One of those things which continually irks me happened again today. Actually, it happened months ago, but I found out about it today. I dropped in on one of my clients for a quick chit-chat, and she gave me a document that another consultant had done up for her some months back before I started working with her. I quickly scanned the three-page document while we were chatting. (I have to say that billing a client for a three-page meeting summary with no formatting or formally-supported recommendations is bad form; maybe that’s why he didn’t put it on company letterhead.) The document summarized a number of points about her business as she had provided them to the consultant, along with his idea for a change of name, logo, and colours. Oh, and there was a radio ad to kick off the whole list of changes.

Gerry Gaffney interviews Gerry McGovern on the User Experience podcast (HTML transcript linked, also available as PDF or MP3). McGavern is the author of (among others) Killer Web Content: Make the Sale, Deliver the Service, Build the Brand. A stand-out quote from the interview:

Gerry McGovern:

Absolutely. Basically, there’s a book inside everyone, and the web let the book out. Many of those books should never have seen the light of day – most of them. Out in the general web, the cream rises to the top in a way.

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I am often annoyed by mission statements. I saw one recently that used the non-word “actioning” and paired it with an insider word of unclear meaning and a phrase that used two multisyllabic words that are rarely paired together, and served in this example to further cloud the meaning of the whole thing. In fact, the clearest thing about the statement was the non-word “actioning.” Doesn’t make for a good elevator pitch if you ask me.

Once in a group drafting their own mission statement, I had to fight constantly to get the statement reworded into the active voice… and most in the group relented with a “whatever” kind of attitude because they simply didn’t get it. I accept that most people won’t perceive this consciously, but subtle wording variations leave a subconscious impression which creates a mood or feeling toward the perception of your mission.

Last summer, one of the wine stores^[1] that I frequent most announced that it would be moving later that fall. Since the name of the shop included the street name where it was located, they would be changing their name — and they were holding a contest for customers to suggest a new one. The winner got a $250 store credit, so I was keen on winning… but my suggestion, La Dolce Vino, didn’t win (maybe someone else can use that). When the relocated store opened earlier this year, I was quite surprised to see what did win. Personally I found the new name uninteresting (maybe that’s sour grapes!), but the bigger surprise — and mistake — was the unintentional brand association.

I’m currently redesigning my business card, because I’ve always hated the one I have. During my entire career I’ve had only one or two cards that I thought were really well-executed, but I’m picky. And the next one will blow them all away to atone for past mediocre cards. I’ve been handed a lot of business cards over the years, and it’s a regular occurrence that you can size up the business right away by the card you are presented. And sometimes it’s a pass/fail test. Consider what some of the cards you’ve been handed might say:

• Light stock, rough edges: Office Depot template meets home inkjet printer. Not a serious contender.

A few million went into Pepsi’s New Logo, to be rolled out in 2009. Take a look at what Went Into the Update —  I wasn’t convinced about the “refreshed” logo until I looked at the reasoning behind it, which makes sense. Sounds like another advertising assault in the works.

I’ve always had a cynical view of companies that offer “branding” and “strategy.” Both are valid, necessary, important activities which every business owner must consider, but I’ve seen too many creative houses that get into these lines as a way to sell creative services — and little more. To them, it’s just creative services, rebranded. The thing that gets me most is how often some of these types of shops tend to rebrand themselves, and what that means to them… the joke I never said to one of their faces when meeting them on the street was, “Hey, I saw your new brand — very nice! Been slow around the shop lately?” I don’t know where they found the time to rebrand themselves every six months and still look after clients.

42 Awesome Business Card Designs:  when you’re handed a lightweight business card with perforation marks around the edges, you’ve already formed an opinion, right?  On the other hand, a stand-out card says something else altogether.