Making Impressions

The holiday party scene will see some people dressed up with the same effort they make for a big business meeting. Why? Because they want to give themselves a competitive advantage and make a good impression.

Most marketers are so heavily focused on numbers of customer impressions that they lose sight of the actual impression they’re making.

With fierce competition and fewer buying customers on the market—and a brand’s look, feel, messaging and relevancy all top-of-mind—it’s never been more important for your brand to resonate.

So how does your company dress up? What’s the first impression and customer experience through all touch-points: website, telephone, salesperson, and proposal? Do your marketing elements grab your audience’s attention or leave them confused and uninterested? Think about the image you’re putting out there.

“Shtick” for shtick’s sake doesn’t work. I know clients who tried to do something cool, creative and outrageous to generate buzz. Unfortunately, they don’t have a cool, creative or outrageous brand. The result of their efforts was confusion and a disconnect from their audience (and may have actually hurt more than helped.) That’s branding gone awry. It’s like trying to wear a fashion trend that clearly isn’t flattering. The key is to be authentic.

Here’s a good example…sometimes Google dresses up its website. Because its home page is a simple frame, the decorations work effectively. Putting lights on your website, however, would most likely be ridiculous.

I know a really edgy creative agency that lives in t-shirts, leather, sneakers, tattoos and earrings- client meeting or not. They are a creative firm, and that’s why they get hired. There are no false pretenses with them; they are authentic. It works for them, but it may not a good idea to dress like that if you’re in a hyper corporate environment.

Focus your branding efforts on drilling home the brand message and being positively memorable. Take a slower-paced holiday time to focus on branding and dressing up for a challenging new year ahead. And think about the actual impression you’re leaving...