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