branding | The Exhibit Company, Inc.

Articles Tagged with: branding

Jul 29, 2019

4 Ways to Grow Your Brand in 2019

We only have one year left before a new decade begins, so it’s no surprise that successful brands are looking to maximize their output. A novel idea or problem-solving product can be just the thing your brand needs to be a viral sensation.

Before you start investing in new products and services, it’s best to start with the basics: getting your brand noticed. Once you have a wide and engaged audience, you can introduce them to your latest innovations.

Here are four effective ways to grow your brand in 2019.

Be a part of something bigger.

The best companies don’t just sell products because they can. They give back to others to make the world a better place. Not only does this generate positive PR, but also it makes people more likely to support the brand.

If you haven’t already, find a way to connect your brand to something bigger. That may be donating a certain percentage of each purchase to a charity, being active in various organizations, or starting your own non profit. If your purpose is meaningful, people are more likely to be customers.

Mable, a company that makes bamboo toothbrushes, is an ethical brand that donates one toothbrush to a U.S. child for every toothbrush purchased. The CAUSEBOX delivers socially conscious products four times a year. Each box has a story and helps create a better world by donating meals, providing clean water, and more.

Create a culture that aligns with your brand.

Great brands have great cultures. They deliver authentic messages, have loyal supporters, and maintain a strong voice in their community. Your culture should align with your brand and invite people in for their own experiences with your products and services.

There are many ways to build a culture, and one of them is by attending trade show events. Local and large-scale events provide a platform to tell your brand story and bring your products and services to life. It also supports online and offline marketing by establishing relationships in a face-to-face setting.

Prioritize the customer experience.

Everything you do should be focused on the consumer. If you ever think that you’re getting away from this, reassess how your target buyer would feel. Know their pain points and what they expect your product or service to do for them. Keep on top of your customers, as their wants and needs are likely to change over time.

If you’re not sure how you’re meeting your customers’ needs, ask them. You can take polls or surveys on social media or chat with leads at trade show events. The more you are open to meeting with and listening to your customers, the more you can learn from them.

Be a thought leader in your industry.

When someone needs a product or service similar to yours, it’s your brand that should stand out. Aim to provide valuable, educational content that informs your target audience. Participate in conversations on social media, particularly LinkedIn. Attend trade show events in your industry and support local events, as this lets you put a name with a face.

The more you contribute relevant material to your audience, the more your brand will show up in the right conversations. This reinforces your brand within your industry and also exposes you to new audiences. To appeal to a wide demographic, diversify your content with blog posts, infographics, podcasts, printed materials, and interactive content.

Leave a mark on this decade by growing your brand with the four tips above. To bring your vision to life and start building your custom trade show exhibit, contact The Exhibit Company, Inc. today.

Dec 24, 2018

The Best Corporate Event Branding Ideas

Are you ready to make an impact at your next trade show event? Developing a strong event brand is an effective way to build credibility, loyalty, and awareness. It also helps you stand out at events where your competitors are vying for the same attention. Get ready to impress and dazzle your audience with these corporate event branding ideas.

Social Media Props

Encourage visitors to stop by your event booth and take photos by offering a custom Instagram or Facebook frame. By custom-making a frame, you can control your logo and ensure that all details are accurate. Assign one of your employees to take pictures and upload your favorites to your social channels. You can also incorporate other props that are relevant to your business, such as word bubbles, themed props, and more.

Take-Home Gifts

Branded take-home gifts are a nice change of pace from traditional promo items. Rather than getting one item, visitors get a fun gift that has several surprises. We love the idea of handing out burlap bags with personalized gear such as a pen, notepad, and highlighter. Or, fill a personalized mug with branded food items like coffee and powdered creamer.

Branded Food and Drinks

People get hungry and thirsty from walking around trade show events, and there are often long lines for food. Give attendees a reason to visit your booth by offering snacks and beverages. Use this opportunity to brand yourself. Napkins, plates, and cups can be customized with your logo. Chocolate bars and cookies can have your logo imprinted. Food packaging labels are also good branding options.

Gobo

Gobo is a cut out stencil of a logo. Light shines through the stencil and projects onto a wall, ceiling, or solid surface. Static or moving images both work well, and you can add various colors depending on the light source you choose. Gobos are a great way to get your brand noticed from across the room – just seeing your name gets people familiar with it.

Interactive Kiosks

Let customers see a different side of your business by offering interactive kiosks. This can be expensive, but it may be worth it for your audience. Choose a game or interactive feature that is relevant to your audience and allows players to earn points. The points can be used to “buy” something from your booth such as a branded shirt, embroidered lanyard, or a sample of your product.

Event branding captures the essence of your brand throughout the event. To stretch your dollar further, leave the exact date off your materials. This way, you can use the items for other events and continue promoting your brand in the most powerful ways possible.

May 7, 2018

6 of the Best Methods For Getting Your Business More Exposure

Want to get more exposure at your next trade show?

Trade shows are a cost- and time-commitment so you must make the most of them. Exhibitions introduce you to potential buyers that can help grow your business. What gets tricky is making sure that your business gets the right amount of exposure. Otherwise, you could end up being just another booth at the trade show.

The Exhibit Company designs custom trade show booths for businesses of all sizes – and budgets. After working in the industry for many years, we’ve discovered which methods help businesses get more exposure. We share six of our favorites below.

Pre-Network Using Social Media

Some trade shows get a lot of media exposure, others do not. Rather than relying on the conference’s advertising, create anticipation on your own using social media. Let your followers on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook know that you’ll be at the event. Offer incentives for those who visit you in person.

Hand Out Branded Swag

Probably the best way to get your business more exposure is by handing out branded swag. Everyone loves free stuff. Choose items that align with your business, are practical and will make your brand stand out. Use promotional items to engage followers at home, too. For example, run a contest for Facebook fans who couldn’t make it to the show.

Amp Up Your Exhibit

Exhibits that are big, bold and beautiful are hard to miss. By working with a design team like The Exhibit Company, you can create an unforgettable experience. Inspire visitors with custom graphics, state-of-the-art technology and a touchable 3D experience. Creative stunts are great attention-grabbers, too!

Offer an Interactive Experience

Create a presence that is fun and interactive. Show your playful side by offering an interactive game or activity. Play upbeat music in the background or put on an enticing light show. Choose touchscreens and digital signage to share your message, and creatively display products so visitors can see and touch them.

Create Anticipation

Another strategy is coaxing people to visit your booth with the promise of something new or fun. For example, offer a free water bottle to the first 100 people who visit you. Or, promise an assortment of refreshing beverages and sweets from a local bakery. People will be sure to stop by before the food runs out!

Use Design to Your Advantage

You can’t argue with great design. When an exhibit comes together with beautiful graphics, it sends the message that you are a professional brand that stands apart from the competition. Knowing how important design is, don’t leave it to just anyone. Choose a design firm that specializes in touchable, memorable product displays and trade show signage.

Getting your business attention can be done with any of these six methods. The more you use, the better!

Sep 1, 2017

Becoming One With Your Audience: How to Create a Resonating Brand Message

Part of being an effective marketer is creating a brand message that resonates with your target audience. It’s a difficult thing to achieve, even though it may sound basic. Although marketing teams do recognize customer pain points and human emotion, many struggle to develop a brand message.

Why Do Brands Fall Short?

In many cases, marketers miss the mark with their audience because they aren’t going deep enough. They may think like the customer, but only in a general frame of mind.

Let’s say that you own a company that sells shoes for toddlers and children. Your marketing team defines your target buyer as being a parent of a child or toddler. What’s important to this buyer is a quality shoe at a good price.

This is a great start. But, does this information really help you generate a resonating brand message that will speak to your target persona and protect your reputation? Not quite.

To get the brand message right, here are a few things to ask yourself.

Who are you trying to sell to?
What does your company do better?
Why should customers care about your product?

Who Are You Selling To?

Always be specific about who you want to sell to. It allows you to concentrate on a specific type of person and their motivations for buying your product. In this case, you could narrow down “parents” to “moms.” You’re more likely to sell to a mom, so why not speak to her directly?

Other factors to consider about your target buyer are her age, how many children she has and her interests. Does she work full-time and need a durable shoe for her child’s daycare? Is she a stay-at-home mom that relies on a sturdy shoe for parks and playdates? Also think of her pain points. Is she tired of buying shoes that fall apart?

What Makes Your Product Better?

The next step is to list out the ways that your product is different – better. Can your shoes be thrown in the washing machine? Are they comfortable? Blister free? Waterproof? Rather than listing off the features and benefits of your product, tell a story. Storytelling is a powerful marketing tool that pulls people in and encourages them to connect with the brand – and ultimately – the product.

Why Should People Care?

The last step is to understand why a person would care about your product. Kid shoes are certainly not hard to find, so why would a mom want yours? Fortunately, if you are successful at defining your target buyer and sharing a touching story, the last puzzle piece falls into place.

Producing a resonating brand message is harder than it looks. The key is to become one with your audience and truly think about things from their perspective. When you do develop your brand message, remember to be consistent. Your audience will expect the same voice in all of your promotional materials.

Aug 1, 2017

Major Missed Opportunity: 4 Reasons Small Businesses Should Prioritize Graphic Design

Professional design work is commonly undervalued among small businesses. It’s not that small companies don’t see a need for professional design, but rather because they run on limited resources. To get the website, logo and marketing materials they need at a price they can afford, small businesses usually hire a freelancer or ask a current employee to do the work for them.

If you are running a small business on a small budget, don’t miss out on opportunities that could be yours. By prioritizing graphic design, you will enjoy more traffic, leads and sales that will quickly offset the cost of hiring a professional. Below are four reasons to put graphic design first.

First impressions make all the difference.

Today’s consumers have so many brands demanding their attention, they make assumptions quickly. Let’s say a prospect attends a trade show for hair care products to carry in their salon. They visit dozens of booths and talk with the brand representatives. When the customer returns home, they go through the brands and quickly narrow down their search.

Much of the narrow down process is based on first impressions. How professional does the website look? How easy is it to find information on the site? Does the logo at the trade show match the online marketing materials? If you don’t put graphic design first, you could be missing out on opportunities to grow your business.

Design tells a story about your brand.

Storytelling is an excellent way to bring your brand to life. The best parts about storytelling are that it involves your customers, brings forth emotions and is more likely to be shared with others. A hair care company that has local roots and uses essential oils in their products has a story to tell, making their brand relatable and genuine.

Branding makes small businesses memorable.

Small businesses have it twice as difficult at times. Not only do they have to compete with big brands, but also other small businesses. To be successful, small companies must always be thinking ahead with their marketing budget.

Luckily, a professional design helps brands stand out against the competition. The hair care company that adds essential oils to their products can use a professional design to highlight the oils and their benefits. After a trade show, a salon owner might say, “I liked that brand that uses oils in their products.”

Professional design saves money in the long run.

If your small brand doesn’t take graphic design seriously now, chances are, you will have to go through a design overhaul in the near future. Why pay for mediocre design today, knowing that you will have to do it again? A quality design has a long shelf life. You can enjoy using the design in all of your marketing materials and know that it will look great at your next exhibit.

Small businesses must be smart about where they put every dollar. In this case, it’s worth it to invest in quality graphic design. You pay for it once, and you can enjoy it for years to come!

Apr 20, 2017

Pro Tips Revealed: How to Create a Total Brand Experience

Creating a brand identify is the easy part. Creating a total brand experience is the hard part.

A brand identity is how you want others to perceive your brand. It includes many components such as your logo, tone, tagline and typeface. A brand experience, on the other hand, is what causes people to feel emotion toward your brand.

How Disney Has Created an Experience – Not Just an Identity

Consider Disney. People don’t just see Disney and think Mickey Mouse or 2-hour tearjerkers in the movie theaters. They feel Disney. Many of us can agree that Disney brings us back to our childhoods. Seeing families posed in front of the castle reminds us of our own vacations as kids.

If you’ve ever been to the theme park, you’ll find that the Disney brand is etched into every experience, from the hotel rooms to the restaurants to the transportation. Everything done at the park is tied into the Disney experience, which is why people are able to fully immerse themselves in this culture that is separate from Florida.

As wonderful of a job as Disney does creating this experience, it couldn’t happen without its employees. The “Most Magical Place on Earth” isn’t going to be joyful if the employees are rude. All Disney staff realize their role in supporting the overall mission of the company.

How You Can Build a Brand Experience

Disney is an exceptional example of a company that has achieved a high level of branding, but that doesn’t mean your smaller business can’t learn a thing or two. Let’s dive into some of the ways that you can create a complete experience that humanizes your brand and engages consumers.

Think Holistically. The experience you provide customers with needs to be consistent and complete. Consistency means that customers know what to expect each and every time, while completeness requires that you give attention to each and every touchpoint.

Execute Tonality. Your tonality should be consistent with your marketing, otherwise you won’t be able to emotionally connect with your customers. Your tonality – or personality – should always be a conscious effort.

Include Your Employees. Much of your brand’s personality will come from your employees. Your friendly website doesn’t mean anything if customers aren’t welcomed by a friendly team. Include your employees in your decision making, whether it’s coming up with design elements like signage, ways to support the company or ideas for a custom trade show booth.

Enlist Key Leaders. It’s important to have key leaders throughout your organization, as these individuals have a deep understanding for your brand promise. Any new store launchings, product campaigns or trade show events should be led and supported by these key individuals.

Refresh the Experience. While consistency is vital to the brand experience, you must balance this with innovation. Customers need their experiences refreshed so that they are constantly engaged, and you’re able to bring in new audiences all of the time.

Creating a brand experience is one of the most exciting challenges of being a brand. By following the tips above and using corporations like Disney or Lego as inspiration, you can gain insight as to how to best utilize every touchpoint for a complete and memorable brand experience.

Feb 27, 2017

How to Engage Your Consumers by Humanizing Your Brand

Engaging today’s customers is more challenging than ever before. You need to know the specifics on your buyer persona, maintain an active online presence and be proactive about your customers’ needs. It’s a difficult role to maintain, but the end result is deeper, more meaningful relationships that extend beyond a simple transaction.

If you’re looking for more effective ways to engage your customers, think in terms of humanizing your brand. People prefer to do business with companies that they like and trust. When consumers are reminded that there are real people working behind the scenes to make things happen, it’s easier for them to trust you.

How can you humanize your brand to engage consumers? We’ve included a few tips below to get you started.

Create a Voice that is Personal

When people read your content, it should feel like you are talking directly to them. Even if your industry is about highly technical information, find a way to make it conversational. When content has a human element to it, people feel like you understand them. Therefore, they can trust you to fulfill their needs.

Build a Thriving Community

Staying active on social media allows you to build an online presence for your brand. Some of the best channels to use include Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Pinterest. Use these channels to share fun posts, informational videos and other types of visual content. Don’t be afraid to show viewers what goes on behind the scenes. By doing this, you get people talking about your brand, ultimately bringing it to life.

Attend Trade Shows and Other Events

While there are many advantages to live streaming, nothing compares to face-to-face interaction. Don’t let technology stand in your way of attending trade shows and other events. It’s important to meet with customers, ask questions and demonstrate how your product works. In fact, consider working with a trade show booth manufacturer to create a custom exhibit.

Give Away Something of Value

Providing consumers with valuable information helps connect them to your brand. Think in terms of what potential customers would find helpful, not what your company finds interesting. If you sell B2B software, offering customers a free trial or demo of your product would be valuable. Simply talking about the software’s features wouldn’t be enough to help someone make an informed decision.

With competition high and consumers having to split their time between brands, it can be difficult to get noticed and develop meaningful relationships. Make sure that you are taking every step to humanize your brand and utilizing offline channels as well.

Nov 8, 2016

How Transmedia Storytelling Affects Corporate Event Branding

Transmedia storytelling is multiplatform storytelling. It is the technique of sharing a narrative across multiple media platforms (film, online, print, social networks, stage, television, etc.) where unique content is presented via each individual platform. It is also sometimes referred to as cross-media seriality or transmedia narrative. Transmedia storytelling can even involve simpler presentations over just a few low-tech media platforms.

This cross media technique is important for corporate event branding. You want your brand and message to reach as many people as possible. The use of transmedia storytelling ensures that your branding will be accessible to everyone who attends the event.

Indeed, there are definitely some major benefits to transmedia storytelling:

A Multimedia Approach

The multimedia approach of transmedia storytelling reaches a broader audience and more people. They become more familiar with the brand and the product becomes a familiar part of people’s lives. The multimedia content more actively engages audiences because the approach easily permeates people’s everyday lives.

A transmedia production engages an audience by developing a story across numerous forms of media in a way that presents unique content in each one. It creates a brand that can reach global readers, users and audiences in a number of different platforms. This is due in part to its appeal to different learning styles including visual, aural, verbal, social, and solitary.

Fully Participatory

Another benefit to this approach is that it is fully participatory. Online sources agree that the target audience will more easily become actively involved with the product brand. The audience is now transformed. Each member is now a participant or even a creative and social collaborator. They suddenly hold a stake. They now have an emotional investment in the brand.

A Stronger, Self-Promoting Picture

Transmedia storytelling involves users from a broad perspective. It tells the tale about a specific product or brand through the all-encompassing use of any and all media and design to present the event attendees, and consumer base, a complete picture of what a company’s brand is all about. Every single bit of copy or image can also have its own sub-plot and tell its own story.

Even a slogan on trade show signage at an exhibit event can allow the brand to present itself. It is imperative that your brand is reaching as many people as possible through multiple channels. After some consumer research, discover what media channels are the most engaging for your industry and start planning some new media techniques. The return will be eye-opening.

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