Building Brand Awareness Through TradeshowsWritten by Susan Freidmann
Building Brand Awareness Through Tradeshows by Susan Friedmann, CSP Branding is a basic marketing concept that is designed to set your products/services apart from competition. By using a particular name, phrase, design, symbol or a combination of these, you can create a unique identity. When choosing a brand name, consider following five criteria: 1. It should suggest product/service benefits. 2. It should be simple, memorable, and unique. 3. It should fit image of company. 4. It should have positive connotations for target market. 5. It should be easy to pronounce and to pictorialize. Branding is not a sales and marketing gimmick. Instead it refines and defines corporate culture and identity. A brand must have meaning to its consumers, its organization and its employees. Brand is an emotional link between you and your customer. It is what people buy when they buy your product or your company. The most important part of a brand’s identity is promise it makes to customers. The essence of branding is simplicity and timelessness. Integrating Brand Awareness Into Your Exhibit ProgramSince exhibiting is a powerful extension of your company’s advertising, promotion, public relations and sales function, that automatically means it is an excellent way to enhance brand awareness. Everything your company stands for, no matter how large or small, is being exhibited on show floor. This means there needs to be total consistency, congruity, clarity and focus in every aspect of your exhibiting program, before, during and after show. Here are three important points to consider as you plan to integrate brand awareness into your tradeshow program. 1. Consistency and repetition is vital in creating brand awareness. People buy brands they know and they trust! A brand is a promise that companies make to their customers. Strong branding requires all levels of communication to agree with one another. 2. Ensure all your marketing and promotions are consistent and that they have your logo, colors, typeface, slogans and characters. Everything you develop should have same look and feel. 3. Peoples’ perception about your company, products, and services is a major factor in their choice of brand preferences and their buying behavior. All perception is subjective and based on experience. Individuals tend to interpret information according to existing beliefs, attitudes, needs and mood. The following is a 10-point checklist to act as a reminder for many of questions you need to ask and answer as you plan brand integration into your exhibit program: 1. What needs to be done to ensure that your booth conveys total consistency, congruity, clarity and focus of your company image and brand? Consider: - booth size - location - graphics - demonstrations - staff - handouts and giveaways - lead management
| | Avoid the 5 Biggest Media Interview MistakesWritten by Susan Harrow
Tallulah Bankhead described working on television as *like being shot out of a cannon. They cram you all up with rehearsals, then someone lights a fuse and-BANG-there you are in someone's living room.* To be ready for your time to shoot out of cannon, take time to thoroughly prepare your ideas and soundbites. Television, radio and print interviewers are often focused on presenting a lively, entertaining program-not on promoting you or your products. Honing your conversational skills to include a repertoire of key phrases will keep interest focused on you and points you want to convey.1. When asked a question that doesn't pertain to your topic. Sharing information with audience you know is fascinating makes interview move at a swift pace while making interviewer appear as if he's doing an excellent job. For example say, *What most people want to know is....* Or, *What many people ask me about is....* Or, *What people find most surprising/useful/entertaining is....* 2. When asked a question for which you don't have a clear answer. Stay within your area of expertise and reinforce impression that you are knowledgeable in your field. You might say, *I don't know about that, but what I do know is....which I discuss in...(name of presentation, book, article, brochure, report etc.)* 3. When asked a question that is too general. Ask yourself a specific question and then answer it. You might say, *I sometimes wonder how I could have written/said....* Then launch into a story, anecdote, or epiphany.
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