In this blog, we share our insights, experiences and case studies — those head-scratching and “eureka” moments — about how we help entertainment technology companies strengthen their brands and subsequently increase their revenue. As we arm our clients with the right tools to do the job, we spend a lot of time ruminating on brand building and the essential storytelling that goes along with it.

Same old story?

As I stated in an earlier post in August 2010, storytelling in marketing ain’t new. Marketing in its earliest form was based on the sharing a compelling stories with a potential customers. The goal was then, as is now, to create an emotional reaction in the customer, an urgent desire, which could only be fulfilled by purchasing the product or service. What’s different is that in ancient times, the audience could take part. Somewhere along the way, we as storytellers forgot how to impart stories that invited interaction.

Melting ice caps, growing demands

Having said that, we live in a brave new world. Storytelling is still important but how you tell that story is even more so. Consumer expectations are rising as rapidly as the ice caps are melting and alongside this, their attention span is shrinking. A brand has less time to convey its message concisely and compellingly. On top of that, brands are competing with a galaxy of digital noise. With the advent of social media, consumers are no longer listening to brands that preach and don’t listen.

Unify and diversify

That means your headlines and taglines, your tweets and status updates, your spokespeople and packaging and last but not least, your product or service, must offer a unified story of value. And the story must intrigue and satisfy, but only just enough so they keep coming back for more. This is especially so for the entertainment industry whose bread and butter is built on keeping their customers engaged. As the new year dawns and the entertainment industry continues to morph at incredible pace, it might do well to remember that no one wants to hear the same old story.

I ran across this article randomly, but found it pretty engaging. As a copywriter and marketer, it reminded me of just how awful a presentation can be when it includes too many words, too many bullet points and not enough kernels of wisdom.

If you are like me – someone looking for a way to avoid the dreaded Flying Stink-o-Potami – this article is definitely worth a read. While it may not simplify the creation of presentations for you, it might just give you that little bit of advice needed to keep your audience from yawning. Enjoy.

Tradeshows Still Work

Trade shows are still a very vital form of marketing. Despite the growth of social media, there is no substitute for meeting face-to-face with your customers. It’s networking in its purest form.

What’s Your Hook?

Frankly, very few people really care about your business. You need to make them care. If

you decide that a particular tradeshow is the right place to reach your audience, then ask yourself this: Why should someone care about your company? Are you introducing your company to the market for the first time? Are you launching a new product? Are you announcing a strategic partnership?

No Hook? Consider Other Strategies

If your company is exhibiting with no real hook, you may be better served considering other strategies. Send your sales force to walk the floor. Set up meetings off-site. Work with a partner. Throw a happy hour at a local bar. But don’t spend the money on a booth and all the effort that goes into it.

Set a Goal

Unlike some forms of marketing, tradeshows are measureable. When thinking about the show, ask yourself how you will measure success. Is it in names or qualified leads collected? Is it in demo CDs you’ve handed out, or the number of people that showed up at your speaking event? Whatever it is, make sure you can measure it. (I know some of you will disagree, but the number of drinks served at your happy hour isn’t a form of measurement.)

Package Your Message

Once you’ve decided internally that you have something to say, it’s time to start thinking about how to say it. Or, put another way, how to package it into a campaign. The campaign does not have to be ground breaking, although ground breaking is nice. Short of that, clear and memorable is just fine. Think about it this way: If your customers could walk away with one message, what would it be and how do I make it stick in their heads?

Fund Your Idea

At the same time, you should be weighing your campaign ideas against your budget. You may have big news, but only a small budget to communicate it. If that’s the case, your campaign may have to be more guerilla than you originally intended. Better to know that going in than to have your campaign fall flat due to budget.

Start Focusing on the Details

If done well, your message (and the campaign you build around it) should provide you with a general roadmap for the tactics you need to employ at the show. In my next few posts, I’ll take a closer look at many of those tactics, including what to think about pre-show, at the show, and post-show.

Not exactly.

Just because you can write does not mean you know how to write for marketing purposes, how to define corporate messaging, or how to pen copy that calls customers to action. Just because you can write does not mean you can advise companies on what to say to help them jump to the next step in their growth.

Messaging (for a client or for your own organization) is a learned skill and it requires in-depth knowledge of some very broad topics, including:

1) Branding – What are your company’s mission and vision? How are those defined in its culture, its structure, its products, its messaging, its design?

2) Positioning – How does your company position itself? Has it ever really defined its position? What are its objectives? What are its products’/services’ unique selling propositions and benefits?

3) Competitive Landscape – Who is the company up against? What are those competitors saying about themselves and their products/services? How does that differ from what you are saying?

4) Knowledge of the Customer – Which messages work in the market and which mediums do customers use to pick up on those messages? Which tone works best?

5) Marketing Communications – What are the specific rules of certain marketing communication mediums? How can you combine those mediums into an integrated messaging strategy? How do you write for specific mediums so that your words have more impact?

Hundreds of great books have been written about each one of these areas. Some of my favorites are: Crossing the Chasm, The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding, Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind, The New Rules of Marketing and PR, and The Copywriter’s Handbook. Just take a quick look at Amazon, and you quickly begin to understand how much there is to know.

So sure, everyone can write. But not everyone can effectively take corporate concepts and mold them into marketing messaging and messaging strategies that drive sales.

Here’s an example of what I mean: Executives at an early stage company want the company to have more visibility in the market. Their idea is to run ads, reach out to editors, do direct mail, re-design the web site, and other tactics – all of which can be effective tools for raising awareness and driving leads.

Problem is, the company has never really spent time defining its brand. It has no unique or compelling brand message that sets it apart from the competition, that captures a share of its customers’ minds, or that motivates the employees to do and the customers to act.

Strangely enough, this is a relatively common problem, especially among early stage companies. That is not to say that these companies are naïve or inexperienced. On the contrary, most of these companies have great products and intelligent executives; they’ve just been focused on a number of very pressing issues (like developing the product and securing revenue) and marketing has fallen on the priority list.

But there comes a point in a company’s evolution when it must start thinking strategically about how it wants to define itself. And it is then that the needs for copywriting and marketing intersect. Marketers can help companies define their position in the market, and strategize about how to reach those customers. Copywriters can help a company craft a truly differentiated message that complements the marketers strategy and that flows through all the tactics a marketer plans and implements, from ads, to PR, to web sites and beyond.

Are we headed that way with social media and networking? Are we so overwhelmed with web 2.0 apps that we don’t know which one to use, or we use too many to use any of them effectively?

From a personal standpoint, I can’t deny the attraction of being and staying in touch in so many ways. And from a marketing standpoint, it offers consumers and companies more avenues for communication than ever before.

So does the paradox of choice really exist in the social media world? Perhaps, although I believe our society seems capable of handling more choices than ever before. Where the true problems start is when companies jump into social media without a plan, and with no way to manage all of the chatter or the apps being used to generate that chatter.

There is no doubt that involving customers in a plan can be tricky. But those who manage it best, whether they use one or one hundred social media apps, stand to benefit greatly from the effort.

This particular quote grabbed me: “…cast aside all the usual descriptors that employees and workers depend on to locate themselves in the company structure. Forget your job title. Ask yourself: What do I do that adds remarkable, measurable, distinguished, distinctive value?”

What Tom Peters does not really touch on is the difficulty of defining and communicating that value. Like any brand, understanding what differentiates us from everyone else takes a lot of thought. And figuring out how to reach our customer is no small feat. Fortunately, there are now many articles on how to identify your unique offerings that did not exist two years ago (”Personal Mission Statement“), and just as many mediums you can use to pitch yourself once you define those offerings (from LinkedIn to Plaxo, FaceBook to personal web sites and blogs).

Competition is stiff, especially now. You’ll need to use every tool you can. Taking the time to define the brand called YOU can help set you apart.