Dress Code as Branding
In the last few posts we have been talking about the aspects of brand identity as laid out by David Aaker in “Building Strong Brands.” We have been focusing on the interplay of ‘Brand as Organization’ and ‘Brand as Person.’ No organizational policy affect a companies perceived personality more than dress code.
Imagine going into Quicksilver’s office; what clothing are the people wearing in your imagination? Now go into the corporate head office of Bank of America? I doubt people in the two companies are wearing the same thing.
We all know that people’s perceptions of us are effected by our clothes. If we didn’t think that than we wouldn’t take so much time, effort and expense making our own clothing reflect our personality and goals? A company is the aggregate sum of all it’s people, and how those people are dressed are going to effect not only how the company’s personality if perceived, but the actual personality of the company. If a sales person is in a suit and tie with a clean haircut than I am going to expect that person to be all about business and rather stiff. That is going to change my interaction with them, for better and worse. I will ask my question clearly and expect a clear and concise answer. Great for a bank. If the salesperson was dressed more casually, I would be more inclined to have a more casual conversation with them with a better opportunity to develop a relationship. I would also think a more casually dressed sales force would be less knowledgeable, unless it was in certain vertical’s such as Quicksilver’s surf and snow fashions.
This does not only effect the customer facing people in the company. The way the back end people dress will affect their work and decisions. That work and those decisions will effect the personality of the brand down the line. A tight formal dress code is going to influence decisions to be knowledgeable and safe. A more casual workplace will be more free spirited and potentially more creative. This is because dress code is a clear direction from management on how they want the company’s people to be perceived; people will pick up on this and act accordingly if only unconsciously. People will make decisions and behave their way to that desired perception.
Have people dress to the personality you would like your company to have.
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By Colin Finkle. Colin Finkle is an award winning industrial designer who works with large multinational brands everyday designing retail displays for FX Displays in Toronto, Canada. He is the principle designer at Firebrand Creative. He also writes for AMD’s FireUser.com blog.
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