Synergy with Rep Marketing

Rarely are the terms “manufacturer rep” and “marketing” referenced together.  In reality, their is a synergy between the two. They both relate to communicating and demand creation.

Historically manufacturer rep agencies have consisted of salespeople calling on distributors, “buyers” (contractors and end-users) and influencers. And the role of these individuals is to communicate (introduce products, share promotions / products, provide training, address customer service needs, etc) and create demand (at the distributor and at contractors / end-users.)

Over the past few years, as marketing has evolved from events and promotions to more integrated strategies, manufacturers are offering more tools to assist their sales channel communicate and create demand locally. For some it is market research information, others it is communications tools (many of them electronically).

Leading reps are taking it the next step and are employing dedicated marketing individuals who are charged with the role of supporting the agency’s manufacturers, supplementing those efforts, supporting key distributors and helping increase the visibility of the agency and its lines within customers and the general marketplace. Some companies then measure the performance through increased activity (quotation requests, website visits, etc) as well as sales activity (more lines purchased / distributor, increased sales, new product adoption, etc.)

Driving Traffic at LightFair

At the recent LightFair, Synergy Electrical Sales took on the challenge of creating incremental visibility for its suppliers. They wanted to “manage” their “customers” time at LightFair as best they could, albeit subtly.

For that they turned to their Marketing Manager, Rosalie Good:  

As a rep, the tradeshow floor is an interesting space to navigate. You’re not an attendee in the traditional sense, but you’re also not an exhibitor. This positions you somewhere in the middle, behind the scenes and realistically, a little invisible.

So, when a massive show like Light Fair is hosted in your hometown and territory, it is equally exciting and daunting. Unspoken as it may be, a rep is expected to be the perfect host to their different manufacturers and get customers excited about each booth. In a sea of 600,000 square feet of exhibit space, how do you assure that you are making a visible and concerted effort to drive traffic to your manufacturers’ booths? And recognizing that 15 participating manufacturers is hardly a drop in a bucket at a show with 800 lighting vendors, how do you make it seamless to promote a handful of booths to customers who might be popping in at vastly different times? At Synergy, we went with “loud and Philly proud.”

The fundamental idea was, “find us at Light Fair, complete a scavenger hunt, receive a prize.” It’s been done a million times before, but we thought if done right that we could (1) get facetime with our customers, (2) incentivize them to witness firsthand the great products our manufacturers are showcasing, and (3) promote our company’s presence in the lighting space with a great giveaway item. So, what was going to make people care about a tradeshow promotion this time around? What would our prize be, and how could we truly promote our brand and our manufacturers with more than just a company logo printed on a flashlight?

The answer? The famous Philadelphia Love statue in Lego form – designed by Synergy’s very own Neil Schroder. We placed our bets on a community of design-oriented people finding excitement in building something just for fun. A keepsake for their desk or an activity to do with their children on the weekend. And if we were right and people really came searching for a Lego set at a massive tradeshow… how would they find us? We decided on wearing bright orange Vans and orange drawstring bags with the tagline “build with us” – a hint at the hundreds of Lego blocks tucked inside. A bright and slightly showy way for customers (and eventually everyone else) to identify us.

Most importantly, once people began building their sets, the building instructions doubled as a look-book for our agency. With 28 steps required to build the statue, we saw 28 opportunities to position our lighting and controls solutions. The finished product features all of our lighting brands. Every instruction page has an adjacent advertising space designed to show, predominantly with high quality application photos, how our offerings fit into different vertical markets such as hospitality, industrial and healthcare.

Were custom Legos and bright shoes worth the money or the gamble? Did this activity tick all the boxes or attract the attention of our manufacturers? We felt confident that someone would care and sure enough, customers came ready to locate the orange apparel and earn their building blocks. They had seen our promotional emails and/or responded enthusiastically to salespeople’s pre-show efforts. It also attracted the attention of vendors – old and new. Photos of completed Lego sets poured in via text and on social media – growing our social following within the AEC industry. And if that wasn’t enough, the building instructions also included an invite to a mini-golf industry happy hour. We hosted the event last week to a great turnout and were able to pass out a few extra sets to people who weren’t able to make the show. 

People at Synergy are nothing if not enthusiastic about lighting and controls. This Light Fair project was a great way to show off our fun team dynamic, creativity and dedication to customers and vendors alike. We feel confident that this kind of promotional item can be used outside the realm of a tradeshow like Light Fair as a kind of introductory catalog for prospects or a reminder of our offerings for current customers.

Synergy also designed its website with a similar strategic view. Check out their site, their application area, their unique product search section, and how they help improve their supplier visits.

And according to Rosalie, concepts similar to what was done for LightFair could be done for other industry and distributor events. She also gets involved in distributor and manufacturer marketing initiatives.

Congratulations to Rosalie and the Synergy team for a successful LightFair and to Larry Rodger for having the vision to invest in marketing and recognizing that marketing adds to the agency.

As competition for time continues to increase, the terms “manufacturer rep” and “marketing” will become more frequently mentioned with manufacturers providing tools and support to capture share of mind and to differentiate themselves. While many believe that marketing is between a manufacturer and a distributor, the reality is that a manufacturer cannot interact with each individual distributor, nor can a distributor interact with each of their manufacturers. The marketing role of the rep is increasing to support the distributor as well as the manufacturer.

Questions

• Is this resource beneficial to distributors? Can it be collaborative with distributor marketing efforts?
• Are manufacturer marketing departments actively seeking to market through reps and providing them tools?
• As a rep, are you willing to commit a full-time employee to marketing rather than periodically sending out an email announcing new products)?
• Can marketers get a seat at the table to assist manufacturers and distributors?
• Is this an agency differentiator (to a distributor who can get more support? To a manufacturer who can augment their marketing?)
• How does the role get valued by manufacturers?