Malcolm Gladwell's best-selling book, The Tipping Point, talks about how the little things can lead to extraordinary results. In one chapter Gladwell focuses on the steep decline of New York City's crime rate in the early 90s. Gladwell's research found that cleaning up the environment people lived in did a tremendous job at curtailing The Big Apple's crime rate. Gladwell calls this 'The Power of Context'.

This same principle of clean streets affecting behaviors can apply to how we perceive a company based on its office space or storefront. Most of us have basic preconceptions of what a particular office space or store should look like before we ever set foot in it. So when you finally arrive at that particular store or office, it's important that your preconceptions of the office are at least met, if not exceeded.  I felt this same way when I first came to the matchstic office. I was expecting a creative house, and was excited to find flames, the color red, a portrait of Mr. T, and wrestlers sporting lucha libre masks (amongst other things) – all adorning the walls.

When an office goes above and beyond your preconceptions it can boost the appeal of a brand, as well as make a brand seem much more authentic.

Another great example I came across was Red Bull. I would definitely attribute ‘intensity‘ and being ‘on-edge‘ to the Red Bull brand and would hope their offices would exhibit those attributes as well. I was excited to discover that Red Bull actually took it a few steps, make that a few ramps further, at their Santa Monica headquarters with a series of skate ramps  blended into their office landscape! I would say that fits right into their slogan, "Red Bull: It gives you wings!"

Simply put, your workspace can be a great, or not so great, reflection of your brand.

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