CASE STUDY: The year TRade shows turned into “nO shows”
The backstory
I was hired as LightFair’s Content Marketing Manager and Brand Steward in November 2019 to lead omnichannel content marketing strategy, craft the brand voice, messaging and copy, support sales and attendee outreach goals and build upon the legacy of a 30-year-old brand while communicating the reimagined experience and fresh ideas that would come to life under a new management. Excited by the tall order and challenging role, I took on the task of growing audience acquisition and enhancing brand recognition, demonstrating results a few weeks into my role with a revamped website, a brand-new email marketing strategy in place and engaging social media campaigns.
The challenge: How do you keep a trade show brand alive through a year of canceled trade shows?
March 2020. Covid-19 hit. The trade show industry was one of the first to be impacted. Ambiguity swirled in the initial days and for many weeks after and nobody in the events industry or anywhere had answers. My responsibility shifted overnight from marketing what was to be a reimagined show to what would eventually be a partial, virtual event.
I was tasked with leading and crafting critical communication campaigns during various phases of the crisis from show postponement to cancellation, followed by audience surveys and the transition to virtual awards, our first virtual conference, the announcement of our new safety protocols and more. I was also responsible for directing and nurturing an authentic brand voice and a vibrant narrative through the unpredictable times.
The outcome
In one of the worst years of trade show history, LightFair’s online and social media presence rose to be one of the most engaging and vibrant in the trade show space. Our social media audience and engagement grew significantly (triple-digit percentages).
Transition campaigns: I led several print, email, PR and social campaigns encompassing the show’s re-branding, Covid-19 communications, and the transition to virtual events in the wake of the pandemic.
Narratives into numbers: Working with an internal cross-functional team and our agency partners, I pitched, led, contributed to, and executed content marketing initiatives that led to a 65% YoY growth in registration, 166% increase in social media audience and 236% increase in website traffic—in one of the slowest years for trade shows.
Leadership profile elevation: I also worked with senior executive leadership and trade association partners to craft press release quotes, video scripts, speeches and industry talking points to help promote a thought leadership position and sustain a strong brand presence through the industrywide slowdown.
Blog and e-magazine: I spearheaded and launched LightFair’s e-magazine and blog in record time so they could serve as extensions of the global platform offered by the annual show.
Campaigns and more: I worked with our inhouse and agency teams to promote numerous creative and timely campaigns around show safety, Celebrating Illuminators, hashtag challenges, Black History Month, exhibitor partnerships and more.
CASE STUDY: HELPING A BELOVED BRAND EMBRACE CHANGE WITHOUT COMPROMISING VALUE AND VISION
The backstory
Capital Lighting, a reputed manufacturer of decorative lighting fixtures with a 25-year history of family ownership and great customer relationships hired me to lead their content marketing initiatives and brand strategy in January of 2017. There were several factors already working in favor of the brand: excellent reputation in the industry, longstanding relationships with lighting showrooms and retail stores, strong, value-driven leadership, a solid foundation of product design and development and well-established overseas factory relationships.
The challenge: Keeping up with a changing industry landscape without compromising on customer relationships.
Capital Lighting’s owners, the Lewises, truly, genuinely cared about their customers, the large majority of whom were lighting showroom owners. No decision was made without taking into consideration how it might impact that customer base. Yet there was no denying that the market landscape was changing, and fast.
Competition and Channel Conflict: Showrooms faced tough competition not only from big box retailers but also online retailers/e-tailers. The Capital Lighting team did their best to ensure they did business only with reputed e-commerce companies that adhered to IMAP (Internet Minimum Advertised Pricing) policies, but many online retailers often found “legitimate” loopholes to break IMAP. As a result, Capital Lighting’s brick-and-mortar customers were left at a disadvantage as they could not compete with internet pricing.
Skipping the middle man: End users (interior designers, home owners, stagers) preferred to work directly with manufacturers who had trade programs, eliminating the additional layers showrooms or stores created. This put Capital Lighting and our customers at a disadvantage. Capital Lighting did not sell to end users, but we realized that this was causing us to lose them to other manufacturers.
The solution
From a content marketing perspective, I led programs that approached the challenges in a two-pronged way: Showroom Support + Designer/ Lifestyle Brand Positioning
Marketing support: We provided showrooms additional marketing tools and assets to entice, retain and grow their customer base. I worked with inhouse and agency talent to produce and distribute these assets to our network of showrooms and sales reps.
End-user campaigns: My team and I worked with various media outlets and online channels to promote the Capital Lighting brand as a high-end, lifestyle brand, products they would get to “see, touch and experience at their nearest showroom.” We accomplished this through a series of ad and communication campaigns, narrative pieces and tactfully positioned articles in trade and consumer publications and websites that put the spotlight on the family ownership, value-based leadership, and company story.
Consistent, cohesive communications: I helped streamline and optimize the marketing and media budget, guided the customer communication strategy through numerous challenges including newly imposed tariffs, overseas factory closures and the launch of new and potentially competing product lines.
Relevant content: I fostered relationships with the editors of leading consumer and trade publications and established an editorial strategy for consistent and enhanced coverage year round. I crafted timely trend pieces, press releases, buying guides and market reports.
Inhouse magazine: As editor, project manager and copywriter, I also spearheaded an inhouse publication covering trends and styles to expand brand recognition to the interior designer segment. This publication (Designer’s Choice) was well received among the large network of retail showrooms and manufacturer’s sales reps as a strategic marketing tool.
CASE STUDY: TARIFF TIGHT SPOT—COMMUNICATING CLARITY IN MURKY WATERS
The challenge
The year was 2018. The USA-China trade war was heating up with the latest announcements of tariffs on Chinese goods. I led marketing communications for a lighting manufacturer in Georgia, USA. Most of our product lines were manufactured in Chinese factories. We had recently started exploring new factories and manufacturing methods in India, but the bulk of our products still came from China. Questions loomed. Our customers wanted answers. Would the tariffs actually go into effect? If so, when? How high might the tariffs be? How would they impact prices? How would it impact our relationships with our overseas factories? Speculations ran high. Silence was not an option, but we were in the same boat as everyone else with no clear answers to give.
The solution
Direct, honest, transparent communications with our customers essentially saying, “We don’t have all the answers, but we want you to know we care about you, and are committed to doing right by you.” I crafted a set of FAQs around the tariffs summarizing the top concerns within the industry. We communicated directly with our customers via email and phone. We were able to reassure our customers that they were not alone, and communicated to them what they could expect from us. The FAQs were lauded as “very informative”, “one of the most well stated” in the industry. We then followed up with other communications highlighting our exploration of factories and vendor relationships in other parts of the world, and our efforts to lower our dependency on goods from one country.