B2B Seminar Eavesdropping: “Branding Schmanding”
Closer to the Early Boomer demographic, the man seemed threatened by the progressive marketing seminars topic. He was an old-school print production guy who could accurately declare the details of a paper stock with a glance, a graceful flick of a corner, and a gentle fingertip stroke. Feels like a 14-point Kromekote cover. Supercalendered. But when it came to the intricacies of the latest in B2B marketing matters, his disdain for progress was obvious.
Back in the day, in his direct marketing prime, Boomer was the postcard king. Need sales? Send out a postcard. Require more sales? Send out a bigger postcard. Want to impress? Make it glossy. To really knock their socks off, make it red.
As the presentation progressed to the main topic, from the back row, Boomer muttered under his breath: “Branding schmanding. More marketing mumbo jumbo.”
Meanwhile, in the front row a snappy eager Gen X-er was intently taking notes and absorbing the hottest new marketing theories for reaching her client’s customers. Simultaneously, she immersed herself in the speakers hyperbole and related the concepts to her client’s current state of affairs.
Gen multitasked her way to a content marketing plan for delivering the client’s message to all budgeted available media. The message was clever, concise, and consistent. With a prominent logo in the same proportion and location on every piece–print, direct mail, email, trade show, and all social outlets — the plan just needed a few tweaks from the design team to present to the client. The product was fully recognizable and conveyed the clients ownership across all means of communication. It was branded.
After the seminar, an initially reluctant Boomer took direction from young Gen and helped her produce an award winning fully integrated, branded campaign.
Featured prominently in the marketing mix: a huge glossy, supercalendared postcard, trimmed in red.
