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Because Sometimes Style is Substance

So What--or Who--are you Dressed as Today? Do clothes make the man? Can a lawyer wear sandals? Should I have really worn that cheerleader outfit to the the company Halloween party? To answer these questions and many more, I recruited the help of Style Consultant and marketing wonk Darcey Howard.


So What--or Who--are you Dressed as Today? Do clothes make the man? Can a lawyer wear sandals? Should I have really worn that cheerleader outfit to the the company Halloween party? To answer these questions and many more, I recruited the help of Style Consultant and


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marketing wonk Darcey Howard.

Darcey is a friend, a client, a former marketing exec for Seattle's Best Coffee and Nordstrom and, really, an excellent dresser. We sat down over burritos and margaritas to chat about style, substance and that too-rarely visited island in the marketing sea, Personal Branding.

CH: Ok, so, what's a personal

Marketing, as suggested by the American Marketing Association, is "an organizational function and a set of processes for creating, communicating and delivering value to customers and for managing customer relationships in ways that benefit the organization and its stakeholders".[1]

Another definition, perhaps simpler and more universal, is this: "Marketing is the ongoing process of moving people closer to making a decision to purchase, use, follow...or conform to someone else's products, services or values. Simply, if it doesn't facilitate a "sale" then it's not marketing.
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brand?

DH: Glad you asked. A personal brand is the idea and impression people in your life or in the world have of you. We all know companies have brands, but people do too. If I say "Chris Haddad" to anybody who knows you, a certain attitude, a certain personality and a certain style will immediately pop into their mind. And that's your personal brand. That, really, is

what people are buying when they hire you.

And we all have personal brands. Me, you, Bill Gates, Michael Jackson . . . every one of us has a brand. You can either just let your brand happen--which we both know from our marketing work is a bad, bad idea--or you can take control of it. What I do is help you take control of it. I help you shape your brand so your brand doesn't shape you.

CH: And you do this through . . . clothes?

DH: Yea. Here's the thing: we live in a very image conscious culture. I don't care if you're an accountant, a copywriter, a politician or a ice cream store manager, the way you look--and how comfortable you are in your clothes-- will have a huge effect on your success, both personal and professional.

CH: So you're saying I need to be stylish and wear those leather pants the Queer Eye guys keep talking about?

DH: Not at all. Personal

A brand is a collection of feelings toward an economic producer; more specifically, it refers to the concrete symbols for the brand, such as a name and design scheme. Feelings are created by the accumulation of experiences with the brand, both directly relating to its use, and through the influence of advertising, design, and media commentary. A brand is a symbolic embodiment of all the information connected to a company, product or service. A brand serves to create associations and expectations among products made by a producer. A brand often includes an explicit logo, fonts, color schemes, s
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branding and personal style isn't about being
In marketing, Branding refers to the sum total of a company's value-proposition: products, services, people, advertising, positioning, and culture. See brand.
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fashionable. It's about looking the part. It's about taking a look at who you are, who you want to be and dressing in a way that will help you get there. When I work with a client I take the sort of "rules" of their profession or company and blend them with colors and cuts that look good on them and fit their personality.

Basically, I help my clients dress for the career and the life they want to have, not the one they have now.

CH: But, shouldn't just being good at your job be enough? If I'm a great accountant, shouldn't I be able to go to work wearing whatever I feel like? Shouldn't that be enough to get me what I want in my career and in my life.

DH: Well, yes and no. Being good at your job is important, just like delivering a quality product is important, but you also have to think about what people are

The term fashion applies to a prevailing mode of expression. Inherent in the term is the idea that the mode will change more quickly than the culture as a whole. The terms "fashionable" and "unfashionable" are employed to describe whether someone or something fits in with the current popular mode of expression. The term "fashion" is often used in a negative sense, as a synonym for fads and trends. In this sense, fashions are essentially a relief from bourgeoisie and petit bourgeoisie boredom, or a distraction from important matters, for the idle rich. The term is also frequently used in a posi
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investing in you. being an expert isn't enough. Your image communicates everything to your coworkers, to your clients and to your boss.

If you put two people next to each other and one looks he just rolled out of bed and the other looks like he took the time to get dressed and look professional and confident, who are you going to invest your money in? Who are you going to pay to be your expert.

CH: But doesn't that seem sort of shallow? Wouldn't it be better to live in a straight meritocracy.

DH: Sure. Yes. I'll be the first to admit that it's a little shallow. But, again, we live in an image conscious culture. There's just no way around it. There's an old and very true cliche': You never get a second chance to make a first impression.

CH: Or a second impression.

DH: Or a third. Or a fourth. And as we know, branding is about impressions over time. You're making an impression every day. Every day, the way you act and the way you look is having an effect on the people around you. It's tuning their ideas about you. It's building (or destroying) your brand.

CH: But what about being yourself?

DH: It's all part and parcel of the package. I never put anyone in clothes they aren't comfortable in. If there's a color you

Investment or investing1 is a term with several closely-related meanings in finance and economics, related to saving or deferring consumption. An asset is usually purchased, or equivalently a deposit is made in a bank, in hopes of getting a future return or interest from it. Literally, the word means the "action of putting something in to somewhere else" (perhaps originally related to a person's garment or 'vestment').
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love, I'll try and make it work. If you really like suspenders . . .well, we'll talk about it. Basically, it's your personality plus your goals mixed together with your target market--the professional and social world you live in. Stir well.

CH: So, should I wear a suit everyday?

DH: No. If that's not something you're comfortable in, it's going to show. You need to have clothes that you're comfortable in in ever situation. Clothes that prepare you for the modern world. Clothes that help you be the go-to- guy or girl for your company.

CH: OK. So, what are some of the big mistakes you see people making with their appearance and what are some small changes they can make that'll have an effect on their lives and their careers?

DH: First off, for

Love is a condition or phenomenon of emotional primacy, or absolute value. Love generally includes an emotion of intense attraction to either another person, a place, or thing; and may also include the aspect of caring for or finding identification with those objects, including self-love. Love can describe an intense feeling of affection, an emotion or an emotional state. In ordinary use, it usually refers to interpersonal love, an experience usually felt by a person for another person. Love is commonly considered impossible to define.
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business owners: You are your company's brand. You embody the goals of your company. So keep those in mind when you think about who you're talking to and how you want them to respond.

But on a more concrete level: Most people don't dress for their size. Ill fitting clothes, whether they're too big or too small, can have a devastating effect on the impression you're trying to make. You need to be flexible when you shop. Sizes today--due to some pretty big changes in American demographics--aren't the same as they used to be. You need to be flexible when you shop and find things that work for the body you have now, not the one you had ten years ago.

And then, look at what things in your closet you really do like and get them tailored so they fit better. A lot of people have clothes that didn't fit them to begin with and now they're all worn out. If your clothes look tired and dated, people will think you are tired and dated.

CH: Thanks, Darcey.

DH: No problem. Just remember, Sometimes Style is Substance.

Chris Haddad is a copywriter and marketing wonk living and working in Seattle, Washington. Chris specializes in using rhythmic, conversational copy to break down the final barrier between company and customer and to turn one-time buyers into highly loyal, high spending friends. You can learn more about Chris at http://www.haddadink.com

In economics, business is the social science of managing people to organize and maintain collective productivity toward accomplishing particular creative and productive goals, usually to generate revenue.

The etymology of "business" refers to the state of being busy, in the context of the individual as well as the community or society. In other words, to be busy is to be doing commercially viable and profitable work.
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