By Brittany Davies
I have always been intrigued by the way brands work. From what their logos say about them, down to the psychology of colors, it has always been something that has captivated my attention. With almost every market you can think of being saturated, a brand must find a way to stand out and set itself apart from the million other companies trying to sell the same service or good.
During my favorite class in grad school at St. Bonaventure University (Integrated Marketing Communications Creative Message Strategy), we all had to read The Culture Code: An Ingenious Way to Understand Why People Around the World Live and Buy as They Do by Clotaire Rapaille. The book took any brand, say Jeep, for instance, and would ask people what their first memory was of that brand. This encouraged storytelling. From there, the brand was boiled down to one word, an “emotional essence.” The American culture code for Jeep happens to be horse, but in France, the brand is perceived differently and their word for Jeep is “liberator.” This code then directed marketers on how to better market that product or service to that culture/client.
After working in the litigation support industry for a few years, I’m now seeing that branding is more important than ever. Especially since things can be a little trickier selling a service rather than an actual, tangible product and the fact that we are rapidly expanding into different countries. Here are a few things I have found to be important in our own branding:
Consistency. Every single intricate detail representing our company has to reflect our “We Make it Happen… Anywhere” mission. Our customer service, employees, hosts, offices, ads, logos, blogs, websites, social media, and promotional items all must play into a bigger role.
It’s not about what we sell; it’s about why we sell it. Humans are wired to be attracted to storytelling. The Planet Depos family and history is definitely a story we all love to tell because it exudes our passion for the industry and the reason why we all are so proud to be part of the team.
A competitive spirit. There’s no doubt that there are a ton of litigation support firms. Our team has to constantly be on our toes and improving every process and step to make our own and our clients’ jobs easier.
And last but not least, our people and leaders. The Planet Depos family is led by industry experts, adding to our brand equity. They know the business and what our clients need! Who better to run a court reporting firm than court reporters?!
We’re curious…what word or words come to mind when you think of the Planet Depos brand?