Business branding: cuts like lightning or a millstone around your neck
In business and networking, first impressions can make or break a potentially lucrative and successful relationship
This is the second in a mini-series, covering the importance of creating the right first impression and backing that up with a powerful brand image. In Part 1, Peter Gregory covered how to optimise the first impressions we make on others: ‘If you want to attract the right client, make the right impression.’
Part 2 in a mini-series on attracting the right clients
Introduction
‘Perception is reality’ - Peter’s quote last time as he wrote about making the all-important first impressions that can make or break a potential business relationship.
The word brand originally referred to a firebrand - a piece of burning wood - or something like a firebrand, such as lightning.
Interestingly, it had two opposing uses, with both positive and negative connotations: a mark made on a piece of property to designate its ownership or distinguish the maker; compared with the mark made on a criminal to act as an identification.
As such, your brand has the ability to cut through the noise and chaos of the marketplace in a flash like lightning.
Equally, it can be a millstone around your neck, cementing your poor standing in your field.
These days brand has gone beyond merely signifying ownership or designating a product or service.
It now encompasses the experience that businesses want their customers and clients to enjoy in their interactions with it.
A lot more is being written currently about this and focusses on things like (and you may recognise the authors):
The gut feeling people have
What’s said about you behind your back
Expressing a set of coalescing intangibles
The meaning attached to you by others
Still, in both cases - whether ownership or experience - to be successful as a brand you need to influence both aspects as they exist to your audience.
So, how do you make the right impressions with your branding to attract the right clients?
Corresponding with Peter’s three ways of optimising impressions on others, here are mine from a branding perspective:
Colour psychology: are you sending the right signals?
“Colour is Nature’s own powerful signalling system - the universal, non-verbal language. Scientifically, it is the first thing we register when we are assessing anything: a very simple and obvious example of that is our reaction to a fly in our home: if it is black or navy blue, we will probably find it a minor irritation, but if it has yellow stripes our reaction will be different - most of us will recoil.”
Colour psychology is a study that has been pioneered by Angela Wright and more recently adopted by Fiona Humberstone, The Brand Stylist, among others
It relates to the impact that light within the visible spectrum (i.e., the colours of the rainbow) has on mood and behaviour
Given that light exists within the same electromagnetic spectrum as atomic particles and radar, it is absorbed by the body so effects the body and mind
As such, something as small as the colours you choose for your business card register in the brain
Moreover, if you have chosen colours with strong negative psychological properties, these will produce corresponding emotions
It might not be a strong physical reaction like touching a hot ember, but an impression will have been made and registered subconsciously
As such, the question is, would you rather have a positive or a negative impact through the choice of your colours?
In the same way that you choose a blouse or a tie, I imagine you will want to choose the colours that best reflect you and have a positive, confidence-building impact on your potential client!
“In today’s sophisticated world it is easy to underestimate the power of primitive instincts, as they are largely unconscious. Today we might be contemplating a packet of corn flakes or a new cold cure, rather than a primitive meal or a curative herb, but exactly the same instincts come powerfully into play. The colours of the interior environment wherein we live or work affect us in just the same way as those in the natural world always did. The colours that people wear still send out clear signals that we can all read accurately.”
Know thyself: who you are and where you are going
A strong, assertive and self-confident brand knows what it’s about and it comes across obviously, just like meeting someone at a business networking meeting
Equally, a dithering, diffident and timid brand just carries that sense of being lost, listless and is unclear about where it is headed
How do you gain that confidence and clarity, you ask?
Well, it comes by sitting down and having a frank conversation with yourself or partner or team, asking yourself some questions:
What’s our story - the journey that got us to where we are and made us who we are?
What makes us passionate; the things we want to change; what we want to do differently?
Who do we love working with and what are the aspects of their client experience with us that they rave about?
What are the guiding principles of how we work and where do we draw the lines?
Do we have a clear and inspirational hope for the future - if we were madly successful, what would it look like?
When you know the answers to these questions, you become a lethal weapon in conversations about products, services, who you work with and how
You move beyond talking transactionally to communicating in depth, with meaning and conviction; plus you know when there’s a good fit or not
Be different
It sounds obvious; how many people have said that? You need to stand out from the crowd
Yet how often do you see the same old words, colours arrangements rehashed, regurgitated and rewarmed; I’m probably even guilty of it myself!
The point is, whether your riffing on someone else’s theme or going boldly, if you look like you’ve casually picked up your visual identity from a catalogue, it’s not going to fly
In a crowded marketplace, you’ve got to help potential clients make the choice easy
Let’s consider a few scenarios in and around three businesses that look identical on face value:
A voice message or grumpy receptionist versus a helpful, warm and friendly customer experience on the end of the phone
A website with dull, corporate colours and minimal, out of date copy versus a fresh, bright, impactful aesthetic with copy to match
A business card with a shiny finish that is hard to read because of the reflection versus a tactile, weighty card with an elegant font choice
It’s these details that make the difference when it comes to whether a customer chooses you or others, and there are many other factors besides
Why not do what you can to stack the odds in your favour by considering how far you stretch your budget or maximise your spend on a few key areas?
The beauty of this is that you don’t automatically require a full rebrand; attending to some important touchpoints that people come into contact with is a start
What now?
You’ve heard from Peter on first physical impressions, whether in a meeting or networking, and now some of the less tangible aspects that have an impact.
If you want to learn more about referral marketing, attracting the right clients or setting up the visual identity of your business for success, get in touch to chat further.
