Does Your Marketing Reflect How You Do Business?

We’re into the planning season for 2017 and beyond; but before you even start with a strategy update or a forward tactical plan, it’s good to go back to basics and consider the ‘fit’ between your company and your marketing.

Does your marketing reflect how you do business?  Does your image reflect your ‘corporate’ personality?  Are your customers getting the right impression?

There’s often a mismatch.  Companies evolve and change, but their ‘image’ can get left behind.  It happened to us.  If you’ve been with us a while, you’ll remember Elixir, the brand we created as a start-up 18 years ago.  It was designed to look smart, professional, calm, elegant.  We are still all those things, but as a company we’ve grown-up, become more confident; and when we ‘rocked up’ to meetings in bright clothes, with big ideas and a dynamic approach, it just didn’t fit with little old staid Elixir.  So 5 years ago we became Juicy… it’s much more ‘us’ and we’re still loving it!

A lot of our work with clients starts with identifying their unique personality, so we can then inject it into their marketing.  Our process includes asking these 9 key questions, and many more!:

1. Where are we now?  Turnover, staff, profitability, position in market, perception of customers and suppliers, competitive environment.
2. And where do we want to be?  What are our short, medium and long term goals?
3. What is our company personality now?  Serious, formal, authoritative, friendly, blunt, soft, distant, warm?
4. And is that the ‘right’ personality for:
   a) our current customer base?
   b) the customers we really want to attract?
5. What style and ‘voice’ can we be comfortable with?  Technical, easy-to-read, formal, casual, friendly, lively, fun, even flirty?
6. How do we want to be perceived by customers, staff and suppliers?  And vs our competition too?
7. Where are we placed in the market currently?  Top end, middle market, commodity?
8. Where do we want to be in the market?  Where we are now, or make a move up or down?
9. What do we need to change to help us improve our presence?

Your corporate/business personality is a key factor in successful modern marketing… and that’s true whether you’re an independent operator, an SME or a large multi-national organisation. 

But could there be a mismatch between your company’s marketing and how you actually do business?  Is yours rather formal, when you’re actually bright, lively and dynamic?  Could your image and colour palette be a little dated, when in-fact you’re at the forefront of what you do, pushing boundaries and making waves?  Have you adopted a simple, bright approach when something more sophisticated and upmarket would be more appropriate?

Everything stems from who you are and how you do business; and first impressions really do count!

So, before you even start talking marketing strategy, plans and tactics… ask yourself our 9 key questions (and include your key team members if you can) to help you define and develop a distinctive corporate personality for your business…

One which truly conveys what customers can expect when working with you, and what staff can expect when working for you.

Struggling to cut through the noise and find (define) your personality? 

It’s all part of our ‘Mining Your Gold’ workshop… to find out more, simply call or email today

Until next time, remember… A wolf in sheep’s clothing – or vice versa! – will get found out!