Author Archives: Leivenberg Richie

What is your Culture? (Corporate, that is)

The other day I was meeting with a client who said, “We want to be like Nike.”

Of course, I was taken aback since Nike makes shoes among other things and these guys are educators and academics and a non-profit to boot.

What they were saying, they explained, was they wanted to have a comfortable, organic and seemingly seamless way of doing business.  They wanted to have a workplace where everyone wanted to come and never leave and where everyone was highly productive.  They wanted to have an enjoyable workplace.  They wanted their culture to change.

If you do business, you have a corporate culture which reflects the way you do business and is the true essence of who you are.  It is not necessarily your brand personality which you show to the public via advertising, PR, social media and the like.  But, it is at the core of who and what your business is.

I know someone who works at a sports website and when business associates come to visit, they don’t go out for martinis and a meal at the hippest restaurant.  They go play basketball at the health club.  Their corporate culture dictates that.  It also allows them to dress casually and work in one giant room outfitted with dozens of  TV screens so they can watch sports non-stop.

These days companies spend lots of time, money and thought getting their culture right.  You have probably heard about the “campuses” at Nike and Google where people can bring their dry cleaning, get massages, workout, have daycare and eat some of the finest food around.  Those places want their employees to be extra happy and stay at work longer so they can be more productive.

Smaller companies can do the same thing although in a fashion that reflects their budget and ability.  Making a place comfortable and thus conducive to work in is essential to draw the best talent but also conveys a message to the public.  It is as easily a form of marketing as any Facebook ad you may put out.

Marketing is not just about the package or the ad but about your employees and environment.  Keep them in line when you consider who you are and what message you want to deliver.

Golf and Sex

OK, so I called this Golf and Sex.  Did you look?

Well, if you are in the majority of people who are online, you did.  You did because you are interested in one or both of these pursuits.

That is what blogging is all about.

Getting people to look at what you are saying or doing.

Alright, so I am not playing golf or indulging in sex…at this moment.

And, I don’t have any salient tips on either subject that would make your game and “game” better.

My goal was to get you to look.  Sort of like a bright, new shiny sign.

I can’t tell you how many times I drive by places that think they are in business but have dilapidated old weathered beat-to-heck signs.  What are they selling?  Old, dilapidated stuff?

In the world of Google adwords and finding the right tags, you have to remember to use the words that people are searching for.  At least that is what I am told by the internet gurus and website design mavens.  I have had debates with buddies who put tons of content on their home page because they say it draws people to their site.

So what?  If there are too many words, who the heck is going to stick around to to read it.  For my money, I prefer tightly woven paragraphs and great graphics to tell the world what you are all about.

Keep in mind when putting up your signs or tags or titles or urls, that you want to grab attention and you don’t want to be misleading.

Don’t talk about golf and sex if you don’t know what you are talking about.

No, Not a Cow, Silly but It is Your Brand

You know how those Old West cowboys used to take a hot iron and slap their brand on a cow.  That is exactly what you are doing when you say you want to brand your company.  And, just like every cow the cowboys owned had the same brand, you want everything – website, business cards, advertising, email signatures, car license plates, tattoos, and the product of course – every single thing related to the company to have that brand.  And, they should all look the same or at least so similar in style, color and logo that everyone who sees these things will know it is yours.

Just like those poor cows.  Poor cows that made the cowboys rich.

I say this because I went into a store the other day that was looking for new marketing and PR.  The store’s walls were a dark blue but the hand-outs at the cashier had none of that blue on them.  The shirts and hats worn by the salespeople had blue insignia on them but it was a shade brighter than the walls.  When I went to the website, it had its own distinct look and color scheme. The only thing they all had in common was the name of the place.  Those cows were running wild.

Brand uniformity is key to the branding of your company and products.  You can fiddle with these things but they better deliver the same message or no one will know what the heck you stand for.

Have you ever been to a Love This Life store?  I love their stuff and not all of the products within the store sport the same logo other than on the label.  Their polo shirts have this nifty little circular smiley face embroidered on the breast.  And of course all of the shirts have clever sayings that connote living life in a loving way.  There is rhyme to the reason and in that thematic sense there is a strong built-in brand that is recognizable to everyone who becomes familiar with the company.  Not all the same color or shape or size, but a brand sense that is easily identifiable.

That is what you want for your cows.

Yes, Maude, It is All About Location, Location, Location

If you have heard it once, you have heard it 1000 times.  The three most important things in retail are Location, Location, Location.  Just ask anyone who has set up a new business with great signage, great service, great products and a great idea and yet no customers.

Move down the street or around the corner to where the street is packed and the parking plentiful, and the story is completely different.

I have a friend with a very successful food concept that has won awards, acclaim and the love of the people. He took his concept to a strip mall in a populated area with a demographic that would love his food. He opened his doors after months of hard work putting his restaurant together, painting it, adding new signs and new equipment. It was shiny and perfect and the food was hot and ready to go. But no one showed up.  At least not enough for him to survive.

Your Cousin’s Kid and Twitter

What the heck is wrong with people?  I guess that question could relate to almost any subject, but I want to concentrate on what I see as short-sightedness with a touch of  egocentricity, cheapness and pride thrown in.

Recently, as I talk to more people about their marketing projects, I realize how few of them have actually thought about the marketing side of their business or at least about how important it is and how difficult it is to implement and maintain…
not to mention actually be successful.

They have built the widget, invested money and time and great thought into it, but forgotten they need money, time and thought to market it.  I am not talking about sales or selling the idea/product/service.  That is an entirely different subject although often given the same respect.

I am talking about spreading the word about it, creating and then relaying its personality and make no mistake about it, each product has a personality or should:  We often call it the Brand.

It is Good to be Famous

One of my favorite places to eat is a little taco and burrito joint that serves very traditional Mexican fare.  I have been going there for more than 20 years and I don’t think I have ever ordered but one thing:  Our Famous Avocado Burrito.  Made with beans, cheese, lettuce and avocado, it is a messy delight that oozes its ingredients all over your plate as you attempt to eat the entire bloated thing.  It always tastes
the same.  It is always filling.  Its contents have never changed even though the people who make it surely have. And, most importantly, it is Famous.

The funny thing is, it has been famous ever since I began buying it all those years ago.  Not sure why it has such fame.  I have a feeling it may have been famous among the family who owns the restaurant and they bestowed the moniker on it to convey its delectable nature and universal likability.  I have been told by the owners that it is also their best selling item and has been since they opened their doors.  It sells better than their tacos and enchiladas and quesadillas.  It outsells the combos and the huevos rancheros.  I mean, it is Famous so of course everyone wants a part of it.

What Did You Mean To Say in That Text?

Texting may be a simple and fast way to communicate but it may not be the clearest or most courteous.

With the ubiquity of mobile phones, everyone texts everyone else all of the time.  Yet how many times do you misinterpret a text?

The very nature of a text message is to be short.  That is the beauty of it.  As everyone who texts knows, there are a bunch of new shorthand ways to communicate emotions such as laughter (LOL) and surprise (OMG)…there are in fact more and more every day.  It is a new language that can be very exclusive if you don’t know all of the idioms.

My issue has to do with intent.  Someone told me a story once about how he texted a girl he had just met and when she didn’t respond he took it as a brush-off.  That is not so dissimilar from the way people once communicated by phone.  No return call meant she wasn’t interested.  The difference to me is that by not texting back it may be more harsh.  Since we know that everyone is always on-line with their Blackberrys, IPhones and Droids, we know they received the message you sent.  So, why wouldn’t they respond unless they just didn’t want to.  Why wouldn’t she respond immediately.  She must hate me.

I Thought You Accepted Visa! Getting Your Message Right

I was in one of those postal places that do everything with your package but make the thing that goes in it and this young walked in and headed over to the shipping desk.

She said a few words to the clerk and then stormed out.  Before leaving she pointed to the window and said, “I thought you accepted Visa,”  pointing to the credit card logo decal.

“We do, but not for shipping…it says so right here,” replied the clerk noting a handmade sign above the shipping desk.

With a harumph, the young woman walked out, probably never to return.

The clerk shook his head but I am not sure he got her message…he surely didn’t have the right one on the window.  Was the young woman misled?

Brand Uniformity – Who the Heck Are You?

I met with someone the other day, a marketing veep, and was a bit astonished to learn that her company had virtually no brand uniformity. Theyhad images galore and a bunch of great messages.

But, they didn’t know who they are and so their customers didn’t know either.

What is the message you want to send with your graphics, your copy, your architecture, design, advertising, PR, website, Twitter and the like.  Who the heck are you?

It is very easy for me as an outsider to say that about a company.  I am on the outside looking in and I can see where the misnomers are, where the incongruities lie and where the mis-messaging is.

The Poor Telephone

The other day I sent an email to an associate regarding a new project and after a return email where she said she was too busy to look at the information but would get back to me, I asked if we could talk on the phone about it.

Her response, I felt rather humorously and somewhat sadly, was that she preferred to email because she liked to “multi-task” but that if I really wanted to talk, she would make time in a week.

I just had to laugh. Maybe this is a generational thing (She is in her 30′s and I am much older) but how much time would it take to pick up the phone, which she has in her hands constantly since it is an IPhone, and chat the old fashioned way…by voice?

And, the idea of the need to multi-task really caught me off-guard.  I am definitely one who likes to do many things at once and yet I see the danger in terms of true concentration on an idea in this type of work ethic.