This is part 4 of 10 in a series by Craig Carl, SVP Creative Director, The Integer Group.
In the original Poltergeist movie, a new housing subdivision was built over a graveyard. The houses went to Hell, literally, because they moved the headstones but didn’t actually move the bodies. Their ghosts eventually got even, and so will yours.
You approved a new logo, put up a new sign and ran new advertising, but you forgot to rebrand your sales associates. I’m not talking about dressing them in a trendy polo shirt and a new pair of khakis. No matter how good or bad they are at actual selling, the sales associates remain the human connection. They are the brand with a heartbeat.
A hotel guest who registers a complaint and has it taken care of to his satisfaction tends to regard his overall experience better than the hotel guest who never encountered any problems. At the supermarket, how many times in the past month have you been asked, “Did you find everything you were looking for today?” If you say no, the reaction usually rests somewhere between a deer caught in the headlights and a cerebral hemorrhage. Inadequately trained sales personnel are like parrots with their wings clipped: they're birds but they can't fly. Before the first logo concept is presented, ask yourself, how do our employees bring the brand to life in the store daily?
Next Week, Retail Rebranding: The Name Game
