Are you maximising events and holidays with your brand personality?

In today's age, individuals are looking for connection in everything we do and it is no different when it comes to our purchasing behaviour and what we look for in companies. 

Consumers are looking to buy but NOT be sold. 

This distinction is crucial when you are coming up with marketing campaigns. Take a step back and ask yourself: "are you being sold?" Look to create a connection with your consumers and one way you can do this is with your brand character during events and holidays.

Do not be afraid to have some fun with your brand character. 

Use the holidays and events in the year to give your brand some character BUT make sure it does not dilute your brands image. 

You can see below how I changed our brands character for Christmas promotions but still maintained the image of our brand. Be careful not to take it too far but have some fun 

Christmas Bakers Man for Infanta Foods

Our All year Bakers Man For Infanta Foods

8 Great Trade Show Tips To Stand Out and Be Seen

Trade shows are gaining more traction but the only problem is if you do not know what you are doing then it is easy to become lost in the trade shows.

Follow these 8 easy tips to stand out and be seen at a Trade Show:

1. Strong company identification - Logo, Logo, Logo!
• Make sure that your logo is on all promotional items! 
• These events are all about creating brand awareness and reinforcing your brand in your consumers mind which is why you need to have your logo on as many surfaces as possible. 
• Areas that must have your logo are:
1. Your stand, 
2. All Trade Show personnel's clothing and 
3. Most importantly on walk away free promotional products. When people see your products in other peoples hands and would like to try that same product, they need to know which company it came from so make sure you have your company on your walk away products. This exposure at a show is the greatest because it will help to pull people to your stand and have people actively look for you.
• If it is a marketing campaign, make sure that you have similar placement, font and colour schemes so that your brand is reinforced in your consumers mind and the ads tie up to each other. This repetition of similar placement helps with your brand reinforcement.
2. Theme your Stand Decor for direction:
• When you give your stand a theme, it creates a decor direction and helps with decor so that you know what to buy and what you are looking for. If you want to emphasise tradition-> go for a bit more rugged and natural. If you are looking for modern then you know clean cut and strong lines.
• This will help to draw people to your stand.
3. Move out and about:

• Ask the event coordinators if you can walk around with samples of your products and hand out as people are moving between aisles. This is the greatest secret and not many people ask if you can walk around so by the time everyone else realises this, you have already captured more people.
• Make sure you have beautiful promotion ladies, always more effective. 
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4. Trade show deals:
• Create deals and packages that are unique to that trade show and make sure you use words such as exclusive, once-off offer, for today only, never to be repeated, discounted to... etc. 
• All of this provides a call to action and that is crucial to convert the trade show inquiries into actual sales. This also serves as a metric for you to judge how effective the trade show was, what leads you got from it and which deals and packages were effective for future shows.
5. Do not over showcase:
• Often at Trade Shows, we try to show everything that we do as a company but less is more when it comes to your trade show showcase.
• Make sure what you are showcasing is your signature line, revolutionary or never before seen and most of all easy to transport and have people sample it. 
• If you have a great product, your product will sell itself so we need to make sure that it is easy for people to sample your product. Actually testing the product while at the show will help to secure potential customers while you have them there will you. Let them see it and play with the product.
• Use TV's with powerpoints showcasing your products, give brochures and pamphlets when people want to see your complete product range. 
6. Use social Media Campaigns
• Get people to take a photo at your stand and post online, tag your company and whoever is the most creative with your stand or product then they will win a prize.
• You can also have a fun cardboard cut out with your brand and have poeple take a photo with this cut out and tag your company. 
7. Make friends with your neighbours:
• Work together with the companies around your stand and refer each others companies. This will create more hype around your stands which will pull more people in. The busier your area, the more people stop and look.
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8. Business Card box:


• Place a box for people to drop their business cards to win a prize (make the prize something people will desire, or something quirky). Then have people come back at a certain time(s) for the drawing. This will allow you to get a lot more individuals details to have follow-up emails to reintroduce your company.


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Remember that a trade shows have so many brands trying to get sales and gain that brand awareness, you just have to be more strategic and more effective.

Is the Sugar Industry all that sweet? - learn how to translate your business journey into a story

Always remember that facts tell but stories sell. 

Your business story is one of the greatest tools you can use to create an emotional connection with your business. As soon as you share the journey of your company, an emotional connection is formed. 

It is crucial to create that emotional connection and experience for your customers as this will help with loyalty. So many companies are pushing their message to your customers as to why they should buy from them and not you, but with that emotional connection to your company, this makes the persuasion more difficult. 

Tip: Create a picture with your story because visuals always have more impact. Read all about my companies sugar story below and the journey we have gone on.

The story of how our family business started:

When we first started in Swaziland, we had lost absolutely everything. We had managed to negotiate a sugar quota of 1000 tonnes with the Sugar Association. The Sugar quota was an unbelievable opportunity, but we were unable to buy a 34 tonne truck of sugar. We managed to get somebody else to buy 34 tonnes and we bought 6 tonnes of our own sugar from them. We then processed it for our bread premixes and would sell them in South Africa. We only had 5 products that we sold and those are still some of our popular products today.

When we fast forward to present day: All four of our family run the business which we currently manufacture 56 products, sell 250 products and have a sugar quota of 4500 tonnes. What started off as one 34 tonne truck once every 2-3 weeks to South Africa has grown to 7-9 trucks every week.

We are a company only growing from strength to strength and with second generation having joined, we are only growing stronger as a business and as a family.

A lot of people ask us "what is the potential of your company?" and our answer is simple: ENDLESS.