Brand and Deliver: Montgomery County Public Library MD
March 25th, 2006 by Beth Gallaway“[We think that] marketing is given out keychains and pens – we’ve got to get beyond that.”
Handouts for this session are online at http://www.ivylibrary.com; please contact presenters for the password - http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/content/libraries/index.asp
Montgomery County PL got a grant to work with marketing firm to design a new logo and create taglines:
- Where the County Reads
- Where the County Learns
- Where the County Meets
- Where the County Gets MOR (Montgomery Online Resources)
Added branding to bookmobiles – graphic standards with all publicity to make library PR clearer (flyers, brochures, posters, bookmarks, etc)
Strategic marketing initiatives – includes marketing databases/online resources specifically
Implementation:
- Train staff
- Reformat existing publications
- Respond to staff concerns (in house graphic artists)
- Include marketing initiatives in strategic plan
One Year Later:
- Passion & vision can start something; buy-in is critical
- Ongoing resistance threatens the project
- Have process in place before roll-out
(Note: these three lessons can be applied to any project or idea! Malcolm Gladwell’s The Tipping Point is a great resource for learning how to reach critical mass.)
Next steps:
- More marketing experience & training
- Investigate our library’s marketing strengths
- Add marketeing to strategic plan
- Recognize difference between marketing and merchandising
One board member said “You don’t need a grant, why don’t you just put up a website?” Library response: “Sir we’ve had a website for three years…” obviously, the website wasn’t working.
Goals of Staff Training:
- Background
- Into to new
- Production standards easier & faster
- Staff buy-in key – 15 people cannot change a huge system.
Factors to consider:
- Various skill levels
- Branches dispersed geographically
- Many staff to train
- Timetable for training
- Naysayers
Plan: Make it as easy as possible to eliminate excuses for not participating!
- Small group training/demo
- Training approved for re-certification credit
- Small group of trainers sent to branches
- Training materials online ahead of time – pre assignment (familiarity = more buy-in)
Class Sessions:
- Informal
- Included overview of grant process, library needs and overall goals
- Examples of good/bad flyers
- Walkthrough creation of a flyer
- Evaluate pre-assignment together
- Handouts:
- 10 steps to a fabulous flyer
- Flyer Checklist to match graphic standards
- It’s PHAT! (Program Handout Aid for Templates)
- It’s PHAT! Checklist
- Good/bad flyer examples
Graphic Standards:
- Logo
- One of two design elements
- 80 different graphics/icons
- 9 approved fonts
- 35 different borders
- 8 paper color choices
- Use of other graphics allowed
- All icons & logos black and white so they can be printed on colored paper
- Items available only though intranet
Successes:
- Training model proved efficient
- Ongoing support after the class (a set of questions/prompts beginning with “Are you sitting at a computer with MS Publisher?”
- Visiting branches helped get the word out to the frontline staff
- Staff had hands on opportunities
- Graphics archive an ongoing area of contention
How to Make a Flyer:
- Start with a template (forms, flyer, etc)
- Download publisher template
- Use Publisher & Internet Browser to create form
- Save your flyer with a name you’ll recognize
- Add design elements
- Personalize with your branch
- Choose a border for the upper left corner
- Click download (process easier than browsing MS Publisher clipart)
- Right click and copy
- Go to Flyer
- Right click and paste
- Choose an icon for the upper right corner
(icon options include design element and outline) - Click download
- Right click and copy
- Go to Flyer
- Right click and paste
- Add headline in selected font
- Add body text in selected font
- Select logo
- Type in “housekeeping info”
Time: 10-20 minutes
One attendee suggested looking for partnerships to pay for marketing materials or agencies in the community who are willing to do probono work for the library.
Tags: conferences, PLA, PLA2006
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