If your brand was a public speaker, how would it be perceived? Would it leave a lasting or fleeting impression on the audience? This may take some thought, so I encourage you to grab a notepad and pen to scribble out your thoughts. Be honest with yourself and your team. What is your your brand currently saying to your clients, customers and employees?
Imagine your brand as a person, as you think through the following points. This may seem odd, but the majority of people personify brands. Of course understanding this principle can help you determine if your brand is meeting expectations or is falling short.
I want to specifically mention the word elocution. The definition that most closely aligns to my perspective on the matter is the following, "the study and practice of oral delivery, including the control of both voice and gesture". While you are thinking and making notes, refer to this definintion as guidance.
Outgoing or Passive? - If your brand is outgoing, is it outgoing everywhere it is seen and heard consistantly? Your brand could be outgoing in your industry but seen as passive from other industries. Are you outgoing on your website but not on your social media presence? Are you outgoing on one social platform and relatively absent from others? This could send mixed signals. Don't let a gut instinct answer this for you, check with your customers and audience. If you aren't satisfied with the responses you get, make a change.
Dialogue or Monologue? - If you engage with your customers or users, you are likely a great conversationalist. The frequency of your personal communication will likely pique the interest of more users creating a larger conversation. The flip side of this of course is just blasting out, news, links or content for the sake of doing it. You could be missing or ignoring user comments and questions. If users see you as ignoring their inquiries, they will likely become frustrated by the lack of participation.
Mysterious or Transparent? - Are you only making tidbits available to users, or are you telling them the whole story? Mystery can be a great way to engage with your customer base as long as they it is not done with dishonesty. Perhaps you share everything with your customers because you want them to be well informed. This can give you great credibility, just be sure that what you are sharing is of value.
Exclusive or Inclusive? - There is nothing wrong with being exclusive, many brands are built on this ideal. However, this approach can have negative consequences when it becomes too aggressive or demeaning to other customer segments. Inclusive has the advantages of feeling welcoming to all. This position can be great for growing your customer base. There are times that being too inclusive could be seen as being boring or worse, not having strong opinions on anything (at the expense of trying to please all).
Adaptable or Rehersed? - Has your brand grown and changed with the evolution of the company? Have you put checks and balances in place to ensure you haven't alienated your customers? It is likely that if you are adaptable you are personalizing your brand relationship with different customer groups. What is a good metric to find out if you are too rehersed? Are you sending stock responses by email to customers? Are you pre-scheduling all your social media posts ahead of time and never actually engaging with your followers? Do your press releases sound stale and phony? If you answered "yes" to any of those questions, customers likely think your brand lacks the spark of life.
You are the most qualified to know whether your brand's personality is meeting expectations. There is plenty of room in the market for a wide range of personalities, just try not to present the market with a split personality. What works is dependent on your customer base and the products or services you offer. Your brand may be exclusive and offensive, inclusive and playful or perhaps even a monologue of mystery.
Your brand may have a unique blend of personality traits and quirks, but that is what helps differentiate you from the rest of the market. The most important key to all of this is revisiting this concept from time to time and checking in with your customers. This will help you keep a pulse on your brand's perceived personality.
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