Think Long and Maintain Your High Standards

Last week I came to realise the importance of keeping high standards within your brand.

We were putting together a secret gift to give away soon (can’t say what yet, that part’s a surprise) and I got to see the “completed” work a couple weeks ago.

Why the quote marks? Well those weren’t actually my words as it was quite far off what I had in mind for the final product and arranged to have the job restarted.

We could have accepted it as it was – it wasn’t a complete disaster after all. But it wasn’t good enough to represent our brand so we had to wait the extra week to have them done again and done properly.

Patience is a virtue (I guess)

It was a shame as we wanted them in time for a promotional party we were invited to, so it was frustrating for me to wait and miss that date.

However, it’s so important to set high standards your brand and not allow yourself to dip below them.  In truth, they should be raised over time – especially if you’re just starting out. We now have the finished product and they look exactly as we wanted.

Don’t rush to put things out before they are ready if the end result will be detrimental to your brand.

Though I don’t own any product with an ‘i’ in front, I do admire Apple’s no compromise adherence to the quality of their brand. More often than not they release a product when it is ready to wow people (not always the case ) and not a moment before.

Do it right, not quick

When it comes down to it this is your brand and you have to always ask yourself: “am I comfortable giving this to someone, even for free?” In this case the answer was a clear “no” and that means that however frustrating waiting is, in the long run your brand will benefit if you continue to maintain high standards.

Keep in mind high doesn’t mean perfect – very few things are, but you have to be comfortable having that item – whether it’s t-shirts, stickers, badges, hoodies or your website – represent your brand. If it’s a bad product, that’s your brand so make sure that whatever you’re giving to customers and fans is good enough to represent that.

Have you had any similar experiences? Let us know what you think in the comments or on our Facebook page.

By the way, that special gift? We’ll be handing them out at our picnic next month 🙂

 

Image source: electricpig.co.uk

Mayamada: Behind The T-shirts

mayamada January 16, 2011 2 Comments

Ok maybe not so much behind as right in front and taking pictures.

Things are finally coming together with the t-shirts and hoodies for our new brand.  The t-shirts have been printed and we’re putting the finishing touches on them now.  Remember, you can still put in a reservation for a t-shirt or hoodie and we’ll save one for you when they’re available.

There are three new designs in a range of colours.  Here’s a sneak peak of a few:

As we speak our t-shirts are being stitched with with come cool tags…we got a bunch just to be sure!

We’re also giving away free goodies with every order.

It’s exiting to be making progress heading towards the launch of the new brand.  Drop by our Facebook page and let us know what you think.

The launch is in February…Stay Tuned!

On the Comeback Trail!

What month is it?  What year is it?  December?!  Wow, time flies when you’re having fun.

We’ve spent the last few months working on the complete overhaul of the mayamada brand and we’re glad to say we’re almost there.

Way back, in a time when “Classified” still meant classified, we decided to put an end to our previous efforts at selling t-shirts with a smile and have a serious think about how we were doing things and what we really wanted to acheive.  We ended up agreeing that starting from the ground up was the best way forward.  There were many reasons for this, maybe they’ll be a blog post or two written about what we’ve learned!  To put it short for anyone in a similar position to us five months ago: if you feel things aren’t working out, take the time to step back and re-evaluate.  You never know what ideas can come about when you take a good look at yourself.  We did that and decided we could do better with our brand.

So what’s the new brand about I hear you ask?  Well allow me to introduce ourselves…

The new mayamada is all about showing off a positive and quirky confidence.  We’re making Japanese influenced clothing inspired by our fantasy world of Japanese television parody.  Yes you heard that right, we’re making up our own television network!

Think Japanese TV mixed with Looney Tunes and you’ll get a good idea of where we’re going.

So expect to see…well, anything really.  Off the wall television shows starring a random animal cast. Commercials featuring the latest product ideas to come out of our heads and anything related to TV you can think of and we can create.

We’re now gearing up for the launch of our first line of t-shirts and hoodies in January, which brings me to the designs you’ll be able to wear in about a month’s time.

Word Salad

The design reflect what mayamada is about molded to the shape of the mayamada Logo Kai…made up of a whole bunch of words.  Look closely and see if you can find them all out.

Serious Sound

Everyone likes their music turned all the way up right?  How about loud enough to crack skulls, because unless your music causes some long term damage, it can’t be good (just ask Keith Richards).

Cut the Cake

The first of many shows to feature on the mayamada network.  Samurai Chef is a cooking show which a difference.  Anyone can judge food by tasting it, that’s been done to death.  We say, if you really want to get to know your food…you just have to take a sword to it and see what happens!

These designs will be available on a limited run in January and you can make show you get yours  now by reserving a t-shirt now. where also giving 10% off your entire order when you use the promo code “LOGOKAI”…so what are you waiting for?!

mayamada switches on next month.

Stay Tuned…