Against the Grain: Creative

When taking on your first “real” project as an intern, a lot of thoughts go through your mind, “Am I ready for this? Where do I start? I hope I don’t blow this,” but none can beat the rush you get when you realize it’s time to prove your worth. It can be scary taking on a project with such a high value to our company when you have never done anything like it before. It’s like being thrown into an ocean, not knowing how to swim, and having to fend for yourself. Well, with no arm floaties, I had to learn on my own.

I soon found out that meetings are critical to the success of a project. It’s so easy to get the right group of talented people together, each from different departments, sit down and come up with tactical options on how to complete a project in the allotted timeframe and within the budget. My one-man project quickly turned into a group effort. Unlike class up at school, I was able to delegate tasks to each department at hand that specialized in that particular work. The creative ideas went to our creative department, the press release and announcements to our PR department and the website specifications to our interactive/online team. With follow-up meetings, I was able to put together a great marketing plan for the project. What would have been a semester-long project in school was put together in a little over a week.

The implementation of the marketing plan would not have happened had the plan not been approved with oversight from the CEO, President, account executive and head of the research department. This was a little intimidating to say the least. Facing a panel of four of your superiors and pitching a marketing plan that was little more than an idea a week ago was not an easy thing to do. All in all, I thought the presentation went over fairly well. Of course, for being the first “real” project I have put together, there were a couple tweaks here and there. But the project got approved. (That’s gotta’ mean something right?) Overall, it has been a great learning experience putting together a “real” full-blown marketing plan. Now comes the execution…

Ah, trade show season is upon us. Trade shows cost a lot of money – not only the time employees will be out of the office, but costs for a display booth, collateral materials, airfare, lodging, meals and miscellaneous expenses always come into play. That’s why the value your business gets from a trade show is more important than ever. But how do you measure that value? And how do you know if you’re at the right show?

Determine your show goals. Are you there to socialize and network? Are you there to sell?  Trade shows can be important for both reasons, but setting expectations before committing to a show is important. You might have a show that isn’t high on your priority list for sales opportunities, but your absence would be noticed.

Make use of the attendee list before the show! Yes, you have your customer list, and you’re probably going to set up appointments with those people while you’re out there. But that trade show you’re going to has a critical mass of potential buyers – connecting to them before the show via e-mail or direct mail can help set you apart from your competitors. Bonus points if you can find a creative way to drive them to your booth.

Work the floor! We’ve told you about this before – keep your booth and employees looking sharp and at attention for the next big customer.

Follow up on leads. Take time after the show to follow up with everyone you and your team met. Even if they said your product wasn’t the best fit for them, you never know if they might refer you to someone else. Plus, it’s important to develop lasting relationships to grow your business.

Measure and report. Let’s get back to those goals we mentioned earlier. If you set a measurable goal for sales, prospects, etc., take the time to actually report your results to the team. A lot of companies set a goal and never go back to see what was accomplished.

If you’ve never heard of Great Ape Trust, now is your chance to check out the fascinating science, research and conservation that this world-class organization has to offer.

Trilix recently partnered with Great Ape Trust on a website redevelopment project that allows users to experience Great Ape Trust in a whole new light. This latest version of the website has been nearly eight years in the making as Trilix and Great Ape Trust have partnered on various marketing communications efforts over that time – including the Trust’s original award winning website. The new site has allowed everyone involved with this project an opportunity to tell Great Ape Trust’s story in a captivating way like never before.  

Great Ape Trust is a scientific research facility in Des Moines, Iowa, dedicated to understanding the origins and future of culture, language, tools and intelligence, and to the preservation of endangered great apes in their natural habitats. The Trust is home to a colony of six bonobos involved in noninvasive interdisciplinary studies of their cognitive and communicative capabilities. The Trust is also currently home to six orangutans.

With limited visitation to their campus, the Trust relies heavily on its website to provide visitors with the scientific research, photos, videos and conservation projects that encapsulate the efforts of the scientists and staff that work with these magnificent apes.

One unique challenge set forth during initial planning stages for the new site was to give the user a first hand look into exactly how the apes and scientists at Great Ape Trust communicate. Bonobos use lexigrams made up of 128 symbols per board representing various words. Trilix worked closely with Great Ape Trust to develop an Interactive Lexigram experience for users representing a replica of the current boards that would allow users to interact with nearly 400 words used by the bonobos.

An extensive look into Great Ape Trust’s conservation initiative in Gishwati, Rwanda – the Forest of Hope – is highlighted within the site with features such as a blog, team member profiles, an interactive magazine, chimpanzee cam and various facts about Rwanda’s geography, people, government and economy.

Great Ape Trust also uses their website as the hub for their communications with social media networks such as Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. The new site allows for easy sharing and integration among these extremely valuable communication channels.

The most important element taken into consideration during development of this new site was Great Ape Trust’s need to be able to self administer a large majority of the sites content following its initial launch. This included scientist and ape biographies, photography, video footage, various resources, news releases and site features such as banners, buttons, breaking news and more. The new content management system will allow Great Ape Trust the ability to keep their site fresh and vibrant with the latest news and information as it happens.    

Experience Great Ape Trust Like Never Before at www.GreatApeTrust.org.    

Too often, companies claim to be “market leaders” but when it comes to their marketing and advertising, they behave much more like market followers. Your biggest competitor just started running ads in a national trade pub? Me too! They have a big booth at the industry trade show? Yes, me too please!

Not so fast.

Don’t assume they’re smarter. Don’t assume that what’s good for them is good for everyone. And definitely don’t assume that being a follower is the path toward market leadership. Make reasoned decisions and do the right thing, not the popular thing. Watch the competition. But don’t follow them.

There's a malady we see quite a bit in this business. We call it "chasing the flavor." It happens when sales and marketing executives are constantly dropping one initiative for the latest flavor of the month. One month it's 3-D videos. The next, they've forgotten about the videos and are onto Twitter or sales incentive programs or giant inflatable pink gorillas. All valid ideas (ok, not the gorillas...), but none of them will ever work if you keep chasing the flavor.

It's impossible to know if a new marketing or sales initiative is working after a few weeks or months. Sales people have to adapt, dealerships and distributors need to adjust and customers need to be educated. Runaway successes are rare in this world. You put the program into action because the strategy was sound and the numbers made sense. Trust yourself. You'll be glad you did.