Brand Changes

Sometimes, despite our best intentions, we get our brand wrong. And after much deliberation, I've discovered this is the case with my own company.

To understand how this could happen requires some background. I moved to Kansas, to get married in the fall of 2007. My husband is wonderful, we are compatible, and the occasional princess treatment he bestows on me is like a breath of fresh air. However, he lives in a very small town, and that is not something I am used to, having lived in Houston and Dallas all of my adult life. Even as a pre-teen, I longed to "go to the big city" someday. I am a little too reliant on conveniences and services provided by others to fully appreciate living without them.

And yet I am, in this town of only 3500 people. Not having made a move like this, ever, I think I have been struggling with what to do, how to market my business, who will my clients be, etc. and I ended up making some wrong decisions that I am now going to reverse. I came up with the concept of "Hometown Marketing" because I intended to try to reach out locally to the small businesses in this area, and help them get online, do print design and promotions, etc. It would help me meet people here, I told myself, because I'm a very social girl.

Unfortunately, though those things may have been nice to do, it's not where my designing passion lies. I love to design software. A web site is nice too, but there's something about working with software developers and marketing pro's in a collaborative effort, to create something truly awesome, that customers use and give us feedback on, that makes me feel fulfilled. And of course, those are the leads and potential audience I have been talking to... but then, there is this "hometown" brand.

It just doesn't fit. In trying to mold myself to fit into my new situation, I've taken away the "brand personality" that enabled me to successfully communicate my message to prospective software and web design clients in the past.

So, I am returning to my beloved "Fresh ID" brand and this site, my email, my resume site will all be changing. Don't worry, I'll keep this domain and email for a while to make sure I don't miss any messages and people can find me. Over the next month or so I hope to launch the new site, along with an updated resume instead of the separate sites I've maintained for some time. I have always run a "Fresh" company, since becoming a design and user experience consultant some years ago, because it fits what I love and what I do. It feels right to make this change.

A costly lesson, but since I am the branding professional, the only cost to me is the time it will take to redo everything. But I believe it is the right thing to do, so I'm making the investment. I would urge anyone reading this to think about your own brand. Does it fit your company? Can it help you reach your goals? Does your intended audience connect with it? Look at your web site traffic - really analyze it. I did, and that is part of what led me to the conclusion this brand is not hitting the mark. Analyze your phone conversations and sales presentations... do you spend too much time simply trying to explain what your company does? Branding is so important, because it is the foot you lead with, whether you realize it or not.

Make sure your brand represents you well, and selling to the right customer will happen more organically, with less effort and more satisfaction all around.