Ask yourself this question: What has been your best-ever brand experience? Maybe it was staying at the Belagio Hotel - the multi-colored, multi-shaped large hand-blown glass flower ceiling in their signature lobby, or perhaps owning your first iPad - the thrill of opening the package and the anticipation of accessing world wisdom in the palm of your hands. Or simply a vivid memory of opening a cold Coke on a hot day - the ultimate satisfaction of quenching your primal thirst! Today brands like Google, Apple, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube have permeated our waking hours. They are seamlessly integrated in our digital lives. They have brought forth all the benefits of connectedness and immediacy. By doing so, they have subtly shifted our worldview and our brand priorities. Maggie Jackson, in her book Distracted: The Erosion of Attention and the Coming Dark Age, believes that the never-ending stream of emails, instant messages, text messages, and tweets stifles creativity and leads to less critical thinking and less fulfilled lives. We are hyper-connected, yet we have lost the real true meaning of connectedness. In the rush to be digital, brands have overemphasized these channels at the expense of real human interaction. "The risk is that consumers become desensitized. That’s why there is now the beginning of a move the other way–not a backlash, but a turning toward more real, human, and meaningful connections." Image: Cirque du Soleil In this ceaseless climate of detachment, fragmentation and distraction multisensory branding is gaining much traction as brands are being challenged in their expansion of consumer memorability. Sensory branding - the idea that humans are more receptive when all five senses are engaged is a field of major study in the field of cognitive neuroscience. "It’s clear that no amount of time on a Mercedes-Benz website will give consumers a true sense of what it feels like to close a car door, smell the brand-new leather interior, or run their hands over the dashboard." These memorable, multisensory experiences are critical in engaging with a brand. When they do, the rewards are phenomenal. NIKETOWN, Apple Stores, the Samsung Experience, Mercedes-Benz World, Disney Stores, and LEGOLAND are all testimonies to the power of multi-sensory brand experiences around an existing product. Granted all brands does not have the prowess of the mega brands as mentioned above. Yet, these brands do set an example as to how to incorporate multisensory marketing examples in your trade show booth design. Imagine the richness of visuals that may define your space, the sound that defines the new product launch, the scent that evokes the memory of reliability or the color that gives your product a new dimension. In his book, The End of Marketing As We Know It, Sergio Zyrman writes, "Mass Marketing has lost the ability to move the masses………Technology has given people many more options than they had in the past and created a consumer democracy……… Marketers increasingly need to find ways to speak to customers individually, or in smaller and smaller groups." Focused groups, trade shows and events are proven to infuse your brand with life and vigor. Remember, "marketing is a science. It is about experimentation, analysis, refinement and replication. You must be willing to change your mind." Engage the five senses to create expectations in delivering your brand promise.
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In my recent short visit to the desert kingdom of Dubai, I was amazed to find the Mega Star Brad Pitt in all his galore — popping out of the glitzy lobbies here and the fancy shopping malls over there. It seemed that the he was bigger than life, hotter than ever and very much at ease in the desert surroundings. In the midst of this fantastic Brad Pitt phenomena what caught my eye was this retail display that was so elegantly designed by Chanel. It is based on one primary principle; the principle of repetition. I was intrigued by the thought that living in a global society has no way diminished our strong connection to the ethnicity of this primal design principle that is so prevalent in the middle-eastern art. Islamic art and architecture is built on this cardinal principle of repetition. Islamic artists developed geometric forms with a knack for "repetition, symmetry and continuous generation of pattern." In this display, Brad is looking up at you with an aura of mystery, away from you and again at you. The right side of his profile is the repetition in form and the varied angles of his posture generates a continuous pattern in time and space. Indeed a very fluid presentation! The Principle of Repetition is a driving factor in designing trade show displays. Where contrast is all about showing differences, repetition brings a sense of unity, consistency, and cohesiveness. It helps to hold our attention in the maze of chaos and disarray. Our brains love it. Remember, the waking nights learning multiplication tables in your third grade? That is because our short-term memories can forget something (like a person's name) in less than a second. Repetition helps us to embed information in the longer-term memory. Designers use it with tact and skill. Marketers use it as a staple. At s sub-conscious level repetition is a key to persuasion. Repetition creates a pattern, which gradually grabs our attention and then creates the yearning for familiarity. Big brands are aware of it and hence the focus is always on building brand equity. Use repetition in your booth design and in the delivery of your marketing message You will have a phenomenal impact. Remember "Yes We Can"? "The more strikingly visual your presentation is, the more people will remember it. And more importantly, they will remember you." — Paul Arden Articles you might like
Happy Valentine's Day! LOVE IS THE SOURCE OF THE FUTURE. Love is . . . The fury of the storm, The calm in the rainbow. LOVE IS THE SOURCE OF PASSION. LOVE IS THE SOURCE OF REALITY. LOVE IS THE SOURCE OF UNITY. LOVE IS THE SOURCE OF SUCCESS. ― Susan Polis Schutz Love is in the air. Love is in the air. I often wondered why we are so hooked onto this saying. The closest that I have come, is found in the teachings of Kabbalah. We are all created as one Kli (vessel) called Adam ha Rishon (The First Man). We are held together as part of a single system. At some point of time the spiritual structure of Adam ha Rishon was shattered into numerous particles. These particles are individual souls that clothe our physical mechanism in this world...... Definitely a very poetic answer to my seeking! Today is Valentine's Day. It is the "official day" to express love, to monetize love and to spread love. Anything goes in the name of love. Love is an age old abstraction that poets have been mystified by it, philosophers often ponder about it and scientists have claimed to have found it: the DMT molecule. Now, we in the marketing world are playing catch up to the Man of God, the spectacular Marketing Mogul of all times - St. Valentine. We are passionately in love with "Lovable Marketing" As company brands are making the transition from the dictatorial board rooms to the democratic digital market place, creating marketing pieces that inspire people is a necessary step in the game of survival. To be a customer centric brand is the elevated game that we now have to be active participants of. The present day Marketing Magnates including, Seth Godin, Peter O’Neill, Mari Smith, Ekaterina Walter and others are preacing the same gospel. They talk about how to elevate your brand in becoming a commanding world class entity. They all talk about spreading the love. Take a look! Your events and your trade show exhibit design is an extension of the "lovable marketing" that you are constantly creating. In the virtual world of e-mails and social media, trade shows are the manifested realities that you can literally scuplt out. It carries the essence of your brand. Again, according to the kabbalah and modern science, the 4.6% of our physical reality is made of 'Matter' and 'Form in Matter'. The rest is 'Abstract Form' and 'Essence'. If your exhibit is 'Matter', the design of your exhibit is a 'Form in Matter', your brand presentation, your brand teachings and your brand behaviour is the 'Abstract Form' and 'Essence'. "People may not remember exactly what you did, or what you said, but they will always remember how you made them feel." Feeling resonates in eternity. Hence the story of Valentine have survived the slaughter of the most brutal times. Because, it conveys 'Abstract Form'. We get to nourish our own 'Essence'. What is true for our biological spirit is also true for our corporate essence. It is your Brand. Articles you might like
This self-portrait was based on a drawing made by Arneson’s son Kregg when the artist and his first wife was in the midst of a marital crisis. Although the representation echoes Renaissance bust of mortally wounded martyred saints, the wildly exaggerated grotesque details—such as the exploding gun, bloody knife and arrow, and globs of blood and snot—recall the style of cartoon and comic strips. The sculpture is one of Arneson’s most emotionally expressive self-portrait. He was prolific in creating self-portraits using photographs, mirrors, and drawings. Each expression seemed to reveal a different emotion. These self-referential portraits iconic and humorous are vehicles to render universal concepts of feeling, sentiments, reaction and response. That what is true for sculpting is also true when crafting concepts for your trade show booth graphics. The emotion of the sculptor is set in motion as he uses his tools to carve out forms out of formless. In a similar fashion, the visual that you are composing should be emotionally captivating. Instead of addressing raw data of features and benefits (that addresses the verbal brain), it should highlight one aspect of the pain point that your audience can associate with. By evoking emotion, your message becomes engrained in their long-term memory. Every time they encounter the pain-point they will sub-consciously visualize your brand, your message. Because, emotion happens, it is not something that we do or don't do. When creating graphic that embellishes your trade show booth, here is another path that you may want to explore. Start with the intangible aspect of your product and that happens to be your brand. Think about what emotion your brand triggers. After all, your brand does not dwell inside the four walls of your company. It resides in the hearts and minds of the people in your market. For example when you think of Nike, what comes to your mind? It is superior athleticism and the thrill of victory (of course leaving aside the negative press). Now imagine all the visuals that Nike as generated over the years. They all actualize the intangible concept of the brand. Classical mythology is a great avenue to derive inspiration for your visuals. Stories of passion, tragedy, war, and heroism (all trigger points for making emotions happen). Again, did you know Nike is the goddess of victory in the Greek Mythology. "Frequently she is seen hovering with outspread wings over the victor in a competition." That is how the powerful Nike swoosh has been brought into existence. Obviously Nike corporation knows very well what they are doing. Reading poetry, visiting museums, attending lectures on the odd, the improbable, or merely interesting are some of the things that I indulge in quite often. These are the silent seeds that gets sprinkled in my subconscious only to find its outlet in some sort of creative endeavors. Assassination of a Famous Nut Artist was my find in one of my visits to one of the many museums that I frequent. It is this sculpture that inspired me to write this article. Articles you might like:
"It's much easier to persuade someone if they're already convinced, if they already know the facts. But it's impossible to change someone's mind merely by convincing them of your point." Seth Godin This marketing doctrine is based on the perennial philosophy "At the end of reasons comes persuasion." The Art of Persuasion is an age old idea that has been vigorously scrutinized since the days of Aristotle. The road to persuasion as traveled by Aristotle is constructed of 3 elements: Ethos, Pathos and Logos. Ethos (Greek for 'character') refers to the credibility of the writer or speaker or in our case the exhibit marketer. Ethos is affected by the person's reputation as it exists independently from the message - his or her expertise in the field, his or her previous record or integrity, and so forth. The impact of ethos is often called the argument's 'ethical appeal' or the 'appeal from credibility.' Hint: As an individual marketer start creating a buzz about your individual credibility using social media channels. Pathos (Greek for 'experience' ) is often connected to emotional appeal. Paint a visual picture to 'appeal to the audience's imagination.' A plea to pathos causes your audience not just to respond emotionally but to identify with your point of view–to feel what you feel. The power of Pathos propels your audience into action. Hint: Don't just claim the features of your products. Use vivid emotional language to paint the features that will benefit your audience coupled with sensory details of your exhibit design. "Remember facts and figures do not make an emotional impact but stories and vivid language do." Logos (Greek for 'word') refers to the clarity of the claim, the logic behind the reason, and compelling clause of its supporting evidence. The impact of logos on an audience is sometimes called the argument's logical appeal. Hint: This is where perennial marketing comes into play. Keep the pipe of education flowing. Keep your target audience informed with technical details such as e-books and white paper. Use facts and figures to support your argument. Source: Ramage, John D. and John C. Bean. Writing Arguments. The landscape of digital communication has given us marvelous opportunities to harness our concepts of ethos and logos. However, pathos scores high in the events that involve face-to-face-marketing such as trade shows. Trade shows are ideal venues where you get to test the different flavors of Persuasion. You get to test the levels of persistence, logic and exuberance that is needed to drive an idea to a close. Professor Jay A. Conger, author of Winning 'Em Over states that Persuasion is a process of give-and-take. To persuade effectively, we must not only listen to others but also incorporate their perspectives into our own. Above all, Persuasion involves testing a position, developing a new position that reflects input from your target audience, more testing, incorporating compromises, and then trying again. Persuasion can be a force for gigantic good and trade shows are fertile grounds to foster it. Persuasion pulls people together, drives new ideas, stimulates change and hammers out constructive solutions."To do all that people must understand persuasion for what it is–not convincing and selling but learning and negotiating." More on Persuasion. Articles you might like:
Marketing has gone through tectonic shifts, especially in the last decade or so. We have made the shift from print media to online media. We are witnessing the introduction of new tools (almost everyday) that make our communication with potential customers more efficient. We are in the organic valley of social media indulging in a relentless two-way communication loop. As a result, our addiction to real-time communication is simply voracious and our attention to focus is scattered. And, these are only a few of the recent changes that the marketing industry has gone through. Given this technological dynamics, we as trade show marketers often question the viability of exhibiting at trade shows. The short answer to this concern is: Trade shows have never presented a better opportunity for an exhibitor to get in front of decision makers. Premium level decision makers now walk the show. They are there because they have a need that is not currently being met. I guess, technology has not yet managed to eradicate the desire for the high touch of human interaction. Now, that we know who are our target audience, let's fashion a booth that will attract their attention and sustain their scrutiny. We have to become skilled in the art of attraction. Here are some few pointers that always work! Design with a Themed Purpose: In the illustration above, we designed a 50's theme with a flair for high touch modernity. Nostalgic times in stride technologically advanced products! Don't just stop there. Use high appeal promotional giveaway, It is all about perception. How do you want to be remembered? This should be the end game of anything and everything that you do. Design with a Presence: Your graphics must always be larger than life. Your architecture must be self defining. Always keep in mind of your target audience. Design with a Flow: Keep in mind about the laws governing spatial arrangement in relation to the flow of energy. Have ample of areas for natural clustering. Have a sculpture or perhaps a multiple screen projection that wows the audience. Again, you are going for the memorability act. In the above illustration, the corner of the booth was highlighted with a car from the 50's. Design for a Motion: As Tony Robbins says: emotion is always moved by motion. Movement attracts our eyes and turns our bodies. Implant a juggler, blow bubbles or simply play with a yo-yo. Integrate it with your value statement. Design for the Limbic System: Our sensory receptors reacts to the stimulation from our environment. Make clever use of this proven method for your booth design. Lavish your space with texture, light, sound, smell and color. Design with color because, "colors answer feeling in man;", design with unique shapes , because shapes answer thought, design with motion, as "motion answers will." "There’s a collection of Zen koans called the Gateless Gate. Among other things, koans transcend dualism. The traditional sales process is fully dualistic - there’s a buyer, and there’s a seller. We are witnessing the dissolution of the traditional sales role, as recommendation commerce evolves and storefronts become wherever you happen to be, doing whatever you are doing. Which brings us to the Storeless Store and Saleless Sale." Valeria Maltoni. And my friends, this is the new face of trade show marketing! Articles that you might like:
Let's face it. When it comes to trade show exhibiting, most companies use the same tactics that they used years ago and the sad part is all the companies start to look and feel the same. Strategy seems to be an alien concept. Most exhibitors are peddling the same stuff with perhaps a bit different flavors. This scenario is specially true in a vertical markets. So, what do you do as an Exhbiitor who wants to create a memorable splash at an event to gain high grounds. "Inbound" Your Trade Show Presence: Do something phenomenal in your booth. It could be a unque architecture that represents your brand or featuring an activity in your space that attracts people naturally towards your space. At the Exhibitor 2012 we held seminars for trade show maeketers in our space through out the day. It created phenomenal buzz and people were organically drawn towards our exhibiting space. Harness Social Media to Promote Your Presence: Start telling your tribe about the event far in advance about the trade show. Create a hashtag for the event and a compelling reason as to why they should visit your booth. It may include a special giveaway, a new product annoucement or even the opportunity to be one of first few alpha users of a certain product that is still in development. Create a Foursquare location for your booth at the trade show. Surprisingly enough, people are checking in to specific booths on Foursquare when they attend a trade show. Offer a special promo to people who check in to your booth. The promo may be a 15-minute, one-on-one-consultation or an extra prize. This will provide incentive to people to check in to your booth and will promote your presence to other Foursquare users. Excite Your Internal Brand Ambassadors to Promote the Event. Encourage them to talk about your trade show presence to their networks. For your sales team this is an ideal opportunity to broadcast to their leads the benefits that they will reap in attending this show. And of course, your marketing warriors should be in the forefront in promoting this event. Create a Targeted Offer for the Trade Show. A unique landing page on your website that promotes your trade show presence and addresses the question “What is there for me?” Compound this unique attribution with downloadable ebook or whitepaper that relates to the theme of the trade show. If people are interested in what you are saying, they will have another reason to attend the trade show. Generate a QR code that you can imprint on your trade show graphics. Encourage people to scan the code. Configure the code to send people who scan it, to a dedicated landing page with the same value proposition that highlights the trade show connection. Invite them to download a targeted offer. This will help you to generate leads from your trade show presence and will give you a way to track results from the event. Promote Aggressively with Social Sharing. A compelling content is bound to go viral. Include social media share buttons in your landing page to encourage others to promote the event through their own social networks. Take advantage of the industry journals that you subscribe to. Go ahead, follow them, like them whatever you have to do to get your content noticed. Start a two-way conversation. Generate third-party recommendations from people not directly associated with your business. You are bound to increase your reach! Think of your trade show booth as a destination site. Partner with local restaurants, entertainments and other flavors to provide compelling offers for your visitors that will strike a chord of memorability in their minds. Articles you might like
"All architecture is shelter, all great architecture is the design of space that contains, cuddles, exalts, or stimulates the persons in that space." Philip Johnson, one of the great American architectural minds of the twentieth century, has played an enormous role in both understanding and creating the urban skylines of our country. As a historian, curator and a defining architect, he had a profound influence on the future generations of architects. It was he who said, "And the reason these buildings go up so close to each other is because people want to be next to other people.” He was talking about the buildings on the Wall Street. Some great points to keep in mind when designing a space for trade show venues. The key in designing a memorable space lies in taking advantage of the depth of the space. Think of the layout of the booth design as an opportunity to provide layers of information that incorporates intrigue and surprise. The outskirts of the booth serves as a "warm up" platform for the audience. Make it appropriately exciting and enthusiastic for the headliner. In the above exhibit design, the perimeter had sheers drop down from the ceiling, interspersed with bar stools and tables. The texture of the fabric sheers tickled the curiosity of the bystanders. To foster ambiance decorative ceiling was placed. It served two purposes: space was defined and the mood was set. The middle area should be used to highlight the key features of your product. In this case the center was used for serving stations. This is the place where you get to know your audience intimately. You exchange ideas and you qualify your target. Towards the back of the exhibit is the big pay off. This where you get to negotiate deals with your per-qualified target. In a world where conducting virtual businesses are the norm, trade shows are the last vestiges of face-to-face interaction. Design it effectively so that you may reap the maximum benefit. Articles you might like
Expressive vs. Introverted
.................................................................. Complex vs. Neutral .................................................................. Political vs. Evasive .................................................................. Radical vs. Conservative .................................................................. Democratic vs. Authoritarian .................................................................. Real vs. Simulated .................................................................. Hand vs. Computer .................................................................. Raw vs. Refined .................................................................. Pointed vs. Blunt .................................................................. Risky vs. Safe .................................................................. Memorable vs. Forgettable .................................................................. Communicative vs. Mute .................................................................. Space vs. Fashion .................................................................. Optimism vs. Pessimism .................................................................. Democratic vs. Authoritarian .................................................................. Inexplicable vs. Understood .................................................................. Complex vs. Simple .................................................................. Unexpected vs. Habitual .................................................................. We live in very dynamic times. "We are shifting from a managerial society to an entrepreneurial society." "Intuition becomes increasingly valuable in the new information society precisely because there is so much data." John Naisbitt Intuition, insight, discernment, perception, awareness, understanding, comprehension, apprehension, appreciation, penetration, acumen, judgment, acuity, vision, wisdom, savvy are some of the words that constantly pop up in different journals and business books. The word that I am hooked to is Insight. The dictionary defines insight as the act or outcome of grasping the inward or hidden nature of things or of perceiving in an intuitive manner. A great example that comes to mind is the discovery of penicillin. During those times it was the norm to throw away moldy blood samples. However, Sir Alexander Fleming, the Scottish bacteriologist, had an instinct to study the mold on a blood sample that had gone bad. That instinct ushered in the era of penicillin and antibiotics. There are thousands of example: perhaps the most studied being Mr. Steve Jobs in our our recent memory. Overnight the IPhone was a best seller because the learning curve was substantially reduced. "The percentage of users actually utilizing all of the features that a smart phone offers was higher than other phones we've tested. The iPhone was more intuitive than other devices." Even a few years ago who would have thought about a technical device being intuitive. Experts do acknowledge that insight is a learned skill. Asking a lot of questions does build strong intuitive muscles. In design discovery meetings, the most powerful creative intuitions shows up after a long question and answer sessions. Don't be fearful to ask any questions. Ask questions that does not particularly pertain to the project. See where it goes. To get a feel for the clients emotions' layout a visual map of the conversation. Ask more questions based on the map. Then walk away from the project. Let your sub-conscious take over. Find solitude. Listen to yourself in solitude. Training yourself to listen to your inner voice when you aren’t alone and will lead to catching powerful intuitive ideas right when you need them. Strangle the inner critic within you. Turn off your negative barometer. If your inner voice say this is a dumb idea. Make a conscious choice to ask “what part of this idea will work?” This way you will embark on a journey of asking positive questions and your sub-conscious will feed you with solutions in the form of insight - the art of seeing what is invisible to others. Insight or creative intelligence comes from deep within you. It helps generate not only solutions for your design projects but new opportunities and options for you. Beware! often, it will take you to the less trodden paths that leads to nowhere. "Intuition makes much of it; I mean by this the faculty of seeing a connection between things that in appearance are completely different; it does not fail to lead us astray quite often." Andre Weil Articles you might like
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Don’t bend; don’t water it down; don’t try to make it logical; don’t edit your own soul according to the fashion. Rather, follow your most intense obsessions mercilessly. Franz Kafka |