Marketing « Merriam Associates, Inc. Brand Strategies

Merriam Associates specializes in branding that gets results. Everything we do systematically generates leads, closes sales, boosts profits, and builds a solid reputation for your company and your products or services. Our background combines the rigor of global Fortune 500 companies with the tenacity of successful entrepreneurs.

Lisa Merriam NPR Interview on BP

Lisa Merriam interviewed on NPR about the fate of the BP brand

Scott Neuman of NPR asked me about the possible boycotts of BP. I explained that brand is not a driver for people buying gas. Location is most important. People will literally not drive across a median to reach a gas station on the [...]

Toyota Brand Still Strong Despite Recalls

How are the recalls and bad headlines affecting the Toyota brand? In Context Opinion hit the parking lot to talk to everyday drivers to find out if the brand is in trouble.

What we heard is that people still value the brand—some passionately. While some people are concerned about the way Toyota initially handled the recall [...]

Ten Ways Web Video Is Different from TV

With the growth of Web video, more and more companies are considering adding video content to their Web sites and using Web video in marketing. Beware of charging blindly forward without a good understanding of what works on the Web and how Web video is different from video for television.

TV vs. Web: The Differences
1. Time [...]

Web Video: Six Keys to Writing Scripts for Video

Writing for Web video is not like writing for print. No one sees your words; they are heard, not read. That has important implications for structure, style, word choice and more. Read these key tips for effective Web video copy.

Writing Sales Copy for the Web

Writing effective sales copy requires you to have an out-of-body experience. You have to get out of your own world and put yourself in the place of your customer. Many companies are so concerned with what they want to say about their products that they never consider what their customers want to hear. Here are [...]

The Last Mile in Copy Writing—Search Engine Optimization’s Three Critical Steps

A shocking number of companies invest in writing great copy for their Web sites, but miss the very basics of search engine optimization. Most sites totally neglect meta-data—the words and phrases used by search engines—in preparing Web copy. If no one can find your site, no one will read your copy, no matter how good it is. You can write great copy, rich in keywords and formatted to rank highly in search engines, but if you neglect your meta-data, and you are trying to run a marathon with your feet tied together.

Rebranding Proxios

Outgrowing the Brand
Proxios had its beginnings as a small technology infrastructure outsourcing company called SuperServer. The company has grown beyond its Richmond, VA roots to have a national reach and had made significant investments in cutting-edge technology. They needed a brand that would convey the true stature of the company and give it a [...]