Posted by
Barry Siskind
Community Manager
In an age of takeovers, closures, co-joining efforts, shrinking markets and highly specialized fairs, one might rightfully ask what’s in a name. If you’re shaking your head wondering what the answer is for you, then you must also be pondering the follow-up question – how much effort is maintaining a name worth?
A report published by McKinsey and Company noted that companies with strong brands that delivered on their brand promises show a 9.5% increase in total return to shareholder over companies with weak brand performances. While the report focused on such international brands as Wal-Mart, Ritz-Carlton, Volvo and MacDonald’s, could the same increase in profitability be true in the exhibition industry?
The report went on to identify two distinct features of a successful brand:
The brand must be distinctive and relevant and able to articulate two or three key messages that resonate with customers. Customers need to feel that the brand is reaching out to build an emotional bond.
Second, that senior management must mobilize the entire team so that each team member lives, breathes and acts in a manner that is consistent with the brand message. Without this second stage all other efforts are without value. Remember the words of Warren Buffet, “It takes twenty years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it.”
So a brand has incredible value both to you, your exhibitors and your visitors.
Industry guru Bob Dallmeyer is often quoted as saying “At the end of the day show organizers have two things, a mailing list and their good name.” What are you doing to protect your investment?
You can find the whole report at http://www.mckinsey.com/practices/retail/knowledge/articles/PowerofBrandDelivery.pdf
A good book on Branding- Branding Only Works on Cattle- Jonathan Salem Baskin
What if the “brand” was defined as what your customers do (as a result of your marketing efforts) and “branding” defined as who, where, when, why, and how to deliver it?
Creating a brand is creating awareness. This is only the start of a long process of varibles, influences, and decisions through which customers must travel to establish trust and loyality.In the end, the action they take is what we are looking for.
But what is the brand that’s important here? Within the exhibition industry, we tend to focus on the organiser’s brand. But is that really important to our customers? Do they really care much about who the organiser is? Or, is it the brand of the show itself which is key. I often think we’re more akin to a company like Proctor & Gamble which sits quietly behind its great brands. The branding gurus love to quote Apple, Shell, and BMW as fabulous examples of great brands….which they are. But, I’m not sure they’re relevant to our industry. And, if the show brands themselves are the key, how do we nurture them?