at Search Engine Land.

Posted in SEO, marketing, online marketing | Tagged marketing, online marketing, SEO | Leave a comment

What’s the Buzz Around Your Organization?

Posted on January 6, 2012 by allegraaz

With all the marketing messages individuals are exposed to in our tech-savvy world, choosing the right channels to reach them is only one challenge a marketer faces. Another is having trustworthy messages that motivate someone to act.

Consider the following:

9 out of 10 people trust the recommendation of a friend, while only 1 in 4 trust traditional advertising.*
54% of U. S. adults identified word-of-mouth as their most important influence of purchasing decisions.**
76% of all economic activity in the U.S. is influenced by personal recommendations.***
Only 18% of businesses have a referral program in place.***

*Forrester Research **Digital Marketer Report ***eMarketer

Posted in Multi-Channel Marketing, marketing | Tagged marketing buzz, referrals | Leave a comment

Auld Lang Marketing Plan

Posted on December 30, 2011 by allegraaz

With New Year’s Day rapidly approaching, I am a-tizzy thinking about how to become smarter-kinder-thinner-richer-neater-better. Given the fact that I have resolved to become smarter-kinder-thinner-richer-neater-better EVERY year since the Carter administration, you’d think I’d be pretty darn close to perfect by now.

Alas. My personal report card still has a big fat checkmark in the “Needs Improvement” box.

But then I got to thinking about the words “resolution” and “resolve.” If you break the words apart, you get “re-solution” and “re-solve.” Hmmm. Re-solution. The answer to the problem…again. Re-solve. To solve again.

This suggests I’ve already addressed the problem once. Which means I already KNOW what I need to do; I just need to DO it. Nothing magical… I just need to make a resolution and then stick to it, end of story, right?

Um, no. According to the experts, to make a resolution stick, you need the following:

A plan for success with actionable steps and concrete milestones.
Resources, like a coach, or a support system, or tools, or information.
Commitment to the goal.

Oh dear. This is starting to sound like a marketing plan.

You may have resolved to aggressively market your business in 2012. Are you ready to launch? Have you finalized your marketing plan, allocated the appropriate resources, and enlisted the support of your team? Yes? No? Sort of? No matter where you are in the process, if you need assistance, just give us a shout – we’re here to help.

From all of us at Allegra, we wish you a prosperous New Year! Cheers!

Posted in marketing, marketing budget and planning | Tagged marketing plan, new years, resolution | Leave a comment

FootPRINTS on the Sands of Arizona

Posted on December 22, 2011 by allegraaz

We have some exciting news to share with you this week! Allegra Scottsdale has awarded $15,000 in marketing and print services to twenty Arizona nonprofit organizations through our FootPRINT fund!

Designed to assist Arizona nonprofits “leave a lasting footprint” in the community, Allegra’s FootPRINT fund supports local nonprofits by providing marketing strategy and materials. Click here for the full press release and list of recipients.

The FootPRINT fund project has been a rich and rewarding experience for Team Allegra. We have met many new friends who work tirelessly to make the world a better place. We have also had some thoughtful discussions internally about how each of us can live a life of meaning while creating a legacy (our footprints!) for the future.

One of the phrases that kept popping up was “footprints on the sands of time.” Curious about the origin of the phrase, we did a bit of research and would like to share our findings with you here.

The line is actually part of the poem A Psalm of Life written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. The poem is a strong call to live life to its fullest and, in so doing, find your own inner hero.

Lives of great men remind us

We can make our lives sublime,

And, departing, leave behind us

Footprints on the sands of time.

The next stanza speaks to the importance of creating a personal legacy as a means to help others:

Footprints, that perhaps another,

Sailing o’er life’s solemn main

A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,

Seeing, shall take heart again.

And finally, Longfellow ends with a strong call to action:

Let us then, be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate;
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labor, and to wait.

That final call to action – to be up and doing…to be willing to work hard…to be persistent…to be patient for the results – truly resonates, does it not? It also serves as a great message of inspiration as we work together for social profit in 2012.

We have some exciting news to share with you this week! Allegra Scottsdale has awarded $15,000 in marketing and print services to twenty Arizona nonprofit organizations through our FootPRINT fund! Designed to assist Arizona nonprofits “leave a lasting footprint” in the community, Allegra’s FootPRINT fund supports local nonprofits by providing marketing strategy and materials. Click here for the full press release here and list of recipients. [Link: www.allegraaz.com/footprint]

The FootPRINT fund project has been a rich and rewarding experience for Team Allegra. We have met many new friends who work tirelessly to make the world a better place. We have also had some thoughtful discussions internally about how each of us can live a life of meaning while creating a legacy (FootPRINTS!) for the future.

One of the phrases that kept popping up was “footprints on the sands of time.” Curious about the origin of the phrase, we did a bit of research and would like to share our findings with you here.

The line is actually part of the poem A Psalm of Life [Link: http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/16614 ] written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. The poem is a strong call to live life to its fullest and in so doing find your own “inner hero.”

Lives of great men remind us
We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time.

We were especially struck by how the final stanzas spoke to the importance of creating a personal legacy as a means to help others:

Footprints, that perhaps another,
Sailing o’er life’s solemn main
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,
Seeing, shall take heart again.

And finally, Longfellow ends with a strong call to action:

Let us then, be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate;
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labor, and to wait.

That final call to action…to be up and doing…to be willing to work hard…to be persistent…to be patient for the results – truly resonates, does it not? It also serves as a great message of inspiration as we work together for social profit in 2012.

Posted in FootPRINT, FootPRINT Fund, marketing, nonprofit, social profit | Tagged FootPRINT, FootPRINT Fund, nonprofit, social profit | Leave a comment

QR Codes: How-To For Beginners

Posted on December 14, 2011 by allegraaz

QR Code

So you just upgraded your old reliable clamshell phone for a fancy-dancy new smartphone. Congratulations! You can now interact with all the QR Codes that are popping up everywhere. QR Codes are easy and fun to use. Just follow these instructions and you’ll be hyperlinking from the off-line world to the on-line world in no time!

1. You must have a web-enabled smart phone and a barcode reader app.

2. If you do not have a barcode reader, go to your phone’s app store and search for “QR readers.” Depending on your phone, there are a number of options. Look for the star ratings and read the reviews to decide which version to download. (We like i-nigma and ScanLife.)

3. Open the app and point your phone at the QR Code as if you are taking a picture.

4. The scanning software will decode the QR Code and redirect your phone’s mobile browser to the web. That’s it! Enjoy!

Posted in QR Codes, marketing | Tagged beginner qr code, easy qr code, how to qr code | Leave a comment

Annual Baby Diaper Drive Kicks Off December 1

Posted on December 1, 2011 by allegraaz

Today marks the official start of the 13th Annual Baby Diaper Drive founded by our very own Eileen Rogers. This year the goal is 100,000 diapers AND $75,000 emergency baby funds. Team Allegra is very excited about this annual event and looks forward to supporting Eileen in this very worthwhile cause.

Wondering how the Diaper Drive started? Snuggle up to your screen and read on…

Eileen joined the board at Homeward Bound in 1997 and learned a lot about family needs. She didn’t know diapers, shampoo, wipes, and other paper products couldn’t be purchased with food stamps. She learned how expensive formula was, and heard stories about moms who were going without food so they could purchase these various items for their babies. She understood that simple, basic items, like diapers and baby wipes, could make a huge difference in the lives of Homeward Bound families.

Inspired by how hard these moms were working for a better life, Eileen was moved to help…and the first Baby Diaper Drive was born! Her company (that’s us, Allegra Scottsdale!) started the first diaper drive as a staff holiday project, and we’ve been encouraging customers, vendors, neighbors, school children and friends to get involved ever since!

The drive began with diapers, wipes and formula, and has grown to include a cash Emergency Baby Fund that now helps families at Homeward Bound all year long. Allegra continues to facilitate the Baby Diaper Drive by recruiting community partners, and assisting other groups and businesses to host their own drives.

Posted in marketing | Tagged diaper drive, eileen rogers, philanthropy | Leave a comment

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