It's that time of year again. The time of cards and family newsletters.
The time when we carefully communicate about our lives to the people we know. But what do we communicate and why?
I will confess, I have been chronologically challenged this year. Having sworn I would be ahead of the card curve, I am in fact going to be the last to send again. And I can't help feeling people will think I have forgotten them, or worse still that I am only sending them a card because I received theirs and thought I should respond. Welcome to my thinking process.
I knew Iwas in trouble as last year's Christmas cards and presents lists are still in my in-tray to file away. This did not not bode well. What happened to this year? I fear it dragged me through it.
So today I got round to finishing our 2011 newsletter. I love reading newsletters, and hope others find ours as enjoyable as I find theirs. I love seeing their kids growing, their news, how their time and energies are being invested. Each one is changing their corner of the world and I am refreshed by dipping into their lives, even if it is occasionally. Life is a collection of relationships after all. Some close and frequent, others not.
But what to write? You do not want to sound like you are the Waltons. You don't want to admit you're more like the Simpsons. It isn't a competition or a chance to impress people, marketing your family somehow, so you don't want to make your kids sound like angels (the readers may well be struggling in their own family), but you want to celebrate your family achievements and special occasions too. You don't want to boast about your tour of the world (I wish) when others may have had no holiday all year, and you don't want to whinge about how challenged your finances are either.
The worst part, I think, is that we have a horrible habit of comparing others' highlights to our every-day warts and all lives. It's easy to look like a brochure for the perfect family on paper; thank God it isn't a video diary we send eh?! We must stop ourselves comparing their best bits with our reality. Their reality doesn't look like that every day either.
But I do want to reach out to far-flung-friends, to be authentic, to give a flavour of our crazy life, to share our challenges and our joys and to touch base with them. For me, communicating matters. It shows I value them, and I value their communication with me. I value their prayers, interest and the connection we have, even if it is yearly. Or am I just hopelessly sentimental.........?????
What do you think? Do you love newsletters or loathe them?
Do you write one? Do you read the ones you receive?
PS - here's my favourite photo of the year that I have attached to the newsletter that you may be receiving soon.....
What is a brand anyway? Is it just your logo or how funky your website is?
So often when people say to me they are re-branding, what it means is that they are schuushing up their graphics a bit to bring things up to date. Which is fine and good but probably not rebranding in any meaningful way.
Think of brands which inspire you. We recognise thousands. Starbucks? Cath Kidston? Virgin? Those words are more than names - they make you think of a certain lifestyle, a certain personality, a certain style. Which is quite an achievement when you think about it.
Your brand is everything you are and everything people say about you - inside and outside your organisation. It's how people are spoken to on the phone, it's how easy your site is to navigate, it's how welcome they feel in your building, it's whether your product or service delivers on its promise.
A strong brand knows in a really deep way who they are, what is important to communicate, how to create a perception which is authentic to who they are, and who build loyalty and meaning around their brand. They also know who they are communicating to and why.
This then informs all the 'touchpoints' of their organsiation - the logo and packaging, answerphone messages and uniform, staff training and even their product and service. So everything shines the values in a clear and exciting way to the right people in the right way.
Having a strong brand creates consistency, aligning all the experiences of the company/organisation around the brand, reinforcing and demonstrating the values and beliefs of the brand.
So creating a logo is quite a tricky job. But building a brand, a reputation, a position is far trickier and a lot more involved. But ultimately far more satisfying.
I'm chatting with a few charities about this at the moment. It's fascinating, and a great clarifying process.
Today I spent time communicating with paint. Now either you will get this or you really won't!
How can it be possible for a reasonably sane person to spend hours staring at paint charts, allowing the colours to speak? Today Farrow and Ball's Pigeon spoke to me. I actually kept smiling and staring in awe at its beauty. I repainted an old dresser which was dark blue into this GORGEOUS grey/green fabulous shade. I found myself marvelling at the consistency, the pigmentation, and became aware that I had been totally drawn in by the marketing spiel. But it is classy and gorgeous and undeniably it communicates to me and other Farrowites who know their paint pigmentation stuff!
We spend alot of time thinking about how our home communicates; we create our home brand if you like. Modern country, city chic. minimalist etc... And so we communicate some truths and values about ourselves, our likes, our way of living.
I wonder what your home says about you?
I've been fiddling about with Google for what seems like hours - and here we go!
Still not sure what the difference is between accounts, addresses, sign ins etc.... But I will get there!
But how lovely to be able to muse away about life, commnunications, and how everything in life communicates!
More soon.....
