A couple of deaths recently. This is the first time I’ve written about deaths in my blog but what the heck. I couldn’t pass this up.

The first death is Curtis Alina and he is credited with popularizing Pez candy. The obituaries I saw reminded us that he didn’t invent the candy, that happened in Austria in the 1930’s. Curtis was tasked with marketing it in the U.S. The fact is, the candy is bland and mostly tasteless. It wasn’t until Curtis put cartoon heads on the dispenser that it took off and prospered. The dispensers became much more important than the candy and they are collector’s items to this day.

The second death of note is the creator of Gumby. Someone smarter than me will have to explain what Gumby is. He is made of rubber, has a pointed head and is green. The company calls it a doll but boys don’t play with dolls and it would scare a little girl. But we all had a Gumby figure in our toy box right next to the Slinky and the PlayDoh.

The guy that invented it was Art Clokey and he died recently without ever giving us a good sense of where the idea came from and what we were supposed to do with the thing. That doesn’t take away from the fact that Gumby was a pop cultural phenomenon and a best selling toy for many years.

I tell you about these two deaths because they remind me of an important branding ingredient. We try to find ways for our end users to remember us. We use mnemonic devices, logos, colors, tag lines, advertising to remind consumers of our unique product and their connection to it. We use signs and symbols as shortcuts to brand preference. In certain instances these devices become iconic.

Icons in the past include the Jolly Green Giant, Mr. Clean, the Trix Rabbit, Lee Iacocca, Keebler Elves, the Marlboro Man and Mickey Mouse. We don’t see many of these bigger-than-life characters anymore in modern marketing but they are a reminder not just of things past but of the way our minds can recall features and benefits that transcend a product. These images give us a mental nudge and help us make mental associations with important brand attributes.

Mickey Mouse is a rodent. A filthy, despicable little creature that sends men, women and children scurrying. Mice are carriers of all sorts of diseases and we go to great lengths to rid our homes and property of them. Yet Walt Disney turned this vermin into an icon and a global marketing machine.

If you can turn a rodent into an icon, you certainly ought to be able to come up with some clever way of linking your customer to your company brand attributes and value proposition. As we celebrate Gumby and Pokey, the Pez dispenser and icons everywhere, stop and tip your hat to Art Clokey and Curtis Alina who were master marketers who taught us the power of brand markers and they way they can link us to important product value propositions.

Tags: Branding | Marketing | Gumby | Icons | Pez

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Tags: Advertising | liquor | beer | Marketing

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I was reading an article in the Wall Street Journal the other day about the Sears Tower in Chicago being renamed after a tenant that was leasing or buying most of the building. I won’t share the company name because I think it’s unspeakable to let a city icon like the Sears Tower get a new name by some tenant. Would they do the same to the Wrigley Building or the John Hancock Tower or Wrigley Field?

There is a trend these days to rename city icons or even potential landmarks based on who is buying them. Don’t the buyers know that they can’t buy that kind of loyalty? It’s frankly annoying and egotistical to think that you people will just change the way they refer to something because there is a new owner.

Recent crimes against brands: Candlestick Park, Comiskey Park, Marshall Field’s downtown Chicago store, Salt Lake City’s Delta Center, and the list goes on. Watch for these brands to get hijacked if not protected: Empire State Building, Chrysler Building, Gold Gate Bridge, Soldier Field (Chicago), and more.

I consider these crimes against brands. People don’t know what they have and they attempt to sell it for money to people who don’t know what they’re buying.

Tags: Marketing | Brand | Branding

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For years, tradeshows have provided a venue for sales and marketing teams to put themselves directly in front of customers with the rest of their industry.  Ultimately the goal for both the marketing and sales team is to interact with potential customers and sell their company’s products.  However, the definition of a successful tradeshow varies for each role.

The sales team strives to attend a tradeshow and come home with a few highly qualified leads that will help them hit their sales targets within a month or two following the show. To that end, they will instinctively sort through the people to step onto the booth carpet quickly to grab the low-hanging fruit.  Closing these sales equates with success at the show for the sales team.

The marketing team on the other hand views all tradeshow leads as valuable, and the more the better. Marketing success at a tradeshow means that everyone attending the show not only knew your company was exhibiting but knew it was the hottest thing going. Marketing loves to bring leads home from half the attendees. They will meticulously mine all of the leads they collect, viewing each lead as a chance to nurture a conversation and sell future prospects for months or even years to come.

Time is the differentiator. Sales teams need to hit numbers next month by closing deals with those who are ready to buy now, while marketing wants to build relationships with prospects long term and extract qualified leads for the sales team to close when those leads are finally ready to buy.

Tags: Marketing | Public Relations | customer relationships | tradeshow planning | tradeshows | leads | brand positioning | category leadership | brand building | marketing tactics

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We’ve all been to tradeshows. And we’ve all seen those companies that show up ready to play hard. As a company, once you are in a tradeshow, you can hedge your bets on your booth, throw in a few other chips and compete for a while, or you can go all in.

There are hundreds of details that go into tradeshow planning and many of those details focus solely on the booth. Simply put, the booth is only the ante. Don’t get me wrong. It’s important to have a well-designed and functional booth that clearly communicates your message and attracts attendees. But there are loads of other aspects that are crucial to a resounding tradeshow success.

A tradeshow is your moment to shine while your entire industry is there in front you in person and up close. You can start letting every attendee know about your company before you show up at the show with pre-show mailers announcing promotions or show specials.  At the show, you need to expand beyond the boundaries of your booth by creating an enormous footprint. Your goal: ensure that every attendee leaves knowing that your company was there exhibiting and that it was one of the best companies ever to exhibit at the tradeshow.

In addition you can find time to expand your strategic partnerships and strengthen existing business relationships. Conduct competitive research. Sponsor VIP receptions or breakout sessions. Take the opportunity to introduce and announce new products and services during the event. Add a healthy dose of PR activity to amplify your message meet with editors at your booth, in the midst of the excitement and energy.

At night, don’t go back and chill at the hotel. Move deliberately from cocktail party to reception, meeting with and speaking to industry opinion leaders. After the show is over, follow up immediately (within 24 hours) with contacts via email blasts and phone calls to key prospects. Don’t let the effort you put in fade just because the show is over.

These are just a few basic suggestions.  Be creative and get out there.  The options are endless.  What are you going to do to make sure everyone knows that your company was there?

Tags: Marketing | tradeshows | tradeshow planning | leads | brand positioning | marketing plans

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