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December 2006 Edition

Exceptional Marketing: Genworth Financial’s Centenarians

Genworth Financial teamed up with IQ Interactive for their latest ad campaign, based on the very compelling stories of some amazing centenarians.

IQ interactive built a rich media microsite that allowed users to actually meet a centenarian. The video driven site opens with a brief introduction where users are welcomed by a centenarian and then taken into an immersive environment where they have the opportunity to hear stories from that centenarian's life. At the end of each story, the user is seamlessly introduced to a single relevant Genworth product and encouraged to view a video about that topic via an interactive Genworth story book.

This project was one of Genworth's first significant forays into the interactive world and has proven to be quite a success. Not only has it allowed them to link the content with their significant sponsorship of NBC's Treasure Hunters Game (driving unbelievable traffic!), but it has given them the opportunity to position their brand as a thought leader in a category that is fraught with confusion and a general lack of trust by consumers. The site has more phases on the way, in which users will be able to meet more centenarians, and like many of IQ Interactive's projects, it will continue to evolve and optimize itself to better accommodate users' needs.

How do you create an emotional connection with a financial services firm? It's hardly the sexiest product for interactive marketers to be hawking, but it leaves a lot of room to humanize a typically cold product. The Genworth 100+ Stories microsite manages to put a real face on financial planning. The stories from the centenarians are both entertaining and inspiring, and give the site a real personality. Each of the pieces feels like hearing a story from your favorite grandparent. They feel real, and more importantly, they create an emotional engagement with the site.

Genworth Financial does a great job of integrating video into their site. The stories are interesting and compelling, leaving me with a sense of security and heritage. It's clear that considerable time was spent on the small details of the site. The centenarian story introducing the site offers the same voiceover as the on-air campaign. This integration of the campaign, from the on-air spots to this site, is well done, and I had a moment of "Oh yeah, this campaign..." as soon as the site loaded. This site does a good job of communicating the spirit and essence of the brand, and it ties very nicely into their offline campaign. Overall I think this is a good example of how video can be used effectively online, and it's a great integrated branding execution.


Themed Exhibits

Looking for a cost-effective way to make your exhibit more memorable? Stand out from the crowd by forgoing the standard “booth” look in favor of a display with an offbeat theme. A 50’s diner. A space ship. Or maybe a jungle safari?

Express America Mortgage Corp used safari décor that tied into its marketing tagline, “Don’t Let Your Customers Go House Hunting Without the Proper Ammunition.” The exhibit featured a fabric backdrop with a jungle scene, complete with roaming leopards. Exotic plants adorned the area. Staffers wore safari hunting clothes and carried faux rifles. The reception counter was made up to look like a hut.

Landata Systems, a company that sells software to the land-title industry used the same idea at a show they attended in Las Vegas. Landata literally wrapped its product in the safari theme, showcasing its software on computer monitors covered by fabric in zebra and cheetah patterns.

In both cases, the safari idea was conveyed mainly by inexpensive décor and costuming, not by elaborate, expensive construction. But which exhibits do you think attendees at those shows remembered?

Here are some ideas to consider.

Theme and Strategy

No, don’t go redecorate your exhibit as another safari camp. Use your imagination and find a theme that works especially well for you. The theme you choose needn’t relate directly to your products, but it should correspond to your overall marketing message or strategy (Think BRANDING!). Note that Express Mortgage used the safari idea to reinforce a marketing theme built on the “house hunting” and “ammunition”. As for Landata, the jungle motif tied into its “Trust Your Instincts” marketing slogan and the message that Landata could help customers “get through the business jungle”.

Your goal should be total integration of the marketing theme. Everything from pre-show mailers to post-show follow-up should tie in. Another great themed display was talked about in the last Exhibitor X Press Newsletter (check out our website if you missed it www.exoptions.com).

Consider using giveaways connected with the theme (Landata handed out “animals in a can” stuffed lions and monkeys inside pop-up containers displaying their logo and tagline). Tailor presentations to tie in with the theme.

Remember What You’re Selling

Don’t let your products get lost in the underbrush. Display them in a prominent place, even if they’re surrounded by props and decoration. You might want to put a spotlight on the product to draw eyes and attention to it. And look for ways to tie it into the décor. It’s hard to imagine anything less jungle-like than computer software, but picture Landata’s programs running on those zebra-striped monitors.

Mind The Rules

Don’t let the creativity express chug into forbidden territory. Convention Centers have fire codes. Trade shows have rules and regulations governing exhibits (like height restrictions). Check with show management in advance. The time to find out about such things is before you put your theme into motion.

That said…let your imagination go. Have fun. Keep your brand and your goals in mind, and you’ll be doing promotion with a purpose.

Building Brand Awareness Through Tradeshows

Branding is a basic marketing concept that is designed to set your products/services apart from the competition. By using a particular name, phrase, design, symbol or a combination of these, you can create a unique identity.

When choosing a brand name, consider the following five criteria:

1. It should suggest product/service benefits.
2. It should be simple, memorable, and unique.
3. It should fit the image of the company.
4. It should have positive connotations for the target market.
5. It should be easy to pronounce and to pictorialize.

Branding is not a sales and marketing gimmick. Instead it refines and defines corporate culture and identity. A brand must have meaning to its consumers, its organization and its employees. Brand is an emotional link between you and your customer. It is what people buy when they buy your product or your company. The most important part of a brand’s identity is the promise it makes to customers. The essence of branding is simplicity and timelessness.

Integrating Brand Awareness Into Your Exhibit Program

Since exhibiting is a powerful extension of your company’s advertising, promotion, public relations and sales function that automatically means it is an excellent way to enhance brand awareness. Everything your company stands for, no matter how large or small, is being exhibited on the show floor. This means there needs to be total consistency, congruity, clarity and focus in every aspect of your exhibiting program, before, during and after the show.
Here are three important points to consider as you plan to integrate brand awareness into your tradeshow program.

1. Consistency and repetition is vital in creating brand awareness. People buy brands they know and they trust! A brand is a promise that companies make to their customers. Strong branding requires all the levels of communication to agree with one another.

2. Ensure all your marketing and promotions are consistent and that they have your logo, colors, typeface, slogans and characters. Everything you develop should have the same look and feel.

3. Peoples’ perception about your company, products, and services is a major factor in their choice of brand preferences and their buying behavior. All perception is subjective and based on experience. Individuals tend to interpret information according to existing beliefs, attitudes, needs and mood.

The following is a 10-point checklist to act as a reminder for many of the questions you need to ask and answer as you plan brand integration into your exhibit program:

1. What needs to be done to ensure that your booth conveys total consistency, congruity, clarity and focus of your company image and brand?
Consider:
- booth size
- location
- graphics
- demonstrations
- staff
- handouts and giveaways
- lead management

2. How can your graphics work best for you?
- can be easily seen and read in three seconds
- use a simple and bold typeface
- have striking and grabbing visuals
- are instantly memorable
- use a unique size or shape
- reinforce your message
- make your message a single, strong, provocative idea
- use a "What’s in it for me?" message
- use bold colors

3. What are the best promotional activities you can use to enhance brand awareness?
Personal invitations (e.g. with incentive and response form)
Direct mail with incentive
Pre-show advertising
- trade and/or local publications
- local media
- websites (i.e. company, show, and association)
- e-mail blast or broadcast fax
- association newsletters
- city billboards
- transit advertising
At-show advertising
- show catalogs
- show dailies
- airport billboards, banners/electronic message boards
- hotel closed-circuit television
- hotel - on door or in room promotion
- kiosks/banners at show site
- convention television channels

4. What types of PR communications could be used?
Pre-show:
- press releases for local and trade publications
- product/service application articles
- personal invitations to trade/local editors
- company newsletters
At-show:
- press kits for the press office
- press reception
- video/slide presentation at the booth
- reprints of articles as giveaways
- seminars/workshops
- contests
- personalities/spokesperson at booth

5. What sponsorship opportunities exist and would complement your company image?
Some of the most frequent sponsorship opportunities are:
- press room
- international lounge
- speaker or VIP room
- awards reception
- educational programs
- keynote sessions
- coffee breaks
- luncheons/dinners
- banners
- badge holders
- audio visual equipment
- display computers
- tote bags
- shuttle buses

6. What advertising premiums will be consistent with your image and complement the message you want to convey?
Consider:
- budget
- originality
- usefulness and appropriateness for your target audience
- distribution

7. Who are the best ambassadors for your company - the right people to staff the booth?

8. What training should they receive?
Consider:
- prospect qualification
- booth etiquette
- product knowledge
- product demonstration
- obtaining commitment

9. What is the best dress code to convey your company image and brand message?

10. What is the best way to follow-up after the show that is consistent with your exhibiting program?

Remember that branding is a process, a business system that fuels and sustains all customer/company relationships! Total consistency, congruity, clarity and focus in every aspect of your exhibiting program, before, during and after the show are essential.

Inspiring Examples of
Branding in Action
• Remember Milton Bradley’s Operation game from childhood — featuring the anatomically incorrect naked guy with the light-up nose? Delphi Productions Inc. brought it to life at a recent show with a 5-by-2-foot reproduction of the memorable board game. However, instead of plastic livers and hearts, the holes in the board game contained chocolates, and staffers urged attendees to extract their chocolate of choice with large tweezers — without getting zapped and lighting the guy’s red nose, of course. Staffers wore white lab coats, and décor elements such as fake scalpels and cotton balls completed the theme.
• At the 2005 Healthcare Convention, Impact Unlimited offered a giveaway that was everyone’s cup of tea. The marketing company hired an herbalist to talk with attendees about their exhibiting preferences and personal/professional stress points. Using this information, he then helped them prepare a one-of-a-kind blend of tea to take home. The memorable activity broke the ice with attendees and allowed staffers to open meaningful conversations, targeting each attendee’s most pressing exhibit problems.
• ConAgra Food Inc.’s presence was larger than life at the 2005 Food Marketing Institute Show. Instead of displaying graphics of its products, the company designed replicas of food products large enough for Paul Bunyan to toss into his grocery cart. Oversized bottles of ketchup, cans of whipped cream, and boxes of popcorn were suspended over the exhibit and displayed on the floor throughout the booth. The gigantic comestibles made ConAgra’s brands, and booth, hard to miss.
• For its press kit at the 2005 Food Marketing Institute Show, Fresherized Foods, a distributor of ready-made guacamole, created a plastic-foam replica of a giant avocado. The hollowed-out core of the two-toned green fruit held copies of its press release printed on neon-yellow paper.



During this Holiday Season our thoughts turn gratefully

to those who have made our progress possible.

It is in this sprit that we say…“Thank You”.


We wish you the happiest of Holidays

and a prosperous New Year.
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