Being human in business
Listed on September 5, 2014 in Blogs!
In 1999 Naomi Klein wrote a bestselling book entitled ‘No Logo’ deriding the impact of corporatism across our everyday lives. She particularly focused on the cynical use of branding to fool consumers. It was a sort of call to arms and since its publication there has been a bit of a backlash. Corporations, large and small, now have to tread much more carefully if they are to get away with making claims they cannot substantiate. Scares like the horse meat scandal make us far more wary of even ordinary information found on packaging!
Branding is important to business. It is essentially the effective means by which businesses achieve instant recognition in the marketplace. Usually it takes the form of a name but sometimes a logo and often both. Occasionally it is a colour – orange can be the mobile phone company (obviously) but also Sainsburys. Of course, this is but the start of the communication process and name, logo or colour then needs to prompt the thought processes about values, products, services and desires etc. The hope is that all of this leads onto making choices about purchasing and therefore sales. For all of this to work, however, the activity has to be about substance not surface, values not image, the human experience not the corporate mask.
This brings me to our new signage and logo. It features a couple of oak leaves with an acorn – white on a raspberry red background. The choice of colour was important for the signs because they had to standout against the dark green background of the hedgerow and bushes. The red tells you something of our passion for the business too! The oak leaf thing alludes to the proverb ‘great oaks from little acorns grow’. Well at Dillington our business is about creating possibilities in business and in life. Creating the right environment for the generation of new ideas is what we provide. That is true whether you are at Dillington for a meeting or conference or whether you are inspired by attending a course, talk or concert. Even a beautiful wedding is arguably the start of a productive and fulfilling life together. So there you have it. Our logo is a sign for something with potential. Our brand is our reputation for creating positive and memorable experiences. There’s nothing vacuous, false or cynical about that.
