You Brand, you…

If you were a brand, how would you like people to describe you? In fact, how would you describe yourself?

When we consider the brands that we enjoy buying and using, it’s our right brain that’s engaged in the process. The right side of the brain is ruled by feelings and imagination, it’s where our emotions reside. The left side of the brain relies on logic, facts and caution. When we think or talk about a product we like, one that has strong brand recognition, we usually describe it in these terms: “My favourite brand of paper towels is…” or, “I love the XXX brand of skin care products”. What underpins our brand loyalty is almost always emotional – what we feel about the brand. (Ask yourself what you’d like people to feel about you.)

We all love brands that promise to improve our lives, or make us feel better. Remember, “Persil washes whiter” and “Guinness is good for you.” Equally, brands that touch us in some way, earn our loyalty. Perhaps you’ve remained faithful to a brand since childhood. That brand is likely to hold memories of a time you remember fondly. Maybe you’ve come to rely on a particular brand because you trust it and it makes you feel safe and secure. Take a can of Heinz baked beans. When you look at the distinctively shaped black label on the blue can, (red and white logo in the USA) you can almost see and smell the beans. You know what to expect, it’s both familiar and emotionally satisfying. In fact, you might say that “It does exactly what it says on the tin”. (For my American friends and relatives, that saying is equivalent to walking the talk; ‘tin’ is interchangeable for “can” in the UK.)

Here, you might want to ask yourself if you do exactly what it says on the tin. Or indeed, does your ‘tin’ say what you do? And if it does, is the description accurate? One of the ways you can begin to answer these questions is by asking yourself this: if you were a product, what might that product be? One of my corporate female clients told me if she were a product, she’d be a bottle of Louis Roederer Crystal champagne. She explained why – it’s reassuringly expensive, of excellent quality, reliable, bubbly, always in style and contained in a shapely bottle. If you knew this woman, you’d see how closely she comes to those descriptions. Oh, about the ‘expensive’ bit, she commands a deservedly extremely high salary.

In order for you to establish what you’d like your tin to say about you, first, you’ll need to find out what’s inside the tin. Then your ‘label’, that which represents you, the brand, can be tailored to mirror the contents. It’s a kind of an inside-outside project: is what’s going on inside, aligned with what’s going on outside? When you’ve established a congruent match, as a brand, you’ll become easily recognisable, and if you get lucky, you’ll become highly desirable!

The Resurrection of Style

Oliver Sacks, the accomplished author and neurologist, says this about style, “Style, neurologically, is the deepest part of one’s being, and may be preserved, almost to the last, even in dementia.” So what’s that got to do with style as we know it? A person who has style, that is, personal style, has it in the deepest part of their being. And yes, it can be preserved until the last. That’s why it’s called style… it transcends fashion and yet is always in fashion. Unfortunately in today’s culture, it isn’t being preserved; it’s been prematurely buried. And now is the time to dig it up, open the coffin and unleash it on an unsuspecting public.

Fashion has replaced style… unsuccessfully. That’s because style is irreplaceable, and unlike fashion, you can’t buy it. For some, it’s as if it’s attached to their DNA. Take Kristin Scott-Thomas or George Clooney, they continually exude effortless personal style. They are not exactly fashion icons, however, they are iconic, that’s because they don’t look like everyone else. People who have personal style don’t want to look like a fashion victim. Thinking about it, who’d want to look like a victim of anything? They want to be remembered for who they are, not what they wear.

In the last ten years, in the UK, and in particular, London, personal style has been replaced with The Stepford Wives - everyone looks the same. We’ve lost our Personal Style Mojo. Most of the fashionable shops look the same. I swear, if you swapped around all the designer names of all the fashion shops on the High Street, the consumer wouldn’t know. That’s because each fashion retailer purveys ‘the look’, the same look. How boring. What happened to individuality, someone who doesn’t follow fashion, who’d actually rather be followed, and is known for their uniqueness?

Your style is personal, it’s all about you. And it’s up to you to determine what your personal style is. That means taking responsibility for how you want to come across, and as importantly, how you’d like to feel. To a large degree, how we feel dictates how we look. And although we may not be aware of it, others can ‘see’ how we feel. So it doesn’t matter if you’re wearing a trendy handkerchief-style dress and 7 inch heels, if you don’t feel good about you, that’s what we’ll see first.

Here are some practical tips that will help you to resurrect your Personal Style Mojo:
Let’s start with the three F’s: Fit – Flatter – Feel. If any clothing item (shoes included) doesn’t fit to flatter or ‘feel’ right, say “No”. If you look in the mirror and see a Stepford Wife, say “No”. If you have to ask more than one person’s opinion about how you look in a clothing item, say “No”. Your Personal Style is about who you are on the inside and the outside. It’s to do with what you stand for and won’t stand for. So don’t be influenced by the media’s insistence that in order to be ‘somebody’ your body has to be stick thin. Or, that if you don’t dress like a Footballer’s Wife, you’ll be a social pariah. Learn how to be you. Then, when you next go shopping, you’ll know who you’re shopping for!

“Fashion fades, only style remains the same” – Coco Chanel

Service with a Snarl...

Why is it I ask myself that I’m still whingeing on about customer service in London? Well, it’s because it’s still rubbish. Why is it that the consumer in the UK, particularly in London, is treated so poorly in restaurants, shops and by service providers? Now there’s an oxymoron, I think they should be called ‘no service’ providers.

London is considered the third most expensive City in the world. Maybe that’s something to do with the reason we receive third rate customer service. We Londoners deserve value for money and the kind of service that is commensurate with the prices – elevated. I had the misfortune of shopping, if it indeed it can be called that, at one of those multi-national high-street retailers where you find the item you want to buy in a catalogue. Then, after you’ve established the item’s code number, you fill in a form; take it to the customer service counter (that’s a joke), hand over the form and wait for the salesperson to collect the goods from the stockroom.

I have to say that I find it a very odd way to purchase anything. Apart from having to deal with the kind of lighting that makes your passport photograph look as thought it was taken by a 4 year old, you’ve got customers and staff that are reminiscent of the extras in George Romero’s horror film classic, Night of the Living Dead. Anyway, the thing I wanted, a mini-hair-trimmer, which was about £10.00, seemed like a pretty straightforward purchase, I mean, what could go wrong? When I returned home I removed all of the absolutely unnecessary, wasteful packaging and retrieved the trimmer. I slid the on-switch forward - nothing happened. Now, although I’m pretty useless at anything electrical, after several attempts at trying to get the trimmer to work - it was clear the device was faulty. I rewrapped it and headed back to the shop that gets its name from an ancient Greek City to get a refund.

To cut a long story short, after a very long wait, an assistant told me that any electrical item opened by a customer, cannot be returned for an exchange, refund or credit. That was company policy and that was that. I explained that had I not opened the packaging, I wouldn’t have discovered that the item was damaged. There was a deadly silence followed by a repetition of company policy. I expected to hear “Computer says no.” When I realised that this person was not going to help me, or for that matter speak to me like a human being, I asked to speak to the Manager. The Manager arrived and yet again, read out the company policy. I told him I was now fully aware of the company’s policy regarding the return of electrical items. It was then that I realised it was time for me to use a different tack. I thought I’d try to appeal to the Manager’s common sense, you know, really basic stuff. So I asked how he would feel if he made a purchase, un-wrapped the item only to find that it wasn’t in working order. This seemed to elicit a positive response! He said he understood and on this occasion would exchange the item. However, there were two catches: the first being that I must exchange the trimmer for a more expensive model. And the second catch was that I must take out insurance for the item. I said that this was not acceptable. Suddenly his tone changed and he went all robotic on me, again he explained the company’s policy regarding returns. I left the premises.

Now, here was my dilemma, do I throw the bloody thing away or fight for my rights. You guessed it - I went on a crusade. Eventually, after phoning I can’t remember how many 0870 numbers; I spoke to a person who actually empathised with my frustration. I was given the phone number of Head Office, where the MD is based. By the way, when I realised how much it was costing me to call these various 0870 numbers, I found www.saynoto0870.com – Lo and behold a site that provides you with alternative ‘geographical’ numbers, which cost a third of ‘non-geographical’ numbers. And here’s the best bit, more often than not they also offer you a Freephone number. Hooray! After much determination and perseverance, I managed to get through to the office of the MD - I was put through to the MDs PA. A young man, with a rather high-pitched voice, said “Good afternoon, this is Adrian Noble (not his real name) you’ve reached the office of…” etc, etc. I have to say, Adrian had lots of energy, an efficient sounding manner and was clearly someone who likes people. Something one would want to have in a PA. At last, I thought, someone who wants to help me and is not treating me like the enemy. You may be asking yourself how was I able to deduce that he was efficient, liked people, etc. in such a short space of time. Well, if you do what I do for a living, have been doing it as long as I have, you learn to pick up verbal cues, voice tone and pitch, all of which indicate strongly the type of person you are talking to.

Without to much ado, Adrian apologised profusely and said that the store Manager had ‘absolutely no right’ to impose any of the conditions he did. In addition, he was particularly appalled that the Manager had attempted to ‘blackmail’ me into purchasing insurance. Adrian assured me he would take this up with the Area Manager. So what about the faulty trimmer? Before I forget this, at no time did I tell Adrian exactly what the item was, or the cost, I just told him it was a ‘small electrical device’. Without any fuss, Adrian said as a matter of goodwill, he would double the amount I paid for the item and send me a cheque within 48-hours. I wondered afterwards if Adrian’s decision to send me double the amount I paid for the trimmer was predicated on the fact that I told him it was a ‘small’ electrical item. My £20 cheque arrived 2-days later, accompanied by a very well written letter of apology. If only I had purchased a very, very large electrical item…