Give a #%&@.

Your people want to know you care.

They want the branding equivalent of a soy chai in a hand made mug on a winter’s day.

It warms the soul.

Are we stuck in out-dated modes of relating to our people, both customers and staff?

Are we OK with same same or do we need to recheck our rear view mirrors not to mention our GPS and our telescopic sights?

Umair Haque says we are letting our customers down when we adhere to out-moded ways of doing business.

It worked once, it doesn’t now.

So folks, where to from here?

The question is what currently constitutes good relations as opposed to what used to?

If we fail to smell the wind, fail to perceive subtle shifts in expectation, we risk becoming…irrelevant.

It starts as something we can ignore and then what appears to be out of the blue, our bottom line plunges and we realise we are positioned very precariously indeed.?

The shift from ‘sure thing’ to ‘holy crap’ can be missed and seem sudden. The tide inches out every so subtly.

There is a lot of upheaval, reassembling and repositioning going on so I wanted to shed some light on shifts you may miss if not given the heads up.

Let me illustrate.

This week I received a gift from a partner to my business.

The intention of a gift is what? To give.?

The gift was covered in their logo. I mean covered.

Do you know what I mean? Maybe you have received such a gift.

Maybe it was the really wrong sized jumper from your aunty last Christmas. It could fit two of you.

Best intentions but missed the mark?

What does this say to me?

Who are they invested in?

Are they here for me or are they here for…themselves.

Are they positioned in the customer expectations of the past or the future?

It sends a strong subconscious message about what matters to them but also to me. It didn’t have words like ‘we are only in this for the dash to the cash’ but it didn’t need to.

It didn’t fit. It was not who I was. It seemed kinda icky. It seemed out dated.

It says we are keen to grow our business and make more sales.

Of course. But it leaves out why I would want to stick around and in fact make those recommendations. It was missing the ‘me’ or rather the ‘us’.

Sure, I got some stuff, I appreciated the effort…but the stronger and deeper response was a sense of distancing, caution and maybe even suspicion.?

The opposite of branding. Unbranding.

Here’s the kicker, I know these people pretty well. They are good people. They care. They work hard. They take risks to improve their capabilities. They listen, they innovate.

And…they’re nice.

What hasn’t happened, which killed me, is they haven’t translated that in their branding and consequently their marketing.

Are they are doing what has been done in the past? Cheap merchandise with promotion in the form of a large logo. Out dated language, with embedded beliefs and ideas, that misses a subtle post pandemic shift?

It misses an opportunity for a big brand hug. We could all do with one.

They, I propose, are conforming to a conventional model of relating to their people. It undercuts their brand. It undermines trust. It undermines all the hard work they have put in to building their business. That is the bit that kills me.

Does that do them or their customers any justice??

It feels like they don’t give a @&*%.

It is so avoidable. There are proven, bench mark strategies that can be put in place.

Strategies born of a genuine concern for a prosperous future and to address the pressing question ‘so folks, where to from here?’

There is a Scottish saying, a high tide floats all boats but a low tide leaves many exposed.?

Every moment you spend on your relationship with your people is an investment in the future bouncy of your brand.?

Subconscious communication, grasping the drivers for human behaviour, is what drives the decision making and builds deep relationships…but you knew I was going to say that.