‘TIS A GIFT

Lately, our eyes are glazing over more often.

 It’s not because of aggravated presbyopia.  Nor hours of Web surfing.  Or even our occasional trips in visual stimulation (read:  shopping of all sorts).

 Instead, we’re attributing that “duh” look to the ever-increasing complexity of, well, stuff.  Charlie Sheen’s tour name, My Violent Torpedo of Truth, mesmerizes without saying much.  Twitter handles and comments are all-too-often incomprehensible.  Parsing the latest U.S. diplomat’s Middle Eastern speech to uncover possible solutions is just too taxing.

 That’s true for design too.   Photos and illustrations appear sans captions, and often are only somewhat relevant to the subject.  New brands take into account all colors of the rainbow, yet miss the product or company’s critical essence.  Web sites – ah, don’t get us started.

 All we’re saying is give simplicity a chance.  There’s incredible under-acknowledged power in being brief and to the point.  There’s drama, too, in the understated look and feel, one that matches the brand, its attributes, and its personality.   Even in the ethereal, consensus-driven business of crafting vision and mission statements, straightforward is beginning to rule.

 One example, touted by trend-watcher Fortune magazine:  Oracle.  In an industry that’s polka-dotted with jargon and acronyms that change daily, this California company is (and we quote) “masterful at using basic messages to communicate the complicated nature of its products.”  What does Oracle say about itself?  “Hardware and software, engineered to work together.” 

Expect, soon, an avalanche of simplification gurus, folks who’ll, for a fee, help whittle down words and pictures.    If that process trues up with what you and your company stand for, great.  

 If not?   We admit, it isn’t easy to clean up long-used language and visuals.  Owners and originators can bristle, understandably so.  Sometimes it involves almost literal wrestling matches with the message holders.   And sometimes, it makes sense to stand aside, fold our arms, and mutter one Yiddish word.  Ferblungit.*  

 Welcome to our world.

*[It’s simple:  Get the meaning from its sound.]

IS LESS REALLY MORE?

Living in a city of architectural wonders does lead to complacency.  How often can you appreciate the works of Frank Lloyd Wright and Mies van der Rohe (and Louis Sullivan and … ) – when you ride past them every day?

 That feeling changed with our weekend drive on Lake Shore Drive.  It synched up the relationship – more than just design/style - between what we do and the skyscrapers and Prairie homes we love.  The connection is deep, and more than visceral. 

 The elegance of, say, a Robie House or the 860-880 North LSD condos resides in its position within the environment.  Wright was a firm proponent of the organic, one of the first sustainability advocates.   And van der Rohe, a fan of architectural clarity within a free-flowing environment.     Both, as pioneers, were extremely particular about their style, their designs, and their final “outcomes.”   Both edited their work, and those of their disciples, ruthlessly. 

 Lately, that editing process, in our minds, is what the creative community frequently misses.  We expect back and forths within our teams and between us and our corporate clients.  We anticipate that these conversations will change copy, creative, and meaning, all to better represent the culture and the brand and meet agreed-on goals.  We also know that changes reflect a very human desire to leave a personal mark.  So when it’s complete, the medium – a video, Web 2.0 tool, brand identity, collateral – becomes part of a larger whole, ready to change behavior, ramp up revenue, or attract new clients.

 But will it?  Has it been refined enough so the non-designer, the “end user,” our friends and family will get it?  Can we somehow recruit a Strunk & White to every team, client and consultant, to say it simply and compellingly? Let’s take our egos out of the equation, and delete extra colors and additional images.  Not to mention extra sentences.

Less is more.

ONE BRAND, NO BLAME

Pity today’s customer service agent.

 We do.  Regardless of the industry or the nature of the complaint, whether we’re in an IVR system or face to face, many of us now routinely game the system by “zeroing out,” asking to “escalate, please,” and following up with nasty-grams to media ombudspersons and even the CEO.  [Yes, we’ll admit to grumbling rather loudly about product and service and billing issues.]

 In other words, those on the corporate frontlines must have the patience of a Job, as well as continual training and reinforcement. 

 It’s the reinforcement that intrigues us.  Delta Air Lines, for instance, is sending its 11,000 agents back to school to counter a very bad year in ratings, arrivals, and baggage handling.  Their five ways to wow customers range from being present to listening and empathy exercises.  “It’s all in how you say it,” explains one of the company’s training facilitators.

 That’s a great start.  How much more powerful would the learning (and reinforcement) be if those lessons were linked to the brand?  At its ultimate, customer service expresses the brand, resulting in well-defined behaviors, engaged customers, and emotionally-connected employees.    [Not to mention increased brand equity and higher profits.] 

 No doubt, branding frontline service requires time, both in its creation and execution.  To work well, it must also be integrated holistically into everything every employee says and does, not just those handling customers. 

In addition to educating all on branding abcs, there are champions to identify, teams to assemble, and, most critical, foundations to put into place:  goals, strategies, tasks, behaviors, measurement, and compliance.   That process needn’t be filled with jargon or too many steps.  Nor overly complicated in words and design.   Or burdened with a ton of rules and regulations.  After all, the best customer service is about doing the right things in the right ways for the right reasons.

 Hmmm:  Common sense and customer service share more than a number of letters.  Adding the brand to that mix equals success for businesses today – and tomorrow. 

NEITHER RAIN NOR SNOW NOR …

Sad news. 

The United States Postal Service, still way far from profitability, plans to close more than 3,600 branches soon, with thousands of other facilities and stations under review.  Older consumers in rural communities are up in arms about the loss of this essential public service.  Death notices have been posted – and rallies, initiated to save the local gathering places.

What happened?  Together with the recession, the digitization of America did in Ben Franklin’s institution.    As did the high cost of employee benefits and, most probably, bureaucratic inefficiencies.

Yet name us one person who doesn’t like to receive snail mail at home and at the office. Who doesn’t eagerly grab the latest copies of Esquire and People, of Oprah and, yes, The Economist.   And who doesn’t thrill to get the occasional hand-written letter, the overseas postcard, and, of course, birthday and holiday greetings.

In our view, online “everything” isn’t the panacea.    Some of the most effective internal and external communications are delivered by the office mail supervisor and the friendly post-person.  That effectiveness can be measured through the item’s long shelf life, helping drive retention of messages. It can also be seen in colorful pictures that seduce us into dreams and planning, and say “touch me.”  Even packages with deliberate calls to action – even if it’s only “order me” – usually delight the recipient. 

And then there’s the deliverer.  In study after study, consumers say that it’s their postal service person who goes above and beyond the call of duty.  They welcome the human touch, the open welcome provided by the mail carrier, and the opportunity to talk.

Our USPS representative at home is moving on to another, easier route.  He thanked us for our magazine subscriptions, for regularly using the post office, and for checking in with him every day.   That combination of humanity and “touch-able” mail needs to be savored, and saved, inside and out.