Have you ever hung out with people who all belong to a different professional circle than you and they crack ‘industry- specific’ jokes? You can feel clueless and a total ‘div head’ (English slang for a rather slow stupid person) for not getting the joke. In the same way I am also sure we have all been involved in conversations even within our own companies where people are talking about something that we don’t understand. Even though we may never admit it, we have probably played along with the conversation pretending to be in the know, nodding with a sense of confidence backed with extreme fear that we may get caught out.

This is one reason I decided to take the ‘Introduction to Web Development and Design’ course at BCIT. As a designer in my 30’s I was trained and bottle-fed on print design and not web design (the web will never smell as good as a freshly printed ink drenched brochure). My lack of knowledge and understanding for coding and web standards was starting to be a hinderance. Sure I may have nodded my head with understanding as our web guys talked about divs, WC3 and some guy called Zeldman, and as Art Director in a company that focusses on web and print design my knowledge was lacking and it was time to go back to school.

I have a successful career, am married with a kid and I can afford more than just plain pasta for dinner and here I am at 37 being a student again. I know this is all in my head but it was for sure a little bizarre going off to class once a week. I was also concerned before the first class  that I would be the ‘old fart’ in the corner trying to keep up with all the young ‘whipper snappers’. In fact there was a great diversity of people there, from younger people who were just starting their careers; people who were hired by their companies to maintain their corporate website (and needed training) and people like myself.

The course was hard work. It was like learning a new language, something that doesn’t come easily to me. Remembering when to use absolute, float or relative positioning sometimes ‘mashed’ my brain but at the same time the problem solving part of my brain enjoyed figuring-out solutions to why the code I just wrote didn’t do what I had expected (damn those closing tags).

I procrastinated (well actually avoided) taking this course as I had to admit to myself that I was not perfect, or that times had changed and that I needed to ‘catch up’ a little. But I am glad I did. I can now participate fully in conversations, give better strategic direction to my entire team and am able to challenge my web guys and know what I am talking about. I don’t pretend to know everything about web and programming, but investing in this new knowledge has given me new tools and confidence.

One unexpected bonus of being in college for me was receiving a student membership card where I got a killer discount for trendy clothing shops selling 80’s style clothes (that I unfortunately remember wearing the first time I went to college).

In conclusion, I would invite you to ask yourself if there is room for you to improve or to be better in your job. It’s OK to go back to college or seek private one-on-one training when the opportunity arises. Don’t be a ‘div head’ and let your ego or some other reason prevent you from growing in your profession.

Your corporate message consists of who you are, what you are selling and what differentiates you from your competitors. It is communicated to your target audience, the people who are going to purchase your product or service via many different avenues. They include your company name, your tagline, website, verbally in person, advertising and signage – to mention just a few.

Is your company communicating the right message, to the right audience in the right way that will assist in closing the sale? You may be asking your self “is what I am saying too much, too little or even the right kind of language for my audience to understand”?

To best answer these questions I am going to show a few examples that will hopefully help in answering your questions or may spark new questions that will lead to a clearer and more effective corporate message for your company.

There is nothing wrong on first look at this following sign for a wholesaler of fresh and frozen poultry, meat and seafood.

When I first saw this sign I was excited, it was local to where I lived and the thought of buying wholesale appealed to me. Then I read the rest of the sign. Suddenly I was not too enthused.

The fact they also make dog food put the quality of the meat into question and was an instant turn off (although I was excited about photographing it for this article).

Joking aside, there is nothing wrong with this sign if it communicates effectively to their target audience. I am obviously not their target audience.

It is unrealistic to think that your corporate message will resonate with everyone, it will not. Focus your time and efforts on having it communicate effectively with your target audience.

Once you have defined who your audience is, create a user profile of them. Are they male or female, age, sexual preference, nationality, income bracket, education, what do they do in their spare time, what do they wear, what vehicle do they drive, are they married, have kids or have pets. The best way to understand your target audience is to talk with them. Find out what type of language (verbal and pictorial) communicates effectively to them.

Unless you are a very skilled communicator and writer, hire a professional to help you sculpt the right messaging. I believe the person who created the ‘Ass Fruit’ sign at the top of this article could have used some professional assistance. I am quite confident that they are not actually selling Ass Fruit (even though it seems like a good bargain at only a dollar per bag) and that even the clientele of this Asian grocery store wouldn’t buy this product… although I may be wrong.

This following sign successfully communicates it’s message effectively. It is for an electricity company, and they are warning you not to enter the designated area.

It doesn’t get much clearer than that. But, what if you don’t read English? The company accompanied the wording with an image that clearly communicates the message to all non-English readers and even accentuates the message to those who understood the written message.

In summary, they are saying – Don’t. It will hurt. A lot.

As we live in a fast paced society you only have a few seconds to impress someone. As your company name is often the first point of contact you want it to impress right off the start.

It is similar to being in a book shop and looking at all the book covers, wondering which one to purchase. Does the title grab you, does the image entice you and is the author someone you have previously heard of? These are all hooks to have the ‘potential’ buyer turn the book over to read more about the book, before committing to buy or to move onto the next book.

This is why it is critical to have a company name that is aligned with your corporate message. If you are going to open a restaurant you wouldn’t want a name that is off putting. Like this one:

Would you like your food to have a lingering flavor in your mouth (I wonder if they charge a premium for this)?

Your message has to be truthful and honest. If you are claiming that you have the best, fastest, cheapest widget in the world you better deliver. Because if you don’t people are unlikely to be a return customer. Additionally, they are likely to communicate their disappointment with friends, family and colleges, spreading a negative brand association with your company. This alone can cripple a company.

The following company is promising in it’s name that it sells the ‘best’ pizza. Firstly, would you eat there and secondly, do you really think it would be the best pizza of your life?

There is a lot of work that has to be undertaken in creating the right corporate message. Also, once you have perfected it, the market may shift and you may have to adapt your message and your whole communication platform. But where do you start?

My suggestion is to consider the following questions:

• Who are you and what is your story?
• What are you selling?
• Who are you selling it to?
• Why should they care?
• Who is your competition?
• How do they communicate about their product or services?
• What differentiates you from your competition?

From your research and answers start to think about your corporate messaging. Hire a professional branding and communication company to help you get it right. There will obviously be an expense for this. But, if it can prevent your ass fruit from having a lingering flavour, then it may be the best investment your business will ever make.

When my daughter was about 8 months old we received 5 Disney books in the mail. What a great idea I thought.

I relate to this shameless promotion by Disney in two ways.

1)   I wish my daughter could grow up in ‘logo free / brand free’ world. However, although I think this is unobtainable in today’s society (while living in a city anyway) it would be a  wonderful place. Kids could grow up just being themselves without having to be pressured to belong to ‘the cool and most popular brand tribe’ of that moment.

2)   As a branding expert, what Disney did is brilliant marketing. By offsetting the cost of a few books in exchange for many years (if not a life time) of loyalty to Disney, the kids would buy Disney DVD’s, toys and apply consistent pressure to their parent to take them to Disney World etc. in the future.

Fast forward 8 months.

My wife got a call from Disney saying that they never received their payment for the books. My wife was confused. What payment? The lady explained that the books came with a payment slip and we were due to have paid for them or have returned them several months ago. She asked that we either pay it now or return them. My wife refused both requests. Why on earth would we pay for postage and packaging for a product that we never requested in the first place. The lady on the phone was nice and polite and eventually she suggested that we donated the books to the library. Again, a brilliant strategic move, now many kids can enjoy / become hooked on the wonders of Disney.

Brands are built on a collective experience of a certain company or product. Disney’s brand is that they ‘deliver magic’ and people’s experience of them is fun. After this episode our experience of Disney has shifted. They are cheeky & advantageous–causing frustration, confusion and wasting our time, (especially as my wife is a good citizen and actually followed through and took the books to the library).

Will this experience prevent me from ever interacting with their products again – no, probably not. However it has left a bad taste in my mouth. Like any reputation, once tarnished it takes something extra special, sometimes something extraordinary to make up for the initial disappointment. Maybe this post will trigger a response from someone at Disney. I will wait and see ‘if the magic comes my way’.

The lesson here is to be consistent. Don’t try to be sneaky or try to get away with something that is slightly ‘off brand’. Your customers are intelligent consumers and will notice when what they have come to rely on is not being delivered in the way that they now demand.

We all like to cut financial corners sometimes especially in tight economic times. However, at what point does it start to work against you or even damage your brand image or business?

I will use a company’s business card as an example to tackle this question. What is a cheap business card? Well, if you are only spending $20 (where there has been little if any thought put into the design), then you can consider this cheap.

As a business owner you want the person you are giving a business card to, to have a certain impression of your company. Design, paper choice and the type of printing all add to this impression. For example, if the paper is too flimsy it can communicate that you ‘cheaped-out’, are inexperienced or unprofessional.

If you are a public company or government agency, you will not want to give the impression that you are spending all the investor’s money on ‘fancy’ stationery and design. So you may want to avoid using a really thick paper for your business cards.

Getting your business card to communicate the required experience is a fine balance. It is in your best interest to hire a certified trained professional to bring their years of experience to solving your communication and design problems. A trained graphic designer will understand your required needs and will know how to express them in a way that will resonate with the required target audience communicating the required message.

Where and how you have your card printed also leaves an impression. The worst thing you can do as a business owner is to print your business cards on your own office printer. It communicates that you are not going to make that extra effort to ensure a good client/customer experience and that you ‘cheaped-out’.

I strongly recommend that as the bare minimum you use a company like Clubcard where you can get very good quality cards for a good price. Ideally, hire a printer (or have your graphic designer co-ordinate this on your behalf) where you have total control over colour, paper choice and an array of finishing’s like rounded corners, embossing and different varnishes to mention a few.

First impressions are critical. You want it to be a good one. Ever shook someone’s hand and it was all flimsy (not good,right!). Ever had a rotten first date or met the parents-in-laws for the first time and you called them by the wrong name? First impressions last, sometimes for ever.

To answer the initial question ‘Does a cheap business card cheapen your brand’ I would very loudly say “YES”. As a person’s experience of your company is essentially your brand, if you do economize too much on your business card (or any other area of your company) then, yes, it will cheapen your brand.

As one of people’s first impressions of your company will be your business card, MAKE SURE it’s a good one.

There are four types of customers all with varying degrees of acceptance of change.
1: Early Adopters who are the risk takers. They like to try new things.
2: Pragmatists who are willing to use/try something new but only as a last resort.
3: Conservatives try to avoid anything new.
4: Laggards pride themselves on the fact that they are the last to try anything new.

Personally I am somewhere between an Early Adopter and a Pragmatist, you could say a cautious Early Adopter. Change grabs my attention initially but then in due course I accept it as the way it’s going to be.

An example of this was when I entered McDonald’s the other day to use their washroom. I was surprised by my experience. When I think of McDonald’s I think of yellow arches, the colour red, plastic molded furniture and spotty pubescent teenagers. This restaurant had just undergone a renovation and this time I was greeted by a young lady as she opened the door for me while displaying a smile. The inside was modern, new, bright and clean. The washrooms were spectacular, reflective of a quality restaurant.

As I didn’t eat there I can only presume the food has not seen the same upgrade as the interior (imagine a Big Mac served with silver cutlery and cloth napkins). Here lies the brand problem. The environment is no longer reflective of the cheap commodity food that it is selling. I experienced ‘brand confusion’. It would be the equivalent to eating at an expensive restaurant and the server bringing you your $40 steak to the table in a brown paper bag.

The roll out of McDonald’s new interior across all of its locations will take some time. As some restaurants will have the new look and some the old, this will also add to customers’ brand confusion. That being said, brand confusion will quickly disperse as McDonald’s are not changing their product, only the experience in which customers will consume their product. Customers will still get the same expected meal but can now enjoy it in a nicer environment. This will create a heightened dining experience for the customer.

For some customers accepting brand change can take time, but for the company the end result is worth the wait. With repeat exposure to something new, customer brand confusion or even reluctance will eventually subside and be replaced with acceptance (even for Conservative customers and Laggards).

This acceptance will eventually result in a more positive customer brand experience when compared to eating at McDonalds prior to the new interior renovations.

As humans we need consistency, we crave it, our lives would spin out of control without it.

Imagine going to work and all your files on your computer are not in the same folders that they were yesterday. You would probably freeze, panic, freak out some more, then call I.T with a look of desperation and hope on your face.

Or, what if suddenly your favourite friendly coffee barista is suddenly rude and short with you, it could leave you confused and probably frustrated or angry.

Imagine looking at your wage stub and suddenly there is 50% less than last month, It would be very off putting and disturbing – to say the least.

This is why businesses strive and add great importance to delivering a consistent experience for their customers.

Go into any popular high street coffee shop and then visit the same store elsewhere in the country or even the world and you will more likely than not have a very similar (if not identical) branded experience. Before you enter you will recognize the logo and exterior design of the coffee shop, it signifies that this is the right place. You are going to get what you are seeking the way you have come to expect it at the price you are use to paying. As you walk through the door you are welcomed by a familiar looking, and smelling interior and are greeted by a barista wearing a familiar looking uniform. The drink names are the same, the pastries are the same, the merchandise they sell is the same. You know what you want and you get it, time and time again. It is easy, stress free and it leaves you feeling satisfied and fulfilled.

You get the point, consistency is important. In fact, when executed well, it is the critical foundation for a successful and profitable brand.

Customers who have a consistent positive experience of your company will return for more. In fact, they will return time and time again. They will become loyal customers and will bring others with them to purchase your product or service, enrolling them to be part of your ‘brand tribe’. Sounds great, and it is, but there is a downside. Customers today can probably purchase your service or product from your competition (especially with the ease of the Internet). Customers are very loyal until something interrupts their experience and then are very willing to jump ship and give their business to your competition. This adds extreme importance and often pressure for your company to ensure that a positive experience is being delivered consistently time and time again, without fail.

And don’t forget about your staff. Brands are built as well as destroyed at the employee level. It pays to keep them, and to keep them happy. Staff retention is very important. A company can spend a lot of money rehiring and retraining a consistent flow of new employees – which can also effect workflow and company moral. Staff, appreciate consistency for all the same reasons as your clients do. Ask your staff what the company can do to enhance their experience as an employee. When people are included they feel like they matter, like they are making a contribution, both will lead to increased loyalty and a happier workforce – which in the end will benefit the bottom line.

Every member of your staff from the janitor to the CEO are equal in the eyes of a successful brand. You could spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on a successful advertising campaign but if someone experiences poor service from the receptionist or agent over the phone, it can cost you the business and erode your brand equity and reputation.
Where in your business are you not delivering the same branded experience?

Consider how and when a customer comes into contact with your company. These ‘contact’ points are called ‘touchpoints’. Are your customers receiving the same branded experience via every touchpoint. If not, question what needs to change, is it a retraining of a staff member, or maybe ensuring that your logo is used exactly the same on all your corporate and marketing materials.

As your business grows or the business environment around you changes certain touchpoints will no longer deliver the required corporate message and branded experience. Simply re-align it. If you are unsure of what needs to change and how, try asking your customers or staff what would work for them, or hire a communication and design company to assist you in the process.

Below is a list of just a few touchpoint categories that you can to look at (in no particular order). As each company or industry has it’s own unique set of touchpoints, you may want to add to this list.

As an example, how does a ‘speech’ deliver your brand message? It could be a public speech, a business presentation or even a speech to university students. Question every detail of that speech, what different elements could leave people with an experience or a judgment of you and your company. For example, the following will leave people with a certain impression: your clothing (could be too casual or too corporate), how you speak (interesting, boring, or even inappropriate), your PowerPoint presentation (is it designed well or is it consistent with your handouts and other corporate materials) to mention just a few. Put on your detective hat and really inspect every touchpoint.

Once you have obtained consistency across every touchpoint your clients will become loyal brand ambassadors, returning for more and more.

At the end of the day, being consistent is an ongoing endeavor and it takes repetition to get a brand message to stick. Often at the point that you are becoming tired of a campaign or message is when it’s starting to have a real effect with its intended audience. Be patient, loyalty takes time to build.

In summary, be consistent, consistent, consistent. Then be consistent some more.

Some touchpoints for you to explore:
SPEECHES
LOGO
EMPLOYEES
PRESENTATIONS
NETWORKING
WORD OF MOUTH
PUBLIC RELATIONS
CIVIC MARKETING
TRADE SHOWS
DIRECT MAIL
SALES PROMOTION
DIGITAL
NEWSLETTERS
BUSINESS FORMS
SIGNAGE
PACKAGING
EXHIBITS
PROPOSALS
EMAILS
VOICE MAILS / ANSWERING MACHINE / TELEPHONE
PUBLICATIONS
WEB BANNERS
PRODUCTS
ADVERTISING
ENVIRONMENTS / OFFICE SPACE
EXPERIENCES
PHOTOGRAPHY
EVENTS
BIZ OWNERS
LETTERHEADS
BUSINESS CARD
VEHICLES
PHYSICAL WORKING SPACE OF HEAD OFFICE

As the title of this article suggests, if you have a home business then you are still running a business and therefore it should still be treated as a business.

This is essential for your brand image.

Many people look less favourably towards home business rather than one that has become successful and grown out of its infancy stage and moved into a professional office.

The truth is that this is not always the case, many home businesses can and do flourish and operate as very professional businesses. However, it requires the owner to treat it like a professional business for their customers to follow suit and do the same.

‘Inward facing’ do what you like,– wear your PJ’s all day, answer the phone stark naked if this works for you. But as soon as your business becomes ‘outward facing’ it’s time to put on your ‘business hat’.  Be professional on the phone. If someone comes over, put some clothes on, clothing that is appropriate for the type of client.

This article was inspired by a personal experience I had the other week.

My wife and I were looking for a new day-care for our child. We made a list of the type of things we wanted in our day care. There were the ‘touchables’ like being close to our home; had to be licensed; the drop off and collection hours had to work with our schedule, to mention just a few.

There was also the ‘emotional’ list. Did the person instil trust that they would be a great teacher and provider for our daughter and did they seem passionate about their job and the possibility of being our daughter’s day -care provider.

The service I received from the day-cares that were ‘not’ home run was as I expected. They were professional, passionate and had time to answer my questions. The service I got from the home run daycares was astonishingly poor and often shocking.

There were three instances that shocked me the most. On one occasion I called someone and their young child  (probably about eight years old) answered. He loosely took a message as he didn’t know if his Mom was around. I was left with no confidence that the Mom would actually get the message. They were instantly crossed off our list of potential options.

Many of the home day-cares I called answered the phone by simply saying ‘hello’. Whatever happened to “Hello, ACME daycare, Joyce speaking, how can I help you?” This is the bare minimum I would expect from a company that is being run professionally. If you have other people answering the phone, train them to answer the phone in a similar way. Or even better, get a private line with an answering service that is just for the business and not for Joyce, Bob, Charlie and little Peter.

We visited one home run day-care after the lady was great on the phone. The problem came when the lady started showing us around. She said things like “this is where the kids put their coats and belongings, it’s a little messy right now, I should really tidy that up”. We thought if it was messy now, it will probably always be messy.

Before a client or potential client comes over to your home business, tidy up. Wash the dishes (even if you have to hide them in the oven, get them out of sight), vacuum, dress up, and whatever it is that you are selling make sure it is spectacular.

Finally and most shocking was the lady that my wife visited. The information she had sent was amazing, it read really well and sounded very professional. The price was also a great fit for what we were seeking. I was very hopeful. One of the first things that the lady told my wife was how hard the previous year had been with the kids that she had in her care, in fact, she said that she was close to a nervous break down and really hoped this year would be better. Seriously. Then, when questioned on her first-aid qualifications (something that was high on our essential list) she said that she use to have it, but it may now have expired and that she should ‘probably’ look into this.

It is a great example that it is easy to say great things about your company but actually the ‘proof is in the pudding’, so to speak.

If people believe your sales pitch and try out your product or service and they have a poor experience, they will NOT be coming back for more.

More than that, they will probably share their poor experience and tarnish your name and any positive brand image that you may have created to date.

As a branding specialist and communication designer this would be like me trying to sell you  a logo design but letting you know “that the last client I had was very disappointed with my work–In fact it was really stressful and I don’t like dealing with people much. And by the way, you should hire me.”–Not going to happen, right?

We all have bad experiences running a business, whether it’s a home business or a multi- million dollar corporation. But put simply, ‘keep your mouth shut’ about them, especially when talking to staff and even more so, to potential new clients.

As I mentioned earlier, as a home business you may be perceived as not quite having made it yet. This adds even more importance that you pull out all the stops and treat each customer as if you are the best in your business and in that moment they are the most important person in your world.

Any home-run business is still a business. Operate one that is professional and leaves its clients with a positive experience.

If it’s not obvious how to do this then ask other successful companies for help and mentor you as a fellow business owner. On the most basic level look at shops and companies you like to do business with, what is it about them that has been an enjoyable experience and has you going back for more. Once you identify these successful elements, incorporate them into your business.

From there, keep on learning and keep on enjoying the benefits that come with owning a home-run business.

If you are a business owner working on the development and growth of your own company it can be a challenge no matter what industry you are in. This can range from generating more sales, creating or finessing your marketing plan, sourcing manufacturing or creating a new brand for your business. It is your business, your baby, you want to make the right decision and you often question what the right decision or direction is. And, at the end of the day, it’s your bottom line that is affected so you’ll want to make a good decision.

So when Industrial Brand Creative choose to re-brand we knew it was going to be an interesting journey.

There have been challenges–some which we could have predicted and others that came as a surprise. There were also insights into the world of our clients.

Still, we needed to service our clients and run the business and we knew that our re-branding would from time to time be pushed down the priority list. Two years later, it had come to the point where it could not wait any longer. We were still getting great feedback about our website and other promotional materials, but for ourselves the identity we created in 1997 no longer reflected our capabilities and the calibre of work we provide to our clients. It was time to re-brand.

A major advantage was that we knew what we were doing–it’s what we do for our clients with very successful results. We knew all we had to do was to put ourselves through the same branding and design process and we would arrive at the outcome we were looking for.

The first stage was one of Discovery, Analysis, Research, Collaboration and Strategy.

This involved the business owners asking questions that included: Why change? What are we hoping to achieve? How will we know the branding process has been a success? We interviewed clients, staff, vendors and others to discover if what we think about ourselves is the same as what others think of us. Thankfully the results confirmed we were heading in the right direction.

Your brand is aspirational and goal-driven, but as a company you have to bridge the gap between where you are today and your aspirations. Your company has to walk the talk today and everyday. It must look and behave like the kind of company a high calibre client would hire.

The Brand Discovery Session was essential in creating our re-branding process. We dug into every aspect of the company, often facing difficult questions – some which took several months to resolve. We questioned the name of the company, who our target audiences are today and will be in the future, how we will reach them, what our message is and how will it resonate with them. We also looked at how we differentiate ourselves from other design companies and what our core service offering is.

The next phase involved consolidating the knowledge that we’d gleaned from the research and applying it. It involved brainstorming ideas, conceptualizing initial logo concepts, being strategic and making sure everything we did was relevant and aligned with our discoveries during the first phase. It was also during this phase we explored a new tag line. Parting from the old, ‘we’re not wired right’ we wanted something that was honest, concise and gave a better sense of what we are all about. WHERE IDEAS WORK is a statement of not only what goes on within the studio and the people that compose it, but it also says something about the outcomes we deliver.

Business owners can often be too attached to their company to be objective and decisive. The third and final phase saw us starting to whittle down iterations and make final decisions based on the research and strategy from the earlier phases. This foundation made it easier for making clear final decisions.
With the new identity and tagline complete, the next step was to produce all the marketing materials, website and internal documents. At the end of August we rearranged our production schedule for two weeks so the entire Industrial Brand team could focus on doing just this.

We knew from the outset that two weeks was a somewhat optimistic timeframe to complete the myriad of tasks at hand, and in the end it was. But without dedicating that time to the development of our own brand it would probably have continued to get pushed to the bottom of the priority list (below servicing clients). Now we had the momentum we needed to make the final push to completion.

Branding is all-encompassing and there’s a clear distinction between the creation of a new logo versus the formation or re-formation of a brand. Even though we’ve been re-branding for our clients for many years, undertaking our own project has provided us with further insight into client concerns about the process, and the confidence, financial commitment, trust and hard work that is required to create and implement a new brand.

That being said, branding or re-branding is worth it if done well and assuming there’s a sound rationale for it. It will reinvigorate and energize the company, its clients, prospects, staff, vendors and all others associated with it. It’s important to remember that a brand is organic, and grows and changes over time so must be managed. With the successful re-launch of Industrial Brand, we’re excited to watch as people take new notice of our new look and the platform from which we continue to build and grow our business.