Minding Your Own Brand: Do You Come Here Often?


Developing a long-term customer relationship is very similar to dating. How you grab a prospect's attention is critical. Advertising, direct mail, public relations, or a website may be the first step towards starting the relationship, but don't let your marketing effort be another tacky pick-up line. What you say and how you say it will determine whether the prospect will be interested in starting a relationship or respectfully decline your offer to have a drink.

Getting the prospect to meet with you is only the first step in the relationship building process. Taking the relationship to the next level requires your marketing effort to make an impression that will create interest and have them call you the next day. However, it is not about tricking the prospect into being interested. Don't make them think your first date will be a magical evening of dining aboard your private jet and dancing in Paris when you know you are only able to take them out for fast food. Make sure you are able to provide one hundred percent of what you claim and that they are expecting an experience you can provide. Otherwise, there will be no hope for a second date.

You may spend significant resources developing marketing materials to spark interest and get you that first date, but don't forget that your prospects are also judging your company by everything you say and do. Once the prospect walks through your door, you must take great care to create an experience that resonates with the prospect and meets their expectations.

Instead of focusing on just marketing to develop the relationship, you must continually devote the resources necessary to examine all aspects of your business in order to determine what is adding to or subtracting from the experience needed to build a lasting relationship with a prospect. If you want this potential loyal patron to become more than a prospect, you need to do everything you can to ensure that they have an extraordinary experience each and every time they are with you.

If you develop a meaningful relationship based on trust while providing consistent experiences beyond expectations, your cash register will be ringing - just like church bells - to celebrate the relationship's success.

Visual branding is a great way to create big impact at a special event such as a launch, customer relations dinner or trade show.

Although some people think of this as a wasteful self-indulgent practice, shrewd marketers know that a focused visually branded event can leave a deep impression on customers and prospects amidst a flurry of competitors.

The general rule when it comes to visual branding is to do as much as you can within your budget, otherwise don’t do anything at all. There’s nothing worst then a ‘half-past-six’ job when presenting your corporate image.

Here are some creative ideas that we have come across:

STATIC BRANDING PROPS & DECORATIONS

Besides more standard branding tools such as posters, table stands, cocktail napkins, name tags, light boxes with logo, ice sculptures and backdrops, think of a visually aesthetic approach by using decorations that are coloured-themed to your corporate colours.

Such as; flowers, tea candles, gobo lights, buntings, ribbons, balloons, theatrical lighting, fish in bowls and lava lamps.

INCORPORATING BRANDING INTO FUNCTIONAL ELEMENTS

Brand all functional elements in your event. For example, if you are having a dinner launch, create dishes or cocktail drinks named after your brand and using your corporate colours.

Brand all printed information that guests receive. Brand or colour match all cutlery like plates, water goblets, napkins, cups, table cloths, table center pieces and chair covers. You can even choose cocktail snacks to reflect your corporate colours.

USING ENTERTAINMENT FOR BRANDING

A creative way to brand your event is to have different entertainment items that communicate your branding or message. Experienced corporate entertainers can customize and tailor their shows to your event.

Mingling entertainers like costumed performers and mascots in tasteful costumes accented with the corporate colours can help add to the atmosphere and further visually promote your brand.

EXTENDING YOUR BRANDING BEYOND THE EVENT

If you are considering giveaways and ‘goody bags’ for customers to take home, think beyond the usual pens, notepads, key chains and T-shirts. If you have the budget, think of custom labeled wine, packets of nougats or sweets.

For more economic alternatives, consider creative giveaways that people would actually use or show around.

Concept:Magic creates customized giveaways that are in the form of simple magic effects that highlight a brand. It is relatively low cost and everyone enjoys performing it for their friends and families.

The real goal and hope is that your celebrity endorser will boost the effectiveness of your marketing, product, or company campaign in a positive fashion. The value index, as we like to call it, is extremely important. Just look at companies that had deals with the likes of Kobe or O.J. when they ran into trouble. Disaster was and is always just around the corner if your celebrity endorser has the misfortune of having any form of legal trouble. Bad news for them only means worse news for you and your company. Over the years, millions of dollars have gone up in smoke because of a DUI, drug, or sex scandal. It just isn’t worth the risk. So, get to know your celebrity endorser and perform a thorough background check. You might be very surprised at what a simple Google search might turn up. Don’t let your celebrity endorser get caught with his or her pants down, as you will also feel like your pants are down.

I can recall all to well a situation where a major star was scheduled to appear at a major meet and greet. The deal was done, the athlete had been paid and was scheduled to appear the next day at a very large function. The company decided to fly the athlete in the night before. To bad the athlete decided to have a few drinks before going to his hotel. Instead of being in a cab he had a rented car…big mistake. He was picked up one block from his hotel for a DUI. He spent the night in jail. He was too embarrassed to attend the function later the next day so he decided to hop the next plane home and leave the company high and dry. Not only did they never recover their money, but the event planned around the celebrity was a disaster, to say the least. Make sure you know your celebrity and his or her tendencies.

It’s so amazing to me that what you see is not necessarily what you will get. Too many high profile celebrities are just full of themselves. It’s a shame but its reality. There are so many nice, decent, honest celebrities that one need not be subjected to a bad apple.

When considering the value index, another crucial point is to always ask for referrals. It may seem unnecessary but believe me, if you can’t get any it’s time to walk away. When speaking with referrals, make sure you ask all the pertinent questions such as: Are they easy to work with? Do they arrive on time? How do they dress? Were they cordial? Did they ask for money for doing little extra things? Were they at ease or in a hurry? Did they hang around after it was over, or immediately leave? Were they accommodating when asked for autographs? Did they make eye contact? and so on. Ask the questions, as you may be surprised at the answer. Above all, ask if they would hire that person again.

A good question that we ask the celebrity if we can’t get referrals is, who have they have done endorsements for in the past? We then do our own investigating by calling the company directly. It’s usually safe to say that if you can’t get referrals there have been problems in the past. If that’s the case, we advise you to keep looking until you find your perfect match. It will be time well spent.

There are a number of reasons for using a celebrity endorser. But also consider the value proposition of the endorser as a key to your success. The reason you are using the endorser is probably one of the following:

• Credibility

• Adding new ideas to your brand image

• Celebrity can add his or her values and refresh the brand

• Celebrities draw attention

• Rising above the competition

• PR possibilities

• Way to convince customers about a product or company

• Adding value to the product or company

• Building a solid back end proposition through extended use

There is one reason to use a celebrity endorser that I don’t want to add to the list above, as it is often the early signs of a company in trouble. That reason is desperation. Companies often times will think that a celebrity endorser might pull them out of the hole. Unless it is a brilliantly conceived marketing strategy, the chances for failure are greater than the chances for success. Sometimes, if a product cannot stand on its own, companies are lead to believe that a celebrity might produce magic. Usually that is not the case as the product or company is already too far gone to hope that a last minute advertising bailout will make a difference. There are certainly instances where a celebrity has come in and immediately turned things around, but unless you can afford Michael Jordan or some other big name, failure is more realistic than success.

The bottom line is, don’t count on the celebrity endorser being your savior. The celebrity endorser can certainly enhance most businesses with a well thought out plan, but to use one as a savior may be asking to much from the celebrity and isn’t fair to the celebrity or to the company. Miracles are hard to come by.

Beware if you are desperate.