Question

Topic: Strategy

Branding In A Trade Exhibition

Posted by fordwincher on 10/26/2009 at 5:27 AM ET 500 Points
Hi All!

We were given an opportunity to ride on the marketing campaign by a company that is independent from ours through their participation in a construction exhibition in Dubai.

First, I have to let you know that we are a holding company and we "sponsor" private companies owned by foreigners. The Ministry of Economy here requires a local sponsorship before they grant a trade license to any business owned by expats. By sponsoring, we are merely helping them acquire a license but not necessarily active in managing the business. So far, we have a total of 65+ companies sponsored.

So now, were given this chance to do branding with one of our sponsored construction companies. They will participate in the biggest building and construction trade exhibition in the Middle East (www.thebig5exhibition.com) and us being a sponsor, they want to use our logo to project that they are part of one of the largest holding companies in UAE.

My concern is how do we put our logo with theirs without looking a bit off? Our CEO is very keen on doing this but in a tasteful way. The company will also run an ad in a construction magazine, center page. For sure, we can add our logo with theirs using a good layout. We can put at the right-hand bottom of the page: Member of Gulf Holdings LLC.

I can only think of appending our logo to theirs, smaller and always saying "Member of ..." Also, if they will hold a press conference, they can easily mention in passing that they are part of our holding company.

Please let me know how else we can optimize our brand presence at the exhibition without stealing the show.

Your comments and suggestions are most welcome!


Many thanks!
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RESPONSES

  • Posted on 10/26/2009 at 6:41 AM Moderator
    What is it YOU want out of this? What about this is appealing to you? Do you see it as a way to attract new companies who need a sponsor? Or are you just looking for some kind of "bragging rights?"

    It's hard to react to this request without understanding your goal. Maybe you can help with this. Then we may be able to help you.
  • Posted by CarolBlaha on 10/26/2009 at 7:46 AM Accepted
    Bottom of page is great. It models after how the non profits do with their sponsors. (I know you are a for profit entity). The logo is smaller, and in a different location on the website. Here is an example of one I was involved in founding: https://usgbccolorado.org/

    Or phrase them, and say "a gulf Holdings sponsored company"
  • Posted by K.J.P. on 10/26/2009 at 1:34 PM Accepted
    hi susan,

    i am actually based in dubai, so i understand where you are coming from but it would help to define like mgoodman says what you hope to gain out of this. is it branding exposure? a commercial objective? it would also help to look at what legal framework figures, given the fact that the construction company's objective is to use your logo to "make it appear" they are a part of a large holding company, when in fact they are a wholly separate business entity and that you have no involvement in their operations or business they represent apart from being their "trade license" sponsor.

    sometimes what we take out, or in this case what we do not participate in or in fact dispense with provides more value than we actually add or engage in.

    a co-branding initiative in this particular case should be given extra consideration, is your gain bigger than your risks? and it seems to me that the campaign is misleading, unless it is clearly demarcated, in which case it defeats the purpose because by indicating that you are actually just their "trade license" sponsor then the objective of making this firm seem a part of a larger entity becomes moot.

    hope this helps.

    k.

  • Posted by Jay Hamilton-Roth on 10/26/2009 at 3:46 PM Member
    Can you do it both ways: sometimes have your logo smaller with a "Member of ..." designation, sometimes have your logo larger with their logo smaller (a valued member of .... )?
  • Posted by kourosh Tabandeh on 10/27/2009 at 2:54 AM Member
    Hi, What would be a good achievment for you?

    Introducing urself and ur own company or just higher rate of people who would be attracted to Construction companies which have sponsered you , normally this must be the purpose.

    Mean justify tools need to be used in this case.

    Thanks
    Kourosh

  • Posted by fordwincher on 10/28/2009 at 3:36 AM Author
    Our main purpose would be mainly brand exposure. Our CEO has a major stake in the company and so co-branding will be good for both, actually.

    I've gathered more suggestions from colleagues, tho:
    In the exhibition booth, we can put up a banner with a quote from our CEO; and
    In the company's corporate profile, we can ask them to add two paragraphs about Gulf Holdings and our CEO.

    I'm particular of also leveraging on our CEO since he's from the royal family and this always has a wow-factor.

    Well, thanks so much for your thoughts. If you have any other suggestions, I'd like to know them.


    Best regards
  • Posted by steven.alker on 10/29/2009 at 11:55 AM Accepted
    If your CEO is from the Royal Family and also English educated, I would be cautious about associating him with an exhibition whose website reads – in “English Personalized Number Plate Speak” “The big Sex-hibition”.

    It’s a subtle point, but our experience in promoting TEFL for the Institute for English Language Education at The University of Lancaster in the Emirates showed our family just how we needed to be sensitive to nuances as far as the ruling families are concerned.

    If he spotted it and took offence, it might be disastrous and not worth the risk if you are doing this just to hitch a lift. Of course, if he found it funny, then it swings the argument the other way.

    Steve Alker
    Xspirt

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