Invisibility not a virtue EDITORIAL GLASS CANADA Here’s a line I hear from companies in this industry sometimes: “We like to keep a low profile.” What? This bizarre sentiment flies in the face of every known principle of business. If the goal of a company is to grow (as it has to be, or face dissolution) then it has to be familiar to as many potential customers as possible. Since there are new players entering the market all the time, and new people coming into control of old players, it is simply impossible for a business owner to be sure he is making direct contact with everyone important. It is therefore critical that a business have a prominent public profile, at least within the market it serves. And there is no such thing as too high a profile. Yes, some drawbacks come with being widely known. Your staff might have to field some time-wasting calls from suppliers who don’t have anything you want or customers who can’t pay for what you have. Rivals might try to poach good employees. Charities might target you for donations. Competitors might target your customers. But chances are, in a market as small as the Canadian glazing industry, these things are happening to your company already. NEXt IssUE These challenges need to be set against the undeniable benefit of being well known and well understood in • top projects your market: increased sales and business opportuni-• Government ties. Isn’t that why we all go to work every day? concierge One objection I have heard to having a higher pro-• IG products file is that company owners want competitors to have the least possible amount of information about their companies. A good principle but, like anything, it can be taken too far. There is a lot of information companies can share without giv-ing away critical secrets. Look at public companies that have to publish all their financial information. Somehow they manage to maintain their competitive edge even with a very high degree of transparency. “Word-of-mouth” seems to be the most popular method of branding and marketing in the glazing industry. It does have the advantage of being cheap. But if it is really so effective, I have to wonder why the most successful companies do not rely on it more. Instead, you see the largest and wealthiest companies with the most brand recognition consistently spending the most on advertising and publicity. If a high profile goes with high revenues, what does a low profile go with? I think one reason why some companies avoid even friendly publicity is because they are afraid they will mess it up. While the old adage that there is no such thing as bad publicity is not entirely true (just ask Rob Ford), companies in this business tend to worry too much about looking bad and not enough about being invisible. Remember, PR help is available. Maybe you can’t afford a profes-sional PR agency, but you probably know a sharp young person in your organi-zation who can rattle on with the best of them. Why not empower him or her to deliver some talking points when necessary? • February 2014 Volume 26 • Number 1 Annex Publishing & Printing Inc. P.O. Box 530, Simcoe, Ontario N3Y 4N5 EDITOR | Patrick FLANNERY pflannery@annexweb.com 226.931.0545 SALES MANAGER | Danielle LABRIE dlabrie@annexweb.com 519.429.5187 ACCOUNT COORDINATOR | Stephanie DeFIELDS sdefields@annexweb.com 519.429.5196 | 888.599.2228 ext. 257 MEDIA DESIGNER | Alison KEBA GROUP PUBLISHER | Martin MCANULTY mmcanulty@annexweb.com Publication Mail Agreement #40065710. RETURN UNDELIVERABLE CANADIAN ADDRESS TO CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT, P.O. BOX 530, SIMCOE, ON N3Y 4N5 e-mail: subscribe@glasscanadamag.com Printed in Canada, All rights reserved. Editorial material is copyrighted. Permission to reprint may be granted on request. ISSN 0843-7041 CIRCULATION e-mail: subscribe@glasscanadamag.com Tel: 866.790.6070 ext. 208 Fax: 877.624.1940 Mail: P.O. Box 530, Simcoe, ON N3Y 4N5 SUBSCRIPTION RATES Canada -1 Year $36.75 (includes GST) ($39.55 includes HST/QST) U.S.A. -1 Year $50.00 (in US dollars) Occasionally, Glass Canada will mail informa-tion on behalf of industry-related groups whose products and services we believe may be of interest to you. If you prefer not to receive this information, please contact our circulation department in any of the four ways listed above. www.glasscanadamag.com @GlassCanadaMag 4 FEBRUARY 2014 | GLASS CANADA
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