Erica Jutzin is the Director of Marketing for juvenile product brands, having worked for some of the largest names in the industry. Her experience spans retail products such as baby strollers and carriers to clothing and toys. She has her finger on the pulse of the industry and how to capture consumer interest.
I recently sat down with Erica, whom we’ve had the pleasure of working with, to gain a deeper understanding of her role and how she finds success in trade show marketing.
How long have you been in marketing and what interested you most about it?
I’ve been marketing within the Juvenile Industry since 2007. What interests me the most about marketing is the communication with customers and the different influences that effect purchase behavior with end-consumers
From a marketer’s perspective, how important are events and trade shows for you?
Very very important. Within the Juvenile industry, trade shows and trade events get you out in front of your buyers on a frequent basis and allow you to reach more customers at once in an environment that showcases your brand in the best possible light. Consumer facing shows and events are equally important because the trade show is where you can have those one-to-one conversations with the people who are using your products on a daily basis. At these shows we receive feedback from end-consumers on how we can improve our products and I’ve heard some really lovely stories from different families using our products, which helps you know you are on the right track.
What is most important to you at these events?
At trade shows, it’s most important to showcase the brand in a memorable way and give a nice presentation of what’s coming in the year ahead. Gaining retailer feedback on consumer experiences in their stores is invaluable and we get a better understanding of how the product needs to be shown in their stores to make an impact on the end-consumer. With consumer facing shows, it’s really is about understanding your customers, hearing their stories, learning what their family situation is like, and getting their feedback on the product. You can have a really deep conversation with a consumer to learn how you’ve make this one person’s life easier or gain ideas for how you can change the product to improve others’ lives.
How do you communicate your brand’s story with events?
From a brand standpoint, I always aim to provide comfortable, educational and positive environment at a trade show, a place where our buyers can see something new, gain a better understanding of our existing products and see the passion we have for creating them. We spend so much time and effort picking the perfect environment, lay out, walk through plan and the placement on the show floor in order to best showcase our brand and the small details that might otherwise get lost in the retail floor or a quick desk-side meeting.
What is the most important thing to you when you’re working with an exhibit house to provide that environment that you described?
Communication is everything. It’s extremely important that our exhibit house partner has a really good understanding of the brand itself and how you want to be represented at a trade show. This relationship becomes really important over time and you need to feel like you have the freedom to provide feedback and have an open and honest conversation about brand goals for the trade show and that they want to help you achieve them. I love it when the exhibit house’s team members get so excited about your products that they end up buying them after the trade show closes. It helps reinforce how much they are invested in your brand and the company success beyond just securing that annual contract.
How has your experience with events and trade show industry changed over time?
In most industries they are getting bigger and bigger actually, especially internationally. When I first started out with shows, the brand I worked for generally had smaller exhibit booths at a trade show, but with a more recent company, I had the opportunity to work on really large booths. It’s amazing seeing it come together, seeing the rendering on paper and on the computer and how it’s manipulated to build the perfect trade show environment, all the way through to where you see the walls being built and final touches going up. That is the really fun part for me.
What are your greatest challenges at events?
There is always competition among shows, multiple shows per year and new ones popping up constantly. It’s not possible to be everywhere so the greatest challenge is just making sure you are in front of as many relevant audiences as possible when it makes the most sense for your brand. This to me is really about picking which trade show or trade shows would be the most beneficial from a budget standpoint, are in key markets, have a proven ROI, attract media attention and which will bring you awareness from consumers as well. The timing of new product launches can also play into determining which shows to attend.
What advice would you give to other marketers regarding a trade show event strategy?
Picking the right exhibit house partners can make a huge difference in your trade show strategy. It is really important to work with someone that really understands you as a person, will live and breathe your brand and can communicate the overall vision to their teams doing the build ups, printing graphics etc., as that either ensures success of your booth or cause a non-ideal situation. They need to be true to what your brand represents and when that happens you know you can trust them to deliver and bring you solutions that will only propel your forward.
Erica’s been very successful in her marketing career, including her trade show strategy. To connect with Erica, you can follow her on LinkedIn here
