blog

zfactor World Headquarters Relocation Program In Effect

Tue, 01 May 2012 13:42:56 -0700

With renovations currently taking place, the new studio will create several meeting areas for teams, clients and mysterious guests, as well as allow for an appropriate cafe bar where we will continue to serve our clients caffeine induced beverages (not to mention other mysterious concoctions).

The decision to move into a newer, larger location was largely motivated by the need to offer our clients appropriate refuge from their day to day chores, as well as the ever increasing technological advancements in Nerf guns and how far they can now shoot their foam bullets...whoaaa!

Stay tuned for renovation pics.

Prestige Business Interiors Website Launch 2012

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 09:37:48 -0800

After reviewing the old website, zfactor met with Prestige Business Interiors and help plan a branding & marketing strategy to better reflect their business and products online. By reviewing their corporate & sales strategies, it was apparent that the focus of the company was to create working environments that employees would thrive in while providing high performance furniture. By defining a brand that is as much about helping companies work better than about high quality furniture, we were able to utilize and present their hundreds of white papers, articles, and processes to both help their credibility, but also their content for the site.

Utilizing a .php driven content management system, the website features a live jquery cataloging function to help prospects navigate easily through their hundreds of products & brands, while rich content and images for these hundreds of "works of art" are managed through a product management module created. Several online forms was included and dispersed throughout the site to allow visitors easy access to forward questions and comments. Finally, an install of Google Analytics allowed us to measure effectiveness of both the website and search engine traffic.

Within 1 week of launch, Prestige Business Interiors had moved up to the top spot in Google for old search queries, while showing up in several new ones as well.

Visit www.PrestigeBusinessInteriors.com now

Continuing Our Christmas Tradition for 2011

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0800

From something as simple as what country we are born in, to just waking up in a bed, it's easy to forget how much we have and how lucky we truly are. Instead of buying an item to show our appreciation to our clients and in the spirit of both Christmas and Entrepreneurial-ism, we have sponsored families in poverty stricken countries with loans to start their own businesses and launch their dreams. Parents living in poverty have the skills, ideas and will to work, but little or no money to launch their dreams. Our gift will provide loans to several families, training and assistance so a family can launch a small business such as sewing, farming, dairy production, baking, weaving and more.

The best part of this is as each family repays their loan, it is given to another family as a loan to provide opportunity to start their own business. This is a gift that sincerely keeps on giving! Thank you for making this year possible for us and for those we support. For more information, please visit The World Vision website by clicking this link:

The World Vision website by clicking this link.

From all of us at zfactor, we wish you a Heartfelt Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.

Will A High SEO Ranking In Google Get Me More Sales?

Sun, 04 Dec 2011 20:04:09 -0800

There is alot of hype right now with the importance of high SEO rankings. It seems everyone is hearing the same story - how they can help you get to the top of Google, how it will improve your traffic, how your competition is ranking higher than you..all this hype of high ranking, but little to no mention of conversions?

Being sold an SEO package may get you more traffic, but will not guarantee you any more leads, sales, or conversions - and that's what it is all about. Of your daily internet searches, how often is the very first listed website exactly what you were looking for? Did you stick around longer than 5 seconds to dig deeper in that first listed website before you moved onto the next? What about the second or third listed item? How far do you think you go before you finally find what you are looking for?

On average, a person will go through 8-10 different website listings before finding what they are looking for in a non-specific internet search. It's not that having a high ranking website is bad as being listed on the first page of Google can be crucial, but it's the stickiness of a website that ultimately draws a viewer in!

If your website's homepage does not contain stopping power, it will lead to yet another bounced visit. Stopping power can come in several different ways from a clear life changing benefit, to a distinct USP, to an unpassable sale or offer. Your webpage needs to contain some sticky elments to a visitor in order to stop them from moving over your website and strolling on to the next. Long are the days 'If you build it, they will come'.

Complete Premium Solar Website Launch

Sat, 25 Jun 2011 10:41:26 -0700

Referred to as ‘The Northern Gold Rush’ the Ontario MicroFIT program is in full affect. With this onset of great opportunity, comes many fraudulent companies coming into Canada to take advantage of this hype! The Premium Solar website was launched to not only position the company as a leading, reputable longstanding business, but also offers information on an expected return on investment and what to watch out for when dealing with Solar companies. The online lead generation tools coupled with an Adwords campaign has already delivered enough leads to surpass their online investment. Future projects include marketing materials, software development and continuing digital marketing campaigns.

An Opinion or Reaction? Be careful what you ask for

Fri, 17 Jun 2011 00:31:55 -0700

There’s a lot to be said in how you communicate, not just what. From tone to choice words, miscommunication happens when expectations differ from sender to receiver! When presenting an idea, concept, visual, logo or web design, HOW you present will affect the response you will receive. Sounds silly?

Take this example – you’ve created a logo that is outstanding! It achieves everything on the creative brief, is eye catching and clever. You want a response – someone else to rave with on how great your design is. You approach Julia…she has little to no graphic experience, but has a nicely decorated house. “Julia, what do you think about this?” You just asked Julia for her opinion on a subject that she could or could not be qualified to answer on. HOWEVER, because you asked for her opinion, Julia is obligated to give you some sort of response? More so than not, she would assume you are questioning the piece and are looking for constructive criticism. “It looks a little old fashion to me?” she replies…Old Fashion…Old Fashion? She has no idea what she is talking about! Maybe she should look at how she decorates her home – my Grandmothers’ house is more modern!

<< Rewind Situation

Same girl, same logo, same words but different delivery:
Julia, what do you think about this! The second example was a statement! In your delivery, you weren’t asking for anything rather than seeking a reaction to what you presented. The same person would give you a completely different response to the same logo. “Cool! I Love it!” she responds, verifying that Julia is in fact cool and her eclectic taste in home furnishing is next to genius!

When presenting to one or 10, remember that if you ask for criticism, no matter how qualified or not, people will certainly over analyze what ever you are presenting…rather, hold your head high, present with confidence and stand behind your qualified point of view – after all, they did hire you for your qualifications didn’t they?

Premium Solar Brand & Website Creation

Mon, 28 Mar 2011 00:17:44 -0700

zfactor is proud to partner up and work with Premium Solar Energy; an industry leader in Solar Energy. With world wide partnerships and years of experience in both technology and installation, Premium Solar plans on revolutionizing an already technology driven industry. In order to immediately separate them from the competition, a brand identity was created to stand out from a sea of typical bland font faces and a variation of a Sun & Solar Panels. Their trademarked Solar Butterfly was created to emphasize the evolving nature of their business and process. A temporary, clean website using a scalable background image was quickly built to capture contact info of prospective clients. Keeping consistent with the identifiable differences in brand, the clean nature and large graphic used in the website portrays a different type of Solar experience. Stay tuned for the launch of the new site expected early April.

The Difference Between Internet Programmers, Designers & Marketers

Tue, 25 Jan 2011 00:22:47 -0800

A common mistake made when deciding who will create your next website is in the assumption that because someone is technologically savvy or creative, they are capable of creating a corporate website. Although technically this may be true, one must take a serious look at the differences between Web Programmers, Creative’s and Marketers.

Internet Programmers are fantastic technical creators and problem solvers. Able to create Internet magic out of mid air (or so it seems), programmers take a very technical approach to a solution and can spend hours creating sites out of code. Programmers are brilliant, behind the scenes pro’s that we could not have the Internet without. They may lack however the strategic methodology and creative ability to properly market a website – they are not marketers however.

Internet Designers take a very different approach. A web designer is able to create a piece of digital art out of a blank page. Very creative, they often possess above average programming skills and are able to physically create and program a website. Creative people however can be so passionate about the creative they can overlook strategic insight for design.

Although both can technically ‘build’ a website, they are not necessarily building it with the same outcome in mind.

Internet Marketers take a very different approach to website development – starting from the end first, web marketers first find out the purpose of your site, how to use it within your business, how to properly communicate your brand, your message and then how to implement them all into a strategy that your website will execute. Internet Marketers understand programmers, understand creative’s, but most importantly understand how to properly leverage them both to market your business and create a strategically driven website that will get you a better return on investment.

Often the most overlooked yet crucial part in any web development process is the strategic planning – would you trust your corporate taxes with someone who is good with numbers? Would you trust your brakes with someone who is handy with tools? Why would you trust your website with someone who is capable of only an element of the process?

Exact Earth

Wed, 29 Dec 2010 00:08:24 -0800

Internet…the final frontier. No longer with a newly revitalized and rebranded website for exactEarth! After several months of creating a dynamic website with secured downloadable functionality, membership capabilities and a integrated simplified CRM for list building, the exactEarth website successfully launched this past week.

Tis' the Season for Giving

Mon, 20 Dec 2010 00:19:43 -0800

It’s easy to get wrapped up in all the hustle and bustle of Christmas, and forget how much we truly have just by waking up in a bed each morning. This year marks the beginning of a new Christmas tradition for zfactor. Instead of buying a useless item, nic nac, or fruit basket to give to our clients, to show our appreciation for your business (which no doubt we do) we are helping several families in third world countries start their own businesses.

Parents living in poverty have the skills, ideas and will to work, but little or no money to launch their dreams. Our gift will provide loans to several families, training and assistance so a family can launch a small business such as sewing, farming, dairy production, baking, weaving and more.

The best part of this is as loans are repaid, our gifts will be re-loaned to other families in need. This is a gift that truly keeps on giving! For more information, please visit The World Vision website by clicking this link.

From all of us at zfactor, we wish you a Heartfelt Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.

goenergy: Proactive Energy Partnerships Complete Brand Revitalization Relaunch

Thu, 21 Oct 2010 00:08:24 -0700

zfactor is proud to have launched the goenergy.ca website and revitalized brand. After completing an intensive branding exercise, focus groups and customer surveys, goenergy was able to discover their zfactor. This revitalized brand has charged up the team, enabling them to identify and focus on their core competencies for a brighter and new future.

RIM CI Mobile

Wed, 30 Jun 2010 00:08:24 -0700

With the demand for mobile friendly websites increasing, the realization of offering information when you need it, where you need it is apparent. Working closely with our client, zfactor helped create a mobile friendly website that ports it’s information directly from a dynamic desktop website.

With mobile recognition, the site intuitively displays information based on mobile specs rather than that of a desktop website. From the recognition of images and videos, to presentations and feeds, the mobile site is able to supply immediate information to it’s user.

When considering if a mobile site is right for your company, think about who will be accessing it and for what reason? Can you simplify a process or offer a unique mobile experience that will allow the user to use your site as a tool rather than as a website? With the advancement of dynamically generated websites and mobile recognition technology, the need to own a separate domain for your mobile version is a thing of the past, while keeping it synced with your current website is now automagic!

Revitalizing a Brand for Rocket Scientists

Tue, 01 Jun 2010 00:22:47 -0700

zfactor proudly launches a brand revitalization program for a global vessel monitoring company, exactEarth. Using microsatellites created by it’s parent company Comdev, exactEarth collects data from space and transmit it back to ground stations for the valuable processing of vessel tracking. Stay tuned for the revitalized website to launch in the fall.

Guelph Police

Tue, 18 May 2010 10:44:51 -0700

Jumping at the opportunity, zfactor created a new mascot promoting community safety awareness for the Guelph City Police deptartment. Beginning with the end in mind, zfactor had to envision an owl to represent the program, that would need to work in several mediums, from black and white print to a full size life version. While owls by nature are quite aggressive in appearance, the challenge was to make him Child Friendly yet confident and proud. The final design was then created into a life size mascot and appeared at several local events. Welcomed with lots of hugs and pictures by children, the final product was wildly successful.

ShamWOW! Marketing to the IGeneration

Mon, 19 Apr 2010 23:57:02 -0700

It’s easy to forget the key rules on how to attract the attention of passers as the past 5 years has seen technology outdo itself time after time again. Marketing efforts need to be agile and lean.

The key to stopping a prospective client isn’t by selling to them but persuading them to buy! This is achieved by appealing to the “I” in IGeneration. Offer them a clear, compelling life changing benefit and you may get that crucial 5 extra seconds of attention. The “I” in IGeneration stands for “ME”… what’s in it for me? How will this improve my life? What problem of mine will this solve? How does it relate to ME?

In a 2 minute spot, a successful high energy infomercial will demonstrate it’s benefit to you on average 1 time for every 4 seconds, creating a sense of urgency to buy buy buy. Whether a kitchen gadget, auto gear or health video, a successful infomercial will leave you believing that you can’t live without it! Have they tapped into a secret? Not at all – they’ve just appealed to the right senses… the user.

If you can’t be forthcoming with a message addressed to needs rather than your own accomplishments, your marketing efforts will cease to exist.

Marketing is Communication with Perspective

Mon, 29 Mar 2010 00:14:51 -0700

Communication is neglected on a daily basis. As a matter of fact, it is neglected on a per second basis. Communicating through business essentially determines the perspective people have on you, your brand, your promise and your product or service.perceptive_branding

Anything from core cultures, documentation, charities supported, emails or where/how your logo is shown are literally just the tip of the iceberg in terms of communication throughout your organization.

Communication in this day and age is extremely important and so often the full importance is not considered. With new generations entering markets of communication via smart technology, segregation into online cultures and the persuasion of technology in general on their lives, it is even easier to skew messaging efforts and the initial perspective meant by the communicator. Lack of tone, mannerisms and personality are significant culprits of miscommunication.

Thus brings forth the challenge for Marketers and how to communicate to the next generation through new technologies.

Rather than trying to “sell” to your target audience, you need to create a perspective that is going to directly benefit your consumer and pose a perspective or culture they want to be a part of. This is Perspective Branding. Perspectives can change so frequently, it’s important to delegate positive, appropriate perspective in all efforts of communication from the internal operations, to full blown marketing campaigns and sponsorships.

Staying ahead of the industry by following your market’s cultures will allow you to listen in and further communicate your perspective, convincing consumers to buy and encourage referral purchasing in connecting markets.

Perception over Purpose:

Consider the top two industries where brands are communicated by a perspective: Fashion, Automobiles.

Let’s consider Automobiles. Sure, it would be great to have this product that takes you from point A to B in a limited amount of time, but what if you could have that, but also look like you’re worth a million bucks and you have good taste? Why not buy an Aston Martin?

You’re extremely conscious about the environment and if you’re going to get from A to B with a vehicle, you’d like to at least do it with as little stress on the environment as possible. Why not buy a Honda Insight?

Consider the vehicle you buy or the clothes you wear and consider the perspective you are communicating to everyone you come in contact with on a daily basis.

Are the perspectives you’re giving off by owning, wearing and using these products the very perspectives that convinced you to purchase them?

A New Marketing Hero Emerges

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 00:02:13 -0800

From the smoke off the tail of blazing technology and the fog of stale advertising campaigns emerges a new found hero to lead your marketing into this brave new online world – the Geek Marketer.

With CEOs demanding the implementation of new emerging social media trends (that they know little about other than the buzz word it’s named after), companies are on a push to embed technology into every facet of their marketing strategy. But marketers and technologists don’t necessarily see eye to eye on much – they speak very different languages. Marketers like Strategy, Macintosh Computers and Black Crewneck sweaters while Geeks like APIs, Linux OS and Lord of the Rings. It’s all very Mars and Venus.

Enter Geek Marketers. These double agents are fluent in both worlds and are specialists in successfully bridging them. They begin as marketers by trade, yet have a hard-core interest in blazing technological trends and social media. As curious individuals, they are constantly studying how digital advances are changing our culture, user experience, media and trends (social and technological).

Armed with these insights, they regularly apply them into new age marketing strategies geared to lead the new generation of online brands. Geek is chic and Marketing will always be king.

Canadian Digital Media Network Website Design

Mon, 18 Jan 2010 00:22:47 -0800

zfactor is proud to have had the opportunity to create the new website design for the Canadian Digital Media Network. The Canadian Digital Media Network is Canada’s largest concentration of business-driven digital media research, technology development, and digital commercialization expertise. Passionate about this initiative, zfactor designed an online brand that not only displayed the content strategically, but also in a high energy skin that reflected the CDMN’s fire.