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Building Your Brand XI -
(As printed in the Canadian Immigrant Magazine Dec 2012 issue)
Holiday
Branding
December
is here and it brings Holiday cheer and Christmas spirits. Children are all
very excited about the season and stores are buzzing with discounts and season’s
decorations.
The
mood is exuberant and people are all talking about their winter plans and
getting together of family members and friends. It has begun to get cold and
promises to be a white winter ahead.
They
say that this is a season when jobs are not being advertised, offices are
closing and people are making plans for the holidays. So for many newcomers, it
may feel like we have to take a hiatus till the New Year comes around the
corner and many of us begin to think that we have to stop our branding and
networking efforts.
Not
so, not in the least and please do not let the environment fool you to think
otherwise. Your branding store stays open and continues however it takes on a
different dimension.
It
is this time that you use to give back, to recognize and to use the season to
do some things different but all towards building your brand.
The
season is about gifts and greetings and so here are some actions that each of
us can take to continue in building our brand in this new country of choice.
Over
the time each of us has been in Canada, we have made some acquaintances, some
mentors, some friends and even perhaps found some family here. Here are
different things that we can do to use our time during the season to continue
to build our brand salience.
Make
a list of friends and organize a seasons get-together, make it a pot luck and
BYOB so that there is less cost pressure on you or any one family; people don’t
mind bringing a dish and sharing bread together especially if they are also
newcomers and have fewer friends here than back in their country of origin.
Your organizational skills, planning and coordination will show especially if
you pay attention to fine details of putting together a great friends meeting
with music and festive decor. They will remember you beyond the meal you share
for the initiative that you took in making this happen. “He is a go getter they will say”.
The
second action step is to make a list of those who have mentored you in the year
that has past and those you would hope will continue or begin in the year to
come. Invest a bit in gift hampers and personally go and visit them and express
your gratitude in having them in your life. I do not need to explain the effect
this will have on these individuals and the consequent rub off on your goodwill
with them. Chose your hampers to suit each personality so it shows that you
have actually taken individual efforts rather than a one suits all selection.
The
next part is something than many people have forgotten with the advent of the
internet which is the concept of season’s greetings cards. Hallmark, 123
Greetings and a zillion other sites are there which offer free e-greeting cards
and most, and I mean almost everyone, uses this to send greetings these days.
However as with all branding, how does
your brand stand apart from the many other brands in the market? By doing
something different and being recognized as that. And so here I recommend
personalized hard copy greeting cards sent by conventional snail mail or if you
can afford it and time is tight, local hand delivery. Make a list of people you
have met over the course of your journey here and also those who may be in
other countries and dedicate the time to write and post personal cards to each
individual. The effect of a hard copy card is so much more than a link and a
click on the email, they normally get a large number of those and you are but
one more. You have shown that the individual is important to you and that you
have taken that extra step to prove that. Here I put out a challenge, in order
to help motivate you, I ask every reader to send me a card this season. I
promise to place your card under our special white Christmas tree that gives sparkling
angel dust and all good wishes to the sender. Let this be a test for you.
And
last but not nearly the least is family. This is the time to recognize family,
both immediate and near relatives. They have stood strongly besides you through
the year supporting your efforts and challenges that you have faced in your
personal journey. They have also made sacrifices and have faced challenges and
this is an opportunity for you to acknowledge that and to build new reserves of
support that you may continue to need as the New Year unfolds.
Each
initiative is a season’s opportunity to build your brand while doing something
beyond the usual activities we do throughout the year.
Happy
Seasons Greetings, I will be looking in my mailbox, your challenge is to find
out where it is.
