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We created a new website for RAACE that helped the organization promote it's "RAACE Hero" program and the "Power of Prevention" t-shirts and educational video.

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We created an entire campaign around it inclusive of website sliders for each dealership, in store posters, email blasts, social media pushes, raffle tickets, sun shields that went into the cars offered in the drawing and all of the event planning logistics surrounding the June 1st event.

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We created a new logo for By The Scoop — one that would be appealing to the ice cream shop's most discerning customers — kids! The logo will soon appear on all in-store displays, signage, mobile van and social media sites.

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Incite Creative, Inc. provides product packaging design solutions from labels to boxes and custom crafted solutions that helps retailers push product and turn a profit.

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By creating a job jacket style folder, you can achieve most of the same benefits that a pocket folder has with a couple of additional benefits mixed in. Learn how by clicking here.

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Incite Creative has a depth of experience in marketing for the healthcare industry and can add valuable perspective to The Body Image Therapy Center by focusing its business and marketing plans on strategic brand building initiatives. With an initial emphasis on social media engagement, the firm has optimized and designed the Center’s social media profiles.

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Discover the 6 deadly mistakes many businesses make when marketing.

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If you’re struggling to find quality social media you can share with your target market, here are 5 sources you can use to give you a consistent flow.

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After successful completion of the Positioning Workshop, Audience Interviews and SEO research, we had the information needed to write and design a new website for Halt, Buzas & Powell CPAs.

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Incite Creative has been selected to host “Marketing Today for Small Businesses”, a nationwide radio show that is part of the Your15Minutes Radio Network™ and intended to provide business owners the information they need to take their business to the next level.

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Let’s say you’re launching a new business or your current model is struggling. You need ideas for attracting ideal customers and turning your investment into income. You make the wise decision to perform research and get the inside scoop on how other competing companies are succeeding. By reviewing their information, you see a variety of marketing strategies and tactics that are paying off. Do you take the high road and use your new-found insight to navigate your own path to success or do you follow the dark path of copying your competition hoping you can achieve the same results?

Spying on the competition isn’t bad. It’s actually wise. Market research helps you analyze the strengths of your competitors and identify the gaps in the marketplace. It’s how you incorporate that information into your marketing plan that makes the difference. While it’s tempting to think, “If that’s what’s working, let’s do that, too,” you’ll never beat your competition by simply trying to imitate them.

Here are five imitation traps you should try to avoid:

1. Using the Same Keywords

It’s common for direct competitors to have some duplicate keywords. For example, let’s say there are two competing veterinarians: ABC Vet and XYZ Vet. Since their service offerings and their target audiences are very similar, they will likely include many of the same keywords when optimizing their branding site, in their social media profiles and other marketing campaigns. However, at some point they need to differentiate themselves and do so with a sustainable value proposition that is not based on price alone (as anyone can always be cheaper, but they can’t always be better). Whatever the differentiating factors may be, they should be reflected in the keyword strategy.

2. Bidding on Branded Keywords

Some companies will go as far as to try and compete for branded keywords. Let’s stick with the same example in the preceding point. XYZ Vet wants to capture market share from ABC Vet who has been kicking their butt. So XYZ decides they’re going to engage in a Pay-Per-Click (PPC) campaign bidding on branded terms like “ABC Veterinarian”, “ABC Veterinarian Services”, and the like. Obviously, if someone is entering “ABC Veterinarian Services” into Google, they’re looking for ABC. XYZ knows this and hopes that having their ads appear on the Search Engine Results Page (SERPs) alongside the organic ranks for ABC will allow them to siphon off some of the clicks on the page. Is this a wise strategy or a dirty trick?

Here are the downsides to this strategy:

People trust and click on organic links far more than paid ads

If someone is typing in a specific brand name into a search engine, links with the correct branded name will receive far more clicks

You run the risk of being viewed as a company that engages in below the belt tactics

3. Copying Content

Some companies that struggle with writing original content will go so far as to copy content from high-ranking sites and just swap out the logo. There are several issues with this approach:

Marketing doesn’t work in independent chunks. Strong marketing presents a cohesive, integrated, concise message. If you copy content in chunks, you will be sending mixed messages to your market and conflicting messages don’t work.

Today’s customers are tech savvy. With easy access to information, they will likely research a couple of possible options before they make a buying decision. If they see identical content replicated between companies, it raises red flags. Upon further review of the companies, prospects will usually be able to identify author and the copycat. If you’re the one copying content, it won’t bode well for your credibility, which often results in a loss of profitability.

Google dings copied content. Your goal is to rank high on the SERPs for your keywords. Copying content won’t get you there.

4. Mimicking Product / Service Offerings and Pricing Structures

There has to be something that differentiates you from the competition. Copying the competitions’ product / service offerings and pricing structures isn’t going to help you make your mark. Yes, you may have many similarities just as you will with the keyword selection mentioned above. However, if a customer sees the same products / services and pricing, why are they going to choose you over the competition? It all comes back to your value proposition and how well you can hold up your brand promise.

5. Buying Domain Names Similar to Theirs

This is similar to bidding on branded keywords mentioned in the third item above. For example, let’s say that ABC has the domain abcvet.com and XYZ wants to try and convert some of their clicks. They go out and buy abcvet.net, abcvet.info, and the other extensions with all domains forwarding to their branding site at xyzvet.com. They figure that some people will type in the wrong URL, hoping that when people arrive on their site, they’ll see the similar services and decide to contact them instead of taking the time to retype abcvet.com. Again, while this may bring you some traffic, it also flags your company as having questionable ethics. Do you buy from companies you feel you can’t trust? Probably not.

Market research is critical to getting a good perspective of the competitive landscape. However, it is best to use this insight to understand where the gaps in the market exist so you can apply your talents to fill the holes. If you simply do what the competition is doing, you’re playing a game of follow the leader. And as the saying goes, “If you ain’t the lead dog, the scenery never changes.”

If you need help performing market research and devising a strategic marketing plan, contact us. We’re here to help.

ABOUT INCITE CREATIVE (www.incitecreativeinc.com) Approaching its 13th year in business, Incite Creative is a marketing and graphic design firm that specializes in strategic positioning, brand development and creative implementation services for Mid-Atlantic, small-to-mid-sized companies and organizations that have regional, national and international reach. For more information, log onto http://www.incitecreativeinc.com or contact Dina Wasmer at 410-366-9479 ext. 101 or dina@incitecreativeinc.com.

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BALTIMORE, MD – The RAACE Foundation is dedicated to eliminating the epidemic of child sexual abuse by raising public awareness. Its volunteers, advocates and members of TeamRAACE achieve the organization’s mission by competing in all forms of sports at venues coast-to-coast, as well as at business and community events nationwide. The RAACE Foundation also conducts speaking engagements and distributes awareness materials, all in the effort to keep children safe from abuse. Incite Creative, a local marketing and graphic design firm, has been selected to lead the Foundation’s brand building initiatives.

Statistics show that 1 in 3 girls and 1 in 7 boys are sexually abused before the age of 18. Furthermore, in 95% of reported cases, the abuser is someone the child knows and trusts. Founded in 2004 by Baltimore businessman Kenneth Smith, The RAACE Foundation’s primary purpose is to educate — educate parents, children, and those who serve them — all in an effort to protect them from becoming one of these staggering statistics. In an effort to build upon the Foundation’s existing brand awareness and put a “circle of trust” exercise into every parent’s/caregiver’s hands, Smith and Executive Director Brad Brickel reached out to Incite Creative to help further their mission.

“Over the past ten years, we have been working hard to situate The Race Against Abuse of Children Everywhere Foundation in the public eye,” states Smith. Every September we take a strategic look at the organization, specifically aligning our discipline and values with our needs and goals to understand our next step. The result this year was that in order to get to the next level, we needed a fresh look at The RAACE Foundation; one from the outside  - with more experience in marketing and social media skills, one that could support and understand our core beliefs and core markets. After meeting with Dina Wasmer and her Incite Creative colleagues, the one thing that stood out was their ability to listen. They offered solutions and said that they could help without an extensive sales pitch. Simply put, we understood right away that they heard us loud and clear. They know our market and how to reach it. Their experience speaks for itself and we are very excited to get started. We are looking forward to a long and storied relationship.”

As the Foundation’s outsourced Chief Marketing Officer (CMO), Incite Creative will kick things off by launching an Annual Fund campaign, then develop and implement a strategic marketing plan for 2013 that includes tactics for building ambassadors who are willing to take part in The RAACE Foundation’s “Time to Talk” program.

"We’re fortunate to work with a number of child-serving organizations, including schools, autism awareness initiatives, and child advocacy organizations”, states Wasmer. “Therefore when we were first introduced to The RAACE Foundation, we were excited and confident that we could play a pivotal role in helping this worthwhile organization succeed. After meeting with Kenneth and Brad, my colleagues and I absorbed their passion and tenacity to drive child sexual abuse out of the shadows, and are honored to be part of their team.”

For more information about contributing to The RAACE Foundation or to obtain your free copy of the “Time to Talk Parent’s Guide,” go to: www.raace.org.

ABOUT INCITE CREATIVE (www.incitecreativeinc.com) Approaching its 13th year in business, Incite Creative is a marketing and graphic design firm that specializes in strategic positioning, brand development and creative implementation services for Mid-Atlantic, small-to-mid-sized companies and organizations that have regional, national and international reach. For more information, log onto http://www.incitecreativeinc.com or contact Dina Wasmer at 410-366-9479 ext. 101 or dina@incitecreativeinc.com.

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Maria Fuster, President and Co-Founder of SmallBizMedia.TV and her team of online marketing strategists, researchers and social media experts, have officially joined Dina Wasmer, President and Co-Founder of Incite Creative, Inc.

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To help Diversified Housing Development create brand awareness with both lenders and prospective new home buyers, we created two promotional brochures.

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Creating a great tagline can be like playing Pin the Tail on the Donkey. Discover how you can hit the mark and complete the picture of your brand image.

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Our marketing workshop allows the sales force and other team members to participate in the process of developing a unique value proposition that they can fully support.

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The newly renamed and rebranded PK Law contracted with Incite Creative to create a compelling ad campaign for The Baltimore Business Journal as well as something that could be used as a digital promotion.