I was new to the process of creating a logo from scratch when I started my business.  A friend who was the art director of a magazine referred me to her friend, a junior designer just starting out.

The lesser expense of a junior designer appealed to my new business frugality.  Eager to start, the designer asked if she could play on the star in my name.  I said yes. 

That was the only question she asked me.

Her designs were juvenile and cutesy, with swirls and stars all around.  They would have been lovely on teenage stationery.  When I asked for something more businesslike, she had no idea what I meant.

My attempt to save money backfired.  I paid for her work and stopped the project there. 

I felt a little gun shy, but still needed a logo.  Through networking, I found Melissa Surprenant at Melpon Design.  Melissa sent a portfolio with several logos she had done.  We discussed how her clients’ business objectives had led to those designs. 

Once I hired Melissa, she asked me about my business, the brand image I wanted to convey and my personal preferences.  Her initial logo designs and the process we followed to arrive at the final design kept my goals front and center.

Over the past 12 years as I have helped launch products, companies, and websites, I have acted as a liaison in many client-graphic designer relationships.  And I know the minefields that each side fears.

Clients fear not getting a design they like.  They worry that the designer will spend too much time on their work, pushing hourly fees over budget.  

Graphic designers fear that the client hasn’t thought through what he wants before calling and thus doesn’t really know.  They worry the client will realize what he wants mid-process and will try to push the project beyond the agreed upon scope. 

Both sides’ fears are justified. 

So what is the secret to getting great design?  I thought you’d never ask.

The secret is to change your mindset and do your homework.

Clients often think of graphic designers as creative types who play around with ideas as they pop into their heads.  Though designers are creative, their true role is visual problem solver. 

And you, the client, need to realize that you have a visual problem.

Not a vision problem, but a visual problem.  

You have a message, a brand image, and information that you want to convey visually to your target audience.  You are not just looking for a drawing or a layout; you need help solving this problem in a way that boosts your business and justifies your investment.

Once you acknowledge that you have a visual problem, you need to prepare to find a visual problem solver, a.k.a. a graphic designer.

Your preparation should include:

• A project overview and objectives – describe what you want and your goals for the graphic design work.
• An audience description – detail your target market(s).
• A brand profile – describe your business, brand image and the message you want to convey.
• Any guidelines or tone that you would like to strike with the work (elegant, simple, irreverent, etc.).
• Your contributions – will you supply copy or photos, if applicable, or do you need help with that?
• Timeline and budget. 

The document that pulls all these items together is known as a creative brief.  Putting the creative brief together, either formally or in notes for reference, will give you a huge advantage in getting great graphic design.

It will save you time and money.  You will need less time to get the designers up to speed and allow them to give you a more focused proposal.  You’ll also reduce the risk of those dreaded mid-process changes which increase costs.

It will make you a more desirable client.  The creative brief will signal to prospective designers that you are serious and know what you want. 

It will help you better evaluate graphic designers.  By knowing what you want (logo, brochure, website, packaging), you can focus your search on designers who have relevant experience.  It will also give you an idea of whether you need an individual designer or an agency with a broader range of services.

Now you can begin your search.  Ask friends and colleagues for recommendations.  Search online for graphic designers.

As you search, look at designers’ portfolios.  Do they have experience solving your graphic design need?  Do you like their solutions? 

Interview a few designers.  Inquire about their approach.  Ask them to talk about their experience on similar projects and how they met those visual challenges. Request and check references.

Once you have found a designer or agency that you want to work with, give them the creative brief.  A good designer or agency account manager will be interested to learn about your business and what you want to accomplish.

Get a proposal which not only details the work the designer will deliver but also who will own the work when it is completed.  Some designers will retain the rights to the work or ask for separate compensation if you want to own it.

Once you start working together, keep an open mind and trust the designer as the visual expert.  That doesn’t mean just accepting what you get, but it does mean giving feedback in a helpful manner. 

Helpful:  I like that direction but feel the visual doesn’t convey my funky brand attribute enough. 

Not helpful:  I prefer this font and think you should use royal blue because I like that color.

Use this process and over time you will have a go-to group of designers who know you and your business well and with whom you enjoy working.  The stress of finding graphic design help will disappear, and you will have partners to help you build your business.

Do you have a graphic design war story to tell?  Please comment below!  (Both clients and designers welcome.)

Despite all the advances in digital technology, you can still buy one of these gems.  Why?  Because it still delivers the benefits that our time-starved lives seek.  This egg-timer:
- Has an obvious purpose;
- Is easy to read;
- Is simple to use;
- Needs no instruction; and
- Delivers the benefit the user wants.

The egg-timer does everything a good website should.  Anyone looking to measure time for an hour or less could pick up this timer and get started immediately.

And that’s another thing your website needs to do.   Engage the visitor immediately.  You have three seconds to do that.

That’s right.  Three seconds. 

One Mississippi.  Two Mississippi.  Three Mississippi.  Ding.

Websites are subject to the 3-30-3 rule of online behavior.  Once the visitor lands on your website, you have three seconds to convince her that she’s landed in the right place before she hits the back button of her browser.  That’s just enough time to read a headline and maybe a sentence or two.

If you succeed there, the visitor may spend another 30 seconds looking around to determine if your site has anything of value for her.

If you pass that 30-second hurdle, you have 3 minutes to motivate her to act – to sign up for a newsletter, to buy a product, to start a free trial.

Simply put, your website needs to put your company’s best foot forward fast.

Seems easy, right? 

Yet many companies trip themselves up.  Here are nine ways that company websites chase visitors away and how to fix them:

1.  TMI – too much information.  Many websites cram tons of information onto each page and have no focal point for the visitor.  The visitor gets overwhelmed, exhausts her 30 seconds wading through and bolts.

The Fix:  Ensure each web page has a specific purpose and stick to it.  Have your designer include plenty of white space and graphics that create a focal point to guide the visitor to the desired action.

2.  CIA-contrived navigation.  Some websites bury key information deep in the website.  Others vary the navigation from page to page or eliminate it on some pages.  You want the reader to spend her time on your website reading and learning, not searching.

The Fix:  Make menus and buttons easy to find and use.  Navigation should be intuitive – ask a 10 year old to find something on your website and see what happens.

3.  Lack of brand story.  Your website is your chance to build a connection with the visitor.  If there is nothing to set your company apart from competitors, then the prospect has no reason to buy from you instead of them.

The Fix:  Include your company’s story, mission and approach on your website.  Profile key employees.  Infuse the copy and graphics with the brand’s personality and key attributes. 

4.  Typos and broken links.  Seriously people.  If your company can’t ensure the quality of its website, why should anyone trust the quality of your products or services?

The Fix:  Have someone proofread and test the links!

5.  Oversized graphics.  Major pet peeve here.  Some website designs sport large images which fill the visible screen space and make it hard to know where you are on the website. 

The screen shot below for The Divorce Collaborative is what I see for every tab on the menu bar.  Not even a highlighted tab to help me see where I am.  At first I thought something was wrong with the website.  I have to scroll down each time to see what page I am on.  This is frustrating and wastes much of that precious 30-second time allowance.

The Fix:  Fall out of love with that graphic or use a design that displays a smaller version. 

(To anyone worried about why I was on The Divorce Collaborative website – please know that my husband Dan and I remain happily married.)

6.  Unavailable products.  Tempting buyers with unavailable products and no explanation lets them down and wastes their time.  Disappointment and frustration are not desirable associations for your brand.

The Fix:  Explain the unavailability if temporary or take the product off the website.

7.  The one-page website.  Prospects come to check out your company’s offerings.  A one-page website says the company can’t be bothered to inform them.  Like the old Head & Shoulders commercials said, “You never get a second chance to make a first impression.” 

The Fix:  Set a deadline (soon!) to expand the website with good content and post the date on the website.  Provide contact information and invite visitors to contact you for more information until then.  Then meet the deadline!

8.  Outdated information.  A neglected website speaks volumes about the upkeep of your business.  Telltale signs are notices for events long past, abandoned blogs and expired copyright dates.

The Fix:  Create schedules to add content and to update the site.  Implement them.

9.  Contact forms.  Email marketers know that whenever you ask for anything more than the recipient’s email address, signup rates plummet.  When contact forms are the only way to get in touch, you lose many of the prospects your website worked so hard to gain.

The Fix:  Provide alternative means of contact such as a company phone number and a customer service email address that launches the prospect’s email program.  Email or phone contacts leading to real people are even better.

Do you have a website pet peeve or experience to share?  Please comment below!

Mr. Vale had been portraying Fred the Baker for 14 years by the time we had our brief encounter.  Much had changed for Dunkin’ Donuts in that time. 

Competition heated up.  Starbucks grew from 33 stores in 1988 when Howard Schultz bought the company to 165 in 1992 when it went public to 1,015 in 1996.  In 1995 Wendy’s International purchased Tim Horton’s, a donut and coffee chain that was beating Dunkin’ handily in the Canadian market, and threatened to expand that chain into the U.S..  Krispy Kreme expanded beyond its Southeast roots, opening its first New York store in 1996. 

Company ownership changed.  Allied Lyons bought Dunkin’ Donuts in 1990.  In addition to gaining Baskin-Robbins as a sister company, Dunkin’ management now had to take Allied’s desire for return on investment into account. 

Health consciousness surged.  The 1980s and 1990s marked the appearance of several diet programs (The Beverly Hills Diet, Jenny Craig, Optifast, The Zone Diet) and the explosive growth of others (Weight Watchers, Atkins). 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Dunkin’ management wanted to make the business more attractive to franchisees and more profitable. 

It was clear that Dunkin’ would need new products and a new approach given the external forces above that were bearing down on the company.  Dunkin’ shifted its emphasis to coffee, which was less labor intensive and more profitable than donuts.  We also launched Dunkin’ Bagels, Coffee Coolattas, and combination stores where Dunkin’ Donuts and Baskin-Robbins partnered in the same retail space.   

What does all this have to do with Fred?  Well, as the guy who made the donuts, he represented our past but not our future.

As the changes were occurring, a close observer could see the shift already in the commercials he did. 

In the 1980s Dunkin’s commercials focused on doughnuts (like this Fred classic) and how Dunkin’ made them fresh daily in contrast to supermarkets’ stale offerings (like this ad).  Supermarkets were Dunkin’s major competition at the time.

By the 1990s, Fred was serving coffee in some commercials.

Ultimately though, we needed a fresh start.  After research showed that our customers would allow us to move beyond Fred if we treated him well, we threw him a huge retirement bash complete with a parade in Boston and a free donut day for customers.

Every brand has external forces exerting pressure and willing it to evolve.  As the steward of your brand, you need to track these changes and evolve the brand to take advantage of them.  Done well, brand evolution can position your brand as a market leader.

Ignoring changes in your market and business environment is the ostrich approach and can kill your brand.  Look what it did to the brand that helped produce my photo with Fred.

Polaroid concentrated on its iconic instant camera too long – first in the face of one-hour film processing at retail outlets and then as digital cameras appeared.  The company filed for bankruptcy in October 2001 and sold its assets, including the right to the Polaroid name.  Polaroid exists today as a holding company.

An American icon, now a shadow of its former self. 

No brand is immune.  What can you do to help your brand stay relevant?

• Get out of the office.  Talk to your customers.  Visit competitors’ brick and mortar locations.  Attend trade shows and conferences.
• Be aware of consumer trends.  Think about how they may influence your brand’s perception and usage.
• Know what your competition is doing.  Anticipate how a competitor’s new product launch may affect you…or better yet, launch a forward-looking product that changes the game in your favor. 
• Follow regulatory changes in your industry.
• Look at other industries for innovation ideas. 

In short, keep your eyes, ears and mind open. 

I cherish that old photo with Mr. Vale, and remember the excitement of getting to meet him.

Do you have a brand story or memory to share?  Please comment below!

June created the Fanautical brand to merge her passion for living in the moment with her love of water venues and wordplay.  She built a following through her monthly e-newsletter, doubling its readership in 18 months. 

When the Kraft family came calling last September, looking for a fresh local brand to move into Patriot Place, June jumped.

The Fanautical retail store opened on November 19, 2011 and has charmed shoppers and football fans alike.  Be sure to check out this unique store if you visit Patriot Place!

Prior to my sophomore year I worked at a 24-hour diner called The Forum.  The Saturday night shift went from 5 pm to 4:30 am.  As you could imagine, the crowd here differed from Bloomingdale’s.

One cranky guy ordered veal parmigiana every night, asked for 2 glasses of water at once and woe to the server who let those two glasses go empty.  He was infamous for leaving a quarter for tip. I kept refilling the glasses and he must have liked me – he left me 35 cents. 

Then there were customers like Chris.  Chris was a muscular, 38-year-old gentleman with thinning salt and pepper hair who raised and groomed horses.  His patience and optimism made him a pleasure to serve.  He ate light despite his size (sometimes just a half cantaloupe with cottage cheese) and would leave me a $5 tip on his $7 tab.

How did I know so much about my customers?  I talked to them.  

Many of the consumer business owners I work with fear talking with customers.  It’s true.  These savvy business people who have launched companies, some of whom have solicited hundreds of thousands of dollars from investors, turn shy when faced with a customer. 

Why?

Because it’s not part of their routine.   

Typically the business owner needs to know something and designates a specific time to talk to customers.  This now formalized appointment begins to spark anticipation like a first date or a job interview. 

And like a first date or an interview, the anticipation spawns the fear of being judged.  Business owners who are passionate about their business become emotionally invested in it.  Negative comments about the business or its products can feel like a personal attack.

All this build up can make the most outgoing business owner feel awkward, shy, and tongue-tied.

Don’t let this happen to you.

These fears are unfounded.  Most customers don’t bite.  (Most.)

You can keep customer conversation demons at bay and receive great feedback on your products.

How?

Be the bartender of your brand.  And no, I don’t mean serve your customers alcohol before talking to them.

Think about beloved bartending characters that you know.  Sam Malone on Cheers.  Isaac Washington on The Love Boat.  Rosie on M*A*S*H.  Okay, maybe not Rosie.  (All three of them made factoidz’ Ten Best Television Bartenders List.)

How did they get people to talk to them?  By creating a safe, non-judgmental haven.  By listening well and talking little.  By being around often.  And by serving alcohol, but we’re not going there, remember?

These characters got to know their customers over time, with many small interactions instead of one long interrogation. 

Follow their lead and become your brand’s listening post.  Here’s how:

• Be casual.

 o    Be part of the customer’s environment and start by listening. (Think of Sam Malone drying and storing glasses while overhearing conversation.)

 o    Avoid items like clipboards and tables that create a barrier between you and the customer and that lend formality to the interaction.

• Use small talk first.  Avoid very specific or personal questions upfront.

• Listen more than you talk.  Ask a general question about your product and let the customer guide the conversation. 

• Be patient.  Don’t try to get all your questions answered at once.  Learn about your products and brand through many small conversations instead of a few monumental ones.

• Show up often.  Make this part of your routine. 

How will you know when your customer conversations are paying off?  When what you learn from customers starts to give you new ideas – ideas for product improvements or for new products, for example. 

In the end, customer criticism isn’t your biggest risk.  Your biggest risk is being unaware of customer needs and wants, which cripples your ability to improve products and to grow your business.

One more note – some customers will be too kind.  Knowing your business affiliation, they may temper or sugarcoat their feedback to you.  Enough customers will be frank to make your efforts worthwhile, however.

Go often and I bet that you will find that talking to customers is much easier and more fun than you expected.  It was and remains one of my favorite parts of my job.

Who was your favorite TV or movie bartender?  Please comment below!

In September 2010, as my now 11-year-old daughter Fiona was entering the fifth grade, she developed an acute desire for these items.  I wasn’t entirely surprised as my neighbor’s 14-year-old daughter had expressed the same desires a couple of years before.

But I didn’t realize how widespread the girls’ conformity went.

It’s not just Natick schools or Massachusetts schools or secondary schools.  It’s everywhere – nationwide, through the university level and beyond.

The Northface/Uggs pairing is an adolescent girl conformity juggernaut.

It’s so pervasive that the trend has spawned rebellious blog entries and Facebook pages. 

Hannah Orenstein, an NYU freshman, wrote a post in November 2010 on Hercampus.com called “Step Away From the Uggs and North Face!  How to Look Cuter Than Everyone Else”.  In it she called the Northface/Ugg pairing trend an “epidemic.”

Christine Little, a Quinnipiac University student, penned an article around the same time in The Quinnipiac Journal entitled “Please Lose the UGGs and North Face jackets.”  She noted that “These choices are selected for comfort, as well as the conformity that comes with them.”

Let’s just say that the “anti northface/ugg” page on Facebook objected more strenuously and with less tact.

But these objections are the exceptions.  Many, many more girls are happy to conform.

Why?

Joani Geltman, a Child Development and Parenting Expert who specializes in teen-parent relationships, explains that adolescence brings a new awareness, one where teenagers worry incessantly about what other people think of them.  The easiest way to calm these fears and avoid unwanted scrutiny is to blend in.  To be invisible.

And the best way to disappear into the crowd?  Look just like everyone else.

This isn’t a new phenomenon of course.  I remember my own battles with my mother over the price of designer jeans 30 years ago (Jordache, if you have to know).

But while blending in may be the key to surviving human teenage years, it is the death knell for a brand.

Sadly, this is the mistake that many Brands In Adolescence make.  During their launch, they tout their differences to get attention.  After their initial years of growth, however, they become more aware of their competitors.  Now that there is an existing business at stake, it feels riskier to stand out and not match the competitors feature for feature, benefit for benefit. 

Instead of increasing their market appeal though, brands that go this route blend in and look just like their competitors.  By emphasizing their sameness upfront, these brands squander the opportunity to set themselves apart and gain consumers’ attention.

Don’t fall prey to this temptation.  Not only is it bad marketing, but by responding to competitors instead of having a strong point of difference to define your brand, you let the competition frame your market and set the rules of the game.

As the brand champion, you need to trumpet your brand’s meaningful differences, not bury them.

How do you combat the conformist tendency in your adolescent brand?

1. Revisit your original reason for being.  What got your brand into the business in the first place?  A unique calling, story, feature, business strategy?  Remind your team of your start to help them find the original passion and infuse that message into your communications.
2. Find out why customers buy your product now.  Brands evolve.  If you’ve been in business for a while, make sure you check in with your customers to understand the role your brand plays in their lives now.  How do you help them?  Why do they buy your product over your competitors?
3. Lead with what makes you different.  In the adolescent analogy, think of your marketing more as applying to college than joining the in crowd.  What can you say to stand out in a positive way so that they pick your brand?  Lead with what sets you apart and then follow up with the great credentials you have that everyone else seeking admission has too.

To prosper, your brand needs a meaningful difference that it can proclaim proudly and often.  Once you’ve got your prospect’s attention, then you can fill them in on the features and benefits that you have in common with your competitors.  But it’s your difference that will keep them coming back.

Am I worried about Fiona’s fondness for Northface jackets and Ugg boots?  No.  She isn’t defined by what she wears.  And let’s face it, navigating the social life in middle and high school can be tough! 

Got a school trend memory to share?  Please comment!

With family in New Jersey though, I have spent many hours sitting in traffic on this day in the past.  Thanksgiving-volume car travel jams highways on the Massachusetts-New York corridor, particularly around toll plazas.  One year my usual 3 3/4 hour ride to my parents’ house took 8 hours!  Now if I go, I leave on Tuesday.

Traffic jams of these epic proportions often bring consumers’ wrath upon the Department of Transportation (DOT). 

In recent years though, the Massachusetts DOT has engaged some smart, inexpensive, and innovative marketing to proactively combat this problem.

Yes, it’s true.  I’m saying some element of the government is doing something smart.

The Massachusetts DOT has courted companies to sponsor the Allston-Brighton tolls leading out of Boston on the Mass Pike at their busiest hours in exchange for publicity. 

This is a powerful, winning marketing strategy – a marketing triple play.  Consumers get free tolls.  The Massachusetts DOT gains goodwill from announcing this in advance.  And the sponsoring company gains consumers’ goodwill as well as widespread publicity.

This year’s sponsor is Zappos.com, an online shoe and apparel retailer whose brand is known for outstanding customer service and that aims to deliver happiness to their customers – so much so that their founder, Tony Hsieh, wrote a book about his experience building Zappos.com entitled Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion and Purpose.

What a great opportunity Zappos.com has seized.  This is smart, innovative, and inexpensive marketing for them as well.  Let’s take a look at the numbers.

Zappos.com is paying for all tolls at the Allston-Brighton toll booths from 5pm-7pm today.  According to the Massachusetts DOT, 16,000 cars passed through those toll booths during that time period last year.  The toll normally costs $1.25 per car, and $1 per car using a Fast Lane transponder.

Even if you assume a 25% increase in traffic through the tolls during that time period (20,000 cars, unlikely), and you assume every motorist pays the normal cost, ($1.25 for every car, unlikely given over a million Fast Lane users), the toll sponsorship cost would still be only $25,000 plus the cost of the signs announcing the free tolls.

Even if the signage costs $5,000, $30,000 is small change for a company that grosses over $1 billion in sales annually.  For that small change, Zappos.com is getting:

• A public relations bonanza – The toll sponsorship has been reported in many media outlets including The Boston Globe, The Boston Business Journal, bostoninnovation.com, theconsumerist.com, Fox News, and WWLP, not to mention a slew of local community newspapers and major tweeting in the Twittersphere.  More exposure than $30,000 of ads could ever buy.
• Public relations support from the Massachusetts DOT – they sent out the press release.
• Signage at toll complex – every motorist going through the tolls will see the Zappos.com logo and know that they are the sponsors of this holiday gesture.
• A credit notation and message on Fast Lane payers’ bills, reminding them of the company’s gesture when they see their statements.
• Exquisite timing – all this good will and publicity arises just five days before CyberMonday.

Genius move. 

A move totally consistent with Zappos.com’s brand mission of excellent customer service to deliver happiness. 

What does your company do to generate goodwill with customers and remind them of its role in their lives?  Comment below and let me know!

As for me, I’m going to relish my very short ride home tonight!   Happy Thanksgiving.

Not only is their tea good, but their marketing is smart, innovative and inexpensive to implement.  Two of their marketing efforts grabbed my attention.

The first one probably cost them all of $2.99.

I first saw this marketing tool in action last July 22, when it was 99°F degrees out. Steve, the owner, took a large blue plastic bowl out from a shelf below the counter.  He filled it with water and placed it outside on the sidewalk. 

Upon closer inspection, I saw that the bowl had the words “Dogs Water Bowl” handwritten on it with a marker.  Not long after, two dog walkers stopped at the shop.  They chatted, let their dogs drink from the bowl, and then secured the dogs’ leashes to a post while they went inside to buy iced coffees.

This inexpensive bowl now makes this coffee house an obvious destination for dog walkers.  It conveys a friendly, welcoming attitude and provides a focal point for a walk, knowing that there is a benefit for the dog.  Chances are pretty good that the walker will buy some refreshment there.  The likelihood that dog walkers in the know will tell others?  Even better.

What a great way to increase traffic by the shop, and with it, sales of beverages and food!

CRCH’s second marketing stroke of genius is their sponsorship of the Charles River Coffee House Scarecrow Contest to benefit the Bacon Library across the street.  For the second year in a row, the coffee house is providing stakes and tying supplies for anyone entering the contest. 

Contestants come into the shop to get the supplies.  Registration fees from individuals ($10) and businesses ($25) benefit the library.  CRCH offered employee help on Saturday October 9 to mount entries, but the supplies are available for the entire month of October.  Judging will occur on Halloween.

How smart is this?

Based on my research online, supplies for 100 entries (wood stakes and twine) would cost about $250.  In exchange for that relatively small sum and a few hours of the employees’ time (Steve’s daughters run the place with him), CRCH gets:

• Front page notice of the contest on the Bacon Free Library website.
• Signage outside the library.
• Mention of the event during the month of October in the local papers.
• Good will with the library and the community.
• Contestants coming into the store to get supplies.

For less than the price of one print ad, CRCH gets a ton of publicity and increases the traffic over its threshold.  Contestants who may not have entered the shop before now have a compelling reason to do so.

And of course many community members will come by to view the scarecrow entries during the month of October and on Halloween.  More traffic!

Note:  there is no Groupon, coupon or discounting involved.  Patrons pay full price for the refreshment they purchase.  CRCH probably makes back the cost of the supplies and then some with the extra traffic generated.

Smart, innovative, and inexpensive marketing.  Kudos!

By taking some pictures and posting them in the coffee shop, they could inexpensively extend the good will year round.

What do you do to boost traffic to your store or business?  Comment below to let me know!

Stop selling.
Start listening.

Stop cajoling.
Start sampling.

Stop advertising from afar.
Start showing up locally.

Stop putting on the show of what you think your brand should be.
Start observing what your brand has become.

Brands evolve.
That’s the truth about brands.
Embrace the evolution and make it work for you.

RealAge.com’s analysis says I’m only 41.5!

And yet.

As a voracious reader, I’ve become acutely aware that the words on the page have become fuzzy.  Reading is more comfortable when I hold the book a few inches further away.  Over the past few months, the distance to keep the words clear has increased.

Fortunately, the book isn’t yet a full arm’s length away…and thankfully I have long arms!

Bifocals lurk in my future.

Holding the book further away adds a different perspective though.  I notice the book’s layout more.  I see which authors and editors are good with white space and headings, and which leave you prey to endless text.

Slightly further away, I see the book in a new way.

This exercise works well for your brand’s health too.  Every once in a while, you need to take a step back and look at the big brand picture. 

• Is your brand message clear and coherent?
• Does it resonate with your customers?
• Does it drive sales?
• Do the components of your marketing express that message consistently?

If you haven’t taken time to review and answer these questions recently, a little distance and time investment could yield big results for you.  Like my eyesight, brands evolve and need periodic adjustment.  Ensuring your brand message is on target and crystal clear is the shortest path to increasing sales.

It’s not intuitive, but getting away from your daily work spot – out from behind the desk or counter – gets you closer to the heart of your brand and to ensuring its good health.

There may be no where I can go though to escape those bifocals!