Marketing Tips from a Marketing Agency: Make a good first impression

It would only stand to reason that a marketing & branding agency would be pretty good at branding and marketing itself.

So I thought it might be fun to explore some branding & marketing concepts using our own agency, McLellan Marketing Group, as the guinea pig.

Make a Good First Impression

Retail brands like Apple and Barnes & Noble get this.  Just by walking into their space — you are enveloped into an experience.  They begin their brand story at the front door.  But B2B companies and service providers have been much slower at recognizing the power of maximizing that first impression.

2mmgexterior At MMG, we don’t even let them get into the front door before we begin our brand story.  I’ve enhanced this night time shot, so you can get a sense of what our building looks like — day or night.  The upper panel shows our tagline (where strategy and passion collide) and logo in a can’t be missed size.  Then, the display window below is filled with our work.  Often times, people show up late to meetings at our place, because they’ve stood and perused our display and lost track of time.

1mmgexterior And clients love to see their work in the display case.

Using your exterior or lobby to create a brand impression can really set your company apart.  It’s not uncommon for prospects to scout a few companies before they choose a new partner.

John Roberson the president of LobbyMakeover.com, a division of Advent based in Nashville offers these 7 elements to consider for your lobby makeover.

  1. A high-impact logo—Reflect your brand with a tastefully fabricated logo that is appropriate to the space.
  2. A clear key message—Differentiate your company with a positioning statement that lets folks know what you do and how you do it differently.
  3. An effective color palette—Use colors that are evocative of the brand and show contrast, but are not a literal application of your brochure.
  4. An engaging group of images—Choose images that reflect your company and the way you do business.
  5. Success stories and awards—Artistically include customer testimonials and accomplishments.
  6. Mission/value statement—Share where you are going and what you value because it is meaningful to customers, employees and vendors.
  7. A user-friendly information and media center—Offer presentations, information, brochures and business cards to guests in a purposeful and attractive manner.

Be honest — what does your exterior/lobby say to your visitors?  What do you suppose that first impression costs or earns you?

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4 comments on “Marketing Tips from a Marketing Agency: Make a good first impression

  1. Nancy — you are very correct. Putting your best and branded foot forward should not be saved for special occasions. It’s how we should behave and live every day.

    John — Good point. If someone is willing to engage with us, the least we can do is put our best foot forward.

    Drew

  2. Nicky says:

    First impression matters but what matters more is less exaggeration.Pomp is good in short term but its not good for long term.Brand Impression is more about be specific and clear about your products or services

  3. Thanks Jan for giving me a heads up. The links probably got broken when we shifted from Typepad to WordPress. I’ll get it fixed. I look forward to being able to be equally helpful to you someday on your blog or website!

    best,

    Drew

  4. Nope…I was wrong. Our links transferred perfectly. It seems like the website (lobbymakeovers.com) was taken down or moved. Pretty tough to re-check every link in every blog post (over 1,500) every day. So nice to have readers who go out of their way to point out a lapsed link.

    Thanks again Jan. Like I said, I’ll look for the opportunity to return the favor.

    Drew

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