When You Shouldn’t Give Your Customers What They Want

When You Shouldn’t Give Your Customers What They Want

There’s a known adage in the business world, that says: “find out what your customers want, and then provide it to them.” But as easy and straightforward as that might appear, you’ll probably run into the problem of your competitors doing the same. And that’s not even the real issue: What if your customers don’t know what they want? How then can you properly communicate your services effectively and avoid the risk of blending in with everyone else?

That’s why at Different Perspective, we tend to go by the saying “give your customers what they don’t know they need.” Because if the solution to your customers’ problems were just as simple as meeting exactly what they say they want, it is likely that your customers would’ve solved it for themselves.
Don’t believe us? Take for example our most common requests from clients during a logo design:

1. Since the logo will be used on all marketing collateral, the type/font need to be really legible, such as a sans serif.
2. For the color, blue is best. The company should convey dependability, trustworthiness, etc.
3. The customers should know exactly what the company does when they see the logo. Incorporate an icon or logo mark that conveys exactly that.
4. There should be something that exemplifies how long the company has been around, maybe the year it was established or a tagline that says we’re experienced/experts.

While these requests are by no means unreasonable, when it is put into practice a problem arises that we as branding experts are very familiar with. To better illustrate this issue, we’ve applied these common requests to the iconic Coca-Cola logo.

Upon first inspection, it’s safe to say that there is nothing inherently wrong with the logo. You might go as far as thinking that it is almost as good as the original. There is a legible font, a dependable blue incorporated into a bottle icon to convey exactly what Coca-Cola does, and a date to show how long they’ve been around. But although it appears to be a reasonable logo design, when juxtaposed alongside other logos, it simply gets lost. There isn’t anything special or unique about it.

Between the original Coca-Cola logo and the alternate one we created, you can see that the original does a better job of standing out. The often thought to be “aggressive red” is actually celebratory, bold and exciting. The “outdated” script font conveys an established reputation without having to explicitly state it, keeping the logo simple. By no accident, this is all a result of a very well-thought out logo design process.
Of course, a design will always remain subjective, and while we don’t always encounter every one of the common requests for a logo design all at once, we’ve acknowledged that the solution to our customers’ problems isn’t simply to get the answers from them. Instead, it’s about focusing on what they are struggling with and providing a solution that will improve their business success and long-term relationship with their targeted audience.

You may not know that you should be bold rather than safe, or that to stand out in your industry, you should incorporate a custom font. And that’s okay because at Different Perspective our job is to know and help businesses like you! Whether you need creative branding, strategic marketing materials, a killer website and a kick@$$ logo, we’ll lend you everything you need. Learn more by contacting us here.

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