“Sex appeal is 50% what you have and 50% what others think you have.”

Sorry for using this quote (once) again but this so accurately states the truth that I can’t help it.

What do you tell a stuntman who has a heavy accent, a little hard to understand?
“You are rejected, the way you speak, we will have to keep running subtitles all the time”

What do you tell a singer at a talent show who can’t dance very well?
“Your voice is superb but we are afraid we can’t take you. We are looking for a person who is a complete entertainer… you know, someone who can dance and emote well.” And who can blame you, even an out of breath Brittney Spears choose to lip sync to her songs in live performance because she is so out of breath due to her dance routine.

What does a captain tell a reporter when he is reminded that his new batsman can’t speak English?
“I know. However he is one of the finest batsman I have seen and he is in the team because of that, not his language skills”

The captain here is Imran Khan who defended Inzamam-ul-Haq and you can bet your arse that you are not going to find a captain like Imran Khan who will consider only your core skill. It is important that you spend some time to ensure that the image you project syncs well with what you want to be.

The same is true with your brand and communication surrounding it. Can you be sure that people responsible for building and maintaining your brand won’t be tempted to take a decision to make their quarterly statements look good? The answer to this will help you identify the people who you can trust with your brand.

If youth is what people want and if youth is what is beating you, you may want some of that youth appeal too. What do you do? How do you get that youth appeal?

The real reason is the agility and adaptability of the young companies, this is what makes it easier for them to try out new things. They don’t have the baggage of doing things in a particular way.

When challenged by such companies, how do you respond? If youth is what people want and if youth is what is beating you, you may want some of that youth appeal too. What do you do? How do you get that youth appeal? You hire an agency – an agency that has given a youthful appeal to other companies. This is where I’d like you to stop and look a little more carefully. See if the companies in your agency’s resume were young and trendy to begin with. After all it’s not a challenge to make someone young look young, the challenge is to make and old company look young.

As a teenager you won’t suddenly find your dad cool if he colours his hair and wears a torn jeans, or maybe even get a tattoo, you may actually find it creepy. The same is with your agency, you need to be sure your agency is not trying to put on a fresh coat of make up on you.

The choice it now leaves us is what is desirable and as always, a little harder to follow. To be really youthful, you need to change more than your appearance, you need to change from within. To avoid your competition from challenging you, you have to challenge yourself, challenge what you do, how you do it, and what you stand for. The secret is to be relevant, to be more aligned with your partners and customers and the world in general.

If you have to borrow something from young companies, it is not their appearance, it is their core.

Would you buy a pair of shoe made by the cobbler who sits outside your building?

Would you ask the roadside vada-pao vendor to cater to your next party?

The answer to all the above questions is “unlikely”. Perception is more real than reality and although the people mentioned above may have the capability to play the lead role or to make better shoes then Gucci or cook better food than your regular caterer but they are not perceived as such so they will find it very hard to break that image.

Same is the case with your company. If you aim to do bigger projects, you should stay away from the petty stuff no matter how hard it is to resist the temptation.

Sex appeal is 50% what you have and 50% what other think you have.