Page 104 - Duct Tape Marketing

88 Part II: Sharpening Your Marketing Focus

ߜ Does the consistent portion of your marketing materials accurately
reflect your business?

ߜ Do your marketing materials adequately appeal to your target market?

• If you know that your customers value top quality, do your market-
ing materials convey a top-quality company? Do your ads convey
quality? Do you apply your logo only to prestigious advertising
items? If you’re a retailer, are your shopping bags the finest you
can afford? If you’re a service company, do you present your pro-
posals in a manner that reinforces the caliber of your firm while
affirming your customer’s taste level?

• If your customers value economy above all else, do your materials
look too upscale? If so, they may inadvertently telegraph the wrong
message.

• If your customers choose you primarily for convenience, do your
materials put forth that assurance? Or, if you believe that your
highest virtue is your reliability, do you convey that attribute
through a flawless commitment to a reliably consistent projection
of your identity?

In forming opinions about your company, your market relies on the impres-
sions it gets from your communications.

Use your impression inventory as the basis for rating the image you project
to your market. As you get ready to adjust and improve the quality of your
communications, turn to Chapter 7 for everything you need to know about
managing your image, setting a creative strategy to guide your communica-
tions, and writing an image style guide to cast your image rules in cement.