So what’s on the horizon for digital media in 2012 and what does it mean to marketers?

Three marketing experts shared their forecasts last week at a program sponsored by the American Advertising Federation – Cleveland, Ohio. Adele Pellicane, Senior Director, Agency Services, Traffiq Inc., New York, Larry Weissman, Managing Director, Top Line Revenue, Inc., Atlanta, and Scott Chapin, Senior Vice President, Digital Strategy, Marcus Thomas LLC, Cleveland, were panelists. Michael DeAloia, Partner at Emerging Chefs Cleveland, moderated for AAF-Cleveland.

Here’s what these digital media pros see in their crystal balls and some insights for using digital media in your smart marketing strategy.

What Digital Media is – and Why it Matters

Chapin defines digital media as “anything that’s driving traffic to digital content: Paid media, social media, or other media that drives traffic to a digital source.” 

Marketers need to embrace digital media, says Weissman, because “it’s quickly becoming mainstream” and it’s reshaping the traditional sales funnel. “The sales funnel is now dramatically different and much more complex because of digital media,” he notes.

The Next Big Trend: Mobile + Social + Local

Last year’s big trend was mobile marketing, says Chapin. Advertisers spent over $1 billion in mobile marketing ads in 2011.

“What’s coming is the convergence of social, mobile, and local – that’s the hot trend right now,” he states. “Facebook and Google are both going in this direction. Every marketer’s goal is to figure out how to communicate their brand to customers when they’re on the go.”

Pellicane agrees. “The convergence of mobile, social, and local is the next big trend in digital media. It’s about the where and when. This will continue to grow, especially in the retail space,” she predicts. “It’s crucial for branding and driving sales.”

Weissman says local social media marketing platforms like foursquare are important to retail marketers, but “the local marketing space is extremely crowded and there’s a consolidation coming. Amazon and eBay are getting ready to launch these types of products. Foursquare will need to stay innovative to thrive in this environment.”

7 More Digital Media Trends to Watch

1. Real-time engagement: Chapin sees marketers continuing to move people from traditional to digital media in real time via such tactics as QR codes. “Everybody’s trying to figure out ways to make this transition easy for people,” he says. Another example is the plan by Shazam, developers of the innovative iPhone and Android sound recognition apps, to link audio via tags from this year’s Super Bowl ads to advertisers’ websites, as recently reported in Adweek.
2. QR codes: Though advertisers are rapidly adopting QR codes in marketing campaigns, panelists agreed that widespread use of QR codes by consumers won’t take hold until smart phones have built-in QR reader apps. “Using QR codes will grow exponentially when apps are pre-installed on smart phones,” Pellicane predicts.
3. The power of video: “Mobile marketing plus video is a huge trend in general, but especially for tweens,” notes Weissman. “It’s how they consume media – and it’s not on the TV in the living room.”
4. The growth of Google+: “Social is a huge part of Google’s strategy,” says Chapin. “It’s being integrated into nearly every Google product. Google+ will slowly gain in relevance and eventually we’ll be discussing it in the same vein as Facebook and Twitter.”
5. Easier ways to influence others: “‘Share this’ buttons are creating digital versions of kitchen-table conversations between a few people and many people,” Weissman notes.
6. Co-watching: Viewing a mobile device or tablet computer while watching television is a growing trend. “Marketers are trying to figure out how to integrate this and drive cross-device connectivity,” Chapin observes.
7. Measurability: Weissman says new tools are on the horizon to measure audience access via the web, which may create a way to buy digital media based on gross rating points. “Marketers want the ability to measure and analyze a consumer’s path from traditional to digital, to track the user’s experience from end to end, such as from an app to a website,” Chapin explains.

Tips for Planning a Digital Media Strategy

How should you use digital media in a smart marketing strategy? Chapin recommends that marketers ask these questions to determine a digital media marketing plan:

• Is your audience mobile? In most cases, the answer is an easy yes. Half of phone users now have smart phones, so penetration of smart phones in your market is probably a given.
• What content do you have?  You need something to pay off a mobile marketing campaign, like a mobile website or app. “If you don’t have this, spend your money here first,” Chapin advises. “Mobile users have even shorter attention spans than web users, one second instead of five. You must answer the user’s question instantly.”
• When and where is your audience? A mobile user can be literally anywhere in the world. Figure out the mobile usage patterns of your audience and connect to them then and there. “For example, during the week, Google Maps users are on desktop computers. On the weekend, they’re on phones,” Chapin notes.
• Can you do geo-targeting to a specific local market and near a retail outlet?

Pellicane advises marketing agencies and consultants to focus digital media marketing strategies on goals and metrics. “Don’t get hung up on the ‘shiny new object’ syndrome just to show your clients you can do it,” she explains. “Ask yourself, ‘what’s the goal of the marketing campaign and what metrics will be used to measure success?’ Do you want to build community? Drive sales? That will drive the decisions about devices and tactics in digital media.”

Think about this list for a moment: These are TV spots people chose to watch online, by the millions. That’s an advertiser’s dream.

But what makes these ads so popular? Why did the Darth Vader Volkswagen spot get over 45 million YouTube views? Why did 25 million people view the Royal Wedding dance ad for T-Mobile?

It’s not crazy gimmicks or over-the-top production techniques, though some of the ads on the YouTube Top 10 list have spectacular visual effects.

I think it’s about storytelling. The most watched ads of 2011 engage viewers in a compelling story.

Here’s why storytelling is such an effective advertising technique and how to tell stories in your smart marketing strategy.

Why Stories Work in Marketing

Storytelling is fundamental to every culture. Stories work in marketing because everyone understands what a story is about. When the story is highly relevant to the needs and interests of the audience, it’s a powerful and persuasive way to convey information.

Stories have a plot, characters, and a narrative point of view. The mostly highly viewed YouTube ads – the Volkswagen and T-Mobile spots, Jennifer Aniston creating a video for Smartwater, or Chrysler’s “Imported from Detroit” campaign – combine these elements brilliantly.

7 Characteristics of Effective Advertising Storytelling

As a marketing strategist, I believe there are seven characteristics of a great advertising story:

1. It’s engaging: The viewer is immediately drawn into the scenario. Something interesting is happening and you want to know what it is.
2. It’s emotional: The best advertising stories make you feel something: Empathy, humor, joy, tension, excitement.
3. It’s memorable: You get it and can’t forget it.
4. It’s easy to retell: You can describe the basic scenario in one sentence.
5. It has a plot: There’s a beginning, middle, and end.
6. There’s an element of suspense: You have to stick with the ad to see how the story will turn out.
7. Most important, the product plays a pivotal role: The product is woven into the story so well that the story couldn’t be told with it.

Lessons for Your Smart Marketing Strategy

Storytelling can be a smart marketing tactic for almost any marketer and great stories don’t have to be told just on TV.

One example is the excellent Avis marketing campaign on the front page of the Marketplace section of The Wall Street Journal. Avis uses real letters from grateful customers to tell stories about the company’s commitment to customer service.

To create dynamic marketing stories like these, I advise clients of my marketing consulting firm to think about the following:

• How are your products or services used? What stories might your customers tell? Plot out the scenarios and explore how to make these scenarios interesting to prospects.
• Who are your customers? What type of character is your customer? Use real-life case studies to showcase customers as themselves or create similar characters prospects can relate to.
• What emotions do people feel when they use your products or services? Do your customers feel confident, safe, happy, relieved, excited, satisfied, proud? Capture these emotions in the stories you tell.
• What is your product’s role? How does your product enable your customers to achieve success? Build your stories around the benefits of what you sell.

A final tip: Don’t make the mistake of telling such a great story that the product gets lost in the narrative. See my prior post about the Kevin Bacon ad for Logitech.

What stories do you think made the most compelling advertising campaigns?

Not because the direct mail campaigns our marketing agency creates require next-day delivery. In most cases, we mail standard class to get lower rates and we factor in the necessary delivery time when crafting a marketing plan.

But I got a sinking feeling when I heard this latest news. I fear that as service delivery levels fall and the costs of using direct mail climb, we may be nearing a tipping point when mail will lose its viability as a marketing channel.

Here’s what I think this news means for smart marketers whose strategies include direct mail marketing.

The Worrisome Implications of This Latest Move

The financial liabilities facing the USPS are staggering. The agency is working hard to find ways to cut costs and it has to consider all options. The most recent plan is to close more than half the nation’s mail processing centers, including ten here in Ohio.

We can probably get used to first-class mail that takes a day longer to get there. We also can probably manage without Saturday delivery, though many catalog marketers could find their call centers quieter on the weekends if the USPS gets approval of five-day-a-week delivery.

But think about the implications – for any service-based organization – of reducing service levels.

When your mission is to deliver a service, the last thing you want to do is deliver less service. The customers you have will leave and the ones you’re trying to attract won’t even consider you.

As old customers find new options – paying more bills electronically, sending e-cards instead of printed cards, using FedEx or UPS to ship packages, or using e-mail or social media instead of direct mail for marketing campaigns – and new customers stay away, a downward spiral can begin that’s hard to stop.

Fewer customers will mean lower revenue and the USPS may be forced to make even deeper service cuts, which will make using the Postal Service even less attractive. Where does it end?

Fuel for the Fire of Direct Mail Naysayers

As a marketing consultant and lifelong direct marketer, I strongly believe in the channel and often recommend it when planning marketing strategies for my clients. But even before this news, more and more of my clients  have been telling me lately that they can’t justify the cost of direct mail compared with e-mail, web marketing, and social media.

If service levels continue to go down and costs continue to go up, even direct mail advocates like me could find it harder to make the case.

Oddly enough, there could be an upside for direct marketers if fewer people use mail. A less crowded mailbox could help your direct mail campaign get more attention. For some direct marketers, continuing to mail – indeed, even mailing more – could be a smart marketing strategy.

But for others, the reasons not to use mail could begin to outnumber the reasons to use it. Unless the USPS can become a healthy service provider, marketers who depend on it now will rely on it less and less.

Why I Hope I’m Wrong

Direct mail is one of the most effective marketing channels ever created. A creative, high-impact direct mail campaign is still among the most powerful ways to capture the attention of prospects and engage them in your marketing message. And while I’m dismayed at what I see happening with the Postal Service, I don’t believe direct mail marketing will end in my lifetime.

But the cost and quality of service could make it an increasingly unattractive option for marketers. That would be a sad outcome for those of us who have always believed in its value.

Do you think I’m wrong? Should I stop worrying? What do you think lies ahead for direct mail marketing, based on this latest news?

That’s why so many smart marketers, especially companies that sell business-to-business (B2B) professional services, use client testimonials in their advertising, sales presentations, brochures, and websites.

So how do you get customers to give you great testimonials for your marketing campaigns? Follow these 10 tips:

1. Select the right customers. Choose clients who best represent the kinds of companies you serve and the prospects you want to attract — and who can speak credibly about your work.

2. Focus the message. Decide what you want to ask clients to say about you. Think about your core value proposition and the most important factors that set you apart from competitors.

3. Keep it simple. Unless you’re developing a case study, you don’t need a lot of content from a client—just a paragraph or two about the value you deliver. Clients should not feel burdened by your request.

4. Make it easy to say yes. Offer to write the testimonial for the client or suggest points you’d like them to make in what they write. Interview the client by phone, then send a draft of their comments for approval.

5. Get specific. Ask clients to go beyond general praise for your capabilities and refer to a specific aspect of what you do or how you’ve served them. The more specific the testimonial is, the more believable it will be.

6. Tell clients how you’ll use their comments. Clients will be more likely to agree to your request if you spell out how you plan to use their comments – in marketing campaigns, sales presentations, on the web, etc.

7. Ask advocates for more. The most enthusiastic clients, those true advocates who are delighted to tell the world how great you are, may be willing to give you more than a written quote. Ask to use their logo and personal photo with the testimonial. See if they’d be willing to give you a testimonial on video. You may surprised how many people say yes.

8. Reach for the stars. If you’re lucky enough to serve well-known companies your prospects will recognize, ask for their support. One of the best testimonials I ever received as a marketing consultant came from my biggest client at the time, IBM.

9. Thank clients who help you. Once a testimonial appears in your marketing campaigns, share it with the client and thank them for their endorsement. This is an ideal opportunity to send a small gift or make a donation to a charity on the client’s behalf as a gesture of your appreciation.

10. Most important: Don’t be afraid to ask. You deliver a valuable product or service to your clients and it’s perfectly acceptable to ask people who value what you do to go on the record about it. LinkedIn has helped many people become accustomed to providing recommendations for colleagues.

Why You Want Your Clients to Help Tell Your Story

Getting clients to publicly endorse your company is a smart marketing strategy because it gives you tremendous credibility. Testimonials can be especially powerful for differentiating your brand if you’re a B2B services provider.

A final tip: Sometimes clients would like to say nice things about you but their legal department or boss won’t let them go on the record. Ask if you can refer to them by title and type of company instead of individual or company name. Such testimonials aren’t as strong as ones with attribution, but they’re better than no testimonials at all, especially if the client has good things to say about you and your business.

Since we’re moving soon to new offices (a new suite in the same building in Cleveland, Ohio), I decided to take the opportunity to weed out our idea file, especially our massive collection of direct mail.

I tossed a lot of old stuff, but I was surprised at how many direct marketing campaigns created five, ten, or even 20 years ago still pack a powerful marketing punch.

I wondered: Why do some direct marketing campaigns stand the test of time? What do these campaigns have in common that makes them so effective?

Here are four things our old idea file taught me about great direct mail that you can apply to your smart marketing strategy.

Proven Principles of Direct Marketing Don’t Change

As a marketing consultant who advises clients on direct marketing strategies, I’m always on the hunt for effective business-to-consumer (B2C) and business-to-business (B2B) direct mail ideas and techniques.

Looking back through the gems in our idea file, I was reminded again of four proven principles of effective direct mail:

1. Write engaging teaser copy that grabs the reader and doesn’t let go: Teaser copy is the most important message in a direct mail package. Here are four irresistible examples of excellent teaser copy:

• 5 Words You Never Want Your Wife or Husband to Say. Know what they are? See inside. (Life insurance; payoff copy inside: “There wasn’t enough life insurance”)
• What NEVER to eat on an airplane. (Newsletter subscription)
• As it turns out, your mother was wrong. (Software company; payoff copy inside: “You DO know everything”)
• “We need someone with vision, creativity, and great marketing instincts: Someone like Jean Gianfagna.” (Cartoon caption on an Advertising Age subscription mailing that’s still a classic)

2.  Use paper to make the reader want to touch and hold the mailing: Many of the most effective campaigns in our idea file use paper creatively. Translucent or clear carrier envelopes, a brown paper bag, high gloss paper, or a rich, textured stock can transform a direct mail promotion.

3.  Select a creative format to stand out in a cluttered mailbox: Direct mail offers unlimited creative options, especially with formats. Mailings with odd dimensions, interesting folds, string or ribbon ties, very large envelopes, very small envelopes, die cuts, wax or foil seals, and pop-ups are among our keeper campaigns.

4. Deploy dimensional direct mail that screams “open me:” Dimensional direct mail can’t be beat to get attention, especially in B2B marketing. A small, clear plastic bottle holding a note, sand, and a tiny beach umbrella, a piece of wood, a small box with a key inside, an actual metal mailbox, and a lumpy mailing with half a Swiss Army Knife showing through a window (and a great teaser: “Open carefully: Knife inside”) are just a few examples of outstanding dimensional mail we’ve saved.

Keep an Idea File for Education and Inspiration

Truly great marketing campaigns grab your attention, engage you immediately in a relevant message, get your head nodding in agreement, and make you eager to say yes. If you run a marketing agency or a corporate marketing department, an idea file can help educate your team on these principles of effective marketing and get the creative juices flowing when you’re looking for new marketing ideas.

Do you have favorite or classic promotions in your idea file? Please share them!

The Next Great American Consumer by Brian Braiker provides a fascinating look at this development. Braiker says branding at birth is “a trend—fueled in part by the growth of digital devices—toward aggressively targeting a demographic that didn’t exist, in marketers’ eyes, until recently: infants to 3-year-olds. By getting their logos and iconic characters in front of babies—even those with still-blurry eyesight—they hope to establish brand-name preference before she or he has uttered a word.”

Is this a smart marketing strategy? Or is this the scariest thing you’ve seen all week? The answer to both questions is yes. Here’s why.

The Brilliance of Early Marketing

Establishing brand awareness and brand preference is the goal of every smart marketer, and as a marketing consultant, I have to acknowledge the brilliance of this strategy. The article cites plenty of research to prove the impact of early marketing on infants and toddlers, including studies which show that an American child can recognize an average of 100 brand logos by age 3. If you’re marketing products to kids and parents, you certainly want your logo on that list.

The real power of this marketing strategy may be its influence on parents. I bought Disney-themed baby toys for my kids and if Kate Spade had made designer baby bags when my daughter was born, I’d have been first in line to buy one.

I probably also would have let my young children play with my iPhone or iPad if I’d had one back then, as many parents do today. That’s why so many marketers like Fisher-Price and Nick Jr. are creating branded apps and online games for the very youngest technology users and why Dora the Explorer has a Facebook page (supposedly for parents) with over 770,000 followers.

But How Young is Too Young?

Of course, licensed characters on clothing, toys, and other products for babies and toddlers are nothing new.

But I wonder if marketers are beginning to take this too far. The level of marketing to infants and toddlers is clearly on the rise, as Braiker’s article illustrates, and the idea of marketing to someone too young and vulnerable to perceive the difference between reality and fantasy makes me queasy. In my experience as a marketing advisor, when it feels like you may be crossing the line of what’s appropriate, you probably are – and the negative fallout usually outweighs the marketing benefit when you do.

Is This Really a Branding Strategy?

From a marketing strategy standpoint, I also wonder whether this approach really can be called “branding.”

Branding is making a promise to a customer about the value you deliver and the experience the customer will have when they choose to do business with you. Is that what these marketers are achieving by targeting consumers far too young to understand product value and differentiate between products? Or are they just cementing an image of an icon in a young child’s mind without attaching any meaning to it?

If that’s the case, I think it’s an open question whether this will pay off as a branding strategy in the long run. Brand recognition doesn’t automatically translate into sales; sales are driven by value.  Even if a young child can recognize and name a brand logo or character, that’s not the same as achieving true brand loyalty among children and parents because of the quality of your products. And marketers who go too far by targeting infants could find themselves facing a backlash from society and parents.

What do you think? Where should marketers draw the line when it comes to targeting images and messages to babies and toddlers? When does a smart marketing strategy become a societal concern?

Like all direct marketing practitioners, I’ve been dismayed to watch the U.S. Postal Service struggle for survival. As the organization tries to right its ship by cutting costs, it’s also trying to grow revenue by drumming up new business from mailers.

That’s the right thing to do, but perhaps not the way the USPS is doing it.

Case in point: The latest USPS direct mail campaign mailed to my marketing firm this week. Here’s where the USPS went wrong and how to avoid this mistake in your smart marketing strategy.

Nice Mailing, Terrible List Prep

The USPS is using direct mail to promote its shipping services to businesses and they’ve done a lot of things right with their latest direct marketing campaign. They’ve selected the right target market and the right service, created an attractive, three-panel selfmailer, and made a good offer: a free shipping kit. There’s a strong call to action, a personalized URL (PURL), and a QR code, many of the elements of effective business-to-business (B2B) direct mail.

So what’s wrong with the mailing? The addressing.

Our marketing agency got five copies of this promotion and all were addressed to us at our old office suite number, though we moved three years ago.

Even worse, only two are correctly addressed to individuals who still work here. Two were sent to me, one correctly addressed and one to Gean Gianfagna, an erroneous spelling of my name from an old, compiled B2B list that never seems to go away.

Two others are addressed to former employees who moved on more than five years ago. One of these former staff members got the mailing in her maiden name and she’s been married for 10 years.

Yes, we received all the mail, so they effectively delivered it, and that’s to their credit. But how effective is the message when it’s sent to the wrong people? Especially people who are no longer at the address?

The Shoemaker’s Children?

What’s most ironic about this direct marketing campaign is that the mailer with the list problem is the organization whose job is to deliver the mail.

Why didn’t their merge/purge pick up the likely duplication between Jean and Gean with the same last name at the exact same address? Why is the suite number wrong on all the mail? And how did they end up using a B2B mailing list with data that’s at least five years out of date – and in our case, 10 years?

Unfortunately, much of their investment in good creative and the postage they spent to send it to us, five times over, is wasted on an outdated list and a bad merge/purge.

The Key Lesson for Your Smart Marketing Strategy

As a marketing consultant, I strongly believe in the value of direct mail in a marketing plan. I also know that every mailing list has errors and B2B lists are notoriously difficult to keep current.

But that’s what list hygiene is for—to correct mistakes and get as much of the mail as possible delivered to the right people at the right place. To achieve this, you need to start with the highest quality mailing lists and follow the industry’s best practices for data management.

The most important lesson direct marketers can learn from this example is that no matter how creative your direct marketing campaign is or how valuable your offer, if you mail to the wrong people at the wrong addresses, you’ve wasted your money.

I hope the Postal Service will be able to apply this lesson to future direct mail campaigns with better list selection and preparation. Direct marketers like me are counting on their success.

These aren’t just idle comments. Misconceptions about social media can hurt your brand and hamper your ability to compete in your marketplace by limiting your company’s participation in the social media dialogue.  And if the people who hold those misconceptions also control the marketing budget, alarm bells should be ringing in the marketing department.

Here’s how to get your company onboard with social media marketing and help everyone understand why social media is a powerful element of a smart marketing strategy.

• Educate. Create training sessions to help others at your company understand how social media works and why your company should be part of the social media conversation. You may need to begin with the basics for those who are unfamiliar with social media. Profile social media use in your industry, especially by your competitors. Share examples of effective social media marketing campaigns by organizations like yours.
• Ask for ideas. Encourage everyone, from the CEO on down, to suggest ideas for social media content and customer engagement and to follow your company on social media. Create an easy way for people to share ideas with the marketing team. If you have a company blog, ask for help with content.
• Partner with other departments. Reach out to customer service, tech support, product development, and other units for help in preparing prompt, accurate responses to product-based comments and questions on your social media pages.
• Keep score. Create and distribute a regular social media “scorecard” to report the results of your social media marketing and track competitors’ social media efforts. Keep it simple, straightforward, fact-based, and user-friendly.
• Equip your sales team. Everyone who has direct contact with customers and prospects should have easy-to-use tools, such as branded premiums or sales collateral, to share your company’s social media addresses.
• Keep social media visible. Ongoing high visibility for your company’s social media efforts will help others recognize how much emphasis you are placing on social media in your marketing plan. Put your social media links and information on all your marketing materials and company communications.
• Plan for negative comments. Develop a plan for rapid response to any negative comments that are posted on your social media pages. Share the plan widely to reassure those who worry that social media will expose your company to criticism.
• Establish a company policy on social media. Employees should know your company’s views on appropriate social media behavior and understand who can and cannot speak for your company in social media, especially in response to a complaint.

Help Your Company Succeed with Social Media

As a marketing consultant, I believe that social media marketing should be among your top marketing priorities, whether you sell to businesses or consumers.

Get your company excited about social media so you can become a visible, active, and engaging participant in the social media conversation in your industry and connect more effectively with your customers and prospects.

But trade show sponsorship can be a big investment. Premium sponsorship packages for some national shows are topping six figures and even smaller sponsorship options can be costly.

Before you spend valuable marketing dollars on a trade show sponsorship, here are 10 guidelines for choosing sponsorships that are worth the marketing investment:

1. Focus on traffic. The key measure of a sponsorship’s value is visibility. Select sponsorships that place your brand where there is high traffic, to give you maximum exposure to the largest number of people.
2. Going big can pay off. The premium sponsorships at trade shows (such as the opening reception, lanyards, badge holders, and the outside of the tote bag for show materials) are the most costly because they offer the most visibility. If you’ve got the budget to make a big splash and you plan to be a dominant presence at the show (with a booth to match), it may be worth the investment.
3. Stay out of the tote bag. Most trade shows offer you the opportunity to buy placement of an insert in attendees’ tote bags. As a marketing consultant, I advise my clients to avoid this, since I believe marketing messages get lost in the clutter inside the bag.
4. Look for exclusives. Trade shows often sell shared sponsorship of an activity to raise more revenue and make sponsorship more affordable. This can lower your costs but also dilute your marketing message. If your budget allows, select sponsorships where you are the only sponsor of a particular event, place, or activity.
5. Aim for engagement. Some of the most effective sponsorships I’ve seen are for activities where attendees are engaged in participation, such as using technology or playing games. Engagement can increase your exposure.
6. Explore new ideas carefully. Many shows are offering new, interesting things to sponsor, such as charging stations for mobile phones or a Twitter board where tweets with the show’s hashtag appear in real time. Explore these new ideas, but be sure you know where the activity will take place at the show so you can gauge potential traffic.
7. Look beyond your logo. Showcasing your logo may be your only option as a sponsor, but if you have the space and flexibility to do more, take advantage of the opportunity. You should always give your brand top prominence and strive for simplicity, but look for ways to deliver a more complete marketing message, such as including your marketing tagline, booth number, or website.
8. Use common sense. It makes no sense to buy a big sponsorship package if you have a small, hard-to-find booth in the back of the hall or you’re a first-time exhibitor who’s unfamiliar with the show. Select a sponsorship that’s appropriate for your other show activities and base your decision on knowledge from prior show participation.
9. Prepare for next year. One of the smartest things you can do as an exhibitor is scope out this year’s show to plan sponsorship marketing decisions for next year. Walk the show floor and exhibit hall at various times of the day to see how much visibility and engagement different options really get. If only a handful of people are watching the tweet board or everyone is ignoring the branded floor stickers, you’ll know what to avoid when planning next year’s trade show marketing strategy.
10. Think strategically. Sponsorship is just one tactic in a trade show marketing plan. Review your entire show strategy — booth design, placement, and activities, pre-show and post-show promotion, and your plan for differentiating your company from competitors — to choose a sponsorship that supports your marketing plan.

Making Sponsorships Part of Your Smart Marketing Strategy

Trade show sponsorship can be an effective element of a smart B2B marketing strategy and today’s trade show operators are offering many creative ways to display a company’s brand to attendees. Choose carefully to select sponsorships that deliver the best return on your marketing investment and showcase your company creatively and effectively.

What trade show sponsorships are you seeing that justify the cost? What’s working best for your B2B company? I’d welcome your input.

Telling a brand story through well-crafted marketing copy can capture the essence of a brand. And building those brand messages into the physical product itself can reinforce the brand’s value proposition every time the product is used.

Here are three consumer product marketers who are doing this brilliantly, and some branding advice for your smart marketing strategy.

How Three Marketers Make the Product a Brand Ambassador

1. Old Spice Classic Men’s Deodorant: Yes, it’s been around forever and it hasn’t changed much. But Old Spice has rejuvenated its brand with attention-getting TV ads and a branding strategy driven by its heritage.

Here’s the clever copy that appears on the product label of Classic Men’s Deodorant, where you see it every time you prepare to apply it: “If your grandfather hadn’t used this, you wouldn’t be here.”

While most of us don’t want to think about exactly how we got here, the underlying message – attractive men have always turned to Old Spice, and with great results – is the essence of Old Spice’s brand. And because it’s part of the physical product, it’s a can’t-miss marketing message.

2. Tilley Endurables: Made in Canada, Tilley Hats are designed for people who enjoy outdoor life. The company positions its products as long-term investments in comfort and self-protection. So Tilley sews a fabric label inside every hat with a stitched message that reminds you why you spent so much money on a head covering.

“This is the Tilley Hat,” says the label in the classic men’s version. “It is the best outdoor hat in the world. It floats, repels rain and mildew, won’t shrink, and will be replaced free if it wears out. (Yes, put it in your will.)” Boy, were you smart to buy a Tilley. And your kids will thank you, too.

The company’s Canadian roots also are crucial to its brand identity as a team of perfectionists up north who fuss over every detail of their products. The label also assures the user that the hat was “sewn with Canadian persnicketiness.”

3. Altoids: Candy maker Callard & Bowser has built a phenomenal brand identity for Altoids, the “curiously strong mints” that are so potent they require a metal box. Inside each Altoids package is a paper liner that protects the product.

Clever Callard & Bowser realized that paper = messaging opportunity, but instead of boring copy, they print brand-centric messages on the liner that emphasize the powerful taste of Altoids and the courage of those brave souls who dare to enjoy them. “Not for the Faint of Tongue” and “Enter at Your Own Risk” are two examples.

Since a typical package of Altoids contains about 75 pieces, that’s up to 75 repetitions of the marketing message per pack. Not bad for adding a one-color message to a product liner that had to be there anyway.

Branding Advice for Your Smart Marketing Strategy

As a marketing consultant who helps companies plan branding and marketing strategies, I advise clients to see every space inside and outside the package as a potential opportunity to say something meaningful to the customer and restate the brand promise. 

I also believe that product packaging is most effective as a branding and marketing strategy when the message is delivered via the actual product itself – not just the wrapper it comes in. Building the brand message into the physical product can make the product itself a brand ambassador.