If you have been in business for longer than five minutes you will have read or heard about the fact that your business branding extends well beyond your logo. But sometimes I wonder whether than message has really sunk in!

Recently I was driving in the car with my administration assistant. She noticed a van on the road near us and remarked that she had been thinking of trying out that company. As we drove closer to the van, she noticed that the driver was smoking and she remarked “well, maybe I won’t now!”. This company was in the natural health industry, so the image of someone smoking was incongruous for her and resulted in her forming a negative opinion.

This business had a great logo, solid marketing messages and attracts a ‘cashed up’ niche market. But they failed on a basic aspect of branding – everything that customers see and experience about their business should reinforce their message. And unfortunately, seeing the driver smoking did the exact opposite.

It was highly unlikely that the driver of this van was the owner of this business, and as such, the business owner does not have ultimate ‘control’ over everything that every staff member does. But what they do have control over is the policies they enforce, the culture they create and the consequences for staff who perform outside those boundaries.

In addition, if we had contacted the business to let them know what we saw, the reaction to our complaint would have given the business an opportunity to ‘redeem’ themselves. The way you deal with a ‘branding glitch’ speaks volumes about your commitment to, and the validity of, your marketing messages

Michelle Grice writes a weekly column for business women in The Western Weekender