Surround yourself with "you"

My agency, LaBov & Beyond, was preparing for a visit from a prospective client. As we were preparing, it became clear that we needed to step back and review our facility. Sure, it was in good shape, but what did it say about us? Did it contribute to the experience and enhance it - or was it merely neutral? After careful review, we determined it was the latter. I'll share what we did.

We looked at the upcoming client visit as more than a one-time deal. We viewed this as an opportunity to reshape our physical environment not only for prospects, but for clients, employees (new and old) and even for the public (including prospective employees).

We created an experience. We determined the mantras that we live by on our best days - the days that we are brave and impassioned - needed to be on our walls along with real examples that correspond. A dozen mantras that we live by were stenciled on walls and dozens of examples adorned them. We made "fatheads" - large images that stick to the walls - of some of favorite accomplishments and clients, ranging from a character in our Umbrella Story book series to a Ferrari vehicle. We removed all generic images on the walls. Unless it was created by us or had a meaning to us, it was taken down. We reviewed everything in the building - including the bathrooms - after all, the client sees the bathrooms. We removed many of the awards we had displayed - unless they were relevant, they were vanquished.

The result was inspirational, educational, and it serves as a primer on who LaBov & Beyond is. More than a wacky interior design, far better than generic art work on a wall, it was "us" and it designed to inspire us to continue to be "us." Better yet, take this idea to your personal workspace: Does it inspire and reflect "you"?

Review your surroundings, ask a friend to walk in and give his/her impressions. Is your office a collection of artifacts, generic messages and mediocrity or are your surroundings a reflection of your culture?




Barry LaBov
LaBov and Beyond marketing Communications
www.labov.com

Don't create your brand - discover it

The best advice I've heard regarding branding is:

A Brand should not be created - it must be discovered.

Too often, we try to compete, compare and trump the competition by outdoing - by being them, only better. Problem is, we aren't them. We're not good at being them - they are. We're better off determining what makes us tick, why our clients love us, why we do great at certain things. Then we should focus on those things and promote them to get more clients that find us attractive.

Look at your life and you can see this truth. My daughter, when she was 11, was tall. Living in Indiana, being tall means one thing - you must play basketball. She did, or at least she tried, but her heart wasn't in it. I was the father at the games urging her from the bleachers, "Take your hands out of your pockets!" Yes, she had her hands in her pockets- not a good thing to do if you're supposed to handle the ball.

My daughter's passion is in creating things, playing music, etc. If I tried to force her to become a great basketball player, we could have drifted apart and she would have been miserable. Instead, we supported her in music and other creative endeavors - which has led to a good relationship and great artistic expression.

Look at your company; it's no different. You can force it into being something it's not in order to capture a market or to try to beat a competitor. But wouldn't it be easier, smarter and more successful to identify what is its strength and to focus on attractive customers and employees that are inspired by that?


Barry LaBov
LaBov and beyond
www.labov.com