Nothing triggers marketing activity like an upcoming
meeting, trade show, or convention. An event—scheduled
long in advance with an immovable set of deadlines—frequently
presents both the goal and the discipline for new
product launches and brand identity introductions.
That makes sense because a trade show offers a highly
concentrated opportunity to reach customers, prospects,
media, and business analysts with something new.
Let's assume you have your first seven branding
ducks in a row: your new name, look, tagline, and/or
messaging is 1) organic, 2) a big idea, 3) differentiated,
4) relevant, 5) true, 6) defensible, and 7) memorable.
Now it's time to turn your attention to tactical
implementation, and the eighth characteristic of
an effective brand: it must be consistently applied.
A trade show gives you an excellent opportunity
to introduce your brand effectively through an integrated
set of promotion and marketing vehicles, from pre-show
mailings to booth graphics and collateral materials.
Even with the best intentions and the most efficient
critical path scheduling, companies generally find
themselves in a mad dash to the finish line. Warning:
resist the temptation to fill in with legacy brand
items—not a business card, premium, booth
graphic, brochure, or sign. All remnants of old
branding must be systematically removed. The new
identity and messaging must be compellingly and
comprehensively delivered.
Chances are that the lead time required for certain
marketing promotions, such as an ad in the conference
program book, will make it impossible to implement
the new identity fully. If you must advertise, for
instance, then do something new and neutral that
includes your booth number and serves as a transition
from your old image to the new one…do not
revert to the old identity or introduce a third
look and feel.
Also, remember that the event is a focal point and
an opportunity to reach your key audiences, but
you shouldn't limit your thinking to the trade
show itself. The fact that you're at a trade
show and putting a stake in the ground with a new
brand identity extends far beyond the immediate
reach of the trade show. Using the event to launch
a new image demonstrates a strong commitment to
a specific industry or market segment not only for
those in attendance but also for those who read
about it.
Before the Show:
Setting the Stage for Change |
Theme: When you introduce a brand
identity, your new messaging leads directly to your
theme. For example, the development of new positioning
for one software company coincided with a long-awaited
release of a new software version. Focusing on technical
superiority, the new messaging used solid corporate
growth and increased product market share as proof
points for the company positioning as “the
momentum leader.” The related trade show theme
was “On a Roll,” and the visual identity
used extreme sports as a powerful metaphor for the
key benefit to software developers.
Pre-Show Mailer: A large postcard
with a dramatic photograph of a skateboarder introduced
the “extreme” theme, announced the product
release, and drove traffic to the booth with a gift
incentive. Qualified visitors (who viewed a demo)
were entered to win a BMW Street Carver, and everyone
received a related premium.
HTML email and Microsite: Many
trade shows don't provide email addresses as part
of their mailing lists, but that shouldn't stop
you from announcing your news and building brand.
Using a publication list that targets likely attendees
will also reach a significant number of subscribers
with no intention of attending a particular event,
so your promotion needs to take a different focus.
For the software company in our example, the email
message we used was the same, but the specific event
became just one of two calls to action. We developed
a white paper that supported the same brand positioning
and that became the primary reason for making email
contact. The trade show invitation became a secondary
touch-point opportunity. The HTML email prompted
the recipient to click through to a microsite that
provided more information about the new software
version, the white paper, and the specific trade
show activities. (After the event, the trade show
button came off, and the HTML email and microsite
could still be used.)
Special Event Invitation: Within
your trade show target audiences should be one or
more particularly important segments, possibly customers,
key prospects, or media. Using your same theme,
invite this smaller group to a special event with
a high-impact dimensional mailing—an object
in a box that grabs attention and supports your
theme.
| During the
Show: Putting Your Stake in the Ground |
Booth Graphics: New booth
panels must reflect the new visual identity and
messaging. For our software company, that meant
action-packed photographs of surfing, bike racing,
and other extreme sports, including the skateboard
shot used in the pre-show promotion. One of three
BMW Street Carvers (to be given away in daily drawings)
was featured in its own display.
Giveaways: Anyone can hand out
a pen, a coffee mug, or candy. Why not spend the
money on premiums that support your key positioning?
Instead of imprinting a pen with the logo and the
tagline “On a Roll”…we recommended
inexpensive sports stopwatches and skateboard key
chains. Choose something that will reinforce your
differentiated messaging in the minds of the attendees.
“Flyswatter”: What
if there’s no way that your collateral series
will be ready in time? You’re not alone! And
that’s fine, because you don’t want
to distribute expensive brochures to the masses.
Instead, create an inexpensive flyer designed to
coordinate with your new visual identity, logo,
and color palette and written to communicate your
new messaging and key selling points. This interim
flyer frequently gets created before the full corporate
or product messaging is etched in stone.
| After the Show:
Driving Home Your Message |
A trade show, conference, or other event provides
a great marketplace opportunity. But it’s
just one point in the continuum of building brand
equity. How you follow up with your contacts and
the ways in which you build out your collateral
set with materials to support your thought leadership
or differentiated positioning can make the difference
between a brand that thrives…and one that
slowly dissipates over time. Too often, we see brands
established in a highly professional, focused way…only
to slow unravel through neglect or a confusion of
de-centralized application.
In Chinese, the number eight (bah) symbolizes prosperity.
It’s fitting, therefore, that the eighth characteristic
of effective brand building is the one that ensures
ongoing brand success by applying your identity
consistently across all marketing communications.
Sally Roffman is founder and president of Creative
Strategy, Inc. For more than 20 years, she has worked
with a wide spectrum of clients on building brand
and making the organization’s vision tangible.
She can be reached at sally@creativestrategy.com
Creative Strategy delivers an integrated
approach to brand building, lead generation, and
sales support.
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