DETERMINE YOUR PERSONA
Like it or not — and whether you even realize it or not — your organization already has its own distinctive personality. This persona is what your clients, consumers, donors, students, employees, the public, etc. automatically thinks of when they hear your organization’s name.
How do you find out what these diverse groups really think about you?
You Ask!
Ask everyone.
Ask your employees.
Ask your best clients.
Ask those somewhat testy, “trouble-making” customers.
Ask your competitors.
Ask the vendors you do business with on a regular basis.
Ask your family.
Ask the FedEx guy who routinely delivers your packages and probably sees a more revealing glimpse of the inner workings of your staff than you do.
Once you have your answers, have other folks within your organization ask and see how the answers differ when someone else is posing the questions. Of course, you can always bring in Brand or marketing consultants to do the heavy lifting on this for you, or you can take the time needed to do it yourself.
At the end of this process, you should have a white board filled with adjectives and descriptors. At this point, realize that there are no incorrect answers, only perceptions about your Brand that you will either want to reinforce or rebut as you follow the next steps in the process. The key is to come out of this step with a clear understanding of your Brand’s existing perceived personality.
Our new white paper has launched online — titled “The Power Of Personality: 7 Ways To Unlock Your Brand’s Persona”. If you indeed enjoy it — please share for us on your social channels — the SlideShare link is http://bit.ly/1PRIryK
