Should You Trade the Trade Show for Your Own Event?

This idea might be a wiener: hosting a solo exhibition or road show



We’re busy making final preparations for two big trade shows this month involving our clients. It’s exciting, because trade shows still offer a great marketing stage for manufacturing and other B2B companies.

However, advancements of the Digital Age present new opportunities to connect directly with customers at a fraction of the cost. It’s now more affordable than ever to drive the necessary publicity to host your own successful event.

Open houses, road shows and other self-styled exhibitions have distinct advantages:

• Focus – Without the distractions, noise and competition of a typical trade show, you have the captive attention of your guests.
• Depth – As the exclusive presenter, you have the floor, allowing for detailed presentations tailored to specific needs, rather than a quick, condensed overview at a trade show booth.
• Diversity – Your company likely serves more than one market. Your event can appeal to all your customers – demonstrating the full array of products, services and expertise you offer.

Realizing these advantages, however, isn’t necessarily easy. Even more so than for a trade show, you must attract the audience to make it all worth your while. All the strategic planning, preshow promotional emails, landing pages, media kits, etc., become even more important.

For example, these events typically target a certain geographical area, making local newspapers a critical communication channel. To gain national attention, many companies have taken their shows on the road. Consider the classic Oscar Mayer Wienermobile. Or General Electric Co.’s mobile truck, a great success when it launched the company’s new FlexEfficiency 60 power generation technology.

With the right preparation and publicity, starring in your own show can be a cost-effective and powerful way to interact with customers face-to-face and deliver an unforgettable brand experience.

No Lead Left Behind – It’s Easy to Keep Track with Today’s CRM

How many times have you engaged in a conversation with a potential customer and never made contact again? Whether you lost their business card or simply forgot about them, you missed an opportunity.

Lucky for you and your team, there are powerful tools available to help you make sure you never let another one slip away. It’s now easier than ever to stay on top of leads through web-based customer relationship management (CRM) programs like Salesforce.com.

Here’s a quick primer at the two main categories of leads and how to use them.

Leads – Pretty much anyone that meets your target audience criteria. Leads are categorized by cold (people or businesses that do not know who you are) and warm (leads that have a prior relationship with you). Each can be assigned to a specific person on your sales team to increase accountability for converting this lead into revenue.

Opportunity Pipeline – Leads who recognize the need for your company’s services and have engaged in multiple conversations with your team. Keep track of the conversations in the “status update” section to gauge your progress and share notes to tailor your next message to that company’s needs. The opportunity pipeline is separated by three stages:

• Prospect – Recognizes the value of your products or services and has engaged in initial, informal discussions about moving forward.
• Dance – In the process of talking about specific products or projects, but yet to decide if your company is the perfect partner.
• Quote – Has received a formal proposal that outlines the cost and timeline of a given project.

If you’ve never tried one of today’s online CRM tools, you’ll be surprised just how simple they are. So give it a try. There’s no reason to ever lose another lead.

4 Steps to a Better Sales & Marketing Relationship

So maybe you’re investing in a new brand position. Or you’re rolling out a new ad campaign. Or launching a new website.

In any of these processes, there’s one audience you should never overlook (besides your customers): your salespeople.

Marketing and messaging, after all, is meant to set the stage for easier and more effective selling. Plus, your sales team is often the main customer touch point, making it especially important that they’re on the same page as management regarding your brand and how to portray it.

That’s why it’s essential to incorporate sales in the branding process from the very beginning. For maximum ROI – and the most consistent and rewarding experience for your customers – your people must be empowered to take advantage of all your marketing efforts daily and consistently.

Here are four steps to getting your sales team properly involved.

• Kick it off. Sit down with the team to explore target customers’ situations and hot-button issues, as well as the sales team’s current use of marketing messages and materials. Find areas of improvement or confusion.
• Develop messaging. Apply key elements of the brand to craft specific messaging that meets sales’ unique challenges. Fill in missing pieces and ensure consistency across all messaging.
• Deploy it. Review new messages with the staff and practice use in common sales scenarios.
• Follow up. Review successful sales interactions that leveraged the messaging and address evolving issues.

Equipping your sales team with consistent, brand-based messaging will create the best sales experience for both your company and your customers, ensuring better relationships and results. So what are you waiting for? Plan a sales meeting today!

To Hire a Millennial, Think Like a Millennial

Earlier, we demonstrated how to create a strong employer brand to attract talent in a highly competitive marketplace.  Different generations require different recruitment approaches, and with baby boomers nearing the cusp of retirement, it may be time to focus more on the dynamic, 80 million strong, Millennial generation.

Just how worried should you be about these generational changes?

Well, the Office of Employment projected that the average large company in the U.S. will lose 30-40% of its workforce due to retirement over the next 5-10 years. Yikes. Definitely time to shift your Millennial recruitment strategies into high gear.

Young Talent

Hiring young talent has many benefits:

• Flexibility.  You have the opportunity to shape an individual to be the best fit for your company.
• Youthful perspective.  Millennials bring fervor and excitement to client engagements, meetings and projects.
• Innovation.  This is the most educated and technology-savvy generation.  They bring fresh ideas, creative thinking and the ability to see things differently.

The key to unlocking this talent pool is understanding the background and characteristics of this generation, as well as accommodating their work style and motivators.

To hire a Millennial, you need to think like a Millennial.

So here’s how we suggest you focus.

The Top Three Ways to Get on the Millennial Radar

1.  Foster their interest in technology

Growing up in a digital savvy world has created the expectation of innovative websites, social media engagement, and interactive recruiting efforts. Everyone wants to be excited about the company they work for.  If your website is outdated and doesn’t captivate the skilled person checking you out (believe us, they Google EVERYTHING), they won’t even bat an eye as they cross you off and move onto the next company on their list.

Do yourself a favor, update your website, get on social media, and invest in a well-designed career page that encourages applicants to get excited to work for you.

2.  Participate in the community

According to a recent USA Today article, Study: Millennial generation more educated, less employed, civic trends have always risen with age, but this generation is emerging as being much more involved at an early age.  Millennials care about community involvement. 

To get on their radar, you need to look at the bigger picture.  Figure out how to promote yourself as not only a thought leader, but also as an active member of making your community, industry, and the big picture, better.

3.  Appeal to their shared characteristics when constructing recruiting communications, HR initiatives, training programs, and more.   

• Social - This generation is showing up as totally aware of work-life balance. They value spending time with family and friends doing things they enjoy. They want a fun work environment.
• Team oriented – A recent survey of Millennial professionals, conducted by Robert Half International and Yahoo! Hot Jobs, found that over 60% of Millennials want to hear from their managers at least once a day.
• Achievement oriented – Praise is something this group is accustomed to, show that you value your employees and are invested in their individual and group success.
• Flexible – Technology has opened new doors and more opportunities – Millennials expect convenience.  Find a way to incorporate this into your program.

The foundation of a successful business is an invested, interested employee base and Millennials want to  be a part of that. Those companies that don’t change their thinking and processes to attract, hire, and retain this new generation will risk it all.

Take our advice and invest in Millennials, because by doing that you not only are investing in yourself as a company, but you’re investing in the strength of our nation.

Utilizing Virtual Events to Reach a Larger Audience

Milacron Plastics Technologies, one of our plastics manufacturing clients, recently hosted an open house at its Ohio manufacturing facility for customers, media and industry personnel. The three-day event showcased a variety of technical demonstrations, expert presentations, product overviews, facility tours and other programs.

While aggressive promotion resulted in high turnout at the event, there were still many individuals who couldn’t attend.

Because the information and demonstrations presented at the open house provided significant value to those in the industry, Milacron didn’t want to limit its scope to only in-person attendees. The company decided to consolidate the content and make it available online in the form of a ‘virtual open house.’

Hosting a virtual event like Milacron’s open house can provide visitors with an interactive experience of the event, which can include:

• Video demonstrations
• Attendee and exhibitor interviews
• Photo slideshows
• Downloadable presentations and collateral
• Links to media coverage of the original open house

Milacron launched its virtual open house through an email campaign to customers, prospects and media. PlasticsToday summed it up by saying: “…We don't need convincing that a virtual event can be just as instructive, and a lot more convenient, than traveling somewhere.”

Look for more open houses and other events to go ‘virtual’ in the near future. It’s a great way of leveraging technology to reach a broad audience. And, by hosting an in-person event and following it up with a virtual event, you may be able to get the best of both worlds.

Manufacturers Must Capitalize on Current Momentum

While the rest of the economy rides the roller coaster, American manufacturers have been on a strong, steady climb.

Here’s some of the latest evidence that manufacturers are leading the way out of the recession.

It’s been a long time since our country’s factories have been at the forefront of positive economic trends. And we hope the public is taking notice. But the reality is, manufacturers can’t simply hope that people are aware of their successes.

No, the manufacturing industry has spent too many years burdened by bad news and perceptions of impending doom to suddenly expect opinions to change. Meanwhile, many of these companies have been too busy just trying to stay afloat to bother with branding, marketing, advertising, PR and all the other pursuits that could help turn the tide.

But now we arrive at this crossroads. It’s a perfect opening for manufacturers to use their momentum to their advantage, and get out in the marketplace with a forceful message about what makes them unique—the exciting work they do and the extraordinary value they provide to customers every day.

Manufacturers have proven themselves up to the challenge of an incredibly difficult economic environment. Now is the time to leave all that behind.

3 Steps to Telling Your Story

It’s not enough, we often say, to have a competitive edge. You’ve got to exploit your advantage at every opportunity.

In other words, tell your story, as this BizTimes column puts it. And there’s no more powerful or cost-effective way to do that than through strategic public and media relations.

Columnist Cary Silverstein consulted our own Mary Scheibel for some advice on promoting a competitive advantage through the media. It boils down to three basic steps:

1. Identify the story you want to tell and the audiences you need to reach, based on your business goals and your value proposition.
2. Clearly, consistently share relevant case studies, news, knowledge, etc. with media read by your target audiences. Don’t forget emerging online channels, of course.
3. Whenever you get a win, give your customers and prospects every opportunity to see it. Email a link, put it in a status update, buy reprints for sales calls and so on.

If you hadn’t noticed, we’re practicing a little of #3 with this blog post.

OK, your turn. No time like the present. Go tweet your latest success or something.

The French, and Other Snags in Your Global Marketing Efforts

Oh, those French. So proud, so self-serious. They can’t let a fun and fitting new term like cloud computing just be.

They have to come up with their own, uniquely French name for it. The Wall Street Journal takes a quizzical look at this process as it’s carried out by France's General Commission of Terminology and Neology.

The article is worth a read as a caution for all current and aspiring global marketers out there about the many pitfalls of communicating in overseas markets.

The French may be more forceful in their defiance of “outsider” words. But they’re hardly the only ones. Truth is, every culture is quick to dismiss anything that doesn’t sound native. They won’t look too kindly on your brand if you don’t blend in.

Google translator won’t cut it. A decent translation service won’t necessarily, either. After all, you have to do more than just speak the language; you have to work to become part of the culture, to understand and respond to what customers care about and the way they think in each market.

Chances are you can’t accomplish it with your own resources alone (unless you’re, say, Coca-Cola). More likely, you’ll get through to your audiences overseas by leveraging strategic partnerships with firms in those markets. They become the keepers of your brand in far-flung places. Who knows, you might even work with them by using cloud computing.

Branding is back, baby!

For many B2B companies, the whole idea of brand building has taken a back seat in today’s economy. Everybody’s cautious with their investments, limiting their spending to price promotions and the like.

It’s understandable, but it’s also ill-advised. Why? Because in a shrinking market, you have to aggressively protect and grow your share. And you can’t do that by focusing on your products and services alone. Doing so only plays into the trap of commoditization.

We think it’s time to give brand building a little love again. Good thing we have this powerful tool nowadays that can help you build your brand directly and cost-effectively with customers. Maybe you’ve heard of it. It’s called social media.

Check out this decent primer in The New York Times on managing your reputation online (or, in other words, building brand equity).

Opportunities abound to connect with customers, solve their problems, anticipate new ones and cultivate trust every step of the way—exactly the vibe customers are seeking in these uncertain times. Social media is an excellent path to reinforce your brand and build the confidence your customers need to have for you to win their business. Yes, branding is back, baby! It’s online, it’s every day, and it’s here to stay.

Expanding Your Reach through Strategic Alliances

Is it better to have actual facilities in far-flung places, or just friends there?

For many companies, there’s no debate. Owning bricks and mortar in foreign lands just isn’t feasible. That’s probably never been truer than in this tenuous economy and tight credit market. Nevertheless, for more and more businesses, having a global presence is still essential.

The good news is that there’s a way to expand your reach without taking huge risks in terms of capital and credit: through well-crafted strategic alliances. That’s what many of our international clients have done. And it’s what we’re doing, too.

Last week, I attended the annual conference (in Boston, Mass.) of IPREX, one of the world’s largest networks of independent public relations agencies. IPREX puts us in a valuable partnership with reliable, accountable PR teams on the ground all over the world. So we have immediate access to cultural knowledge and communications expertise—whenever and wherever our international clients are doing business.

We not only support each other’s communications programs. We stretch our thinking, we provide each other access to both geographic and market-specific competencies, and we share best practices with a diverse group of professionals. It’s a far cry from the “not invented here” mentality or partisan politics that too often put individual success and the greater good at odds.

So perhaps it’s time to think differently about your competitors. Beneath the surface, you might just find a strategic ally and a company whose market and niche expertise may actually complement yours.

In an increasingly sophisticated, volatile and interconnected global marketplace, you might say that’s the best of one world.

Walking the Talk of Brand Evolution

We talked a couple of weeks ago about the importance of evolving your brand. But if it ain’t broke, why fix it?

Well, it’s like home maintenance. Better to reinforce the roof before it caves in. Or think of it like a romance: You’ve got to keep it fresh.

Never get too comfortable with your brand, because the marketplace in which your brand lives is always changing—and besides, there’s always room for improvement. We aren’t just saying that. Right now, we’re launching a new Scheibel Halaska website, with an updated, refocused brand message.

We took some time to look deeper into what our clients care about and what we do that accelerates their success. That gave rise to a new tagline and a complete redesign of InsideSH.com.

The new site was a long time coming … but it won’t be long before you see more changes. That’s because we’re determined to keep our public face lively and up to date, just as we’re working every day to keep our services relevant and valuable to our clients. After all, it’s what we tell our clients (and blog readers) to do all the time.

How Will the Harley Brand Rumble on?

Right now in our hometown of Milwaukee, Harley-Davidson is throwing itself a multiday party for its 105th anniversary. Hog lovers from around the world are rumbling into town for a full weekend of, well, let’s just say “fun.”

Good for Harley to put on a show for its loyal customers, even in a slow economy when sales are down. However, those declining numbers are no doubt a concern to Harley’s leadership—as are the numbers regarding its aging customer demographics.

As we look around, it’s easy to see that Harley’s base is dominated by older generations. And that has us wondering aloud about how this iconic brand can re-energize itself in the 21st century. How do you update a brand without forsaking its storied tradition? Here’s a look at some of the ways Harley is trying to strike that balance.

This historic company is far from being history. But while Harley searches for the path forward, let it be a reminder to you—no matter what game you’re in—that the marketplace is always changing. And brands that aren’t advancing with it can quickly find themselves left behind. Now more than ever, brands must continue evolving to survive.

Li Ning Marketing Coup: Classic Brains over Brawn

Via the Olympics, here’s a great case study into how a company with a much smaller marketing budget can upstage a rival.

Li Ning, a former Olympic medalist who owns the sportswear company that bears his name, did so to Adidas in the opening ceremonies last week in Beijing. Maybe you saw it: Li was the guy who “ran” around the top edge of the stadium and lit the torch.

Some are calling it the ultimate ambush marketing. Adidas paid the big money to be the sole sportswear sponsor, and then Li snuck in and grabbed the spotlight basically for free.

The prospect of taking on competitors the world over can seem pretty overwhelming for smaller to midsize companies. You have to work hard to be more creative. More consistent. More cost-effective. More with less.

But the Li story just goes to show that, even if you don’t have the marketing muscle of the competition, brains can beat brawn on the world stage.

Brett’s Brand: Too Favre Gone?

So, Brett Favre caught his Jet out of Green Bay. This chapter of the Favre soap opera is closed. He’ll be back in action next month, albeit in a new town and a new uniform.

Oh, and another thing that’ll never be the same: the Brett Favre brand.

Plenty of professional-sports pundits are speculating about what the move to New York will mean to Favre’s legacy in the game. But as marketers, we’re more interested in how it will affect his reputation off the field.

As good as No. 4’s career numbers have been in some respects, Favre owes as much of his popularity to the public perception (with a big tip of the cap to mainstream media) that he’s a hard-working everyman with a flair for drama. Just not the kind of drama he created by deciding to “unretire” last month.

Significant damage has already been done to his legend, according to this Wisconsin poll. After all, a real regular guy could never get away with the presumptuous behavior he’s exhibited over the past few weeks.

Granted, Favre isn’t likely losing any sleep over his brand’s declining value. But as we counsel our clients, he really should be concerned about his rep. He’s got a brand, whether he wants one or not. If he doesn’t shape it, it’ll be shaped for him. For example, I’m sure there are plenty more (and more critical) blogs about this saga.

Time will tell if the down-home hero persona he worked so many years to establish will still hold water, now that he’s taken his ball and fled east.