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Sometimes It Pays to Advertise
Several weeks ago when I was on my way to a brand interview in Memphis, I happened on this little banner sign. It says it all, doesn't it?
Seeing this sign gave me a big laugh. I imagined the story that made it necessary. Memphis is, first and foremost, a city of the Old South. Making a public declaration in the form of a sign like this is a desperate measure in a city whose business and civil culture is defined by gentility and politeness. I wondered whether the new owner struggled with making the decision to put this banner up. I wondered how long she or he drummed their fingers on the counter-top, wondering when (or if) the customers would arrive?
So often, a brand is destroyed by something as simple as the attitude with which customers are served. For so many people, life is just too short for surly people no matter how timely, good, or productive they are. If that fantastic product doesn't come with a smile, it doesn't measure up.
Later that evening, in a conversation with my clients, I brought up the sign, wondering if they might know something about this printer. One young woman spoke right up: "That printer had a terrible attitude!" she remarked.
Word gets around, it seems. It makes me wonder how many other signs like this might be necessary, especially in the arts and entertainment where we carry so much elitism and snootiness baggage.
Posted on December 27, 2006 10:03 AM | Permalink
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Comments
The difficulty is, the more you put this sort of claim out there, the more pressure there is to live up to it, and the pressure grows exponentially with the business as you struggle to recruit people with the same values and in this case attitude. This little sign you stumbled onto sums up a lot about the concept of brand and just how scalable it is from the largest to the smallest enterprises. Operationalizing attitude or managing the evidence of this attitutude are really at the core of what it's all about, aren't they?