Honolulu —
Mickey Drexler got me thinking. The retailing guru told Chef David Chang on the latter’s December 5th podcast that he enters a store, restaurant, or any business deciding immediately “whether they have a point of view or not.”
One can feel whether and what an organization or brand is intending to communicate upon the first minute or two of arrival. Are your first impressions informative, inviting, or even inspiring? Or do they convey a brand that is indifferent to getting the greeting (if there is one), professionalism, context, interior design, lighting, sound, and cleanliness right?
Drexler knows his stuff. He came up through Macy’s and Bloomingdales to run Ann Taylor. He then built The Gap and J. Crew and served for many years on Apple’s board of directors.
“The vibe is very important,” Drexler told Chang. “If you have a good staff in any business, you feel it immediately,” he added.
Intuition and observation are essential tools always in need of continued development. One way to do so is to be fully present when you arrive at a location. Take it all in. How does it make you feel? What works and doesn’t work? Are they trying to communicate a point of view and what is it?
I can tell so much about a corporation or university, for example, just by entering their main building for the first time. Do chilly (or no) greetings, poor lighting, and frayed carpets communicate anything meaningful? I think they do and, too often, these “small things” portend larger issues.
Assessing whether an organization is intentionally communicating a point of view - and whether it’s any good - provides its own form of insightful market research.
Mickey Drexler got me thinking. The retailing guru told Chef David Chang on the latter’s December 5th podcast that he enters a store, restaurant, or any business deciding immediately “whether they have a point of view or not.”
One can feel whether and what an organization or brand is intending to communicate upon the first minute or two of arrival. Are your first impressions informative, inviting, or even inspiring? Or do they convey a brand that is indifferent to getting the greeting (if there is one), professionalism, context, interior design, lighting, sound, and cleanliness right?
Drexler knows his stuff. He came up through Macy’s and Bloomingdales to run Ann Taylor. He then built The Gap and J. Crew and served for many years on Apple’s board of directors.
“The vibe is very important,” Drexler told Chang. “If you have a good staff in any business, you feel it immediately,” he added.
Intuition and observation are essential tools always in need of continued development. One way to do so is to be fully present when you arrive at a location. Take it all in. How does it make you feel? What works and doesn’t work? Are they trying to communicate a point of view and what is it?
I can tell so much about a corporation or university, for example, just by entering their main building for the first time. Do chilly (or no) greetings, poor lighting, and frayed carpets communicate anything meaningful? I think they do and, too often, these “small things” portend larger issues.
Assessing whether an organization is intentionally communicating a point of view - and whether it’s any good - provides its own form of insightful market research.
Image courtesy of Phil Presents.