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After providing marketing and rebranding assistance to numerous companies, we’ve gained a deep understanding of the process. However, rebranding a franchise comes with its own unique set of challenges. In this blog, we’ll discuss some of these challenges, how we approach finding solutions, and offer some tips for rebranding a franchise – let’s get started! Maintaining Consistency The first challenge of rebranding several franchise locations is maintaining consistency. Since you may be working with multiple franchisee owners, they may have differing opinions on how to go about the rebrand. However, to ensure an effective and recognizable rebranding, it is essential to maintain consistency across all locations. The best way to combat this challenge is to ensure that you have clear and concrete brand guidelines in place with the franchisor, which are communicated to all parties involved. This way, you have a standardized plan to work with, and no one feels left out of the conversation.   Cost and Timeline The next challenge is dealing with the cost and timeline of rebranding franchise locations. It can feel overwhelming when considering the scope of a franchise rebrand. However, in the long run, a successful rebrand will ultimately offset the costs. The most important thing to remember here is to lay out a clear and realistic budget and timeline for the project. Without a plan like this in place, it may feel like you’ll never reach the end. Planning for a phased rollout and understanding the costs and time required for each location will help you celebrate the successes and feel less overwhelmed!   Customer Confusion Any rebrand comes with the challenge of customer confusion. Especially with franchised locations, customers may grow attached to the way their location looks and feels. This can make changing these locations feel worrisome. On the other hand, a well-thought-out rebrand makes these changes for the overall brand strategy and market positioning. Overall, these advantages will outweigh any sacrifices that individual locations may have to make. Once again, the best way to avoid customer confusion throughout the process is a phased rollout and clear communication. When rebranding a location, consider running a targeted campaign in that area or to loyal customers to inform them of the changes while reaffirming your brand’s continued quality and service. You could also put up posters in stores before the rebrand to let customers know what to expect!   Maintaining Brand Equity The final challenge of a franchise rebrand is maintaining brand equity and customer loyalty. You may be rebranding for any number of reasons, from market repositioning to changing product offerings. Your new brand identity may have an altered or entirely new audience. To maintain your brand equity and relevance, conducting thorough research on your brand positioning and audience needs is essential – you don’t want to go into a rebrand blind. If you have done this, then the best way to retain your audience and maintain a positive brand perception is to manage customer expectations and perspectives. Once again, be transparent with your audience about what is changing and why. If you continue to meet their needs and maintain their trust, there is no reason you will lose their loyalty. Furthermore, this transparency is a great way to win over new customers you are trying to appeal to.   Tips Now that we’ve discussed the challenges that come with a franchise rebrand, here’s a compiled list of the tips we’ve mentioned throughout to ensure that your rebrand goes as smoothly as possible! Market and audience research Phased rollout/clear timeline Clear rebrand guidelines Measuring effectiveness Clear and consistent communication Transparency with customers/audience We hope these solutions and insights help if you are considering a franchise rebrand. As always, unLOCKEd is the one stop for all your marketing needs, rebranding or otherwise. Contact us today to get started! Author: Sarah Murphy

Welcome to the final installment of unLOCKEd’s Marketing Mindfulness Series! In today’s hectic digital world, mindfulness practices can provide relief from the chaos when you can’t just shut it off. Mindfulness can benefit your personal and professional life, which we discussed in more detail in July’s Marketing Mindfulness blog . If you haven’t read it yet, be sure to check it out! Over the past eight months, we have shared one mindfulness practice a month to help you gradually implement mindfulness into your daily life. To close out the series, this final blog will discuss the practice of mindful marketing.   Mindful Marketing Mindful marketing  refers to applying principles of mindfulness, like being fully present and aware, to marketing strategies. We’ve discussed these practices over the last eight months in relation to how they can impact marketers. However, by applying them to marketing strategies, your brand and customers can also achieve the benefits!   Benefits Mindfulness practices can benefit employees when introduced in the workplace, and branding when incorporated in marketing strategies and tactics. Let’s get into some of these benefits! Mindfulness in the workplace  provides benefits, such as: Boosting creativity More successful brainstorms Encouraging better teamwork Mindfulness in branding  provides benefits, such as: Enhanced customer engagement Improved brand perception Increased marketing effectiveness Sustainable business growth Competitive advantage For more ideas on how to incorporate mindfulness in the workplace and the benefits it provides, explore the other installments of our marketing mindfulness series!   How to Implement This Practice So, we’ve established that mindful marketing is beneficial for your company, but how do you implement it? Here are three ideas to get you started! The first mindful marketing practice is authentic content creation. Fostering genuine connections with your audience and creating content that is true to your brand and your audience's preferences can help your brand resonate with and engage potential customers. Keep audience interests and brand values in mind when creating content! The second practice is taking a customer-centric approach. Being mindful and present when communicating with your audience allows for more effective and meaningful marketing interactions. Active listening, empathy, understanding, and anticipating needs can enhance brand perception and long-term loyalty. The final practice is strategic decision-making. Mindfulness practices allow for better clarity, awareness, and creativity, leading to more informed and innovative decisions. These improved choices can result in enhanced brand representation, company growth, and overall success.   We hope this blog helps you implement mindfulness in your personal life, workplace, and marketing practices. Be sure to check out the other blogs in our Marketing Mindfulness Series for more!

Welcome to unLOCKEd’s Marketing Mindfulness Series! In today’s hectic digital world, mindfulness practices can provide relief from the chaos when you can’t just shut it off. Mindfulness can benefit your personal and professional life, which we discussed in more detail in July’s Marketing Mindfulness blog . If you haven’t read it yet, be sure to check it out! We are sharing one mindfulness practice a month to help you gradually implement mindfulness into your daily life. Trying to make a big change all at once can be daunting and frustrating, but with one small change each month, you can make a big difference!   February Mindfulness Practice: Focus on the Essential This month’s mindfulness practice is to focus on the essential . As a marketer, endless tasks, deadlines, and objectives are thrown your way every day. Staying on top of everything can be overwhelming, to say the least. However, there’s only so much you can do in a day. Instead of thinking about everything on your plate, try to focus on the essential things that need to be done that day. This is not to say the rest of your responsibilities should be ignored, of course, but if it’s not an immediate deadline, it may just be causing unnecessary stress!   Benefits Focusing on the essential can help avoid unnecessary stress, allow you to prioritize your responsibilities better , and even enable you to do a better job of the tasks you are focusing on. While it is useful to have an understanding of future tasks and effects, especially as a marketer, focusing too much on them can cause premature stress. Focusing on the present and what needs to get done that day can help alleviate some of that. Additionally, it can help with prioritization. When your to-do list is miles long, understanding what is essential by taking it day-by-day can help with deadlines, delegating, and overall work management. Finally, focusing on the essential can help you avoid being distracted by other tasks and projects that are not as high priority. With less stress and distractions, your mind is free to be more effective and creative, resulting in a better end product.   How to Implement This Practice The best way to implement this practice is to apply it at the beginning and end of each workday. Before you dive into your many emails and tasks, create a to-do list in the morning of what you need to get done that day. This may need to be edited throughout the day as new high-priority tasks arise or if deadlines get pushed, but it ensures you begin your day in an organized and focused fashion. At the end of the day, go over your to-do list again. Check off what you accomplished and make a note of anything that needs to be a first priority in the morning. After a busy day, this practice can remind you of your successes and put you in a good mood before you head home.   We hope this mindfulness practice helps! Be sure to look out for next month’s blog to continue this series with us! Author: Sarah Murphy

Welcome to unLOCKEd’s Marketing Mindfulness Series! In today’s hectic digital world, mindfulness practices can provide relief from the chaos when you can’t just shut it off. Mindfulness can benefit your personal and professional life, which we discussed in more detail in July’s Marketing Mindfulness blog . If you haven’t read it yet, be sure to check it out! We are sharing one mindfulness practice a month to help you gradually implement mindfulness into your daily life. Trying to make a big change all at once can be daunting and frustrating, but with one small change each month, you can make a big difference! January Mindfulness Practice: Consider a Digital Detox This month’s mindfulness practice is to consider a digital detox . We understand that this can sound impossible in today’s connected world, especially as a marketer. However, a digital detox doesn’t need to last a long period of time or even be a complete detox to provide some benefits. And what better time to start than as your New Year’s resolution? Benefits Taking conscious breaks from the digital world or even just from your work world can reduce stress and enhance your overall well-being and satisfaction in both your professional and personal life . A mindful approach to your screen time and professional availability can help you better enjoy your offline time and recharge. Moreover, this can help you feel rejuvenated for the day and use your online time more effectively. Finally, breaks from the digital world can help your creativity flourish and improve your mental health. How to Implement This Practice We will be discussing two ways to implement this practice. It is important to take a practical approach when implementing mindfulness practices, so they don’t feel overwhelming and counteractive. As we mentioned, a lengthy or comprehensive digital detox is often difficult or even impossible. However, short detoxes can have plenty of benefits as well! Make a conscious decision to stay off of devices during your lunch hour or off your phone when possible during work. An offline lunch can allow for creativity and connection rather than stress and isolation. Your phone can often be a distraction, even if you use it as a tool for your work. Take a mindful approach to the time you spend online during your work and personal day to have a more productive and enjoyable experience! The second way to implement a detox is to avoid work during your personal time. This can mean turning off notifications, setting an out-of-office message for your work email, or even removing your work email from your phone. While a marketer’s job can require unconventional hours, be mindful of setting boundaries to allow yourself some offline time. After all, all it takes is one angry message from a client to ruin an otherwise blissful weekend away from the desk. Although social media never stops, you have to have times in the day and week when you can get away from your phone . Take this month as an opportunity to incorporate mindfulness into 2025. We hope this mindfulness practice helps! Be sure to look out for next month’s blog to continue this series with us! Author: Sarah Murphy

At unLOCKEd, we offer a wide range of services, from interior branding to social media management, and we know the ins and outs of each one. Today, we want to focus on one service that sometimes gets overlooked but is crucial to your business: exterior signage. While exterior signage can sometimes fade into the background of your overall branding strategy, it plays an essential role in helping customers find your business and making a lasting impression. Here are some types of exterior signs we help design and install: Fascia Signs Fascia signs are the main exterior signs on your building’s facade. Typically, they feature your company’s name or logo and come in various styles, such as PVC letters, channel letters for a 3D effect, or illuminated signs that stand out, especially at night. They’re essential for brand recognition, whether at a single location or across multiple sites. Window Graphics Window graphics are highly versatile and can display promotions, brand values, or just add aesthetic appeal. They are perfect for businesses with large window fronts, especially in strip malls or offices where visibility might be limited. They can also provide privacy while maintaining your brand presence. Window Graphics Vehicle Graphics Turn your vehicles into mobile billboards with vehicle graphics. Whether on company cars or delivery vans, these graphics allow your business to reach a broader audience without relying on foot traffic. Vehicle Graphics Pylon Signs Pylon signs, typically found at the entrance to plazas or standalone businesses, are essential for capturing the attention of passing motorists. Visible from a distance, they let potential customers know your business is nearby. Pylon Sign Awning Signs Awning signs are ideal for businesses with outdoor spaces, sheltered entrances, or locations on street corners. They provide both functionality and visibility, making your business stand out while offering shade or shelter. Awning Sign Carved Signs Carved signs are crafted from durable materials like wood, PVC, or high-density urethane (HDU), making them suitable for various environments and weather conditions. The intricate carving creates depth and texture, giving the sign a classic yet professional look. Whether painted or stained to complement your brand colours, carved signs are perfect for businesses looking to make a lasting impression. Carved Sign Ground Signs Ground signs are a staple for plazas or large spaces, often used to mark a location or advertise to passing traffic. They can serve as landmarks for first-time visitors and are easily recognizable. Ground Sign (Plaza) Ground Sign (City) Temporary Signage Temporary signage is often used at construction sites or for new businesses about to open. Site signs and temporary ground signs are excellent for generating buzz before a business launch or grand opening. Site Sign Temporary Ground Sign Signage is a critical tool in drawing in potential customers and promoting your brand. At unLOCKEd, we ensure that every sign we create aligns with your branding and enhances your business’s visibility. Let us help you make a lasting impression with your exterior signage! Author: Sarah Murphy

Welcome to unLOCKEd’s Marketing Mindfulness Series! In today’s hectic digital world, mindfulness practices can provide relief from the chaos when you can’t just shut it off. Mindfulness can benefit your personal and professional life, which we discussed in more detail in July’s Marketing Mindfulness blog . If you haven’t read it yet, be sure to check it out! We are sharing one mindfulness practice a month to help you gradually implement mindfulness into your daily life. Trying to make a big change all at once can be daunting and frustrating, but with one small change each month, you can make a big difference! December Mindfulness Practice: Focus on the Positives This month’s mindfulness practice is to focus on the positives . Now, this doesn’t mean you should ignore negative parts of your day, such as mistakes or difficult situations. Instead, it means not to let these get you down or forget about the wins. Maybe you learned from your mistake, or the difficult situation resulted in something valuable for your team. Maybe your coffee was just really good this morning! Just as most days are not all good, most days are not all bad, either . Benefits By no means are we trying to say that negative parts of your day or life are not important – they can help shape you just as much as the positive parts! However, dwelling on the negatives or stressing over them can have a harmful impact on your outlook and mental health. Taking time to focus on the positives allows you to find good in the bad, such as learning from your mistakes, and reminds you that there is good when you are feeling down. Over time, being tuned in to the good things that you take for granted every day can cultivate a mindset that enables you to deal resiliently with all the bad things that inevitably try to derail your day . How to Implement This Practice Developing a mindset that allows you to take account of the positives in the moment can take time. You likely won’t be able to see the good in a tough situation immediately. The best way to begin to implement this practice is to build it into your routine. If you’ve been working on last month’s practice , you’ve likely started to find mindfulness in your morning and nighttime routines. This is a great time to introduce this practice, as well! Take a moment at the end of each day to reflect on the positive aspects of your work and express gratitude for the opportunities and challenges that contributed to your growth . Over time, this will get easier, and you might not even need to consciously think about noticing these aspects! Mindfulness can be especially important during the chaotic holiday season. We hope this mindfulness practice helps! Be sure to look out for next month’s blog to continue this series with us! Author: Sarah Murphy

As we approach 2025, it’s a great time to take a step back – consider the marketing trends you’ve seen or participated in throughout 2024, which ones were or were not successful, and how those may change or evolve in the new year. Be sure to take a look back at our Marketing Trends and Predictions for 2024  as a resource for this. In this blog, we’ll discuss some new or evolved trends to look out for in 2025. Let’s get started! AI Content and Strategy AI for marketers in 2025 has a few facets to consider. First is safety  – in a privacy-focused digital landscape, transparency in consumer-facing uses of AI is essential. While many marketers are eager to integrate AI into their workflows, they must first understand the impacts and what to watch out for. The next two considerations concern how AI will be integrated in 2025: content and strategy . According to Hootsuite’s surveys , 83% of marketers say generative AI helps them create significantly more content than they could without it. Despite the above-mentioned safety concerns, AI has been and will continue to be used for everything from editing text to generating images. However, AI is not just being used for content creation and execution, but also for strategy. According to the Hootsuite Social Media Trends 2025 Survey , even more social marketers responsible for strategy decisions implement AI tools than those responsible for execution. As we enter the new year, ensure you consider the safety of and uses for AI in your marketing team. Social Listening The next trend to look at is social listening . While marketers are aware that understanding the value of social media marketing needs to go beyond impression metrics, such as likes and follows, social listening takes the search for consumer engagement one step further. Social listening involves utilizing social media as a way to engage with your audience – not to drive a conversion, but to understand them. Social listening helps organizations better understand their audience, improve their strategies, uncover market gaps to guide product development, spot potential crises so they can quickly take control, and even drive sales . In addition, social listening can improve your social media content and effectiveness. Awareness of social media trends, how they resonate with your audience, and how they perform can help social marketers understand how to participate in them. It’s generally not about briefly going viral, but consistently connecting with your audience. Content Experimentation Third is content experimentation . To stand out from the crowd and connect with niche audiences, brands are experimenting with content and social media usage. The two key ways we are seeing this are brand in consistency and outbound engagement . Brand inconsistency involves using social media channels to step outside of the brand’s personality and comfort zone to push creative boundaries and entertain its audience. There is a move toward entertaining and educating, often without any direct promotion for the brand. This creativity goes against the consistent, trustworthy brand that’s been aimed for in the past, looking to capture and delight audiences instead. This is evident in the use of outbound engagement: brands commenting on other people’s posts. Especially on TikTok, you can scroll down to the comments section of almost any social post and find a brand or two chiming in on the conversation . These comments often have nothing to do with promoting the brand or even brand values. Still, they frequently capture and delight, cultivating community while putting their brand in front of new audiences. However, this trend still needs to be approached strategically - Social Element has found that two critical factors drive success for outbound engagements: timeliness and length. First-party and Zero-party Data As previously mentioned, privacy is a key factor in today’s media landscape. This means a shift away from third-party data and towards first-party and zero-party data. The desire for first-party data has resulted in the rise of Retail Media Networks as digital advertising platforms . Their abundance of consumer data allows brands to reach highly targeted audiences through personalized ads on retailer websites, apps, and even in-store digital displays. Kantar Media Reactions 2024  shows that 41% of marketers globally are planning to increase their advertising investment in retail media in 2025. On the other hand, zero-party data  is information that customers proactively share with brands and will also be crucial in 2025. Brands will need to focus on data-driven strategies and interactive experiences that allow them to gather this data directly from consumers. However, once obtained, this data can be used to create personalized and highly targeted campaigns , allowing them to more easily reach niche audiences, produce conversions, and avoid privacy concerns and regulations. Balancing Acquisition with Retention The final trend we will be discussing is balancing acquisition with retention . With the need for increasingly personalized content to resonate with consumers, retaining an existing customer is five times less expensive than acquiring a new one . Balancing acquisition costs with a strong retention strategy boosts profitability and results in high-value customers. This involves understanding what drives retention, such as post-purchase engagement and loyalty programs. Taking this into consideration will be a huge help to your marketing strategy in 2025.   While these are some key trends to look out for in 2025, the marketing landscape is constantly changing and evolving. Our experts are committed to staying on top of these trends so we can provide the most effective marketing services and the best results! Contact unLOCKEd  today – the one stop for all your marketing needs. Author: Sarah Murphy

Welcome to unLOCKEd’s Marketing Mindfulness Series! In today’s hectic digital world, mindfulness practices can provide relief from the chaos when you can’t just shut it off. Mindfulness can benefit your personal and professional life, which we discussed in more detail in July’s Marketing Mindfulness blog . If you haven’t read it yet, be sure to check it out! We are sharing one mindfulness practice a month to help you gradually implement mindfulness into your daily life. Trying to make a big change all at once can be daunting and frustrating, but with one small change each month, you can make a big difference! November Mindfulness Practice: Build Mindfulness into Your Daily Routines This month’s mindfulness practice is to build mindfulness into your daily routines . Incorporating mindfulness practices into regular parts of your day can help you create a mindful attitude each day without always having to remind yourself of it consciously. We often go into a sort of autopilot during rituals we partake in daily, such as a morning or nighttime routine. Integrating mindfulness into these routines allows you to become more present and purposeful during them and sets the tone for the rest of your day. Benefits During chaotic days, it can be difficult to remain mindful and present. Sometimes, you may struggle to schedule in breaks for mindfulness or remember to communicate mindfully. That’s okay, and it doesn’t mean you’ve failed – mindfulness is something you have to work at constantly. However, building mindfulness into your daily routines is a great way to combat this on these busy days. A brief meditation session in the morning or taking time away from digital devices before bed can add mindfulness to your day without adding an extra routine or practice. This can make these practices feel more doable in your day-to-day life while setting a focused and composed mindset for the rest of your day. How to Implement This Practice As we mentioned above, incorporating a mindfulness practice into your morning or nighttime routine can be a great place to start! By starting your day right, you can create the mindset to enable you to better deal with  any morning aggravations that might otherwise ruin your day. This could be a meditation session before you start your day, staying off your phone for the first hour of the day, or consciously savouring your coffee or breakfast. Likewise, giving yourself time to unwind at the end of the day, taking time away from digital devices before bed, and even removing your phone from the bedroom are great ways to work mindfulness into your nighttime routine. Don’t forget to prioritize your sleep. A restful night is essential to give your body and mind time to recharge . Simple steps like these that you do with intention, awareness, and consciousness are excellent ways to bring mindfulness into your day. We hope this mindfulness practice helps! Be sure to look out for next month’s blog to continue this series with us! Author: Sarah Murphy

The term “marketing” encompasses a wide range of activities, goals, and strategies. If you are not an expert in the field, it can be a lot to try to understand. In this blog, we are answering some commonly asked questions about marketing to help with some of the confusion out there. Let’s get into it! What is the difference between advertising and marketing? While advertising and marketing are sometimes used interchangeably, they are not the same thing. Advertising is the paid promotion of a company, its products, or its services in order to distribute information and gain potential customers. This can include things such as paid social media posts, billboards, and sponsored content. Advertising is only a part of marketing. Marketing is all the activities a brand engages in to promote itself, its products, or its services. This can include advertisements, but also content marketing, logo creation, interior branding, building a website, organic social media content, blogging, and so much more. Why is marketing important? In today’s fast-paced, oversaturated world, marketing is essential to get your company’s name out there and obtain customers. Even if your product is better, your customer service is faster, or your company has better values, competitors will win every time if consumers don’t know you exist. What is a marketing plan? A marketing plan is a document that defines a marketing strategy for a company in order to reach their targeted audience and to track their marketing strategies over a period of time . This plan includes research, goal-setting, and positioning  oneself in the competitive landscape and consumers’ minds. Marketing plans can be broken down into goals accomplished by campaigns and objectives and specific strategies and metrics to achieve them. What is social media marketing? Social media marketing is the combination of paid and organic social media content that a brand posts to promote itself and its products/services. This content can be focused on one social media platform or across several. It can include a consistent posting schedule, social media campaigns, boosted posts, sponsored content, paid advertisements, and more. Which social media platform works best ? Unfortunately, there is no definitive answer for this one. While social media is essential to many companies’ marketing strategies, different social media platforms work best for different companies. For example, a B2B company may find more success on LinkedIn, whereas a B2C company may have better luck on Instagram. This can also change depending on what a company is selling or who its audience is. The key is to find the platforms that work best for your content while reaching your target audience and focus on those! What is a marketing campaign? A marketing campaign is a set of marketing activities designed to achieve a pre-determined goal over a set period of time. This can include organic content, paid advertising, events, or even a new product launch. These activities are usually related or centred around a theme in order to complete objectives and move a company closer to its goal. This goal may be to spread awareness about the company or a product line, answer a question or solve a pain point, gain leads or potential customers, appeal to a new audience, or so much more. Defining metrics to ensure your goal is measurably met is a crucial component of a successful marketing campaign. What is content marketing? The goal of content marketing is to provide valuable, genuinely helpful information to consumers for free, in order to create a relationship with them based on trust, which eventually leads them to make a purchase . This content might include blogs, organic social media posts, information on your website, how-to videos, or even FAQ pages. All of these content types are focused on providing what the consumer needs rather than making a sales pitch. What is SEO ? Search engine optimization, or SEO, is comprised of the actions your company can take to improve search engines’ ability to read and index your website content and, therefore, your ranking on the search engine results pages (SERPs). This can include technical SEO, keywords, structured data, backlinks, internal links, content quality, and so much more. Ultimately, SEO can make or break your website’s visibility. Do you really need a blog? While not every company needs a blog, it can provide many benefits. Blogs allow companies to integrate keywords into their content, build topical authority in their field, and provide consumers with helpful information. This can help with your website’s SEO and SERP ranking while also building relationships with potential customers and leading them toward making a purchase. What is interior branding ? Interior branding has to do with a company’s integration of its logo, aesthetic, brand colours, brand values, etc., into its location’s interior design. This can help a company’s space feel cohesive with its overall brand identity and create a positive customer experience. Plants or a moss wall could align with environmental brand values, furniture or lighting could contribute to a cozy aesthetic, or a well-placed logo or brand colour could help create consistency and recognition. We hope this blog helped answer some of your questions about marketing. If you have more questions or need assistance with your marketing, our experts are happy to help. Contact unLOCKEd  today or check out our website ! Author: Sarah Murphy

There’s a reason why people specify “marketing agency Waterloo” or “marketing agency near me” when they are searching for marketing services. While local marketing isn’t essential for every company, it can be extremely beneficial if you are a small business or have a brick-and-mortar location. Providing marketing services for businesses in the Waterloo Region allows us to give the best services possible and deliver the best results. This blog will dive into those benefits and how they can help you! Meeting Face-to-Face The ability to meet clients face-to-face is great for a few reasons. First, it can help us better understand the company and the services they require. Meeting in person can result in a better connection with the client and provide a more personal feeling. Meeting and talking with employees to get feedback during and after the project can also be useful. Second, it can help us get a better feel for the space. If the client requires services such as signage, interior branding, space planning, wayfinding, or other location-specific details, being able to walk through the space or take measurements can make the process go much more smoothly. Finally, when we are providing social media or website design services, it is helpful to be able to take pictures and videos of the location or a project to create posts or other content. While a client could provide these photos, they shouldn’t have to worry about this step or the quality of the photography – that’s what we’re  here for. Ensuring You Don’t Need to Worry This brings us to our next benefit – alleviating clients’ worries. The client shouldn’t have to worry about picking things up at a supplier or something arriving wrong or damaged. Being a local marketing agency means that we can visit suppliers and ensure colours and materials are accurate before a client needs to deal with them. Clients can rely on one contact to get the whole job done. Knowing the Region Next, there is the benefit of simply knowing the region. Local familiarity allows us to provide more accurate and valuable marketing advice and services. We understand the trends and behaviours of the consumers and the competitors of a business, including what is and isn’t working for them. This knowledge ensures your marketing provider is personal and understands your company’s needs. Local SEO Finally, understanding local SEO is a huge benefit to our clients. Local SEO is about ensuring that your company appears when someone searches for your services or products “near me.”  A local marketing agency understands the competition in the area and how to beat them. From optimizing your Google Business Profile to understanding important keywords to creating content to out-rank them on the results pages, local marketing can help you acquire and retain customers that really matter. Our local marketing services ensure your company receives the best results possible. Contact unLOCKEd  today – the one stop for all your marketing needs. Author: Sarah Murphy

Your business location should be all about the brand experience. We’ve discussed how to create a branded environment  by demonstrating brand values and the importance of interior branding  for the customer experience. Most business owners focus on the big elements, such as signage, but the power of branding truly comes into play when every touchpoint in your physical space plays a role. One of our clients, The Boardwalk , really put this idea into action and actually inspired this blog. When you visit The Boardwalk, you see their branding in every little element, from logos on garbage cans and bike racks to subtle design features within the building. This solidifies the brand through consistency and cohesion, staying top-of-mind for customers, and reinforcing brand identity. In this blog, we’ll dive into these three benefits and how you can harness the power of branding. Consistency & Cohesion When you are creating your branding, it is all about keeping everything consistent and cohesive. If your logo doesn’t match your website doesn’t match your social media doesn’t match your signage, your customers won’t be able to recognize your brand or understand your brand identity (more on that later). Further, if your location doesn’t match your branding, it creates the same type of confusion. This is where you can bring in branding on the bike racks or the interior design to create the consistency you would use in any other medium. By carrying your brand into these less-expected spaces, you create a seamless, cohesive experience that leaves a lasting impression. Staying Top-of-Mind So, now your audience can recognize your brand – which is a great start – but creating this branded experience can also help you stay top-of-mind for your customers. You’ve cemented your brand image into their brains, but you’ve also made your brand experience more memorable and enjoyable. Seeing your logo and brand colours in every little detail helps your audience associate these visual cues with your brand, but it is also a unique way to make your business stand out. Customers might not remember one sign with your logo, but they will probably take notice of seeing it over and over throughout your space. This might make them more likely to mention your business to a friend, post your business on social media, or become a returning customer! Brand Identity Now, returning to brand identity, this can be both strengthened through location branding and a method for how to go about it. Your brand is about more than its logo. Your business’s values, mission, and personality are what make it memorable and relatable for your customers. Your location can be a space to reinforce this identity. At the same time, if you’re stuck on ways to incorporate your brand into the little details, you can use its identity as inspiration. Design elements, materials, and even placement can portray your brand values, and if you’re unsure which flooring to choose in your reception area, assume your brand personality to help you pick. This attention to detail demonstrates professionalism and enhances the customer’s overall experience, making them more likely to return. While your signage and other large components are important for your business, incorporating your branding into every little element will allow you to utilize the full power of branding. For more assistance with your branding and marketing, check out our services  today! Author: Sarah Murphy

Welcome to unLOCKEd’s Marketing Mindfulness Series! In today’s hectic digital world, mindfulness practices can provide relief from the chaos when you can’t just shut it off. Mindfulness can benefit your personal and professional life, which we discussed in more detail in July’s Marketing Mindfulness blog . If you haven’t read it yet, be sure to check it out! We are sharing one mindfulness practice a month to help you gradually implement mindfulness into your daily life. Trying to make a big change all at once can be daunting and frustrating, but with one small change each month, you can make a big difference!   September Mindfulness Practice: Schedule Breaks for Mindfulness This month’s mindfulness practice is to schedule breaks for mindfulness. It’s easy to get caught up in your workflow or hectic day and forget to practice mindfulness. By scheduling it into your day, you give yourself a chance to realign with the present moment as well as your goals for the day. If you have gotten sidetracked or stressed about a particular task, this is a great way to take yourself out of it and move forward fully engaged and in a good headspace.   Benefits As mentioned above, this is a great way to incorporate mindfulness into your day if you aren’t used to keeping it at the top of your mind. Additionally, scheduled breaks take you out of a stressful moment and allow you to calm your mind and see the big picture. When we feel stressed, we are more inclined to panic or lash out. Our bodies pump out the ‘fight or flight’ chemicals and we get ready to do battle or flee in retreat . Taking a breather allows those chemicals to dissipate so you can view the situation more clearly. Controlled breathing can actually activate the body’s relaxation response, reducing the production of stress hormones like cortisol !   How to Implement This Practice When we say schedule breaks, we actually mean schedule breaks  – write it into your calendar or planner, whatever works for you. Of course, if you have to finish a conversation or typing a sentence before you take the break, you should do that, but try to plan these breaks into your day so that you won’t forget them. Controlled or mindful breathing is excellent during these breaks, but if you don’t like the silence or need a guide, there are lots of options to do so! You can find a meditation or relaxation playlist to listen to or download an app that can ease you into a more mindful state . Some great options are Headspace  or Calm , but many others are out there!   We hope this mindfulness practice helps! Be sure to look out for next month’s blog to continue this series with us!