I had an opportunity at work to contribute to the team meeting and give a short presentation. My section of the presentation was about the brand, overcoming objectives, key words, and key service. For me the first thing I always think of is that I don’t want people to be bored and for the team to go away with at least one thing which I decided would be the message ‘WE ARE THE BRAND’. Last week as I was preparing for it I just thought it was extra work to do, however the more I was putting into the presentation I thought this was an opportunity to record and reflect on this work being a type of everyday ‘performance’. Although on this occasion I was playing myself instead of an invented character. To keep the presentation interesting I wanted the first activity to be interactive and to get the key message across as early as possible. I asked the group a question:
When you walk into the store what do you think best represents the brand?
I wanted the group to really think beyond the bags and the dog and start thinking about us, the team as best representing the brand. The responses were as expected such as the dog, the look of the store, the bags, and British design. Although there was one person who gave me the answer I was looking for, so gold star for them. At the end of the activity I could then introduce the idea that ‘WE ARE THE BRAND’ and we reflect this in the way we meet and greet people, be knowledgeable about the product and serve the customer. The dog is a big part of our branding and I used the bags to show how the logo has changed and is uniquely designed to each bag. To continue some interactivity I hid an image of the leather dog tag that read ‘Missing Dog’ and asked my colleague to grab the bag for me, see what was inside and show it to the group. I thought this would be a different way of introducing this section. Some of our customers are still very attached to the older leather style dog tag. However, we can still overcome this objective by offering one and sell that bag.
Key service is always meeting and greeting the customer and informing them that all the bags come in all sizes and all the colours. This sounds like such a simple statement, however if we do not tell the customer this they leave assuming we didn’t have the shape/colour bag they were looking for, sale lost. Generally customers appreciate being given this information as it helps them make an informed choice. If a customer needs more help it is up to us to ask open questions to find out exactly what they are looking for. At the end of the presentation I then stated to the group that I really wanted them to take away this message, then I took my top off revealing a white t-shirt, which read:
WE ARE THE BRAND WOOF
