Archive for June, 2010
Friday, June 18th, 2010
Just today the U.S. State Department issued an advisory against travel to Toronto. Really? Are we Canadians that scary? I mean we have a reputation for apologizing, for heaven’s sake. The advisory comes with the approach of the G8 Summit in Toronto. Warnings of protests that can “become violent and unpredictable” may just scare away the very tourists that make our city so great in the Summer.
As many of you know, I traveled to the Philippines last month. Before going about the only thing I knew was that it was located somewhere in Asia. Ignorant was an understatement. But moments after sharing with friends, family and blog readers that I would be heading down to deliver seminars on Social Media I was barraged with concerned emails. I was told of kidnappings, beheadings and crime against Westerners. In fact, the Canadian government issued warnings against travel in certain regions of the county. I was shaking in my proverbial boots. I emailed the organizer of the conference no less than 3 separate times stating my concerns. With great patience, the organizer ensured me that there wouldn’t be any problems.
I spent 3 of the most incredible weeks of my life in the Philippines (just check out the video I put together). 3 weeks that I would have missed out on had I listened to the fear mongering. There was no fighting, there were no crimes that I saw – it was the opposite of what I let myself believe. The Philippines was brimming with some of the warmest and most accommodating people I have ever met in all my travels.
Many places have undeserved reputations. Top of my list would be Jamaica, Trinidad and (of course) the Philippines. They have not done a good job branding their countries outside of their country. Small and isolated incidences have over-ridden the realities of their greatness. This is sad to me.
I hope, at the very least, this post will encourage event planners, destination planners, corporate incentive planners, etc to consider countries they’ve heard not-so-good-things about. Just maybe you’ll receive the gift of an incredible experience that many choose to bypass. If anyone wants to learn more about the countries I’ve mentioned, I’m happy to speak about them or put your hand in the hand of a local who can help you. And heck, come to Toronto while you’re at it.
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I came across this post by Andy Ebon on The Wedding Marketing Blog and it inspired me to pull together this article. Creating a brand identity is expensive enough. Let alone having to rebrand your company a few years later because you’ve outgrown it. The following are 5 common pitfalls and how to avoid them.
1. You have no flexibility
A very important thing that companies need to think about before developing their brand identity (name, logo, tagline) is ‘how flexible do you need your name to be?’. Today you might specialize in flowers, but you may have dreams of expanding into event design. Using ‘Flowers’ in your name can limit your ability to sell yourself as anything other than a florist. You may start off as a local company, but have goals of being international – ensuring your name feels stable, established and large can be critical in securing international business. Knowing what you want to achieve at the start of the process can build in the flexibility you need in a name to ensure you don’t have reinvent the wheel a few years down the road.
2. You’re not unique
This is a big pet-peeve of mine in the events industry. A vast number of companies have names like Excellent Events, Beautiful Events, Wonderful Events, Stunning Events. The problem is that all of these companies sound exactly the same to me. I often find myself mixing up the names of two very high profile event companies…because they sound so darn similar. This can also be an issue from a trademarking standpoint. If your brand sounds like, means like, or looks like another you could be infringing on someone else’s trademark. This can mean re-naming your company.
Here’s a comprehensive checklist of trademark considerations.
3. Your name is the brand
Another consideration is whether you want your name to be evocative, descriptive or personality driven (there are many more naming options, but these tend to be the most popular). Evocative is a highly unique & ownable name that does not describe your product or service – an example would be Orange credit cards. Descriptive is a name that is describes the benefits or features of products or services – an example of this would be Amazing Events or Minute Rice. These types of names are not very unique or ownable (see point #2) but immediately tell your target what you’re about. Personality-drive names are built around a person – real or imaginary – an example would be Aunt Jemima. Many business owners make the decision to build a brand around their name. Sometimes this is a good, strategic decision. Other times, it can affect their ability to eventually distance themselves from their business or grow their client-service team.
4. You’re trendy
I’m not sure if you noticed, but right before the year 2000 a number of start ups called themselves…you guessed it, Millennium. How relevant are those names now? They seem outdated, right? Many businesses also make the mistake of building a visual identity based on what’s in style at that time (colours, icons, patterns, fonts). A good brand identity should feel timeless. Although brands, generally speaking, need to refresh their identity every 5-10 years (depending on their industry), this change should be subtle.
5. Your name is difficult to say, read or spell.
This point is pretty straightforward. If people can’t say your name, they probably won’t say it. How’s that for word of mouth? If they can’t read it, you’ve made them feel stupid. If they can’t spell it they’ll never find your website.
Photo via Caveman 92223 — On the 2010 US Tour
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It’s obviously a big trend right now. I’ve posted about suspended candles, string gardens and now upside down plants. It seems that placing things on tables or the floor are so 2009. I’d love to know from you event planners whether this trend is a love it or a hate it.
[polldaddy poll=3341779]
Well, if you happened to love it, you can find these gems at the mudpuppy shop on Etsy.
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This poster speaks for itself…
Photo via DataViz tumblr
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Tags: customer service
I just came across David Stark’s installation at Diffa’s Dining By Design in New York on his Facebook Fan Page. He and his team were inspired by the iPhone. What I love about his design is there’s always a message behind it. iPhones have gone beyond pop culture and have become an integral part of our lives. And, as usual, David thought of every detail (take note of the candelabras with iPhone flames).
I think this concept would translate beautifully to a fundraising or corporate event. It would have been nice to see an interactive element to the installation. Allowing viewers to push messages from their iPhones (or for those of you who don’t yet have one – gasp – smart phones) to the television display…or even switch out wallpaper for an interactive projection. B[eye]t also has incredible table projection product that could work really well for this concept.
For those of you who are looking for creative inspiration, I highly recommend turning to Diffa’s events. They incorporate so many fantastic designers and have done a great job of pushing the envelope. I will say that I have been disappointed over the past year and a half as the event seems to have been overtaken by corporate sponsors who design their own spaces. The results has been a bit lack-lustre. I do, however, always look forward to what David and his team have to ‘say’.
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A lot of businesses I speak to raise a common issue with social media: “If I start participating online, doesn’t that open my business up to customers complaining or saying negative things about us?”. My response is always: “How do you know they’re not saying negative things about your business right now?”. Crickets. Me: “What listening tools are you using to monitor what people are saying about you and your competitors right now?”. Crickets. “Just because you’re not participating…and worse, not listening, doesn’t mean that people aren’t talking about your business. It just means you don’t know about it AND that you can’t leverage those conversations into opportunities for your business.”
Social media consists of millions of conversations taking place online. We talk about what we love, what we hate, what we’re experiencing. We ask people for advice and we provide advice. If you’re not listening, you’re likely missing out. Here are 10 examples…
1. Prospects
In less than 3 minutes you can monitor conversations related to your business. A while back, I posted How to use Twitter to search for customers (you can do the same thing in LinkedIn or even across a wide net of social media sites, blogs & forums). It’s a simple way to follow conversations about a topic, industry or keywords. Why let your competitors find these prospects first?
2. Recommendations
Third party recommendations are one of the most powerful forms of marketing. If you’ve done a great job for a client, they may be endorsing your products or services to others. Why let a recommendation go un-thanked? Also, a good number of recommendations aren’t followed through. Instead of leaving it up to the other party to follow up with you, you can follow up with them…but only if you’re listening.
3. Loyal Customers
Not all businesses can track their best customers – usually because they’re high volume or quick sale merchants. Tools like Foursquare tell businesses which customers who ‘check in’ to their establishment visit the most. Smart businesses are thanking these loyal customers by publicly recognizing them and rewarding them with free gifts, exclusives and other VIP perks.
4. Blog or Publication Mentions
I’m in the process of coaching one of my clients on social media. As part of his ‘homework’, I asked him to comment on 3 questions posted on linked in, blogs or other industry-related sites. He provided his opinion on a question posted on Brandchannel.com. Because I was monitoring my client’s name using Google Alerts, I came across a writeup from Brandchannel.com that summarized the best responses to their question. My client’s was one of three. His opinions made it to one of the most prestigious industry publications in the branding & marketing industry. Without monitoring, he would never have known.
5. Issues
Is it really a bad thing to hear that people have issues with your products or services? Sure people complaining about you isn’t great. If enough people do it, it means there’s a problem. But it’s what you do with that information that can be one of the best things for your business. You can pretend it’s not happening or you can listen & try to solve the problem. Comcast did the latter and, as a result, elevated their reputation.
6. Photos & Videos
What do you do when you attend an event? Beyond the drinking and revelry, there’s usually a lot of picture taking. This is an amazing resource for planners who use pictures and video to tell their story. Listening to conversations about your event can turn up some amazing photographs. I’ve bore witness to an incredible number of great photos being shared on Facebook for an event called Engage!10 (but more on that later…hint, hint). How great for the planner to see perspectives on their event from the guests. It also gives planners the opportunity to approach guests to ask if they can use photos for promotional material, website, award entries, you name it.
7. Competitive Insights
Knowing what your competitors are doing is a great advantage in business. Monitor their brand name and you could unlock insights on new clients, organizational changes, new hires and get a feel for how they’re marketing themselves.
8. Industry News
Often times we look to industry publications for news…and they can be a brilliant and credible source. But the reality with print is that editorial lead times are pretty long. Listening through social media allows you to capture real time news, as it happens.
…Give me a few more minutes and I’ll double this list. Bottom line – just start listening. A few minutes of time will net you more information on your business, your competitors, your industry and your target than you’ve ever had before.
Stay tuned for Step by Step instructions on how to listen.
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An excerpt from basketball coach Jimmy Valvano’s acceptance speech for the Arthur Ashe Courage & Humanitarian Award on March 4, 1993.
“To me, there are three things we all should do every day. We should do this every day of our lives. Number one is to laugh. You should laugh every day. Number two is think. You should spend some time in thought. And number three is, you should have your emotions moved to tears – could be happiness or joy. But think about it. If you laugh, you think and you cry, that’s a full day…
Cancer can take away all my physical ability. It cannot touch my mind; it cannot touch my heart; and it cannot touch my soul. And those three things are going to carry on forever. I thank you and God bless all of you.”
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Tags: sunday spark
