Advent Blog

I did something that I don’t usually do the other day; I sat in the passenger side of my car.  I am usually in the driver’s seat.  I take two of my four sons to school every weekday. On this day, I sat in the passenger’s seat to retrieve something that had fallen on the floor.  I saw all kinds of things from this new perspective:  gum wrappers, receipts, pencils, etc. — things I had not seen sitting in the driver’s seat everyday.

To achieve effective trade show results, it is critical to change your perspective as you analyze your marketing plan.  Oh I know we have worked really hard as managers to be in the driver’s seat, to be in control of our decisions.  We want to approach and make decisions swiftly — it’s a sign of good management.  And yet the looming $24,000 question is “what does our marketing look like from our audience’s perspective?” “What does the prospective customer see?” Not “what do we want them to see?”

As we help clients make smart exhibiting decisions, one of the consistent challenges we initially face is a selfish brand perspective, one that considers the things that are important to the company, the marketing department, the sales team, or the product development folks but fails to consider what the customer values, sees, or perceives. 

Sit awhile in the passenger seat.  The view is different.