XBlog

You need to start by walking the walk

Don’t know about you, but I could never hire a personal trainer who looks out of shape.  It doesn't matter how great their program is, I’ll never get past their appearance and the message it's sending me. Same principle applies to your brand. If you claim to be an expert in some area, you need to look the part in order to inspire confidence.

For instance, a software firm that claims well-engineered and easy-to-use products should have a well-engineered and inviting web site. Wouldn’t you think? Otherwise it's seriously undermining their marketing message. All the slogans, conversion tricks and SEO in the world won’t convince people to trust them if their site is clunky.

Ever seen a company claim their product is hard to use and it's poorly designed?

Probably not. But how many companies have you seen that visually convey that message through their site design? Granted,  I’m more sensitive to this than your average Joe, but why wouldn’t you spend as much as it takes to make a beautiful, usable site? It’s like the cheapest and most effective insurance you could ever buy. And to be honest, I’m not the only one who’s sensitive to this stuff. We live in an age where you can buy famous designer household items at Target for 4.99.

  Here’s an even more important part of walking the walk

How are you clearly, uniquely differentiating yourself from your competitors? This is like the grad-school level of walking the walk. In the remedial level, feminine-related sites all have cute designs with really well coordinated soft pink-orange colors and designerly use of script typefaces. Technology sites tend to be logical, serious, and have subdued, industrial designs with charts and statistics. All those things convey competency and intent, but do they demonstrate any actual difference between one company and another.

What's your difference?

In his book Differentiate or Die, marketing maven Jack Trout contends that the most important tenet of building a successful brand is (...drumroll, please) differentiating yourself from competitors by creating a distinctive perception in the minds of your prospects.

So tell me, how exactly would that be possible with marketing materials that look nearly identical to those of competitor’s? Yet, strangely, over and over rivals within business categories endlessly emulate each other. When one company is successful, the others assume that if they want to be as successful, they need to fashion their style after the leader—but be just different enough so they can't be accused of plagiarism. Ahem, wouldn’t a much smarter idea be to look as different from any of their competitors as possible, within the boundaries of customer expectations? Herd behavior within a business category creates an opportunity that can best be expressed this way: ‘Oh, boy! Virgin territory’. And from what I can see, herd behavior is the norm.

It all boils down to this

If you want to be perceived as professional and serious, you'd better look the part. If you want to be known as playful, casual and expressive, obviously you need a whole different style.

Your company resides in a space full of suitors who make products or services roughly perceived as similar to yours. This space is in the mind of your potential customers. And they would like to kick out as many uninvited guests as possible. First to go: those who obviously aren't good enough, based solely on their appearance. Next to go: that big group of contenders who all look alike, sound alike and tell the same old stories.

Will you be one of the few left?