Most agree that marketing is essential to growth. However, there’s no simple formula to determine your marketing budget. Today, most spend an average of 2-10% of their net profits; some spend up to 20% of net sales. This may seem like a lot. Or perhaps, you are willing to spend more. To determine a comfortable investment, define your business objectives. Then create a list of potential marketing and advertising options and their price points. From this list, which options have the highest positive impact or return on investment? This revised list can act as your baseline budget. While this list may go up or down, it offers a starting point.

In the end, it has to pay off. The final part of the exercise is assigning value to your return, whether it be short-term revenue or brand recognition, a long-term objective. Our best advice: review your ROI as often as possible so you can make adjustments and evaluate your budget and plan each year.

There’s a lot of information out there. Below are just a few examples of the conventional wisdom out there.

http://www.imageworksstudio.com/client-lounge/articles-tips/setting-a-marketing-advertising-budget.html

http://www.gtms-inc.com/tip_salesandmarketingbudgetbenchmarks.htm

http://www.marketingprofs.com/ea/qst_question.asp?qstID=10089

When Tropicana changed their logo in 2009 and Gap in 2010, there was public outcry, the loudest heard on social networks. Were these attempts at change missteps? While both brands reverted back to their original logos, they successfully engaged consumers in lively dialogue while re-igniting passion for their brands. In this case, change (or change-back, as the case may be) seems good.

The latest brand to update their logo is Starbucks, in commemoration of their 40th anniversary and a further evolution of their brand, to include social media, expanding to grocery stores and non-coffee products. For me, my morning cup of coffee just got better. The siren has always been the focus, but the new design brings her front and center – inviting, enticing and sophisticated. Starbucks’ brand has come to represent a high quality, bold, rich coffee. Check out this video from Howard Schultz, CEO, about the logo and future of Starbucks. You can also see the old logo progression and cups throughout the years.

We’d love to hear what you think. How does your Starbucks “taste” with the new logo?

The typeface FF Meta, designed by Eric Spiekermann, was part of the first group of digital typefaces ever acquired by The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) for it’s Architecture and Design Collection. Why should we care? Well, we’ve been using this contemporary sans serif font for several years in our identity and as a key element in all of our communication materials. Its blend of simplicity and subtle character is a perfect match for our design style.

The selection was made in January 2011 and celebrated in March with an AIGA New York panel discussion that included two designers responsible for more than half of the collection and the museum’s A+D curator. Read on for more on MoMA’s digital font collection.

And since we’re talking type, have some fun with Pentagram’s test “What Type Are You?”

QR codes were created for Toyota in the 1990’s to hold more information and scan quicker than the standard barcode. Today, these codes resolve to urls, vCards and plain text documents. Apps have been developed so smartphones can read QR codes and as a result, advertisers have adopted them. QR codes have changed how we interact with our audience through traditional media.

They’ve also created a new creative conversation. Are QR codes a new design element? Or are they themselves the design – think Jet Blue’s winter campaign. Certainly, the codes come with challenges, like when real estate is at a premium on a fractional ad.

We just produced a rack brochure for the V&T Railroad that includes a QR code on the back panel. The code resolves to a YouTube video of the train in action. Through a unique URL, we are able to track how may visitors came from the QR scan. Our goal – to allow potential riders to experience for themselves and hopefully go on to buy a ticket.

What’s your opinion on QR codes? Are they helpful? Are you more engaged? Do you even notice them?

Baby carrots are waging a war against the $18 billion snack food industry. How is this possible? Spending $25 million and trying to beat the junk food industry at its own game. Highlights of the new advertising campaign:

•Packaged in Doritos-like bags. Three different packaging designs are planned.

•Sold out of cool school vending machines.

•Sporting marketing slogans like this on billboards and packs: “The original orange doodles.”

•Touting seasonal tie-ins. Coming this Halloween: scarrots.

•Offering a phone app powered by the sound of folks munching carrots in real time.

•Airing TV ad spots that tout baby carrots as extreme, futuristic and even, yes, sexy.

Sexy baby carrots? Scary thought. This new commercial validates my thoughts.