Reflecting Your Image

Mirror, mirror on the wall!

What image do you reflect to one and all?

One of our primary marketing objectives emphasizes the creation and maintenance of a professional image. An image that presents the company as modern and progressive, using modern technology to provide high quality products and services. We introduced three new products, hired a good ad agency, spent a small fortune on four-color data sheets, updated our packaging design, launched a Web site, and even included the Internet in our advertising buys.

Oops!

A year later we measured our accomplishments (objectives must be measurable, remember?). Every image measurement was going in the opposite direction.

What happened? Our analysis indicated that the programs in support of our image objectives were solid and were properly implemented. Where did we go wrong?

Sometimes we need to look “outside the box” for the answers. In marketing, we often need many arms to fully grasp the multiple factors that can affect our efforts.

The new data sheets? Lots of information, well designed, outstanding sales tools, but the new products didn’t make it into the full line catalog. In fact, we were still using the 1996 catalog throughout all of 1998.

What did we mail out with the catalog and data sheets? Fourth generation photocopied price lists because we ran out and expected to change prices any day. That “any day” didn’t occur for more than six months because of competitive pricing pressures.

The new Web site promoted outstanding deals on products purchased at the February trade show. It must have been a great promotion because we were still mentioning the February event in October.

The new automated phone system represented the newest technology, but after listening for three minutes, potential customers still had no idea of what department could answer their questions or provide the help they needed.

And let us not forget the misspellings and incorrect grammar (It’s properties instead of Its properties) in the literature and the Web site.

Modern, progressive, quality, high tech. That’s what the programs were developed to portray. However, we need to be careful that peripheral issues and activities don’t negate all our good efforts.

Michael T. Brandt
August 2003

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Updated:
15-Jul-2003