Marketing is all about making a meaningful differentiation.

You simply have to look, feel and be different. Being different gets you noticed. And, “If you don’t get noticed, you don’t have anything."

 

 

You just have to get noticed. The challenge is how?

We live in a world of information overload. “Every two days we create as much information as we did from the dawn of civilization up until 2003,” according to former Google CEO, Eric Schmidt. Today, we are fortunate to have have way more than trillion web pages of information at our fingertips. The unfortunate part is, as humans our brains can consume only so much information at any given time. Given this digital scape that we preside over, it is quite challenging for a brand to strike out as unique. Thus, brands are latching on to emotional marketing. Talk to the intellect, you will perhaps get them to pay attention. But, talk to the heart you will get them to take action.

Easier said than done: many companies are struggling to become truly customer-centric and thus failing to fully leverage the potential of their brand and deliver on brand equity.

However, if you are exhibiting at trade shows your chances of striking out as a unique brand player and create a meaningful difference suddenly got a whole lot bigger and better.

 

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Topics: Brand Marketing, Trade Fair Design, Brand Design, Brand Potential, Brand Exhibiting, Brand Perception, Brand Colors, Trade show Booth ideas, Trade Show Booth Design, The Value of Tradeshows, Sarmistha Tarafder, Brand Power, Brand virtue

 

"Whatever is common is despised. Advertisements are now so numerous that they are very negligently perused, and it is therefore become necessary to gain attention by magnificence of promises, and by eloquence sometimes sublime and sometimes pathetic."

Apparently being bombarded by brand clutter is not something new. The above excerpt is part of the essay written by Samuel Johnson published on January 20, 1759, for his magazine The Idler. Moving closer to our times, in 1988, NY Times reported that a typical consumer is deluged by 5000 brand messages a day which amounts to 2 million a year.

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Topics: Brand Marketing, Brand Design, Brand Potential, Brand Exhibiting, Brand Perception, Brand Colors, Sarmistha Tarafder, Brand Power, Brand virtue, Value Brand

 

 

PONDER THIS FOR A MOMENT

"WHAT IF WORKING LIKE CRAZY TO BEAT THE COMPETITION DID EXACTLY THE OPPOSITE — MADE YOU MEDIOCRE AND MORE LIKE THE COMPETITION?"

 

Living in the 21st century, in the midst of technological overabundance with redundant apps and excessive upgrades and features (that human brain cannot even begin to cope), brands have indeed, become a sorry copy cat of each other in their effort, to out do one another. Since, we, humans, have been conditioned to embrace "the herd, the masses, popular opinion — and to reject what is different, eccentric or stands alone," we have pushed the brands into a "dizzying herd of indistinct options." 

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Topics: Brand Marketing, Brand Potential, brand and business model, brand and artifical intelligence, #CES2018

 

 Updated 2022 with elaboration on emotive engagement. What's that? 😏

 

 

The common phrase, "united we stand, divided we fall" has long been used by nations and leaders to inspire people in presence of clear and imminent danger. However, when it comes to laying out the floor plan for your trade show booth design in a limited space (for example, 20' x 30' as shown above), distinctly dividing the floor space in to two unique areas, 'Love' and 'Work' might be a good idea to propel your brand into action.

 

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Topics: Brand Marketing, Exhibit Design, Cool tade show booth ideas, Creative Exhibition Booth Design, Hanging Display Banners, Booth Flooring, 21st century, Architecture, Innovation Design, Brand Design, Brand Potential, Hanging Structure, Display Show Design, Art of Presentation, custom modular exhibits, Custom Modular Trade show Booth, Brand Exhibiting, Brand Perception, Booth Design for Trade Shows, Booth Display Design, Art of Marketing, Hanging Sign, Booth Design Lounge, Idea Brands, Booth Design Inspiration, Architectural Display Signs, Communication Arts, 2013 Design Trends, Sarmistha Tarafder

UPDATED NOV 2016

 

 

SETTING THE SCENE — THE GUIDANCE OF GROTESQUE

 

This self-portrait was based on a drawing made by Arneson’s son Kregg when the artist and his first wife was in the midst of a marital crisis. Although the representation echoes Renaissance bust of mortally wounded martyred saints, the wildly exaggerated grotesque details—such as the exploding gun, bloody knife and arrow, and globs of blood and snot—recall the style of cartoon and comic strips.

 

The sculpture is one of Arneson’s most emotionally expressive self-portrait. He was prolific in creating self-portraits using photographs, mirrors, and drawings. Each expression seemed to reveal a different emotion. His self-referential portraits, that are iconic and humorous, sends us on a mission to explore universal concepts of feeling, sentiments, reaction and response.

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Topics: Trade Show Graphics, Art and nature Inspiration, Brand Design, Brand Potential, Brand Exhibiting, Brand Perception, Communication Arts, Creative Marketing, Creativity on Call, Custom Modular, Art of Enticement, Sarmistha Tarafder, Art of Creation, Creativity, Brand Power, Brand, Brand virtue

 

 

Updated March 2017

SOME BRANDS ARE CATEGORIZED AS CLASSIC

“Some critics will say Coca-Cola made a marketing mistake. Some cynics will say that we planned the whole thing. The truth is we’re not that dumb and we’re not that smart." 
Don Keough - At the 1985 press conference announcing the return of ‘classic’ Coke following consumer backlash to New Coke

Coke is one of global brands that drives value and derives strength by constantly re-making itself. Because, once you accept your limits you can aspire towards going beyond them — both creatively and consciously.

Hence, you achieve the status of 'classic' — you somehow manage to be masterly all the time. 

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Topics: Brand Marketing, Brand Design, Brand Potential, Brand Exhibiting, Brand Perception, Communication Arts, Brand Colors, Color inspiration, Sarmistha Tarafder, Brand Power, Brand, Brand virtue, Branding, Characteristics of Famous Brands

Brand Loyalty is Vanishing or Is It?

Today's web-savvy consumers are savvy deal finders. They are quick to seize on the brand or the store that offers the best deal. Hence, in an effort to increase the essence of brands; companies are on a massive crusade to bombard clients and prospects with constant messages and tooling techniques. The hope here is to reign in the distracted and disloyal customer. Unfortunately, the blitz of this downpour of marketing messages isn't empowering. It is overwhelming. "Rather than pulling customers into the fold, marketers are pushing them away with relentless and ill-conceived efforts to engage."

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Topics: Brand Marketing, Brand Design, Brand Potential, Brand Exhibiting, Brand Perception, Sarmistha Tarafder, Visual merchandising, Brand Power, Brand virtue

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Topics: Brand Marketing, Brand Design, Brand Potential, Brand Exhibiting, Brand Perception, Envoy Exhibit, Prof. Bernd H. Schmitt, Return on Experience, Sarmistha Tarafder, Brand Power, Brand, Brand virtue

It is a striking irony that in a bio-diverse planet such as ours we thrive on the competitive herd mentality of trying "to fit in". We like to play it safe. We like to trod the path that have been traveled ten thousand times. We have forsaken the imaginative spirit of David Livingstone to be "the creatures of the commonplace, the slaves of the ordinary". The best we can do is "new and improved" of the same old stuff. For example, the daily staple jeans: we have a choice of high rise, low rise, classic rise, boot cut, straight cut, wide leg, skinny flair and more of the same. In vain, we do not think about fabricating jeans that will interact with the atmospheric conditions to provide optimum wearing experience. The technology is there yet the imagination and the capital to take it to this level is sure lacking!

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Topics: Brand Design, Brand Potential, Brand Exhibiting, Brand Perception, Booth Design for Trade Shows, Idea Brands, Booth Design Inspiration, Sarmistha Tarafder, Know your Target Audience, S Portable Display Booths, Brand Power, Brand, Harvard Business School, Globalization 4.0, Brand virtue, Branding, "Different", Youngme Moon

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Topics: Design Inspiration, Art and nature Inspiration, contemporary space design, Art and Design, Brand Potential, Art of Presentation, Booth Design for Trade Shows, Booth Display Design, Trade show Trends, Sarmistha Tarafder, Art of Creation, Modern Booth Design, Design Principles, Ideas at work, exhibit deisgn trends 2012, Lighting Design, James Turrell, Bruno Zevi, Le Corbousier