adminthe fascinating city of Vegas to stay relevant with audiovisual technology, sell their things, buy things and meet people.
In one week over US$6 billion of transactions were made. This is a huge industry and it’s created by “HYPE”.
Someone had the idea to gather the gurus together, provide good food and make sure that the city it was in provided enough “after conference” entertainment.
Las Vegas is like Disneyland with cleavage. Any vice you can think of is catered for.
Canon, Samsung, Sony and Ikegami (all huge players in the industry) spent six figures each on just showcasing their branded products.
It makes one sit back and think how much they actually spend on my their “brand recognition”.
On the topic of brand recognition, I spent an afternoon with a few producers who had just won international recognition for their short films.
They confirmed my theories about branding and highlighted that the strategy of branding is changing worldwide.
Television is changing and no one wants to spend the huge dollars on ad space when internet TV is now a reality.
So smart brands are changing their strategy from selling “product” to selling “a story”.
They started ringing off a few examples. Dulux used to sell paint, but now with their “Colour the World” project, instead of creating adverts that focus on the paint, they are creating short films that focus on the story.
Where there is a story there is buy-in and where there is an advert people feel pitched to.
National Broadcasting Association does not sell tickets by saying, “Come to a technological trade show”.
They sell tickets because of the hype of the story. They say “Come to Vegas and be part of the worldwide content story”.
Then they facilitate US$6 billion of trade in a week. Try make a short film, instead of an ad.
It comes down to what you are selling and the way you look at it. If you continue to look at what you are selling as a product you will fall short every time.
If what you are selling has an impact on people’s lives you will succeed. The bottom line people want to know is “why does it matter to me?”
Answer that question and you will sell every time. Then script that story and make it happen.
Show the experience of your product, show the potential impact it has on the life of the user.
Few people will care about the specifications of your new microwave, what they will remember is the visual of a stressed mother being able to feed her family a meal cooked in record time.
Here is an exercise to do — you may want to try this on your own first and then with some of your staff.
Take your product. Now describe its experience for your target market without using technical jargon.
Do not describe the actual product unless it relates to the experience (e.g. “fits in your pocket” rather than giving the actual size).
What should it feel like for a person who walks into your store? What should they be feeling when they leave?
Now think of other ways of getting the same sensations. With those ideas in mind, craft a story utilising your product that could be make into a three- minute film that leaves the viewer with the same emotion at the end.
Your focus should be on the end user rather on just selling your product. That simple mental shift changes the way you will think about design, client interaction, and marketing. So go ahead — tell me your story.
Online Reporter