Fly Your Brand on a Flag Pole
First thing Sunday morning at the Civil War Reenactment at Nash Farm in Georgia, was the presentation of colors. Thousands of Union and Confederate Regiments took their formal places on the field nearest the monument that commemorates that battle, and they presented their colors to the roll of the drums. My chest rose and fell in rhythm. Everyone around me seemed to be as flushed with patriotism as me.
When I returned to my familiar little table I took a long look at the display from the visitor side. What do the spectators – guests to my table – see when they approach? The poster for Avery’s Battlefield is on their left with cannon, Bible and the Bonnie Blue Flag fluttering in the breeze. In the center, where I sign books, an ink stand and quill pen, bandages and the yellow hospital flag. On their right ...
I realized then that every table display for each of my books includes a flag. The Palmetto Flag of South Carolina and the TDI flag are part of the display for Just for the Moment: The Remarkable Gift of the Therapy Dog. Bread Upon the Water has a Vietnam Flag – the deposed flag – and the U. S. Flag as part of that display. An Olympic Flag and the 1950s American Flag are in the display for Cracks in the Ice. Rock and a Hard Place, A Lithuanian Love Story displays a Lithuanian Flag, a U.S. Flag, and a Statue of Liberty. I wear my politics privately, close to my vest. But my patriotism seems to wave all around me wherever I go.
When it comes to marketing, gestures such as table displays, logos, slogans, and flags, are part of “branding.” Be careful what you choose for your brand. Be sure it speaks well of you and your product. Use things you actually like, approve, and enjoy. It’s going to wave around you wherever you go, and it will tell your customers something about you and your product. Make certain it says what you want it to say. Make it something you are so proud of you could run it up the flag pole.