The summer is a great time to work on strategy with our clients, both existing and new. This summer, I started working with a new client and it became obvious very early in our relationship that there is not, and has never been, a Brand Cop for their organization.
The conversation started quite simply in the boardroom with an exchange of business cards. It is my habit, when first meeting a client, to leave the cards out on the table so that I can not only write notes on them to quickly trigger salient points, but also to help me remember names and where they fit within the organization. The first thing that struck me was that the cards were all different- different layout, different stock. Although the intention was to have the colour scheme match. . . it did not.
This was the perfect place to start a conversation. Within 30 minutes we had the majority of their marketing materials, internal documents, promotional marketing pieces, trade show banners and some pieces of corporate clothing all strewn out on the boardroom table. It became clear to them, in a matter of minutes, that there was no consistency of brand and this was a problem.
This company’s perceived value in the marketplace was consistency of product and overall attention to detail. Although they are excellent at what they do for their clients, the perception would be to a trained eye, is that they do not pay the same attention to detail inside the company as they do outside. Probably, the lack of detail has unintentionally lost them contracts over the years.
I asked them if when the logo was created many years ago, was a brand standards book created for them? They were not sure if it was and if there was such a book, they had no idea where it would be. The process to fix this brand consistency issue began with creation of a brand book and developing a position within the company that was responsible to review every piece of marketing and communications materials for both visual and messaging before it was released.
Now, many small companies might say, yeah, but only the large companies need to worry about that. My answer to that is NO, EVERY Company NEEDS a Brand Cop!
How you communicate, no matter how large or small a company you are, determines your overall worth in the marketplace. Consistency of image and communications style allow you to be seen as someone who will care about their clients, because they care about themselves first and foremost. Demonstrating this internal pride, by taking the time to make sure that all your marketing pieces are the same colour, the stock printed on is consistent and that promotional marketing pieces speak to your brand and are of good quality, speaks volumes about who you are as a brand.
In today’s digital world, business cards may be the only printed piece that companies produce. However, they get printed wherever it is cheapest that week and on different stock, because no one asks what stock they are printed on or provides samples of previous orders to be matched against. If you simply pre-print the colour section of the business cards in bulk and then overprint in one colour as needed, not only will your cards be consistent, but it will save you money in the long run.
One final note to think about when looking at your visual brand, if you are going to change your brand, CHANGE IT!
Do not leave old stationary around to be used up, give out old business cards with the old logo, or hand out old promotional pieces at trade shows. Just to get rid of them! You changed your brand for a reason. That reason is usually due to a shift in culture, company offerings or you need to move away from an old image for whatever reason. If you have spent the time and the money to get rid of the old brand, throw away the remains of the old image and start fresh the day you launch the new brand. It will give you something to talk about to your clients and will get the staff excited about the new direction. Yes, this is expensive, but brand confusion is even more expensive.
In the end, having one person, even if you are a one person company, whose responsibility it is to keep the brand consistent, is imperative for the growth of your company. Image is everything! Take the time to Get YOU Noticed! in a positive way.
