It’s one of life’s great ironies that the people we hate the most are salesmen, while the people we love the most also happen to be salesmen.

Of course there are lots of different kinds of sales. Some sales, for example, are done by people. People who are good at it make you feel like you’re their best friend among their large group of super cool friends and that they’re really hooking you up. The stereotypical bad ones make you want to call the cops, and they may even reek of tweed and old cars.

Other types of sales are done by people in little rooms that hide behind pretend people who also make you feel like you’re their best friend among their large group of super cool friends and that they’re really hooking you up. You will find countless examples of this behind some of our most coveted brands:

• Apple
• BMW
• Coca-Cola
• Disney
• Harley Davidson
• Mercedes-Benz
• Nike
• Starbucks
• Target
• Volkswagon

Don’t confuse my habitual snark to mean that I think selling stuff or advertising is inherently bad. While “sales” is nearly a four letter word in many circles, the fact is it’s everything. To build on that, when it comes to effective sales, communications and perception are everything. The reason we tend to confuse good salesmen, of any variety, with friends is because they make us feel cared for and like we’re part of something important; something that defines us. I think great brands work because they are great salesmen of great experiences.

Successful sales is really just dating. Some are good at getting a large quantity of dates, some are good at getting quality dates, some are good at getting steady dates, and some are more acquainted with rejection and video games. Often, much of the success in dating has more to do with how you come across to someone than the real value you bring to the table, at least initially. While a real, long lasting match happens on deeper emotional levels, the power of image and association has incredible power over people’s ability to reason clearly. No one likes to admit it, but it’s true. Any business that fails to acknowledge it, on some level, is doomed.

It’s not all phony superficiality. General standards of grooming and hygiene say a lot about a person. So does being on time, fulfilling a commitment, or going the extra mile. All factors of presentation and experience play into the critical concept of building a successful brand. It’s all about what people understand you to be and how they perceive that their association with you will benefit their lives.

Love it or hate it, success tends to follow those who looks best in tweed.

I don’t want to come off overly harsh. These things are harmless enough and can often deal with sensitive subject matters, but I am stunned and amazed by the entire epidemic. How did this occur? Let’s look at the original bumper sticker. For better or worse, the bumper sticker is an classic part of of our social fabric. They may be tacky (visually, as well as hard to get off), but they are usually a geometric shape that sensibly accommodates their various messages.

In an event as tragic as it is inexplicable, someone recently decided that any possible message is best said on a ribbon magnet on the back of an automobile. Since that time, a vast number of good hearted folks have complied with zeal in both creating and exhibiting a tremendous variety of offensive looking ribbons.

Somewhere in there lies the key to flash-in-the-pan business prosperity. I guess the good news is they’ll be passé before you can add the “Death To Car Ribbon Magnets!” ribbon magnet to your car. The ultimate lesson here: Gosh. I don’t know. Anything’s possible.

Here are a few samples. A quick Google search returned plenty more, believe me:

While each of those three categories can be broken down into all sorts of important roles and disciplines, I can only think of one single element that impacts every level of the business: The Brand. It is truly the soul of the business.

On the flip side, a business will fail if you have:

In this case, category two failure is a particularly tragic event. In his book, Iconoclast, Gregory Berns illuminates this issue through the idea of “connectors,” or people that can actually get good ideas out in the open where they can become successful. He compares the lives and careers of Picasso and Van Gogh as an example. Here were two brilliant artists, both of which have sold paintings for tens of millions of dollars, yet one was a tremendous success in life and one was a victim of genius in isolation.

What every great idea needs is an inoculation from isolation. Success involves awareness, credibility, and desirability of an idea. It involves hitting an emotional chord with another human being in such a way that interest, trust, and loyalty, even irrational loyalty are the result.

From my experience and observations, this inoculation basically involves three things:

1. The discovery of deep seeded, human insights that create a bridge between the idea and the individual
2. The conceptualization of communications that articulate that connection on an authentic, emotional level
3. The delivery and presentation of the idea in a way that eclipses both noise and apprehension

Sadly, many entrepreneurs and business owners don’t know that this epidemic exists. Many simply have a fear of needles. For others, they don’t have coverage and therefore the expense is totally out of pocket. Fear not. Take heart. There is a valid solution. If your idea is as good as you think it is, get the shot. It will only hurt for a second and then you’ll always be glad that you did it.

I’ve read a number of books that reference the perils of line extensions. That’s basically where a company decides it needs to grow by marketing something new. It’s usually talked about like it’s a bad idea. If a company has actually succeeded in perpetuating a strong brand with some level of commercial success, extensions can be dangerous because they risk diluting the meaning of what a brand means to people that have accepted a predetermined position. Does anyone remember the McDonalds pizzas? Oh well, it was worth a shot.

Then there are those that are able to pull it off. That generally happens when someone understands their core enough to expand while staying on track. In retrospect, it almost always seems like an obvious card to have played. I was excited, even in awe, of the recently released They Might Be Giants CD: Here Comes Science. Now these guys figured it out. They’re selling kids music, and they’ve been doing it for a long time. It didn’t just start in 2005 when they released their CD/DVD set Here Comes the ABCs. In fact, I remember seeing them perform a song about the sun on Conan O’Brien back in 1993. It came as no surprise to me that “Why Does the Sun Shine?” made a reappearance on Here Comes Science track #9, although it is a bit more punked out (for the kids of course). So while they were showing up on MTV as far back as 1986 (Don’t Let’s Start), they’ve always sort of seemed like big kids to me. It seems then that shifting the product to the kids was an obvious move; a perfect brand extension. Aside from at least four kids albums that I know of, they’ve also got a book or two and have shown up as cartoons on Disney. (As an aside, a documentary on the duo is worth checking out: Gigantic)

One principle behind successful brand extensions is doing something you’re passionate about. I don’t know which of TMBG’s markets has been most lucrative, but their work largely meshes together under the banner of doing what they love to do and what comes naturally. Maybe it’s more odd that they started selling music to adults in the first place.

Generally speaking, people can accept things that seem to make sense based on their past experiences. My guess is that the kids album from Nine Inch Nails hasn’t done nearly as well.

Okay, so back to Mr. Quigley. I recently heard a business summit address where he offered four suggestions for a successful career. He was not talking specifically about branding, but he was essentially talking about branding. The four points went like this:

1. First impressions matter
2. Life is filled with opportunities, not entitlements
3. Have a “never give up” attitude
4. Draw strength from your network

This proves that even accountants can value branding. While I could extrapolate branding at work in most of the other points, I find it interesting that the first point on his list is a branding issue, plain and simple. He further clarified that point by saying that people form judgments in the first ten seconds, so one should create some positive momentum by how they present themselves, i.e. look the part. He mentioned focusing on the most minute details of your personal image and behavior when trying to sell yourself.

I understand that he is speaking to individuals about their careers, but a business should focus it’s own culture and efforts in a similar way. That has direct application to things we typically associate with “branding.” A company’s name, logo, business cards, website, advertising, etc., along with the people representing the company, will shape that valuable first impression.

The bottom line is that the seeds of your brand are sown with first impressions. Ironically, those are typically the corners small businesses like to cut. Sure, you could give yourself a haircut and grab a cheap suit and an old pair of loafers at the local thrift shop for your next big job interview, but would you? By the way, don’t worry about dry cleaning the suit. That’ll save you twenty bucks.

1. Outside a supermarket I see a parked car. It has vinyl lettering on the window advertising “squeaky clean maid service.” The back seat is so full of garbage that the rear view mirror has been rendered totally useless. Really? Squeaky clean? Are you sure?

2. Shaving with a can of Barbasol the other day. Bored, I read the back panel which tells me I’m using America’s “premium” shaving cream. Really? Premium? I got this off the bottom shelf of a Walmart for $1. I mean, it works fine and all, I just didn’t realize I was using an elite product.

3. Walking with the fam the other night I see a pick-up truck parked outside a condo advertising professional, high-end landscaping. Not that there is anything wrong here, but found it ironic that a master of lawns doesn’t actually have one of his own. I guess it’s not a prerequisite, but again, here I am noticing things like this.

The film “The Prestige” (based on a novel by Christopher Priest) delves into this concept a bit more by featuring real-life Chinese magician, Ching Ling Foo, whose entire life was based around an act of misdirection (being a weak, old man) in order to pull off a trick involving a huge bowl of water. After all, a weak old man couldn’t carry a huge bowl of water under his robes and between his knees, right? This trick was so important to him that he spent his whole life, on stage and off, as a weak, old man. That’s dedication.

While a strong brand (in the business sense) shouldn’t be based on a lie, it does need to be intensely dedicated to telling a convincing story and backing that up with a consistent experience. A business should ask, “how can I convince this person to try what I’m selling? And, how then, do I pay it off so they’ll do it again and tell all their friends?” It’s amazing how few business actually understand this concept and fewer still have actually mastered it.

What are your favorite Magical Brands?

We are often approached for help with logo design. People have new ideas all the time and a logo seems like the best place to start in terms of marketing. Sadly, the little element sure causes a lot of commotion and heartburn for both businesses and creative agencies. Too often, no one is happy. The Mine Academy has embarked on a mission to cure the world of what we call “Logobliviexasperalysis,” a highly debilitating epidemic that we want to shed a little light on in a four part article over the next couple of weeks. We hope you’ll join in. To whet your appetite, let’s just launch right in to the first part:

What’s the point?

Let’s start at the beginning. What is a logo anyway? We won’t go into all the technical gibberish about the distinction between “logotypes” and “marks” and “icons” etc. We’ll just say “logo” and assume we all know more or less what we’re referring to. Logos are often confused with being a company’s brand in and of itself. This idea comes straight from heifer history. For centuries cattle have been “branded” as a way for owners to say, “that symbol means that cow belongs to me.” (Click here for more info on that) If you flip open the first page of Marty Neumeier’s quintessential book The Brand Gap, he quickly dispels the idea that the logo itself is your brand. Rather, a brand (as it is currently defined in the industry) is how someone feels about or perceives a product or service.

A logo ultimately comes to represent or symbolize the business and it can potentially assume those emotional ties. The mark of the cow doesn’t literally say “I belong to Farmer John, and you know how mean and ornery he can be so you better back off,” but over time, and with the right system of communication in place, it can certainly come to make that point very clearly.

So do you need a logo? Most people would say yes. Does it need to be good? Of course, but what is good? Who knows what’s good? How good is good enough? If I fork out the extra cash to pay for good, what is it going to do for my business?

We do believe that a logo has inherent value. It can be a valuable tool that will help shape favorable first impressions. In the sales arena, that can be the difference between life and death. It can be an important tool to help designate something in a clear and simple way. The key is to understand what you need to accomplish with potential and current consumers and the role the logo plays in the whole scheme of things. Join us next time as we continue this babble in “Geeze, don’t expect so much from the little guy.”

Learn all you ever wanted to know about logos here: http://www.squidoo.com/logobliviexasperalysis

Business owners want their logos to be big and loud and to tell the entire story of their company while simultaneously being wildly entertaining, brainwashingly memorable, and then have it step out of a business card to hold a customer upside down in order to shake all the loose change out of his pockets. At the end of the day, success is defined by expectations.

Often we have clients who look at a logo and say “But this doesn’t tell people what we do.” That concern stems from not understanding the point of a logo (see Part 1). The logo shouldn’t literally tell people what you do, but it should represent who you are. More to the point, it should help people identify choices that represent who they are. “I’m a Mac. I’m a PC. My Calvin pees on a Chevy logo. My Calvin pees on a Ford logo. All my athletic clothes have to have ’swooshes’.” The point is that a logo helps people identify a brand, but ultimately the brand is desirable because of the value of the product or experience behind the logo.

It takes time and hard work for a logo to reach its full potential. Iconic designer Paul Rand (who designed famous three letter acronyms such as IBM, UPS, and ABC, among many other famous corporate identities) had this to say about logos, “It is foolhardy to believe that a logo will do its job right off, before an audience has been properly conditioned. Only after it becomes familiar does a logo function as intended; and only when the product or service has been judged effective or ineffective, suitable or unsuitable, does it become truly representative.” He also described the purposes of a logo in the following ways:

1. A logo is a flag, a signature, an escutcheon (i.e. a coat of arms).
2. A logo doesn’t sell (directly), it identifies.
3. A logo is rarely a description of a business.
4. A logo derives its meaning from the quality of the thing it symbolizes, not the other way around.
5. A logo is less important than the product it signifies; what it means is more important than what it looks like.

For more on Rand’s insightful logo philosophies read here.

Take a look at the logos that represent the top 10 most valuable global brands. What is the role of the logo in the overall brand experience?

When all is said and done, a logo should never be left to itself to do the heavy lifting in terms of marketing your business. It should be a tool among many; part of a system that can help you tell the right story to the right people in the right way. Let’s be honest, we are emotional beings. The way something presents itself will play an important role in how it is received and adopted over time. We would have never successfully navigated adolescence without having the iconic tag on our fly, right? That tag just exuded awesomeness.

You, as a business, want to be understood, but what you really want is to be desired. Just like the clothes you wear or the car you drive, your logo, in conjunction with experiences and other stylized elements, can play an important role in inspiring confidence and even desire from others. “Wow, these guys look like a big deal,” or “That just feels like me,” or “They are clearly innovative people.” We encourage our clients to try and see the bigger picture when it comes to selecting a logo, which is an excellent segue into the next part of this series, aptly titled, “It’s not about you.”

Learn all you ever wanted to know about logos here: http://www.squidoo.com/logobliviexasperalysis

It’s not about you

Certainly you’ve met a “frustrated artist.” Why are they frustrated? Chances are, their soul musings reincarnated to physical mediums aren’t keeping the lights on. Financially successful artists, be they painters, designers, musicians, actors, or whatever, must create things that other people care about and hence will pay for. The difference between a frustrated artist and a frustrated entrepreneur is about two bags of Ramen Noodles. The point is, if you just create things that are ultimately only admired by yourself, you’re going to have a very small impact on the economy.

It can be natural to focus on one’s own sensibilities through the logo development process. “I don’t like orange. I don’t like that style of lettering.” Business owners can have a very specific idea in their head about what their logo should be, and it can be frustrating when a designer presents something different. Though they never say it out-loud, the thought is, “We were expecting something else,” which typically means, “We’ve seen plenty of logos for law firms and that isn’t what they look like. I could easily draw one for you if I only knew how to draw, which is why we hired you.”

None of this means you shouldn’t have an opinion or that the work shouldn’t be something you can be proud of. Nor are we suggesting that a logo shouldn’t be appropriate to your business or category. Just remember, a strong brand experience is all about how your consumer thinks and feels about your business. Does it represent who they think they are or aspire to be?

We suggest that a business owner keep a few things in mind when developing a logo:

• At the end of the day, success is based on what a consumer ultimately chooses to do (i.e. decide to buy what you’re selling). Understand them. Talk to them. Be a champion for them. As soon as you start to worry more about you than them you lose. Your only objective should be to fulfill someone’s need as effectively as possible. It’s basically applying a customer service focus to your logo and other communications representing your company.
• Some things make great DIY projects. Other things like complex electrical issues, surgery, or logo design don’t. Hire a professional and work closely with them, but give them the respect and space they need to do their work.When hiring a professional make a good, thoughtful decision. Pick a creative person or group the same way you’d pick an accountant or heart surgeon. There are friends and family members that you may be able to coerce into helping you, and there are no shortage of mediocre agencies that will promise you they can do anything, but cutting corners is a decision that comes with it’s own consequences. Beware.
• Understand what the work needs to accomplish for the business at the end of the day. Part of that understanding is maintaining a realistic expectation of what a certain tool, like a logo, can actually do for you. Hammers are powerful tools, but they make terrible ladders.

That final point is an excellent launch pad for our next and final part of the series: What did you expect? Garbage in, garbage out.

Learn all you ever wanted to know about logos here: http://www.squidoo.com/logobliviexasperalysis