Where's Waldo? Developing a Standout Brand
In the virtual Lemonade Stand, Emily is flying solo to discuss building memorable brand experiences and visual consistency for long-term success. Through the lens of Where's Waldo, listen to learn about the steps to create an unforgettable brand that will resonate with your customers!
0:04 - Standing Out in Your Market
11:56 - Importance of Branding and Marketing Analysis
21:18 - Community Involvement Builds Brand Authority
28:12 - Optimizing Your Brand for Success
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We’ll see you next time, Lemon Heads!
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Speaker 1: 0:04
Oh, what's up? Lemonheads? Welcome back to another episode of From the Yellow Chair. I just love our intro music, don't you Like? It just makes me want to do a little. I do a little head nod, a little shoulder twist every time I hear it. It's just a good and upbeat thing. So I've got hopefully it's going to be a good and upbeat session for you guys today.
Speaker 1: 0:26
Just something I wanted to talk about Got a good old acronym, because you know we love an acronym. It helps things be memorable and hopefully helps resonate and relate with you some. But so I'm going to talk a little bit about where's Waldo. Okay, you might be like what in the world does this have to do with anything? But listen with me, hang in there, we'll dive in. We're going to come up with an acronym for Waldo W-A-L-D-O. So stay tuned. It's going to be how can you stand out? Be disruptive? Let's sip some lemonade, all right.
Speaker 1: 0:58
So everyone knows where's Waldo, our tall, skinny little guy who wears a red and white striped shirt. Okay, if you don't know Waldo, maybe just tune on out right now. Okay, maybe this just ain't for you, but in reality everyone does know Waldo because he is so iconic, because the books and the games of Where's Waldo and you trying to find him in these like crowded scenes, like even the scenes got really popular like oh that's the one of the Santa Monica Pier and oh, that's a one of a. So these scenes that were created were super relevant to people and so that's almost why some of the, the excitement and the buzz and the, the lovable factor that Waldo has and why he's been around for I should probably look up when, where, when, where's Waldo was generated, but I can remember from when I was a kid, so it's at least 60 years old. No, I'm just kidding, I'm not 60. But everyone is searching for Waldo and looking for Waldo and there's a memorable aspect and there's a sense of excitement, like when you actually do find him in these books. But the whole purpose of this book is for Waldo to blend in and it's a challenge and that's why it's so fun, because people are on the search, on the hunt for him.
Speaker 1: 2:10
However, when it comes to your brand, you do not want to be a Waldo to where it is so hard to find you, it is so hard to break out from all the noise and all the disruption, all the distractions. In reality, you want to be the opposite of Waldo? Okay, because let me tell you, nobody and I mean nobody except maybe you and your mom, but not your customer is just randomly looking for fun to interact and embrace with a heating and air conditioning company or a plumbing company. Okay, I'm sorry that sounds so mean that nobody cares about you, but nobody cares about you until they need you. Ok, and so that is the whole purpose of why having a solid, disruptive, non Waldo brand is because whenever they do need you, they need you right now, and they don't necessarily need you, they just need somebody right now. So how have you been disruptive? How have you been standing out? How have you been memorable in their minds for every interaction in your community that you could have been having with them up until this point? Okay, branding and marketing is a very long-term strategy, especially when we're talking about for the home service industry. Okay, none of the home service industry is providing anything that's an impulse buy. Okay, nobody is buying anything for fun because they want to.
Speaker 1: 3:32
Let me just throw 10 grand at this new system. 15 grand. I had this extra laying around and that is the funnest best thing I could do. No, I don't want to take a vacation. No, I don't want to upgrade my car, I want it to be on my air conditioning unit, that I only notice if it's not working. Okay, so, um, we're going to walk through this acronym that we've developed for Waldo of um, how to remind you and just to help you not be a Waldo, if you will, to not blend in Um. So, for the W, I want to talk about welcoming um. So, for the w, I want to talk about welcoming, welcoming the challenge of thinking outside the box. Okay, um, when I'm talking about a brand, I am not talking about your logo. Okay, and I know that's like, but if I'm going to do a rebrand, what they're going to give me is a logo and like yes, that is a piece of it. Okay, um, a piece of your brand is your logo, but there are so many other factors to the whole essence and feel and personality of a brand.
Speaker 1: 4:31
Ok, the way that you answer the phone, the type of music that you play on your hold music. So we got the kind of like, edgy, you know, like on our from the Yellow Chair podcast intro music. But it is not Beethoven here. Okay, we're not playing symphony. That would give you a different vibe. You would not expect me and Crystal to be like you know how we're so loud and fun. We wouldn't do that transitional, calming, serene music.
Speaker 1: 4:59
Okay, I'm using my hands here. If you're watching me online, if you're just listening, imagine my hands fluttering around, but on the flip. If you're watching me online, if you're just listening, imagine my hands fluttering around, but on the flip. If you are listening to a podcast from a doctor like if you are a medical doctor and you're listening about this new innovation on brain surgery or something like that you probably wouldn't be expecting them to have our fun punchy music. You're like this is like a more serious topic, like it's not like fun and branding. So, anyways, I'm getting a little digressed there, but all things relate to your brand. What type of uniforms do you wear? How do you answer the phone? What is your whole music? What is the type of language that you use on your website? Does it say hey guys, or does it say welcome to the site of? You know, yellow bear air, whatever? Okay, those are all things that dive into it and there's ways to get creative with it.
Speaker 1: 5:48
So I've seen a million times OK, hvac companies having a penguin as their logo or as their mascot. Ok, so you might see a lot of branding agencies push for you to have some type of mascot. We'll be one of them. Ok, a mascot does several reasons or serves several purposes. You know how you can remember someone's face before you can remember their name. Okay, same thing with your company. Okay, you got a kind of generic name like quality heating and air conditioning or professional plumbing. Okay, that's not like super disruptive or standing out to anything. So a character, though, can help you, like oh, the guys with the draft, or oh, the guys with the penguin.
Speaker 1: 6:29
Okay, so I've seen penguins a ton of times, okay, but like we're working with a customer, a client, and they were really looking to enhance their maintenance club program and it was called maintenance club program like super exciting, super memorable, super Waldo, okay, blending in. But we're like, hey, what if we kind of like make this a real extension of the brand? So it's not just Maintenance Club Program, that could be around any companies, they could have this exact same thing. No, we're going to develop the Tuxedo Club for, like, the Tuxedo Penguin, and like we're going to give you, like, black tie service. Okay, um, this is a real, premium, premium quality, premium service to give to your home and to give to your system to make sure that it always stays up to tune, that it's always looking its best dress than acting its best dress. So then, it provided us all kinds of fun opportunities to play around a tuxedo and a bow tie and black tie and stuff. It's so much more memorable, okay, it's so much less Waldo. Okay, we are welcoming those ideas. Same thing we're helping a customer.
Speaker 1: 7:35
Their name, the name of their company, was Comfort All-Stars. Okay, what's an All-Star? Okay, all-star provides us so many kind of like sports analogies out of this world type thing. And so for Comfort All Stars, we're really leaning hard into this kind of baseball aspect. Baseball is America's favorite pastime. Everyone knows baseball. You don't have a hate relationship with baseball. You know it's just good and easy. It brings back some nostalgia, the good old days. You know it's just good and easy. It brings back some nostalgia, the good old days, if you will. And so he had a character already in his brand character, didn't have a name at all. It's just like this guy all right, okay, first thing we're gonna do, we're gonna give him a name. Okay, so we decide to name him all-star Andy. Okay, we're playing off some alliteration. He is the all-star. Okay, it rolls off the tongue very nicely.
Speaker 1: 8:22
But then we help them develop their actual uniforms. Look like baseball jerseys, okay. So it's got like the little pinstripe going up and down. It's got like the different colored sleeves, like the raglan colored sleeves and stuff. And so what? What could be just a normal t-shirt or polo that, like every other company has, just like a solid color with the logo on the left chest? Um, making it a baseball jersey is so much more fun. Okay, it relates into that brand.
Speaker 1: 8:49
We are welcoming these new ideas. Sure is a polo with your logo embroidered on it. Is that fine? Yes, it's fine. Okay, it's serving the job your guy is showing up branded, but like, can you take it to another level? Can you take it to thinking outside of the box? Does that play and relay and live rent-free in your customer's mind for so much longer? Abso-fricking-lutely, okay.
Speaker 1: 9:12
Tons of ideas for wording. You know, like, swing into savings and we got our baseball bat here. Slide into comfort Out of this park service. Slide into comfort out of this park service. You know there's so many elements that people aren't when customers do realize, like when it has a little bit of cleverness to you like, oh, I see what you did there. Okay, it sticks out with them. But then it also makes them seem like that company is so much more intentional. Like the attention of detail that they're paying into their uniforms, into how they speak, into that. Like the attention of detail that they're paying into their uniforms, into how they speak, into that. I know they're going to give me that same level of attention and my system, that same quality inspection, doing a thorough and good job. I can already infer that before that technician ever even walks in my home. Okay, that's what a brand does.
Speaker 1: 10:03
A brand builds assumptions towards the expectation of the level of service and product that a customer is going to get from you. Okay, so you have to be the one to be intentional about setting what that is, because if you don't give any intentionality, if everything is status quo, there's nothing special, there's nothing that stands out. I'm already thinking that there's nothing special about your service. There's nothing special. Anyone else could do this, okay, and when a lot of our customers are not racing to be the cheapest guy out there, they're not racing to the bottom of the barrel If you haven't provided them anything else of why you're special, why you're unique, why you're different, then the only thing the customer has left to compare is the price Okay. Everything else that's all it will boil down to. But if you're able to create an experience and a level of expectation that is beyond that, they can justify whatever price. Okay. But your brand plays into that, okay. So, welcoming out-of-the-box ideas, welcoming something different, welcoming the disruption that's the W in our Waldo here. Okay, something different, welcoming the disruption that's the W in our Waldo here, okay.
Speaker 1: 11:10
So let's move on to A analyzing your current situation, or analyzing where your company currently is. So, in your marketplace, in your, where, your service area, how do you stand out? Are there ways that people can experience your brand? Okay, are you involved in the community? Do you have any type of mass media going to reach the masses? Are you doing any radio spots or television commercials? Okay, if you are, do you have a jingle? Do you have something that can be like the stamp of oh, that's automatically. You know um, comfort, all stars, or yellow bear air, like before that? You know the first two seconds of that radio commercial. They already know oh, okay, and it's stuck in their mind it's living rent free.
Speaker 1: 11:56
You know why people, why we emphasize a jingle so much, is because music literally lands in a different spot of your brain and music will live there and people can retain it so much longer. Okay, my grandmother, when she was battling Alzheimer's and dementia before she passed away, you know, I know she loved me and she knew me and stuff, but like towards the end, like she couldn't remember my name. She might maybe recognize a face, but like she couldn't, she didn't exactly know that like I was her granddaughter. She didn't know my name, but like you'd go to spend time with her and she wouldn't have many memories of you know when we used to live on this street or us doing this as a kid. But you know what she could remember when we were there at Christmas time and someone got on the piano and started playing jingle bells. She can remember those words to jingle bells that she learned as a child, 80, 90, something years years ago. Because music lives in such a different part of your brain. It's another stamp aspect that people can relate to.
Speaker 1: 12:53
So, like, do you have a jingle? Can people experience you in any other way? Okay, um. And then how are people experiencing your competitors, okay, um, do you guys have similar colors? Do you have a similar name? Do you have a similar mascot? Okay, do you both have penguins? Are you both the color purple? Oh, we got like yellow accents and they got blue accents, okay, but like, do they see a purple van driving down the road and we don't know which purple van? It is okay. Or is the local high school purple to where the school bus is wrapped purple and the, the band, the trailer that pulls all the band equipment that's wrapped purple and everyone has purple pride, you know, for the Lufkin Panthers and okay, like that's going to be a little bit harder for you to disrupt and to separate yourself from, from the rest of what's in your community.
Speaker 1: 13:38
Okay, so, analyzing where you're at and like truly kind of getting out of your own feelings, I think naturally we're so inclined to be like, oh, we're doing a good job. You know, like, yeah, like that's great. Everyone knows this and I think we naturally try to lean towards good and think that everyone knows us as well as we know ourselves. But that's not the reality. So, if you took a step back, really analyzed, and were willing to say like I really don't have many ways that people how could people really know me? Okay, beyond just the word of mouth from my friends and family, who just know me personally, how else is anyone going to know me? Okay, you got to try and test some things. So, like, what have you done in the past? Analyze that. Has it worked? Has it not? Okay, what do you need to continue doing? What do you need to stop doing? What do you need to start doing?
Speaker 1: 14:32
Okay, being willing to analyze where you're at, analyzing your marketing plan, analyzing your brand, analyzing the service, the quality of your product, your people, things like that. Those are all things that relay into your brand and to help you stand out to be a non Waldo. Okay, and if you are going to be measuring and analyzing those tactics and the performance, okay, you got to have some things in place to measure it. Okay, do you have tracking numbers? Do you have landing pages? I know a lot of you guys are gonna say, yes, check, got it, okay, but are you further inspecting that? So this call tracking number I've got it listed in service Titan. Got the little green bubble up in the corner. If someone calls it, that is going to pop up Got it, check, but like is that actually linked somewhere? Or like, are you not using that tracking number anywhere? Like, it went out on this one newsletter that you mailed out four years ago and you've never used it again since. Get it out of there. Okay, but you have to be inspecting what you're expecting, okay, so don't just assume that this tracking number isn't working.
Speaker 1: 15:36
Okay, that direct mail piece didn't work. I didn't get any phone calls from it. Well, did you actually get it set up correctly? Or I did billboards for six months and it didn't generate a single call. Okay, but our expectation of billboards? Billboards are not a call to action piece. Okay, just because I start driving down highway 59 and I see my billboard, that is not a trigger for me to be like I need to book my installation right now. Yep, that's it. I need a new system. I'm calling. That is not the expectation for billboards. So we do not need to be measuring necessarily our ROI on billboards. But what is the purpose of a billboard or mass media or you know, like OTT over the top, ads over the top, television ads like on YouTube that play before or things like that? What are our expectations for that?
Speaker 1: 16:23
It is super hard to see a direct result. It is super hard to measure, but there is one thing that you can measure. Hopefully, you should start to see your organic search volume increase. Okay, so people directly searching your name so going to Google and typing yellow bear, air heating and air conditioning versus if they were searching heating and air conditioning near me okay, that direct your name search hopefully that should have an uptick, because people have experienced you, they've come to know you from some of your branding efforts, from you being out involved in the community, from you doing some mass media strategies whether that's bus wraps or billboards, things like that giveaways, social media giveaways okay, you've provided more ways for them to experience and interact with your company. Even if interacting did not mean purchasing at that moment, it sat in their brain, it interacted with their brain and it's stuck there. That's where you should start to see some of your organic search volume increasing okay. So if you've made a big push to make yourself more well known, you can start to see that KPI and measure that a little bit. That could give you some insight to that. Okay, so that's your A L. You got to launch it, okay. Launch your ideas. Okay, try it out, try it, analyze it and then pivot, be adaptable, but just launch it, okay.
Speaker 1: 17:47
So many times we see perfection getting in the way, like oh, it's not perfect, it's like I can't do it. I'm like, oh, no, but what about this? And like, oh, what if that happens? Like what if the worst case scenario Like I'm just trying to think through it all and like that's valid and that's a point. But don't let perfection disguise you from what's really happening. Which is really happening is procrastination, okay, sometimes being hesitating to launch something, or just try it out because it's not perfect, because it's only 90% there, it's only 95% there. It's like, oh, but what about that 5%? Or like I'm going to lose money on that 5%. Okay, but what else? Are you also missing out from the 90% of what it would do for you? Okay, so don't let perfection and making sure that it's perfect get in your way from actually doing something. Okay, you'll become stagnant and you'll become left behind.
Speaker 1: 18:43
Okay, stop waiting on a magical sign to happen. Or this is the invitation to do this. This is your 100% assurance, guarantee that this is gonna be phenomenal and make you a billion dollars by doing this one thing. Stop waiting for that. Okay, just launch it. Just be a little bit risky. Stop overthinking it, okay, because the what ifs like well, what if this happened? What if someone thought this? What if this person cancels? What if I get a bad review? That will literally freeze you and paralyze you.
Speaker 1: 19:20
But be confident in your decisions. Be willing to make a decision and then be confident. Okay, I'm going to, I'm going to decide and I'm going to commit. Okay, the wishy-washiness that is an ultimate business killer, morale killer, marketing killer, everything killer. Okay, I can get a little bit biblical on you here, but, like you know, like in the Bible it says like the Lord wants you to be hot or cold, like I want you to love me or hate me, but don't be lukewarm. Like I will spit you out, like, spit you out of my mouth. Like lukewarm water, like don't be in the middle. Okay, be and do and commit to something. Okay. So be confident in your decisions. Don't be waiting on that sign. Another little religious thing here. You know people say like God, just send me a sign. You know a man's out in the ocean drowning. Like God, just send me a sign. I'm waiting on you to save me. And a boat drives by. No, I'm waiting on a sign from God and another fisherman boat drives by hey, you need some help. No, I'm waiting on a sign from God and the man drowns. And God's like I sent you two boats. That was your sign.
Speaker 1: 20:21
It's like, ah, like, like, sometimes we can be so in our own heads of what perfection should be, and like what is meant to be and what is going to be that magical bullet, that silver bullet, that we miss it completely. Okay, nothing in marketing is for sure. Okay, nothing in marketing is that silver bullet. Nothing in marketing is a hundred percent guaranteed. It is a game. But guess what? Such as life, okay, such is owning and running a business. Such is dealing with people. There is no 100% guarantee in any of this stuff. Okay, it's a game. So that's why you have to be willing to have that analysis, to try something out of the box. Welcome that outside of the box, analyze it, see, see how I did Launch it and then evaluate it. Okay, do something different. But like, commit, be willing to do it, being willing to be disruptive and stand out. That's how you're gonna actually see some real results. Okay, so that's the W-A-L.
Speaker 1: 21:18
Now the D okay, declare your brand with community involvement. Okay, when you get involved in the community, it just like puts a stake down in the ground, like this is us, we're here, this is our community. This is where we eat, live, sleep, play. This is where we are calling home. We are your neighbor, this is our community. And like we're here to stay. These are the people that we employ. These are the lives that we're building, these are the families that we're helping to grow and to build and like we're here to stay. These are the people that we employ. These are the lives that we're building, these are the families that we're helping to grow and to build and like these are the customers that we take care of. This is our purpose, this is our mission. Okay, your brand.
Speaker 1: 22:08
How is that contributing to your overall vibe or personality? You know? I think a great way that can somewhat narrow down the attention and not get like too ADHD and like all over the place like squirrel brain when it comes to community support, because if you open your eyes, you can get real squirrel brain real quick. Okay, from every little drill team dancer looking to do a high school calendar, to ball field banners, to veterans wreaths across America type thing, there's tons of organizations, animal shelters a cause or something that like is personal to your brand, to your story, whether that's, um, like an owner's, something around his heart, her heart, something that's important to them, maybe that's around a specific color, um, maybe it's something that's important to one of your employees, um, picking something and nearing it does one of two things.
Speaker 1: 23:06
So, like, it establishes you as like the authority and kind of like that go-to person to that organization, to that organization's board members, to their clientele, if you will. It establishes you like, hey, when it comes to fundraiser for the Alzheimer's Association, I know I can count on McWilliams. Okay, like, they are going to be there. They're going to have a team walking for Relay for Life, they're going to help us on the longest day of summer. You know they can do all that. Like they know, when you think McWilliams and Son, you can think Alzheimer's. And if you think Alzheimer's, you can think McWilliams, ok, maybe you have an animal as your mascot. You could partner with an animal shelter. We give five dollars from every maintenance club program that we sell to our animal shelter. Okay, it all ties into your brand so it can help add to your brand story.
Speaker 1: 23:56
But you know what it also does, which this is gonna sound a little shady, but I'm telling you it helps you out as a business owner. It also gives you a reason to say no to all the other fluff and all the other people that are always hitting you up for a sponsorship or to buy these barbecue plates. We're doing barbecue plates and car washes and sponsor this. You know the band club going to state all these things. Okay, it can give you a note, it can say like hey, that's a great cause and we'd love to help you. However, we just align ourselves with only things that are directly related to education. You know, um, the owner, our owner's mom, was a teacher for 35 years, and so we just align all of our things that directly relate to literacy or local schools. Okay, so sorry, I can't support your baseball team. Okay, it gives you an out to say that without it being super tacky.
Speaker 1: 24:46
So it's not just a no, but it's like hey, we're going to invest our efforts, anything that we would have donated or given time, money, energy to and to supporting our local causes. Ok, maybe it's a health cause that is personal to you in some way. Maybe it's like a color, like I mentioned. I know some people have some kind of radical colors like a pink. You know the pink Van Techs do the job best. Well, you know how can we align that as part of our community cause, breast cancer awareness, the month of October, things around women pink is naturally associated towards a woman's colors, like we're going to help women's shelters or, you know, women's International Month, whatever that might be. But it gives you an alignment and it helps remove some of the distractions. If you will, that can come from other community support and stuff, so. But what you do in the community is very heartfelt, is very memorable, and when you give some time and attention to it.
Speaker 1: 25:49
Ok, do not just give somebody your logo so that it can be printed on the back of a T-shirt amongst 50 other logos. Okay, that's not what I'm talking about. Community support. I'm talking about having your team members be on that board to volunteer, to curate sponsorships, to be unique to you. Okay, so we're not just going to be a gold level sponsor. No, maybe we want to be like hey, we're going to be the comfort sponsor at your next fun run race and so we're going to be the ones that are going to give out water on all the water stops along the course of the race. Ok, we're going to be that comfort providing you comfort. Or hey, we've got a mascot, we want him to be the one that's going to like actually put the metals on people's necks as they cross the finish line. Ok, maybe you have like an asphalt company or you have a renovation type things like, hey, we're pounding the pavement here at this race. So like, don't be afraid to ask a nonprofit to kind of like, give you a funky little spin that makes your sponsorship a little bit more memorable, relatable to you. It's going to stick out in the mind of those participants, things like that. So like, there's tons of ways to really develop your community support, to declare the like hey, I'm in this, I'm in this community, I'm doing it for good, beyond just emailing someone your logo so that it can go on a banner, the corner of a banner, on the back of someone's t-shirt. Okay, it doesn't always just have to be money, but the time and the attention and the engagement, involvement can really go a long ways, okay.
Speaker 1: 27:22
And then, last but not least, ro Waldo O stands for, like, optimizing your brand with the details. Okay, don't get sloppy on. For, like, optimizing your brand with the details. Okay, don't get sloppy on, um, letting your brand just kind of run amok, if you will. Okay, um, you don't make a copy of a copy. Okay. So like, have you ever printed off a piece of paper? You know whether it's your employee handbook or manual or some type of form or something, and you don't have the original and, like, you never go print out a new one. You just make a copy of that copy and the next week you gotta print some more, so that you're making a copy of that copy. And you're making a copy of that copy and, like you know 10 copies in. You're like, uh, I can't even read this. Okay, it's so fuzzy, everything loses that quality. Okay, if I were to take a picture of a picture, it's already lost quality. And then if I take a picture of that picture, it's losing it. Okay.
Speaker 1: 28:12
So, optimizing your brand, don't let your brand get sloppy. Like, yeah, we're red, red, you know. If it leans a little bit more orange, that's okay. If it leans a little bit more maroon, that's okay, we're just red. If it leans a little pink, hey, it's red. Okay, you can start to get brand dilution and just diffusion I guess is one way to say it. But like it's not optimized, okay, you start to lose that integrity of the brand. It starts to become a copy of a copy of a copy, to where you're, like you don't even know what the original looked like. Okay, it is so distorted Distorted is probably the word I was thinking of that the authenticity, the authenticness of it is lost there. Okay, so there's couple of ways that you can optimize it. Okay, having a brand guide like I could shout it from the rooftops Like you need to know what typefaces are going to compliment your brand.
Speaker 1: 29:04
You don't need to just be left to your own devices to go pick whatever font you want. That's happening in Canva. Okay, I can spot the trending Canva font from a mile away because everybody's using it. Okay, that is not the way to make your brand stand out and to be disruptive. You are being a Waldo when you do everything that everyone else is doing. Okay, you're Waldo, you're lost in the mix, all right. So your brand guide that has your exact typefaces and ways to implement it. So you might have this special script font. Maybe the name of your logo, of your company, and the logo is in this special script font. But like you shouldn't be writing paragraphs on your website with that script font. Can it be used for like a special, like introducing? Yeah, but then like you need to have something that's cleaner and easier to read to set up that next headline and paragraph text. Same thing with your colors. It's not red. Okay, it is the hex code HGYX034,. Okay, that is your color, red.
Speaker 1: 29:59
Do you think Tiffany Blue doesn't have Tiffany and Co? Do you think they don't have an exact color? Do you think they allow it to be open for interpretation from whoever's printing that they can just say, hey, it's just teal or it's just blue, and then when we're going to order those t-shirts over there, like, oh, it's just blue, and we're going to order new boxes, it's just blue, absolutely not. There's an exact Tiffany blue and like it has an exact hex code and CMYK code and Pantone color and RGB code. Okay, it is an exact science. It is it that optimizes the integrity of that brand and that color and that's what they're so known for.
Speaker 1: 30:36
Okay, when I say Tiffany Blue a color just popped into your head okay, and if I ask 10 people, they probably have all the exact same color in their head. Okay, if I said Pepsi Blue, we might start to get a few more ranges and stuff. But Tiffany Blue is a very unique, specific disruptive. Not a lot of people kind of have that teal aqua color. Okay, do a lot of people have royal blue, abso-freaking-lutely. You know where they're all at. In the HVAC industry okay, y'all got red and blue for hot and cold, so original.
Speaker 1: 31:05
So, waldo, okay, blending in, but optimizing it so that you have a brand guide so that you have different iterations of your logo. How does it look for a one color versus a full color, on a light background versus a dark background? What about the, the quality of your pictures and your videos? Like does it have a style? Like I can tell in the first two seconds in watching like ads or commercials, something like that's a target commercial. Like I can just immediately tell it before I've ever seen like whatever they're selling these clothes or these shoes or whatever before, whatever the actual thing. And like I can also tell the difference between an Old Navy commercial in the first like two seconds. Ok, just from, like the styling of, like the clothes they're wearing and the background music and things like that.
Speaker 1: 31:49
So, like you take control of that in your social media videos and the pictures of your team, things like that, not to overthink it and to give you that analysis, paralysis Okay, but to have some consistency, to optimize it so that your brand is continuous and it sticks out in people's minds. Okay, so I know that's a little fast and furious, maybe I got a little a lot heavy on the examples, but, guys, I'm just so passionate about branding because I've seen how it transforms lives, I've seen how it transforms the trajectory of a company. Ok, and don't even think about having a successful marketing plan, about being able to really like, make waves and shake some things up and to see a significant move in the needle in your company. Without that foundation of your brand, okay, everything is just like sticks and stones. You might get lucky a few times and you've built this little tower a little bit, but if you don't have that solid foundation, your brand is what's gonna always win out over time. Okay, it's the tortoise and the hare, it is the slow and steady. You don't always see the immediate results in it, but it's what wins out. Okay, you can see these guys on social media. It's like, ah, I did this and I incorporate this and like, hey, I was taking over the world. Woohoo Got fire emoji. Strong arm, strong arm you know that's that kind of hair towards and you might see some of these big blasts of of revenue or new installs, things like that. But don't sleep on your brand. Okay, don't be distracted from what may seem like nothing works. Okay, slow and steady over in the race. That commitment to that building that foundation before you can get up to the top, is going to make it, when you get up to the top, so much better. So don't be a Waldo. Stand out, be disruptive, be easily seen, make it to where people can see you. So we're going to do that by the acronym of Waldo. So welcome thinking outside of the box. Okay, welcome the challenge of being disruptive and being different. Okay, a Analyze your current situation.
Speaker 1: 33:50
Analyze how do you appear in the market. Analyze how do you appear different from your competitors. Analyze how do you appear in the market. Analyze how do you appear different from your competitors? How? Analyze how do people experience you? How do they get to know you, know the personality, your services, things like that. How do they get to know you?
Speaker 1: 34:02
Analyze it L launch it. Okay, launch the ideas. Don't be stagnant. Stop waiting for perfection. It's not going to come. Nothing is perfect. I'm clapping my hands here. Nothing is perfect. Don't wait for that because it'll never come. Just launch it, okay. And then, if you're being intentional to analyze it, launch it. If it fails, you'll analyze it and you'll pivot in your change. Okay, and we can move on. Okay, it's another hat in our feather, another feather in our hat of we know what works and doesn't work. Okay. So now we know how to pivot. Don't get stuck, don't become paralyzed by all the what ifs.
Speaker 1: 34:35
Okay, the D declare your brand and your community. Okay. How is your community involvement? How are you becoming a neighbor and a friend and making yourself more well known? Declaring what you stand for, what you're known for. You be the one to dictate and determine that message.
Speaker 1: 34:52
And then O, optimizing your brand making sure that you have something that is scalable, that can be reproduced, from your colors to your wording, to your jingle, to your logo iterations. Making sure that it's optimized, that it is cohesive, so that when people do have that, they interacted with you from a billboard and they saw you on a social media and then they saw you in the community sponsoring this or something like it was optimized and it's consistent to where they're like man, I see those guys everywhere. They may have literally only seen you three times and they technically saw someone else 20 times, but they never remembered or noticed it. Making sure that it's optimized to where you have a residual, a building effect to the memorability of your brand, okay. So, guys, that's what I have. Don't be a Waldo, don't be blending in.
Speaker 1: 35:39
As much as we love Waldo and the home service industry, we want to be standing out. So if you need help with your brand, if you need help with standing out, being disruptive, lemon Seed is here to help you. Okay, that is what we specialize in, that is what we are passionate for. We have helped launch and develop so many brands for home service industry contractors, and I speak about it all the time because I truly believe it'll change your company, okay, and it'll change your life. It is life-changing work and you're like it's just a little logo, it's just a little design. Nah, it's a big deal, okay. And so we would love to help you. Reach out to us. You can find us at lemonseedmarketingcom. We'd love to help. So thank you for listening. If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a review, leave us a comment, give us a share, help us. Help us spread that lemonade so other people can sip on some lemonade too. Maybe it can help someone else. So, without further ado, I'll see you next time. Bye.
