Not What You Expected?

We're in the business of getting customers to see you... and buy from you. How others see you or their perception of you really comes down to just two things; what was promised and what was delivered.

This is a large part of brand building: consistency.

Your advertising and marketing sets the expectation, your frontline staff deliver it.

When you run an ad, you make a promise, you set the expectation. This is typically done through the creative approach that a team like ours gives the advertising. We spend time learning about your business, finding out what makes you tick, determining your essence and character and pour all of that into a business card sized ad (hey, don't look at me - sometimes, this is all you run). There's a lot of info that has to go into any ad, even a small one. The information that is on the ad, the look, the feel - it's all part of the brand promise and sets the expectation for what the customer is in store for.

As a creative agency, we have to introduce the personality and essence of a company to new eyes, make it appealing and comforting - all in a short period of time and sometimes with limited space. This is why font selection, colour, image selection and words are so important to the success of an ad.

Getting people to like your company can be easy, but, we also have to get them to buy from you, and that can be a challenge. The expectation that your advertising sets, this promise you make to consumers needs to be backed up by real world delivery on the expectation.

Too many times I have seen an ad with a glossy stock photo of a great service interaction in a spotless retail setting only to go to the actual store, fight for parking, dodge 'wet floor' signs, and empty skids in the aisle only to be greeted by service staff that are more interested in each others activities after their shift than my order.

Now, if that's the reality, that's fine, just don't promise a palace when you operate out of a shed. If you have a shed, use it in your marketing - tell people, "we ain't fancy, but that's how you save!" If the shoe fits, wear it, and flaunt it for all it's worth.

Your frontline service is the great equalizer. Before you go and make promises your staff can't keep, do a little shopping of your own. Find out if what you want to promise is actually going to hold up to the real world.

If it doesn't match up, there's but two choices; change the message so that it does or explain the expectation to your staff. In either case, you should probably contact us after you've figured this out to save yourself some trouble and some hard earned money (really hard earned if the expectation and delivery aren't lined up).

When you are firing on just these two cylinders, you will likely make an impact positively on your sales. Sounds simple, but look at your operation closely see if what you are promoting, is what your customers are getting.

Baby steps. Next time we'll talk more on building your brand.