For many business advertising is done on a ad hoc basis with no real direction. This means ad’s are thrown together last minute with no thought, direction or understanding of the message being communicated. The end result is often terrible. Part of the issues stem from your entire team or yourself as a business owner still being unaware of your corporate philosophy. Furthermore small businesses often believe their business isn’t large enough or equipped to produce professional standard advertising, but nothing could be further from the truth.
Is this final series we investigate how to over come these problems to produce a consistent message via your advertising, team philosophy and how small business can also benefit a lot from professional production.
[dropcap]8 [/dropcap] Advertising message and Corporate Imagery
Many businesses run ad hoc campaigns with no real direction. The end result doesn’t carry the corporate image through and worse still does not convey the intended message. This means your potential target market will be less likely to form an association between your advertising and your business, render your advertising efforts useless.
Just like your corporate image your advertising should be consistent and carry the ‘look and feel’ of your business. Over time this will build upon the effectiveness of your advertising – the more often your advertisments are seen and are consistent people can quickly recognise the advertising relates to your business.
You may only be a small organisation, but look at the advertising by large corporations, their advertising follows a distinct format – always designed to a easily recognizable brand standard.
It is important to overcome the urge to change your advertisements a lot simply for the sake of it.
People are bombarded with hundreds of advertising messages every day, advertising needs time to sink in and the most effective advertising reaches consumers over a period of time. If your advertising is sending a constantly changing message or a confusing message – that makes it difficult to identify your brand the consumer will simply switch off or ignore the ad completely.
Open your local news paper like The Sunshine Coast Daily or any magazine you have, skim through and take a notice of which advertisements you can identify the specific company within 1 second. Asses what makes the advertisement so easily recognizable, note the colours, size of logo, font, corporate imagery and even the location of the advertisement in the media.
If your not sure how to carry your corporate imagery through your advertising then perhaps a good graphic designer is needed – they can help your envision your advertising but keep your on track with your corporate image.
Taking a look around at the Website Design on the Sunshine Coast, a lot of the local websites are below professional standards, the websites are quick and often don’t keep within a corporate image. I have familiarized myself with several brands around the Sunshine Coast, after I view their website and I get a totally different ‘look and feel’ and corporate message delivered via the online format. It is important to align all your advertising including your website design with your overall corporate image, remember consistency is the key to professionalism.
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What you can do today?
Check out any of your existing advertising and see if it carries your corporate image through in a consistent manner? If it does then that is great! So, can it be improved? Make sure you are always using the same fonts, colours and imagery. Is there enough space around your logo, what is the contrast like? What message are your communicated through the advertisement? Does it align to your company philosophy? Discuss these issues with your colleagues and also talk to a graphic designer or reconnect with your current designer and ask for their feedback.
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[dropcap]9 [/dropcap] Does your team understand your Corporate philosophy
It happens all the time, the head if the organisation knows the direction of the business and goals, but the tail never knows, procedures and structure has let everyone work away and follow blindly and hope for the best for the entire organisation. So, what is your corporate philosophy? This can be your mission statement, but often it should be more than that. It is something you and your organisation should hold close but share, if maybe the reason for starting the business in the first place. Here is a video that might put you in the right direction in discovering your Corporate Philosophy and you vision:
What Matters to You // Me? from Jr.canest on Vimeo.
Once you know what your vision is, take the time to explain it to the people your work with and all new employees. Share your vision, they may not be as passionate as you but that isn’t their job. Even if you do now have any staff it is good to know where you are going.
Even if the road ahead has no exact direction, make sure the final destination is very clear.
[dropcap]10 [/dropcap] Size does not matter, unless you want it to
Do not let the size of your business hold you back, do not let it prevent you from doing it right. You do not need to be a large organisation to have a good corporate image. I have worked with many small businesses that have invested in creating a great image but they have all built much stronger businesses as a result. It is almost easier for a small business to develop a good image than it is for a large organisation. The decision making process is left in your hands instead of teams making the process shorter for a small business.
Good entrepreneurs know the value of looking the part and realise investing in a great corporate image is just another step in the process of building a successful business.
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What you can do today?
Do not place limitations based on the size of your business.
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Being a small business is my biggest advantage
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