Every day we are all bombarded with countless advertisements, signs, and various other visuals that have been designed to demand our attention and tell us something. As a business, it’s obviously important to figure out how to get your message heard. But how can you stand out when you’re in a sea of other businesses trying to do the same thing? Creating a statement piece that will get people talking is a fantastic start!
Anything can have a “wow” factor if you want it to. Imagine opening a gardening store. After your first year in business, you’d like to do something to thank your customers. You could send a little flier that says “thanks for your business” and has some coupons on it, and that may get you some return business. But you could also have a small custom box made that says, “Thank you for a great first year, we look forward to growing a future together.” and fill the box with some seeds for a nice perennial plant. Your customer will definitely think of your store every spring when that plant starts to grow. Even though the cost of producing those materials would be greater, the potential attention it would draw could be worth the investment.
Although nothing will take the place of quality advertising, word of mouth is crucial for any business to succeed. People love to talk about anything interesting they see, so give them something truly unique to talk about. Those seeds we mentioned before? Now they’ve been seen not only by that one customer, but by ten of their friends. And they’ve started conversations about your business that wouldn’t have happened otherwise.
It may be hard to stand out when you’re offering a product or service that’s similar to the competition, but this allows for a statement piece to have a much larger impact. When there is no clearly-superior product, the decision often comes down to a superficial choice, or even an emotional one. A business that invests in their visual identity and uses it to evoke a more emotional response is much more likely to get clients that are loyal and dedicated to their business.
Anyone can benefit from a little creativity. Taking risks with design can lead to some great outcomes, and increase word of mouth and brand loyalty. You just have to think outside of the box.
