It’s Not Just A Box

My wife bought a pair of shoes today and like most shoes, they came in a shoe box.  But this shoe box was unique.  The entire surface was printed in black and white text, with words of varying sizes and fonts.  At first these words appeared to be scattered without any real design intent.  When you looked closely though, the box very cleverly told the story of the manufacturer and their brand.  It was a very creative piece of marketing.

Now, contrast this to the countless numbers of shoes sold every day in non-descript (and highly forgettable) boxes that serve no purpose beyond transportation and storage.   Apart from a logo, size and style, they’re mere pieces of cardboard.  Just a box!

The company that made these shoes obviously didn’t see it that way. I can only assume that somebody there said “wait a minute; it’s not just a box”.  Instead they saw an opportunity to tell a unique and compelling brand story – a novelty that would make buying their shoes a little more memorable.  It would have been infinitely easier and probably less expensive to adopt the “just a box” mentality but they didn’t.  So, in the end, what most shoe manufacturers treat as a mere packaging cost became a great branding piece and a differentiator for this company.

How many things in our businesses do we treat like shoe boxes?  How many things do we put in front of customers that are purely functional with no added value?  How many chances to be remarkable are right under our noses and not being realized?

What if tomorrow we adopted a new point of view?  For example, what if your store windows suddenly became art gallery showcases where your unique brand-story came to life every day?  Would your store windows look any different?  What if your staff were really brand-ambassadors both inside and outside the store – walking embodiments of what your business is all about?  Would your interviewing process change at all?  What if that bland recorded message that customers hear when they call your store became the most compelling sales pitch of all?  What if?

Tomorrow when you visit your website, open your store or simply sit down to do your job, start the day by saying five simple words.  It’s not just a box.

See what happens.