Get ‘Sticky’ With It

No matter the brand: DTC, DTP, B2B, B2B2C - No matter the venue: commercial, conference, panel, radio ad – No matter sector: CPG, Technology; Medical Research, Legal Services…

Every brand competes to be remembered.  To be what modern marketers call “sticky” – not just the brand name but the message/promise/key deliverable.

Oh, OMEGA – that’s the watch Astronauts wear…  Oh, THE Chanel suit…  Ferrari? Nobody asks what they make – performance is baked into the brand name.

That kind of identity is forged over time.  Reminded often so it can be remembered as a reflex vs a ‘new learning.’

But HOW does a brand achieve that?

Every now and then, when I'm paying attention, I notice a pattern in my own work that I hadn't been conscious of before.

It doesn’t announce itself with any great fanfare. Rather, it sneaks up on me after several seemingly unrelated projects, with different clients, different objectives and different audiences. Only when I pull the camera back do I realize they were never really separate assignments at all-they were simply different expressions of the same idea: How to be remembered.

Engineering this is the very essence of marketing.  Defining WHO you are as a brand is part 1 – communicating it is a very different task.

Seeing a pattern in my own works emerged recently after helping a clinical research organization prepare for three very different conferences.

One was in Houston.

Another in West Palm Beach, Florida.

The third, in Paris.

Three cities. Three different themes. Three tangentially related audiences.

Yet each assignment posed exactly the same question.

How do you create something people will actually remember?

If you've spent any time in marketing, you've probably attended more conferences than you care to count. The formula is almost always the same: Reserve the booth; Ship the graphics; Order the giveaways; Try to schedule meetings. Hope enough people stop long enough to notice your logo before moving on to the next cleverly branded coffee tumbler or stress ball.

There is nothing wrong with any of that. It simply isn't enough.  Because rarely is business actually ‘done’ at the booth!

Most marketers are still not very good at attracting attention (look across any trade show floor). We've become far less adept at ‘earning memory’.

Those are not the same thing.  Making a big splash on a trade show floor does not equate to “occupying a defined place in the mind of your target audience” – which, as @MatsGregorson, and many other experts will tell you is the very definition of BRAND.

Houston: Finding Relevance in Unexpected Places

The first challenge was a bespoke gathering of industry executives, suppliers and (importantly) funds.  One and a half days.  This was not a “build a booth” kind of event.  And slapping your name as the coffee supplier or WiFi is about as lazy as it gets – honestly, do you recall who supplied the WiFi at your last event?  Even if the password was clever…

What made this challenge especially tough was the theme: it took place during Houston’s Rodeo. Rodeo + #Meddevice + #ClinicalResearch = the math ain’t mathing…

The $64,000 questions was: How to connect these elements in a way that is relevant to your brand, your audience and the event (this is a RODEO!)?

The answer: research.  After an exhaustive deep dive, I found the connective tissue I needed: DATA.

Now – how to make it visible in an intriguing way – VISCERAL, even.  Make it nearly unavoidable.

Let’s revisit that equation:  DATA + Houston + Everyone’s attention = LUNCH

Rather than merely “sponsoring lunch” with the requisite ‘thank you’ sign, I took a page from old school diners – the interactive placement.

Connecting how RODEO uses data to how medical device/clinical research uses and needs data, provided the hook that could grab attention.

Moreover, it provided the ‘reason why’ my client was even there.

A short 15-second introduction planted intrigue among our guests before they dispatched to dine and offered the springboard into conversations that led directly to leads for my client.

Conference attendees engaged.  They read.

Not because someone interrupted their lunch with a sales pitch, but because the story belonged in that moment.

Looking back, the placemat wasn't the idea. The connection was.

I've always believed that good marketing doesn't force itself into people's lives. It finds places where it naturally belongs and takes the target on a journey.

Florida: When Swag Becomes a Story

I hate swag.  Six weeks after Houston, another conference presented a completely different challenge.

Every exhibitor was offered a standard booth space.  Trouble – I’m attending solo and cannot staff a booth AND make the meetings, etc.

Conference organizers suggested “giving away some swag.”  Yeah, ANOTHER branded pen, USB drive or water bottle.  No, thank you.  

Simply giving people something is NOT memorable.  Whatever you hand people must connect to them, to your brand message and (ideally) stick around.  Or in our case, keep coming back….

The goal was to give them something they wouldn't throw away.

Mid-conversation I said, “the only thing I can think of that makes sense is a boomerang wrapped in dollar bills.  Boomerangs are native to Australia (so is my client).  And when you ‘throw’ your money there it comes back to you in the form of government incentives.”

This kind of giveaway could not be offered by any other brand – it would not make sense.  The vehicle WAS the message.

There was a brief moment when I wondered whether I'd finally crossed that invisible line separating creative thinking from complete absurdity.

It turned out that my brainfart was more difficult to produce than anyone could imagine. 

But Steve Krauss did it.  

Then came the day of reckoning – the conference.  From the moment of handing out the first one – the reception:

“Oh my God – this is so cool.”  to “Can I get another for my kid?” to “This might be the best swag I’ve ever seen.”  

But coup de grace was the conference leader on day two saying, “I see your boomerangs everywhere.”

Swag gets forgotten. Stories get remembered and retold.

The boomerang wasn't memorable because it was unusual. It was memorable because the object and the message became inseparable. One reinforced the other.

That's a very different kind of message delivery.

Paris: “Involve them and they will understand”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NrruFfFcvw

Then came Paris.  The most important annual gathering for my client and the first time they would attend.  The mission: “We need something memorable”

There would be no exhibition booth – costs were far too high and major industry giants ate up floor space and time.  No giveaways would work with this audience.

Same question: How to be memorable?  How to be engaging? 

New answer:  Just dinner.  Or at least that's how it appeared.

Hosted inside the Fondation Louis Vuitton, a bespoke thought leadership event with a curated guest list of 25 industry professionals representing every aspect of cardiology: physicians medical device developers, clinical research, funding, regulatory and more. 

What made it delicious:  Dinner was crafted by a Michelin-starred chef.

What made it compelling:  Private, guided tours in the closed museum of artist Alexander Calder’s exhibition.  

What made it memorable: On the surface, it looked like another executive networking event. Except it wasn't. Every detail mattered: The invitations; arrival; welcome; seating plan; pacing; conversations; cuisine – and ultimately the gift guests carried home.

None of it happened accidentally.  Everything was thoughtfully and careful considered.  This was artisanship at its peak.

People often confuse luxury with expense. I believe what makes something luxurious is intentionality.  It's the quiet realization that comes from understanding someone thought about every detail long before you arrived. 

After the evening, nobody was talking about the menu, venue or exhibit - They were talking about how the evening made them feel.

That's the difference.

Lessons from These Three Experiences

After returning home I realized these weren't really conference stories at all.

They were three versions of the same lesson.

For years, marketers -including me - measured impressions, clicks, reach, engagement and awareness with almost religious devotion. Those metrics matter (especially to the C-suite and the CFO who need values to place in spreadsheet). They continue to matter.  But they're temporary.

Experiences aren't.

People rarely tell their friends about the advertisement they saw on a Tuesday afternoon.

They tell them about the dinner they still can't stop thinking about. The conversation they weren't expecting. The little boomerang their kids are playing with months later. 

The placemat that somehow made laboratory diagnostics unexpectedly fascinating.

Those moments become stories.  Stories become memories.

Memories become reputation.

And reputation has always been far more valuable – it is the brand currency.

Reputation is the only thing that STICKS.

Want your brand message to be sticky?  Get creative – or get our number! 

Looking back over my career - from luxury brands and consumer products to legal marketing, healthcare and technology -  I've never been particularly interested in creating campaigns.  I've been trying to create memories; whether for a watch launch, a courtroom presentation, a video showcase, or using an unexpected tool. 

Different industries.  Different audiences.  Same objective.

To paraphrase Maya Angelou:

People rarely remember what your marketing said. They remember how your brand made them feel.

And if you've done your job well enough, they'll tell someone else the story long after they've forgotten where they first heard it.  That’s the true measure of “sticky.”