Holiday Clone Wars

07Jan08

By Betsy Wasser

It’s the that time of year again. The gabled peaks of the season’s holiday cards are arranged on a table before me like an alpine village—their foil embossed wreathes, skating families, and snow-flocked country scenes a vision frozen in serenity. With just one long arm, I sweep it into oblivion. Out with the old, as they say.

All those canned greetings, from close friends and from strangers, say so little. Yet we can read between the lines. The pithy messages and signatures (Todd, Mary, Eugenia—who are they?) can’t disguise the sense of obligation and dread that went into each card–the CEO  marching in with a carton of cards and announcing “Okay, everyone, let’s knock these out.” We can almost feel the clenchings of quiet resignation.

I wish that more people understood the power of “different”. Where there’s a herd mentality, there’s opportunity. When everyone thinks to send a card, by all means send something else. For instance, just before the holidays I received a small package from a web firm called Viget Labs. Inside was a clear plastic tube containing two transparent balls filled with rock candy. The colors of the candy and the way in which the smaller and larger balls stacked on each other cleverly mimicked Viget’s corporate logo (comprising two spheres). The card that accompanied the piece even included a dedicated landing page (http://www.vigetrocks.com) so that Viget could track the effectiveness of their mailer. More than a card, it was a miniature campaign–delighting their customers, building brand awareness and differentiating this firm from the rest.

This year, do yourself a big favor. Plan ahead so that your business will stand out next December. Put a little extra in your budget and plan to get started early (around October–it takes time to put together a mailer that will have impact). It will do you and your brand a lot of good.

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Tags: Branding, Business, holiday cards