Blue Kite

09/17/2024

What do people say about you when you’re not in the room?

That’s your brand.

Laura recently sat down with , host of SCORE Connect on , to unpack what it really means to build a brand.

At its core, a brand is simply the impression you leave behind.

Occasionally, we branding enthusiasts can make it sound like “inside baseball” when we get talking about positioning, differentiators, and value propositions.

But it really comes down to identifying the key things that make you memorable (we like to focus on three), then finding the right words and visuals to express them.

Watch the interview if you want to hear exactly HOW we do that at Blue Kite, everything from messaging to measurement. The link is in our profile!

And we’d love to hear: What impression do you want your brand to make?

10/11/2023

When our friend Steve Woodruff came to us to help refresh his brand, we were honored. After all, he's penned two books on communication!

Steve embraced our Blue Kite approach to refining his brand narrative. We delved deep into what makes him unique, and the outcome was clear & compelling messaging to truly represent how Steve helps his clients win. 💙

Check out the clever visual brand our talented partners at Fifo Agency dreamed up. Is it a monogram? A 1st prize ribbon? A bookmark? An apex? You decide! And we're just obsessed with how the various patterns convey our client's playful confidence.

Head over to stevewoodruff.com to see it all in action and learn more about Steve's work.

Steve, thank you for trusting us to help your brand soar! 🪁

06/21/2023

Want to go viral? 🔥

You’re not alone.

As a marketing industry veterans, this is a request we have heard often.

Everyone believes if they were just able to get promoted by the right influencer or media outlet, they would be on the fast-track to success.

And while it’s natural to want this, it’s not always the right goal.

The tricky thing is that going viral or getting a high-profile media placement doesn’t always garner the results we want.

After all, most businesses want one more of one thing — SALES.

And while mass media attention can help make that happen, it’s not always the case.

Today on the blog, we talk about three big problems with chasing brand awareness and mass media attention.

Plus, I share a simple formula for what to focus on instead.

Check it out here:

Every business wants more brand awareness. But here are three reasons why chasing brand awareness is not helpful (and what to focus on instead).

04/19/2023

If you’re thinking about rebranding, take a page from our client Elsie's book. 📘✨

1️⃣ Start strong with strategy. For Elsie, it's all about personal connections in virtual learning. In partnership with Approach Marketing we helped them turn this insight into their mission: “make virtual learning more human.”

2️⃣ Choose the right name. Elsie's new name embodies their people-first approach, and their mascot "El" just further personifies their brand’s story. Shout out to Honey Creative for bringing this vision to life!

3️⃣ Bring in your team. Elsie treated their employees to surprise swag boxes and a virtual launch party. 🎁 This enthusiasm spilled over to the external launch, creating a united front for the new brand identity.

Check out the full Elsie story on our blog for more insights and inspiration 👇

Check out our latest client project, the rebranding of VLC to Elsie! See details of our full brand strategy, naming and design process.

04/12/2023

Take a look at our latest rebrand success story! 🌟

We worked with some pretty talented partners to transform VLC, a global virtual training production company, into a new brand. Say hello to the new face of people-powered learning, Elsie🎉

Elsie was born from our signature Blue Kite brand strategy method. We helped our client find the perfect name that captures their human-centered learning mission & embraces their people-focused vision. 🤝 Head over to their just-launched website elsie.co to learn more about their amazing work.

We can't get enough of the playful little details in Elsie’s reimagined look. Check out how the "i" in the type looks like a book on its side, representing the learning aspect of what they do! 📚

Our awesome partners:

Marketing/PR: Approach Marketing
Design: Honey Creative
Web Development: New Wave Creative
Copywriting: woodenwrites

04/05/2023

There's someone we'd like you to meet...

Meet Danielle Ali, our new brand strategist!

However, Danielle isn't necessarily "new" to Blue Kite . She's worked with our clients on and off for years. But starting this year, she joined our team as a brand strategist and we couldn't be happier!

Danielle brings creativity, curiosity and fresh ideas to the team — all things you want in a strategist. And our clients definitely benefit. Just ask anyone who has worked with us in the past several months.

So, welcome (officially), Danielle! We couldn't be happier to have you on the team! 🪁 💙

05/27/2021

Since day one of starting Blue Kite, this has been my non-negotiable for clients:

We only work with people we enjoy and organizations we believe in.

Why?

Because life is too short to do work you hate with people you don’t enjoy being around.

But more importantly, our work product will always be much better when we genuinely care about our clients and what they stand for as a business. We’re willing to go the extra mile because we want to get it right and help them achieve their goals.

All of that makes for a better client experience too.

Not only do they get great results this way, but they are far more likely to have fun and enjoy the process of working with us.

That’s why we don’t say yes to everyone who comes our way. We want to make sure it’s a good fit––for both of us.

There are other things that factor into client fit as well (such as mindset, the type of work you need, budget, timeline, etc.). But ultimately, we must be excited about you and your organization to work with us.

What about you? What are your non-negotiables as a business?

05/25/2021

"We specialize in all kinds of tattoos." 🤔⁠
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That was the headline I saw on an ad for a local tattoo parlor a few years back.⁠
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Although I wasn't in the market for a tattoo, the ad told me NOTHING about what make this tattoo artist different from the rest or why I should choose them.⁠
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Essentially, when you say you do everything well, your audience will remember you for nothing.⁠
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That's why it's important to find ways to stand out from your competition. ⁠
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I'll admit this can be tough to do and can feel really uncomfortable. After all, we've spent a good part of our lives conditioned to find ways to fit in.⁠
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But if you want your business to get noticed and ultimately gain more customers, you need to differentiate.⁠
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Not sure how to do that? ⁠
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I've got 10 ideas to help right here: https://flybluekite.com/how-to-stand-out-from-competitors/
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I hope this helps you find ways to soar above the competition!⁠

05/21/2021

I can't tell you how many times I've heard this from clients ....⁠
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"I don't want my picture on the website or social media."⁠
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For many people, it can feel strange or awkward to share photos of ourselves on business social media accounts. Or, to put our faces on our company website.⁠
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But here's the thing... ⁠
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No matter what industry you're in, you are in the people business.⁠
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Because people do business with people.⁠
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That's why it's important to share your picture, your story, your interests, your opinion.⁠
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All of those things make up who you are and help people get to know you better. After all, don't you want to do business with someone you know or might like to know better?⁠
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I know I would.⁠
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Every time we encourage our clients to do this, they get more engagement on that content than anything else they do.⁠
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It seems scary at first, but I promise it pays off.⁠
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So, here's my challenge to you - can you share a photo of you or someone on your team this coming week? How can you let people know a little more about who you are?⁠
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I hope you'll give it a try! I can't wait to hear what comes of this for you.⁠

05/12/2021

Do you know what makes your business stand out from competitors?⁠
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If you don’t, you’re not alone.⁠
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It’s one of the things business leaders struggle with the most. ⁠
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Defining your competitive advantage––what makes your organization special or unique––can be challenging to do.⁠
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That’s why we created a simple quiz to help. ✅⁠
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It’s just seven questions and it will help you discover how to differentiate your business so you can soar above the competition. ⁠
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And more importantly, start attracting more of your dream customers.💙⁠
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Ready to take the quiz?⁠
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Grab it here: https://flybluekite.com/competitive-advantage

04/28/2021

How do you tell a story that stands out?⁠
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That's what I helped the members of the Nashville Birth Collective answer in my workshop with them last week.⁠
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When done right, your story can help you attract more of your dream customers and clients. ✨⁠
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So, how do you do that? ⁠
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There are several ways, but the big "aha" moment for many of the participants was this––make your customer the hero of your story. ⁠
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Instead of touting all of the things you offer, put the focus on how you can help the customer win. 🏆⁠
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Not only will that help you capture attention, but it also helps you create connection with your audience. 💙⁠
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Watch this clip for some of the highlights from the workshop. ⁠
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Want a workshop like this for your business or group? Hit me up in the DMs and let's talk about it.

04/20/2021

3 TIPS SOLVE A COMMON BRANDING PROBLEM

Let’s talk about brand consistency.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve worked with a client to discover they have 50 different versions of their logo being used across their company.

Someone decides to change the color “just this once” to make it work for a flyer.

Another employee creates their own version of an email signature to include their favorite quote.

Taglines get removed or changed.

The sizing gets stretched or pulled to fit.

Or sometimes, people are STILL using a version from several years ago.

This is a problem because it means your branding isn’t consistent. And consistency is key when marketing your business.

After all, if your logo looks different everywhere your business shows up, how are people supposed to remember who you are?

So, what do you do about it?

Here are a few quick tips:

1. Establish brand guidelines.

Brand guidelines will help your team use the right colors, fonts and versions of your logo. And if you don’t have brand guidelines, add this to your to-do list.

2. Ditch the misfits. If you’re using a shared drive for your logos, eliminate all the modified versions so everyone on your team is using the approved branding.

3. Check for consistency. Look at all of the places your logo shows up (both online and off) and make sure you are using the right version.

Want some help with this? Grab our handy brand implementation checklist to make sure your brand is consistent everywhere your business shows up. 💙

Download it here: https://flybluekite.com/brand-implementation-checklist