Nothing makes a company more forgettable than stock photo people on your home page. Sure, stock art plastic people are prettier than your real people, but you can’t build a relationship with a stock photo.
We do business with people we know, like and trust. Plastic people make your brand look like a commodity. Generic. Disposable. Forgettable. Replaceable.
Use photos of the actual people your customers will being working with (and hire a darn good photographer to help show them in a good light). It will help humanize your enterprise, engender loyalty and a sense of ownership from your team all while helping you build relationship with customers and prospects.
Your people are integral to your brand and brand experience. Online. Offline. All the time.
And while we’re bitching about stock photos… Take a look at the technology photographed in your brochures, collateral and website. Are the computers, laptops, cell phone and headsets in the photos older than your new intern? Dated technology sticks out like a sore thumb. Refresh and stay relevant.
I’m in love with the new Ford Evos. There’s only one problem, Ford isn’t selling them. It’s a concept car. A design exploration. A glimpse at where Ford may be taking design in the future.
This tends to piss me off. My friend Nicholas Ellis put it best: “Did Apple ever introduce concepts?” He’s right.
Year after year, Steve Jobs introduced kickass, covetable products and built one of the most valuable and influential companies in the world. In that same time period, Microsoft unveiled prototype after prototype of vaporware products that never saw the light of retail or lit up their balance sheet.
Now, I know cars have a few more moving parts (not to mention more regulations and legal liabilities than a mobile phone), but I’d love to see Ford speed this car into showrooms.
Too often, companies release daring, evocative concept designs to test consumer opinions. The research folks listen to every piece of feedback, then the designers go back to work, sanding off all the corners that turned up noses.
And there’s the rub.
The next year, that bold concept is reintroduced as a ho-hum production model. The people who hated it now think it’s “meh”, the people who loved it now think it’s “meh” and the sales numbers usually end up being “meh”.
When you soften the edges that offend some people, you end up removing the edges that infatuate others. Never simply seek consensus when you have the opportunity to enflame true passion. Build remarkable. Piss a few people off. Create LOVERS and HATERS. Never create “meh”.
Evangelists and Raving Fans > Deal of the Day Customers
Old Spice secretly replaced the brilliant “man you wished your man smelled like” Isaiah Mustafa with 80s punchline Fabio in a new batch of TV spots. Now we’ll all have to rise up in anger and fight for our beloved former pitchman giving Old Spice tons of free press for bad behavior. Fantastic.
I’m considering a hunger strike. Or maybe a deodorant strike. Or at least switching from Old Spice to Brut, by Fabergé (cue the old Eddie Murphy bit).
“Hello, Ladies. Does your brand sound like me? If you don’t think sound is important in branding, try reading this without hearing my voice. Fantastic.”
If I say “Intel” chances are you’re hearing the chorus of engineers singing the “bum bum bum bum” in your head.
Brand managers and marketers are often tasked with playing “brand cop”. They watch over their company’s logo usage, colors and fonts. While the look of your brand is important, are you managing your brand’s other senses?
What does your brand sound like?
Soundmarks can be a powerful tool to cement your brand in prospects minds. Here’s a few quick thoughts on managing how your brand sounds.
Quit thinking paper or tech. Start thinking paper AND tech.
Here are a few new sites, applications and technologies that a smart brand marketer should be investigating:
Online Business Cards (Personal Brand Sites) Everyone wants to be your new homepage, but no one is doing it better than About dot Me right now. Build a personal splash page. Write a short bio. Link to all of your social networks. Add links to your company site, personal site and more. http://about.me http://about.me/CharlieCurve
Mobile Business Cards (Contact Info Exchange) Bump allows smartphone users to exchange virtual business cards by bumping there phones together. It’s slick technology and we love that the physical act of bumping makes an inherent connection between the recipients. http://bu.mp
Texting Business Cards (Contact Info Exchange) Contxts is banking on all those teens and twentysomethings that love texting will one day love business networking too. http://www.contxts.com http://cntx.me/vRw
Technology should never replace remarkable a business card, but always be on the look out for new ways to connect and establish your brand. Remember: business cards don’t work at all when they’re sitting in your pocket. Get out there and meet new folks, grow your network and grow your business.
Good news: Today, there are more ways to contact and connect with people than ever before. Bad news: All those methods of contact are junking up your business card.
No one loves social media and the mobile, connected lifestyle more that us. We’re all in favor of reaching out to friends, prospects and customers on as many nodes as you’re comfortable. But, that doesn’t mean you need to put them all on your business card.
You business card is part of your marketing campaign. It’s your brand ambassador. You contact information needs to be clean, simple and easy to read.
What do leave off your card: - Your fax number (goodbye 1970s) - Your social media URLs (we’ll be able to find you if your website is built correctly) - Every phone number connected to you (don’t make us chase you) - QR codes (sure, they’re neat, but do your prospects use them?)
What to include on the front of your card: - Your logo - Your name - Your primary phone number - Your primary email address - Your primary URL
It’s time to think outside the business card. It’s time to start engaging the senses. It’s time to create something memorable.
Here are a few questions to ask as you brainstorm your ideal business card. Some of them may sound ludicrous, at first, but complete the exercise. You never know what good ideas may come from a harebrained scheme.
Sight Graphic design is absolutely important. From a functional perspective, is your card easy to read? Look at the contrast between the background and type color. Are the fonts legible when you view the card actual size. From a brand perspective, are you consistent in your use of colors, fonts, logos and messages?
Sound Musical greeting cards have been around for a lot time. As sound chips get smaller, is there a way to use a soundmark to create a memorable brand impression? More on soundmarks: http://youtu.be/QK3WeA2kFeY
Touch People will touch your card BEFORE they read it. What feelings do you want to evoke? How thick is your paperstock? Is it paper, plastic, bamboo or metal? Textured or smooth? Have you considered a dimensional card, interesting die-cut shapes or a card sculpture?
Taste A search for edible business cards returns everything from beef jerky to cookies to chocolate bars. Make your business card part of this nutritious meal.
Smell Sure, I love that “new card smell,” but beyond that, does your brand have a scent? Seriously. Our sense of smell is one of the most powerful. Scented inks are available in everything from the kitchen to the factory to the forest. Remember how much fun you had with scratch and sniff as a kid. Invite your prospects to play again.
You can’t afford to be “just another” insert your profession here. You can’t afford to be using a generic business card either.
Me too is NOT a valid brand position. Me too but cheaper is even worse.
The backside of your business card is your brand ambassador — a chance to put your best foot forward, establish your brand difference and let your prospects know you are definitely NOT a commodity. Make a bold claim. Establish a brand promise. Interrupt the status quo. Let them know you are not business as usual.
Just as the best marketing campaigns are highly targeted, your business cards can be too. Create several different cards targeted at specific audiences. Design separate cards for each of your primary product lines. Make individualized cards that address common prospect concerns.
Above all, fashion business cards that are irresistible — cards that are memorable, unique and clever — cards that get saved, shared and shown around at the office.
Craft a strong brand promise, bold claim or attention grabber and get your business cards working for you.
Business cards are dead. Long live business cards.
There are a lot of people heralding the death of the business card.
Accountants view them as an expense (so they always push for the cheapest, generic option). Artists view them a canvas (so they design works of art that don’t work for your brand). And geeks, they see paper as a dead medium (so they push for whiz bang tech alternatives).
An effectively designed business card can be a powerful brand ambassador. Often, the business card is the first brand impression for your prospect.
Don’t waste the backside of your branding campaign as a notepad. Design a two-sided business card with a BOLD CLAIM on the back and your contact info on the front. Hand them to prospects backside up. GRAB their attention. Use your business card to help establish your brand difference.
It’s not the business card that is dead — it’s the unremarkable business card that is dead. But you know what, in today’s hyper-competitive marketplace, unremarkable businesses are dead too.
I love this article in Fortune looking behind the Hawaiian print curtain at how Trader Joe’s finds profitability, growth differentiation in a crowded marketplace.
Hello, Hello. My name is Charlie. I'm a purveyor of attention.
I hang my hat at a marketing strategy, creative design and social technology firm called Curve Detroit. I'm the curator of TEDxDetroit and help run a social network in Detroit called Motor City Connect.
I love big ideas and big mountains and big sandwiches. I hate poorly designed billboards, speed limits and people who flick cigarette butts out the window. I know a thing or two about advertising, marketing and social media.
I'm on a mission to rekindle the fire in your belly.#makeithappen
Old Spice. New Coke.
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