Know-How Exchange : Branding

Thanks for the response and the feedback. I especially appreciate your point about wanting to work with people who select on the basis of appearance. I'm interested to see some of the other responses

Great response Marcus. We are of the same opinion on several of your points. I have received testimonials for my work and I like you idea of including them. I do believe it's better for others to sing your praises. Thanks for your input!

I have on occasion hired marketing help, and never on the basis of race. It's all about what you can do for me and do you understand my business. What is your experience??? It is interesting because when you mentioned that your partner is from India the thought crossed my mind that he might not understand my business & needs, not because his race is Indian, but rather because he is from another country. I did hire great web designers who were originally from Korea, but they didn't need to understand my business as well as a marketing person would. I needed them to understand the technology and the specific instructions that we gave them. I may be wrong, but it seems to me that you may need to have more of an understanding of your clients business. If you have that, it really doesn't matter who you are or what color your from. If someone is stupid enough to not hire the best qualified person then they don't deserve the best, and your better off not working with them. As for putting your pictures on the material, it sounds like it has worked for you in the past, so why change? You may lose the occassional client, but my guess is most people are smart enough to look at the experience and qualifications and that is more important to them. I also think people like pictures because it gives them a personal connection. I would hire you if you were purple if you were the right person for the job.

My knee-jerk reaction is that the focus of your materials should be on what you can do for your clients. The pictures you include should help them put themselves in the place of the situations and satisfied clients you've served.

The issue of your race is not relevant. And you can be sure that if the client is caucasian they'll notice that you're not. It may or may not make a difference in their decision-making process, but it's truly irrelevant and it would be nice if you could present your credentials initially without having to deal with the possible bias of race.

Net, I wouldn't make your race a secret, but I sure wouldn't flaunt it in the marketing materials. I would keep the focus on the business issues and "what's in it for the client" to hire you. If you do a really good job of that, the color of your skin probably won't be a factor -- one way or the other.

Wow, this is close to home for me. I am a Caucasian living in Thailand. For me, it is all about race. And I may have been here long enough that my opinion may be too far out of touch with the US as well.

I get jobs specifically (both from expats and Thais) because I am Caucasian. I also can't access 90% of the jobs out there specifically because I am not Thai, no matter how good my language skills are. That makes race an important aspect in the way I promote myself and my business.

I have both expat and Thai clients. It is strange, because often the expats want to feature Thais on their materials (we are a local company!), and the Thais want to feature foreigners (giving them that "educated, experienced, international" feel).

In fact, the last time I flew into the airport here, there was a giant, giant billboard saying "Welcome to Thailand" with a giant, giant picture of two Caucasians toasting champaign glasses!! I was simply floored. I hope the ad agency that did that was canned.

In the end, my belief is that your advertising materials should represent your company well, and appeal to your target audience. I also believe that consulting is a very personal business where most of your business comes from word of mouth, not from advertising.

If the best cover hero shot you can find which represents you and appeals to your client is a Caucasian, then use it. If the best shot is of a person of color, use that. Most stock images these days utilize a breath of races and genders, this may also work well.

But inside the brochures or whatever, I would definitely represent your consultants well. It is a personal job, with lots of interactions. If your clients won't like working with a person of color, then maybe you should not even waste your time getting to the first meeting.

But use quality, professional images that shows them at their best. If you need a vacation over here, I can recommend a couple of people that will do fantastic pictures at a fraction of the cost.

Interesting topic, look forward to seeing other responses.

Cheers!

First I would say pictures of yourselves in a brochure is not relevant. It does nothing to show the quality of your work or to help get you an appointment. So why have them? Testimonials would be far better.

As far as prejudice, yes it is still around and a fact we all have to cope with. It is not just racial. When I moved to the South US from the North I distinctly felt that for some old line southerners there was no way in hell they would hire me to help them market. They call that the old boy network. By the way, it is worse for a Southerner, with an accent, in the north.

Now that I am "age impaired" (:-) I feel the same about age. I work in Internet marketing and many people think that a 20 or 30 something knows more about the field than a 50 or 60 something. I have been in Internet marketing since the beginning and have a solid backgrownd in virtually all types of marketing communications. I know many other older folks who are also experts, but that doesn’t always mater to some people.

I recently started a new company, after selling my old company, and took on the most talented 30 something as a partner. Having both a youthful and senior citizen point of view provides, I believe. Our clients with a better value. We’ll see what happens.

Thank all of you for your responses.