By Karen Post, on May 6, 2012

This past weekend I attended the National Restaurant Association Show in Chicago. This show hosts over 100,000 attendees from over 100 countries.
The mix included suppliers, restaurateurs, the media and entrepreneurs, like myself, hoping to tap into this lucrative 600 billion market. For the past year I’ve been building restaurantbrandingroadmap, an e-learning product, a web site and business that serves up marketing and branding help to this niche market of independent restaurateurs. I hope to launch the first product within the next 60 days. To date I have built a membership model website and a robust blog.  At the same time I’ve been aggressively building a base of future buyers and fans via twitter, Facebook and my opt-in community. Part of my growth strategy is to get into the minds of my market, so I can better deliver on their unmet needs and to build a network of restaurant product and service providers that I can partner with to accelerate the project and monetize my efforts.

Attending any large tradeshow is a significant investment for a small company. To attend this show, I will spend about $3,000. before time costs. This covers travel expenses for two, show attendance fees, special business cards I printed that promote the restaurant product and an online subscription to watch the Tampa Bay Rays TV on my laptop so I don’t miss a game

A show this size can be overwhelming without a good game plan. So Lauren (My Chief Problem Solver) and I came up with ours to ensure a healthy ROI at the show.

1.) Before you go, set your accountable goals and your action plan to achieve them.

• For us it meant taking home 500 new contacts.
• Discover at least 10 promo partners.
• Make 5 media contacts.
• Identify at least 50 resources for content.
• Learn at least 20 new marketing ideas.

2.) Print something that you can hand out that speaks to why you are at the show.
For us, in addition to our Brain Tattoo Branding Business cards, we printed special cards that included our restaurant product, site and social media addresses.

3.) Identify targeted companies you want to meet and schedule your day.

4.) If you go with a colleague like I did, don’t hang out together all the time. Don’t sit next to each other at a session or on the shuttle. You can cover twice as much ground if you both go different ways.

5.) Don’t wait to get home to sort out your hot new contacts and ideas. Take action while stuff is fresh on your mind. Organize your thoughts and leads, contact your new friends in social media right away. The next morning we already had traction from our new contacts on our site and social media accounts.

6.) Take pictures and keep good notes of your journey, the people you meet and new resources. These pics will not only give you follow up material for your new contacts, they can be seeded in social media and in your blog.

7.) Stay focused on who you want to meet. This show had over 1800 exhibits, only about 20% mattered to me concerning business goals. Don’t forget your mission.

8.) Look professional, but dress comfortably. I usually wear my red glasses and some creative jacket or outfit. This seems to be a magnet for conversation and strangers get the vibe I’m a creative thinker.

9.) If you say you are going to follow up with someone after the show, do it! This is part of your brand. Keeping your promises.

10.) Stay at a cool hotel. The likelihood of meeting cool people will increase. We stayed at the Sax. I love this place, it’s hip, has good energy and is in the heart of lots of interesting and fun places. The House of Blues is next door.

11) Bring a ton of business cards, if there are 100,000 people at the show you you can easily burn through 1,000 cards.

12) Make sure you have downloaded all the apps to help you be productive.
-For us this was a QR scanner on your smart phone., so you can bookmark cool things. Many booths used this digital tool.
-Instagram to take and share photos.
-The NRAshow app to view the schedule and map layout quickly.

If you are interested in restaurant or hospitality branding, do check out my other blog. There will lots of great new posts concerning this exciting industry.

Brand on!

By Karen Post, on October 20, 2011

If better restaurant marketing and branding are on your radar screen, check out my first DIY niche site dedicated to restaurant owners and marketing folks. It’s called Restaurant Branding Roadmap and all new opt-ins to the community will receive a free report on 25 things restaurant customers think that they don’t tell you. This project is the first of our many sites addressing DIY small business needs with quality, experienced and affordable business expertise. Currently Restaurant Branding Roadmap host a blog, a Twitter presence, a Facebook page and soon a Linkedin group to provide restaurant marketing and branding articles, discussions and tools. In January we will launch a membership-based course that will cover: concept development, community building, publicity, social media, grand openings and much more. If you’ve got friends in the restaurant industry please help us spread the word.

For more on restaurant marketing/branding, view:
5 profit producing strategies for restaurants or any business.
If you want to be a standout restaurant brand – don’t do these 5 things.

By Karen Post, on September 21, 2011

I’m very fortunate to have an awesome social media team supporting my message and assisting our client’s in reaching their goals. Allow me to introduce the “A” social team to you as they contribute to branding content, SEO solutions and marketing outreach on the front line and behind the scenes.

Pictured above from left to right is Lauren Angrick, Chief Problem Solver for all my companies and to the right of me is Jess English our newest social media team member who is Community Manager for Restaurant Branding Roadmap, our soon to launch DIY self small business branding program for restaurants. Both are super bright, dedicated and are hard core social media-savvy professionals. Raining from the University of Tampa, their studies and expertise range from marketing, public relations and entrepreneurial matters.

This photo was shot last week at the first annual Splash Bash to End “High Tech Homelessness” in Tampa Bay sponsored by Tampa Bay Wave. Which was a blast! Tampa Bay Wave is an organization that I support. Their goal is to build a strong community of web tech entrepreneurs across Tampa Bay. If you are in Tampa you should check them out and other supporting web-based businesses, if you are outside Tampa finding a local organization like this is a worthy move.

To learn more about my companies, click here.

By Karen Post, on August 25, 2011

This week Lauren, my marketing coordinator, and I were in New York City – to say our trip was amazing would be an understatement. We enjoyed a perfect balance of business learning and connecting with new interesting people, hospitality highs and a little drama from Mother Nature.

The mission of our trip was to film a promotional video for my new book, Brand Turnaround, meet with McGraw-Hill’s marketing team to finalize book promotional plans and to experience the wonders of New York City. Mission accomplished, we did it all and more.

The Earthquake
The most dramatic moment of the trip must go to the Earthquake. I’m sure you heard about it, well we experienced it. We were at McGraw-Hill on the 42nd floor filming a video trailer for the book and suddenly the floor moved, the building swayed and we all felt a bit drunk without any wine. Even though it was a small rumble compared to what the West Coast feels on a regular basis, because it was so out of the norm for NYC, it was freaky and scary. Then an intercom voice announced what we all thought, it was an earthquake and to stay calm and stay tuned for additional information.

So since we were women on a mission, we went back to work, trying to get a good voice and visual take in before the announcer blared more warnings or updates.

Lesson #1:
Dwelling on an earthquake accomplishes nothing, soothing your nerves after a little high rise building rumble with shopping and retail research does wonders.

So after filming for a three-minute book promo, we had an excellent meeting with the McGraw-Hill marketing team. The book launch is going to be grand and memorable. We brain stormed on publicity and joint venture and Lauren and I showed off some of the book’s brand new promo tools, like our laptop skins, new website and blog, Brand Turnaround Tee shirts and even our custom Brand Turnaround bling that the marketing team will be sporting. Then we hit the streets to do our part for Manhattan’s local economy (buy stuff) and find idea inspiration.

Shopping is one of the best forms of market research any brander or business owner can do. Even if your business is not retail, when you shop ask questions, take pictures, look at the brand touch points like signage, packaging and décor and when you see something cool, ask yourself: How can I apply this concept to my brand or one of my clients?

The Eggs.
We ended up on Fifth Avenue and were smitten by Louis Vuitton‘s ultra fabulous windows display. The theme was Ostrich, eggs and LV’s best merchandise. The compelling idea was the big bird, he or she was huge, seemed at least 10 feet tall and extended from one window to the next. The head was in one window, the bird feet were in another and in others there were equally as mammoth bird eggs and all were dazzled with serious accessories. The split window look was not only creative, but engaged the viewer to follow the story in every window, instead of just stopping at one window and seeing one collection of their offering.

To see more shots go to Fashion Magazine

Lesson #2:
Merchandising is a critical tactic that builds brands. Whether you are a retailer with public window displays or a law firm with window boxes in an office lobby, these touch points are excellent opportunities to tell stories and should not be forgotten. And dividing something up, like they did with the bird, was an interesting way to present something, especially if it’s an unusual approach.

Is there a merchandising opportunity in your brand experience that can further express who you are?

The elevator attendants
We stayed at the Pierre Hotel, booked through American Express Travel. AMEX offers some very well-priced luxury travel deals with generous perks, like: stay three days, pay for two plus get breakfast everyday for two and $100 to spend anywhere in the hotel.

The property is almost one hundred years austere and elegant. The five-star everything from service, to ambiance, to food and beverage to gigantic fresh flowers was opulent. Part of their luxury brand was the attention to detail and the preservation of classic hotelier traditions. Every time you entered an elevator bank, a pleasant, professional staffer greeted you, smiled and made you feel like the most important guest in the hotel., pushed the floor button you needed and wished you a lovely day.

Lesson #3:
There was no heavy door to swing shut or any tricky floor buttons to push on these elevators, the attendants were there to deliver on the Pierre’s brand promise: the best of the best with impeccable white glove service.

What small touch can you add to your brand that reaffirms your brand essence? A brand essence is a brand’s DNA, it’s why you are here, how you are different, what your personality is and what you promise to deliver.

Got to run. Look for these topics in the next few days.

• How to brand-extend and not brand-dilute from Top Restaurateur Daniel Boulud
• Sampling trends and merchandising from hip, new Indian fare restaurant Junoon
• Video branding ideas from a super cool, online entrepreneurial TV by an insurance company
• What you can learn from a one scene Off-Broadway-production and apply to marketing
• Networking in NYC, it’s really such a small world
• A Book Review on Army of Entrepreneurs by Jennifer Prosek

Till next time, Brand on!

By Karen Post, on March 7, 2011

Amazing. It’s 2011 and I can’t get my phone system to work in NYC. I have an iphone through AT&T.  Not a signal anywhere – in my hotel (Battery Park), the streets, the cab, anywhere! Calls drop, no signal, SO FRUSTRATING!!!!

I’m finishing up my journey in the big apple, after Saudi.

It’s been great. Got here Tuesday. Had hope to do a lot of book writing, did not really happen. Been a bit distracted with meetings and things. But have been thinking a lot and connecting some important dots.

I stayed at the Ritz battery park because I was attending a party here for one of my mentors Alan Weiss. It was his 65th birthday. I attended his 6oth and it was great fun. Since I had to fly through NY for my Saudi trip, I thought why go back to Tampa? Why not hang in NYC? So I did.

Booked everything via American Express travel. Which was a good experience. They did all the work and got me a room upgrade, two nights free, a $100 food certificate and breakfast everyday.  This is the 2nd time I’ve used them, it was definitely helpful and a value add.

I travel to NYC a few times a year and try to stay in a new part of the city to make it an adventure. Battery Park was nice for the party and maybe a day, but that’s it. Nice service, good view, large space for NYC, then it stops.

The cell communication and even my Verizon broadband card was useless. Plus, with all the long cab rides, I could have bought a nice piece of jewelry. I won’t ride the subway, after seeing the rat movie about the rat. I’m a warrior, but can’t get past that image.

Since I’ve been here, I’ve done some fun stuff.
I would recommend the following:

Jubilee, good neighborhood french bistro. Met some pals from Houston who live in NYC now.

Tried to write at The Ritz Carlton by Central park. A spectacular, classic, elegant spot. And Johnny in the bar is the man. Makes you feel like the queen of the city and helped me brain storm on my book cover art. Handsome, eye candy and a great new friend.

Met with the McGraw-Hill folks, my new publisher. They are awesome and I can’t wait to work with them.

Borders bookstore at Columbus circle. Good coffee and fabulous green tea cookies. Very slow internet connection, bet it was AT&T.

Then went off to Land, an amazing hip, great food and way cheap restaurant. Entrees under 12 bucks, cool decor, killer service and perfect Thai food. They have several locations in NY city.

Next, the Comicstrip comedy club on 82 and 81st at 2nd avenue. Watching comedy performers can teach you a lot about content delivery, timing and body theater. I went with a pal I had not seen in 20 years, who lives in NYC and works for NYPD. Great fun, rocking experience. All the comedians were really good, but the MC Ray Ellin was my favorite. Check him out for sure. He’s coming to Florida soon, can’t wait.

Went to CNN, way cool! Met with a producer who has called me on several stories. Saw Anderson Cooper’s desk. I have a big crush on him, I know I’m not his type, still really admire his work.

Best cupcakes, Magnolia Bakery and Baked by Melissa for baby bite-sized ones.

Got interviewed by NYTimes. Joe Sharkey, a travel writer. The interview should be in Monday or Tuesday’s edition. He was a very cool guy. Survived the big plane crash in Brazil, 151 perished, he lived and has written a bunch of amazing works.

Saturday, went to big party at Ritz. Met a bunch of interesting people. Eat and drank too much, oh well. Had fun, all is good. Parties like this are always intriguing, you show up, don’t know a soul and connect with some remarkable minds.

Today, working in my room. Cranking on my book. It’s hard. Made some progress, not a ton, but I know it’s around the corner. I am Pondering and thinking and I know I will be connecting the dots soon.

Around 6PM, needed to get out of my room, craving Indian food. Read a story in WSJ about Junoon. The most amazing super hip, fab food, fun place I’ve been too. Met the chef, bought his cookbook, loved the experience. Bar staff Daniel and Jane, the best. The food is beyond brilliant! Must check it out if you like Indian food and are in NYC. Ranks in my top five of all restaurant experiences, loved it!!!

Headed back to Tampa on Monday. Really love New York. Really hate my phone and AT&T.

Looking forward to my wonderful car service in NYC, Felix who has been my airport service and hauling me around for over 14 years. If you need a trusted, reliable company in NYC, Felix is the man. And then back in Tampa, Lino is the man. I’m just one of his celeb customers. He provides service to Jeter, ARod and many more. An excellent resource, who’ve I had a relationship with for over 10 years.

More soon!

For more on bad service experiences, view:
Can a strong brand make a visit to the dentist less painful?
Global phone mess – a lesson in assumption.

By Karen Post, on February 18, 2011

I think about this a lot. In fact not a day goes by that I don’t ponder this subject.

Oddpodz has experienced a 70% increase in readership. Our SEO report card score is over 96 out of 100. We post content daily. And believe it’s smart, worthy stuff.

I have set high standards for the blogs’ success. I want traffic 10 times what we are getting. I want to generate more revs from Google ads and  from affiliate partners and I want to sell more our products.

What is the magic move to make this a reality?

A killer best selling book?

More inbound links?

A big publicity hit?

Social media swarm of 10,000 friends?

Pay per click?

Advertising?

More content posting?

Befriending other popular bloggers?

Comment luv?

I will keep you posted.

Need some ideas on social media or SEO. Check out our ebooks. Want more small business and entrepreneurial insight read our other business blog. Interested in restaurant marketing visit our latest initiative.

By Karen Post, on January 30, 2011

This week, Taco Bell experienced a greasy brand bump by some hungry law firm.

A lawsuit was filed claiming that Taco Bell was falsely advertising its beef tacos, and allegedly the 99 cents delicacies only had 30% or so beef in them, which is not enough to be defined as beef by the USDA.

The late night comedians, social media channels and journalists have been having a meaty joke and news fest. Taco Bell fired back on Friday with a news statement and full page ads claiming they are grateful in a “Thank you for suing us” campaign and welcomed the opportunity to talk taco with all of their loyal customers and anyone else who is starving for the truth. Additionally since the lawsuit broke, Taco Bell has furthered it’s position by posting ‘The Real Beef Facts’ and a quirky video touting the Super Delicious Ingredients Force, a Saturday Night Live parody that’s worth checking out.

Taco Bell says its beef is 100 percent USDA inspected, and that its recipe is 88 percent beef, 12 percent “secret recipe.”

So did Taco Bell do the right thing, by playing a bold brand defense card after a very public attack?

I’d bet my next tacos on it. When a company is a well known brand like Taco Bell with lots of good, beefy brand equity, sitting back and not saying any thing is not an option. I like that they responded quickly and took a very confident stance on the issue with provable facts. As for the law firm, maybe they need to think outside the goofy, greed gene.

Also, check out: Miracle Whip and Cate Blancett. What do these two have in common?

By Karen Post, on January 24, 2011

Standout brands are distinct, memorable and own their turf. Think about Target (hip, cool and great design), Alfec (the duck icon), and Lady GaGa (outrageous style, no borders behavior).

They didn’t copy the pack, they lead it with a set of unique attributes. If you want to break through a clutter of the same old boring stuff that 95% of your competition are doing, then be original, odd and offbeat. And avoid these 5 costly mistakes.

1) Don’t use other people’s quotes in your marketing content and social media. Create your own original quotes, ideas, opinions and and insight.

2) Don’t use the same colors and graphic styles that are everywhere in your industry. Break the rules. And then rule your category.

3) Don’t use the same tired copy points and words that your competition uses. Tell memorable stories and create your own words that are unique and belong to you.

4) Don’t use, over used stock images and photos that everyone and their uncle has used since 1982. Find compelling pics, try adding treatments to them with cropping, borders, colors and filters. Or take your own.

5) Don’t expect everyone to love your distinction. Change or an unusual approached often get resisted early in the game. How may people loved Google when it first launched?

When you find your solid path of brand distinction and stick to it, your marketing dollars will have more power to help build a strong and sustainable brand.

Also check out: The 3 A’s of an awesome brand name.

By Karen Post, on January 23, 2011

Friday evening I went to the opera in St. Petersburg, Florida at The Palladium. The Palladium is a gem, full of charm and historic architecture. The theater was built in 1925 as a church and later transformed into a community performing arts venue now run by the St. Petersburg College.

The opera was Verdi Rigoletto, a story of love, passion, betrayal, revenge and tragedy.

I love opera. It’s so intense. The majestic voices, the opulent costumes, the suspenseful drama, the entire experience is artistic and emotional.

The Palladium, compared to other rooms I’ve been to, is very small for an opera. Yet the characters and the behind the scenes team delivered the same incredible rush of entertainment value as the big opera houses in New York, London and Houston.

The evening and performance exceeded my expectations by 10 fold.  The cast and orchestra had the talent which is certainly vital part of the experience, but supporting their theater and musical skills was a well executed package of equally as dramatic and very scaled-up visual components.

Scaled-up is important strategy beyond an operatic performance. It applies to brands, our stories and the experience we all deliver to our buyers.

Here’s how the production of Rigoletto did it, creating a moving, memorable experience that will be treasured for a long time with the audience.

• They used the full space (left to right, top to bottom) to project massive black and white images behind the stage. They were big and bold and transformed the mood of the room instantly.
• The costumes were also scaled-up, exaggerated and all toned in a consistent palate of black and white with a splash of subliminal blood red preceding the tragic ending.
• The scenery was also scaled-up, over-sized and poignant. And of course, the volume and magnitude of their voices was thundering even in the most peaceful scenes.

Think about how you can scale-up some elements in your experience to make a grander impact and more lasting memories. These ideas can work in office lobbies, retail and hospitality businesses.

1) Enlarge your wall graphic communications.
Dinky art or framed publicity on big walls, often says small potato. Big impressions can imply confidence and that success lives here.

2) Add a high tech aspect to your messaging.
Projected images can be applied to entry ways, ceiling and floors. Incorporating technology can say innovation, creative thinkers, that’s us.

3) Introduce props to an environment and showcase them.
An over-sized product model, a character or even your logo – as a dimensional item can be a powerful aspect of the experience.

4) Garb your team with a strategic uniform or dress code.
Apple computer’s retail staffers all have a common look, that says: hip and creative, to a cosmetic company that sports hot pink lab coats to project a scientific/fashion image, to the Geek Squad’s special agent cool, nerd attire.

What’s your next act?

For more up-scale elements, view: The 5th element to a successful marketing mix.

By Karen Post, on December 22, 2010

It’s freezing in New York, but fun and stimulating!

First thing, check into my hotel. I am staying at a small boutique property on upper West Side (I’ll share the details on this property at the end of my trip). Are you traveling to a big city and want a great deal on cool hotels? I always use Hotwire.com. You can pick the number of stars and which part of the city you want to stay in. You get a choice of many, showing prices and star rankings. I’ve never been disappointed and sometimes save 50% off rack rate.

Worried about bedbugs? Go to Bedbug registry and make sure your chosen hotel won’t have uninvited guests in your bed. My hotel is awesome – it was not listed, WHEW!

Our first adventure: A food tour of the Lower East side via City Food Tours. This is a great way to taste and learn some history about New York’s fabulous food. Most tours are a couple hours long and range from 40-90 bucks per person. They include a knowledgeable guide, outside exercise and samplings of 5-6 culinary bites along the way. We discovered: The Essex Food market, a gem, which houses Roni-Sue chocolates, an artisan spot with truffles and to die for chocolates in every variety. The Pickle Guys, one of the few pickle places around. Economy Candy, a massive store that feels like a mall of a million sweets. The Roasting Plant, a great coffee cafe founded by a former Starbucks  staffer who turned a vacuum into a Javabot® coffee roasting system and lastly, one of the best slices of pizza from San Marzano Brick Oven Pizzeria.

A great afternoon! More marketing commentary coming. Packed agenda.

Robert’s at the Museum of Design.

Prohibition a neighborhood spot for live music acts. Rachel Platton performed and was an amazing, fresh and entertaining sound. She’s a New Yorker who is hitting the world tour scene. Check out her schedule, and check her out.

Tues. night
Went to Jimmy Fallon Live with Jack Black, recap coming, was tooooo much fun and got to hang and dance with the Roots. I’m now the proud owner of an official drum stick too.

Weds.
Got to run, sorry for the short hand, promise to fill in. Headed to Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. Review coming too with lots more street stuff.