Author: Dave J.

Our company’s spree of trade shows are done. Just two more this year. I’ve been impressed with some of the show promoter’s attempts at making their events more worthwhile or just plain easier. Here are a list of some things I’ve noticed:

• New SmartBooth programs that help you connect with attendees. I’ve written about it here before, but now I have actually used it. At the very least, it allows you to filter the attendee list and get a feel for how many visitors are actually in your target.
• Show giant Freeman has an integrated event management website that actually makes you feel like you are managing your shows. It has a little way to go yet (try to find where to reserve a forklift), but it is so much better than other shows that have 25 links to different PDF files.
• The last show I was at put round tables at junctures in the aisles. These were a nice convenience to attendees who I saw rearranging their bags, reading materials, or sipping their coffees.
• One major show included carpet, lead retrevial,, a power outlet, a table, and two chairs all in the base price. Just saving me from having to reserve all those was a blessing.

I want to continue to rant against candy bowls in booths. Even a giant like GE had mini Starlite mints in a bowl. Get real quality candy, please!!! And component people, why not give away samples instead? But more about that later.

Some readers may recognize their media company here, to everyone else, let this be a warning:

You know you’ve lost your brand voice when…

• You create 20 different positioning statements and 5 brand concept statements
• You hire a market research firm to analyze them
• The firm then surveys your customers about which is ‘most appealing’

And, frankly, all these statements suck to begin with. They lack specifics about the product and compelling reasons to be an advertiser. The survey was a chore to read all of them. It all smells of marketing by committee (and that’s how you lose your brand voice). Snippet:

“With XXX you are forming relationships with prospects, deepening relationships with customers and entering a relationship with a firm that can help you improve the productivity of your on-line marketing efforts. There is a big difference between a customer and just another click.”

Don’t ask me what message is ‘appealing’ either. These statements need to be compelling! Ask your salespeople what work with their prospects. They could write statements a thousand times better.

MORE: Maybe this article at MarketingProfs.com would help this company: Brands Matter in B2B Markets which reviews the why and how of B2B branding. Kevin Randall’s last point is important: “Strong B2B brands are branded from the inside-out, top-down, and bottom-up.” The statements in the survey seemed to be from the outside-in, which is maybe why I reacted the way I did.

I’m back. Spring break and a trade show have slowed me, down, but I’ve got a backlog of links and pieces to post. Here’s a great one pointed at by Marketing Update from Progressive Business Publishing (I recommend signing up for their email newsletters here).

This article talks about how to build a successful fractional-page ad, step by step. This is great stuff:

“If you flip through successive issues of any trade publication, you’ll often see the same smaller half, quarter, and one-eighth page ads repeating every single month.

This is often a telltale sign these fractional-space ads are paying their own way by generating solid sales leads for their advertisers, where larger, prettier, full-page ads in the same pubs often appear and disappear like footprints along the beach.”

BMA: Ugly Little Ads that Sell: How to Make a Smaller Ad Pull Better Than a Bigger One

The two magazines I read regularly are Men’s Health and Wired. They feed my brain in small chuncks and expose me to useful and/or facinating information. Wired is worrying me…

RANT:
Did you notice that Wired was a little skinnier last month? Not thinner, skinnier. The magazine is no longer an oversized publication. According to a note in the magazine, it now ‘conforms’ to industry standard size. I disliked it, but accepted it without too much thought at the time.

Today I get a mailing at work to subscribe to Wired for $10. Friggin ten dollars! I don’t know what I used to pay, but ten dollars is chump change for something as great as Wired Magazine. I freaked out.

A great value? Yes. Will they sell more magazines at ten dollars? Maybe. Will they save money conforming in size. Probably.

But here is my realization: Obviously they don’t think their magazine is special anymore.

What next? No more use of flourescent and metallic inks? No more infoporn? Wahh!!!

I don’t want my ten dollars buying a shell of the magazine it used to be. I want it big, bold, beautiful. Unfortunately, I suspect that Wired has jumped the shark.

Larry Hendrick brings us an improved goal-setting acronym, SMARTER:

Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Realistic
Time Sensitive
Enthusiasm
Reward

The interesting thing that Larry has talked about is that achieving a goal is not necessarily the same as a reward. Now he’s improved his original acronym to include Reward as a separate item. How motivating to go set some new, smarter goals!

Get the details here: Motivation on the Run » SMARTER Goals
(and subscribe to his podcast while you are there!)

Jay Lipe interviews Marketing Headhunter Harry Joiner in this post:
Smart Marketing: Tips from a marketing headhunter:

“What are the top 5 things you look for in a person for any marketing job?”

1. Business orientation
2. Humility
3. People skills
4. Inquisitive
5. Track record

It’s also a good review for doing your current job better. It probably wouldn’t hurt to track Harry’s blog to keep up on the mind of a recruiter.

Maybe I skip over all the technical articles so I miss good reporting in trade publications, but this one stood out on a number of levels. Martin Rowe of Test and Measurement World reviewed new product offerings that change the configuration of oscilloscopes: Tall and Shallow or Short and Deep? Why do I like this article:

• Martin writes honestly about an decision that will frustrate buyers of new scopes. The article is talking about what engineers are talking about and Martin is acting like a peer.
• The article names brands and specific products.
• He talks to different engineers about it, from different perspectives. And what the engineers said was worthwhile, covering a lot of the factors that should be considered.
• He summarizes with his own opinion and a raises another potential issue that may be of more consequence (computer interface availability).

As a marketer, you might cringe a little to see a critique of the product offerings, but this is honest, worthwhile writing that engages the reader. And that’s what trade publications should be doing, especially when they are talking about the products they cover. It may seem simple, but rarely do trade pubs do this well. T&MW did. Kudos.

Circuits Assembly Magazine’s blog posted What Can a Patent Cover? which alerted me to this case argued at the Supreme Court on Tuesday:

“Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings is suing Metabolite Laboratories Inc. over a patented method for diagnosing B vitamin deficiencies. After several years of litigation and appeals, the case has made it to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Why should the electronics industry be watching the outcome?
Because, for the first time in 25 years, the Supremes are listening to arguments over what can — and cannot — be patented. Its ruling could send shock waves through the industry.”

I agree with Mike that this is potentially dramatic for industry (electronic and more). I am rooting for LabCorp because I feel that overly broad patents (where thinking could be infringing), or patents covering nature (rather than an application of such in a unique way) are endangering our patent system.

Seth spells it out in his new Q&A format:

Q: What do you think of my brochure

A: The thing you must remember about just about every corporate or organizational brochure is this:
People won’t read it.

But that doesn’t mean that Seth thinks you should stop make brochures…read the rest of his post to understand, but at its simplist: A brochure is a statement and should be understood and produced with that in mind.

I don’t get these every day, so thought I would put it out there:

Prescott Shibles is looking for staff for Prism Media’s “New Media” online group. Sales Development, Audience Development, and Online Product Development.