Category: Leadership

3 Ways Millennials Are Changing the Way Brands Market

If you want your brand or product to be a success, you should ask the millennials. Millennials are now taking over the market. According to a 2019 report, millennials have surpassed baby boomers as the largest living adult generation living today. That means they comprise a substantial percentage of the consumer market today, and they now have the biggest purchasing power.

Before you make any business move, you should consider this generation’s thoughts and preferences, especially if they are your target audience. To help you out, here are three facts you should know on how millennials are changing the market:

1. They prefer sustainability and recyclability

Millennials are also called the “green generation.” Having a green lifestyle is at the forefront of their choices, and they are said to be the generation most concerned about social and environmental issues.

According to one survey, 73 percent of millennials are willing to pay extra for sustainable products. With them becoming the generation with the most spending power, the consumer demand for sustainability also rises. If you want to take advantage of this opportunity, consider letting your products meet this growing need.

By 2025, the millennial generation will likely represent three-fourths of the workforce in the US. That means their spending habits will become more influential then. Matching their expectations for sustainability and recyclability can give your products a competitive advantage over others.

2. They prefer customization

Anything that validates their sense of self appeals to millennials. With customization and smart use of technology, companies and brands can provide more value and meaning to their consumers.

This generation knows when a company is paying attention to their needs, and because this generation grew up in a society more diverse than preceding generations, it affected the way they perceive consumer goods. They want diverse representation, and they desire customizable features that will give them access to exclusive perks or entertainment.

If you want to break into this market segment, you will need to prove that your product is not for their parents, but for them. They love having the power to control the process or the product or service itself.

3. They love the experience

The millennial generation appreciates the full customer experience. Let us take an Apple store, for example. It is not always that customers will just enter an Apple store, grab what they need, and leave. They want to experience the product, another reason why the store is designed with no traditional cash register in plain sight. Instead, the products are displayed for people to grab and explore.

Brands that can recreate this kind of experience leave a positive impression on this generation. It is one of the reasons they keep coming back for more.

Conclusion

Besides being the generation next in line, millennials are digital-savvy consumers. They love to tell their friends about the products and brands they enjoy and will even convince others to try their recommendations. These are the facts that you should not take for granted. Get to know your target audience well, and everything else will follow.

Do you need help with branding or packaging ideation? We can help. We are your all-in-one solution from ideation and sourcing to quality control and end-to-end delivery. Optamark Graphics is America’s most innovative and disruptive printing company with years of experience, whether for promo products or print products. Connect with us today.

 

9 factors to consider when choosing to own a Franchise

When considering starting a business venture, one may also have to consider owning a franchise as a way of avoiding some disadvantages that accompany starting a business from scratch in the real sense of it. So you need to know the factors to consider when choosing to own a franchise.

There are a lot of advantages to owning a franchise. One attractive reason is that you would be building on an already developed and established, tested, and trusted structure as opposed to starting out your business and struggling to carve a niche for yourself. Brand reputation takes a lot of time, energy, and experience (good and bad) to build. Starting out by owning a franchise means that you are given a head start in your chosen industry.

Another advantage of starting a franchise is that there are so many options in every industry to choose from. You wouldn’t need to stick with a brand that doesn’t suit your every need just because there are no alternatives.

After deciding to own a franchise, the next hurdle to cross is what franchise to choose. Owning a franchise without considering a lot of factors to know if it suits your business goals would mean shooting yourself in the leg in the long run. One thing to note is that franchisors are mandated to file with the relevant Federal and State authorities. To make sure you’re on the right side of the law, remember to always refer to your Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD) for guidance when choosing your franchise.

Below are a list of 9 factors to consider when choosing a franchise:

Finances

You need to make reference to Article 21 of the FDD to look up the financial standing of your potential franchise. Be sure to confer with your accountant too to make sure that the franchise is in a good place financially.

Background checks

You would need to check the history of the franchise to understand where they are coming from and to know if they are a credible and reliable brand to work with. Articles 1, 2 and 3 would provide guidelines on this.

Market Information

Before you decide to own a franchise, you should have credible information on how profitable the market would be in the long run. There is no use starting a franchise on a dwindling market structure.

Restrictions

Serious franchises place certain restrictions to protect their brand identity and ensure brand uniformity across all borders. You should understand these restrictions to know if they suit your business needs and goals.

Royalties

Article 6 of the FDD would come in handy here. There are certain payments you’d make in the form of royalties on a continuous basis, even after you have paid the initial lump sum. Understand how these royalties are calculated, the durations you need to pay them and if the arrangement is something you can conveniently work with.

Royalties

Article 6 of the FDD would come in handy here. There are certain payments you’d make in the form of royalties on a continuous basis, even after you have paid the initial lump sum. Understand how these royalties are calculated, the durations you need to pay them and if the arrangement is something you can conveniently work with.

Support Structure

Does the franchise have the right structure to provide support for your business whenever you encounter problems? How willing are they to help you through crisis situations? You should consider these.

Investment

How much can you invest in the franchise and how much is required for you to invest? Consider these to know your financial standing after you purchase the franchise.

Direction

Look at your interest, needs and abilities and see if the chosen franchise would align with what you want for yourself in the future. Is that particular franchise something you would find fulfillment from in the future?

Territory

Article 12 of the FDD would help you with information as to what territories your franchise would thrive in.

Take advantage of the opportunity Optamark gives to own a franchise that is well-founded, has a reliable market structure and is ready to support you all the way from start to finish.

Printing, marketing and signage: The three pillars of a business

There are many pillars of business success chief among which are printing, marketing and signage. They can be regarded as the 3-in-1 business success factor because they are interrelated and work together to ensure that businesses thrive and achieve the goals for which they were set.

Optamark understands the importance of these 3 factors in business growth and development and as they have done for years, continue to strive to ensure that quality printing, marketing, and signage projects are not only accessible to large, medium and small-scale business but are also delivered in time. At Optamark, we are in the business of providing quality printing, marketing, and signage services to ensure that your brand gets the needed visibility.

What’s more, to enhance your experience with us and to make our services more conveniently available to you, we have launched our online portal to your advantage.

The Optamark Portal…

Our Optamark portal links you directly to Optamark graphics services, with personalized features that help you gain access to our various services. On the portal, you can easily request for any of our printing services and other various marketing materials of your choice.

The portal is so user-friendly that it gives the same effect as though you were speaking directly to one of our seasoned customer care agents. Its self-explanatory structure ensures that you never have to get hooked or at sea at what the next step to take is.

All you need to do is login into the secured portal, state your needs, and watch us do the best we can to ensure your maximum satisfaction.

We bring your printing ideas to life…

Our portal/online printing functions is a convenient way to print out your great designs without any hassle and in as little time as possible.

To print, you just need to log in your details on the Optamark portal, upload the file you wish to print, and then submit it to the nearest Optamark graphics center. We would take up the process from there.

After vetting it and ensuring that it is perfect for printing, we immediately take it for printing, and shortly thereafter, you would have your fresh, well – printed materials in your hands. This is by far, a stress-free, time-saving and cost-effective means of printing when compared to traditional printing processes.

We enhance your marketing experience…

We all know how difficult and time-consuming the traditional marketing process is. Optamark comes in to simplify the process for you. When you need to host business campaigns or whatever type of marketing activity you want to engage in and you’re looking for a fast, reliable and cost-effective way of having your marketing delivered to you on time, look to the Optamark portal.

With just a click to order on our portal, you would have your quality marketing materials delivered to you in the speed of light.

Improving your signage…

Signages, no matter where they are placed or seen tell a lot about your brand. They tell your brand story. It is up to you to determine what idea prospective clients have to tell about your brand when they see your signage.

With Optamark online portal, you can plan, design, and execute your signage ideas from start to finish. You are also afforded the opportunity of consulting with our experienced graphics specialists whenever you need to.

Redefine business success; work with us…

As you already know, printing, marketing, and signage are a 3-in-1 factor to ensuring business growth. To excel in this area, you need to work with an experienced graphics brand like Optamark to bring your business goals to reality.

Increase your Customer Base through Employee and Brand Culture

Mr. TED Talk, Simon Sinek, author of Start with Why.: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action once implied that your culture is your brand. And we say that no truer words have been spoken especially as it relates to the business world. In other words to Increase your Customer Base through Employee and Brand Culture. following is the idea.

Your brand culture (as reflected by your employees) is simply the values and knowledge that is shared by your employees. There are so many factors that are responsible for rapid business growth – employee culture remains among the top 5. It’s basically a factor you simply can’t ignore if you want your business to not just survive but thrive.

Employees carry in their hands, the power to make or mar your brand. This is why every prudent business brand ensure that they invest in employee communication and in nurturing a good working relationship with the employees. By doing this, you can easily develop your brand culture and ensure that your employees absorb it for the growth and development of your brand.

How you can achieve

Rob Gray, a formidable business writer, and consultant once discussed. How important it is for brands to invest in their relationships with their employees and customers. According to him, “Businesses exist to make money. But in order for a company to turn a profit, its employees must be clear as to what is being asked of them. And motivated to work in the right way to achieve those objectives.” Gray says this can be achieved by giving your employees a sense of purpose and promoting certain values that help your employees grow personally and impact the business positively.

Again, the brand should establish easy-to-understand core values that reflect the characters of the brand. And tells everyone what the brand stands for, how they operate their business, and what they expect from everyone they intend to work with. For example, at Optamark Franchise, their core values are seen to be transparency, trustworthiness, respect, and passion.

Like Optamark, the core values shouldn’t just be written for people to see. It should be obvious to everyone, even strangers, the first time they walk into the brand’s office environment.

Here are 4 ways to bring value to your brand:

  • First, create the leadership values that you wish to grow into your brand culture
  • Constantly communicate and re-establish these values until they stick
  • Commit to the values yourself – lead by example
  • Enforce penalties and disciplinary actions against defaulters

In all these, it is important that we emphasize the importance of communication in achieving a positive brand culture. Communication should not be by words alone but by actions too. By doing this, you’re creating a culture of positivity and passion for your employees to work with and for your business to thrive. Hence, you can increase your customer base through employee and brand culture

The benefits of franchising with Optamark.

As a leading brand in graphic communication and marketing, Optamark offers you and your brand the best services. With more than 40 years’ experience in the industry, and with a reestablished brand structure, Optamark is the “go-to” for anything related to graphics communication and marketing.

Franchising with Optamark means that you are partnering with an industry leader with relevant industry experience and an unbeatable track record in performance and profit-making. Optamark leads to visual communication and marketing. Their stability and reliability over the years have endeared them to the hearts of their teeming customer base that spans over 600 locations, cutting across North America and the UK. To know more about franchising with Optamark, simply fill out the form.

Why the New Year is the perfect time for remodeling your business brand

It’s 2020 already and you’re probably working towards your New Year resolutions. Resolutions help you restructure your life and change your life’s trajectory. You can do that with your business too. You can take advantage of the unlimited possibilities the New Year has in store for you to remodel or rebrand your business so that it fits with your current goals. Let us tell you how you can remodel your business brand in these easy steps.

Rebranding your business affords you the opportunity to stay ahead of your competitors, helps you to reflect the changing goals, values, vision, etc. you may have for your brand, helps you stay innovative and up to date with current trends and helps your target audience find a connection with your brand. All you may need to push your business to the next level in 2020 is a rebranding and restructuring process.

When you have finally made the decision to step out of your comfort zone to rebrand your business, here are some things you need to take note of for the prices to go on smoothly and remodel your business brand:

No half-baked job

Don’t fall into the trap that a lot of business owners make when they say they’re rebranding–changing the logo or color scheme and that’s all. Rebranding your business is a whole process and changing logos is just a small aspect of it.

To effectively achieve the aim of rebranding, you have to go the distance. It starts with knowing why you want to rebrand and making sure that those reasons are reflected in every single facet of the rebranding process. Let your employees, partners and clients know what to expect and what changes will come with the process. Be careful with your choice of words, especially when drawing up things like your new motto, etc. Working with a marketing team like Optamark Print and Promotional can help alleviate some stress during the rebranding process.

Have your rebranded materials ready to meet up with your deadline

Whether you are a small business, a startup, or a large business, early in the year is the perfect time to execute your rebranding plans and to set you on the go. It helps to take advantage of the fresh start a new year provides. Rebranding processes may be more complex for large businesses than it is for small businesses and you may need to elongate your rebranding timeline to accommodate.

If you’re rebranding for a large business, it’s okay to roll over plans to the mid-year, using the early part of the year as a time to kickstart planning.
If you want to start your rebranding process but you have, it’s best you talk to Optamark Print and Promotional, the best team in the design and marketing game.

Optamark Print and Promotional have experienced consultants and advisors who will guide you through the process of rebranding your business.