Picture this: a prospective customer is coming to your newly upgraded Executive Briefing Center (EBC) to get a firsthand look at your newest product. As they enter the building, they can’t help but tip their heads back in awe to take in the expansive space, adorned with light wood and stainless steel accents throughout the lobby. The walls are painted in natural, warm tones to maintain a welcoming atmosphere without distracting from the main feature: a floor-to-ceiling Powerwall displaying your company logo along with a personalized message for your visitors, calling them out by name, in their native language.
Your team stands ready in the reception area to welcome your visitors with each of their favorite beverages in-hand. A nice conversation about their travel and ease of getting to the EBC gives your visitors time to settle in before the tour of your facility begins.
An introduction like this with your company makes qualities like attention-to-detail, caring, and innovation come to mind when your customers think of your brand. That is exactly the purpose of an EBC: establish a positive relationship between your customer or partner and your brand.
Why Does Branding Matter?
According to the American Marketing Association, “a brand is a ‘name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller’s good or service as distinct from those of other sellers.’” A brand isn’t just a name or a logo but instead an experience. It allows you to build customer loyalty and trust through the story you tell and the connection you build with your customers.
| As John Williams puts it in “The Basics of Branding,” “Your brand is your promise to your customer.” |
Create a Memorable First Impression with Your EBC
A well-branded EBC provides visitors with the opportunity to experience your brand firsthand. Using technology as part of your branding story is a forward-thinking and experiential approach to establishing that relationship with prospective customers and partners. Tell your brand’s story using interactive technology, immersive displays, and reliable audiovisual (AV) components.
As a result, you create a memorable experience that effectively shows your brand story and differentiates your brand from competitors.
Build Your Story
According to Fast Company, people prefer to read stories instead of facts, and typically remember stories more easily than they would statistics. In the visual age, we can push this further with our clients. By allowing your audience to visualize and even experience stories, the story, and their own personal experience with it will become ingrained in their memory. Structure your executive briefing programs like a story featuring compelling characters, an engaging plot, a strong climax, and a resonating conclusion. The most important thing to remember, though, is to give your customers a leading role in this story. How do they fit in with your brand story as a protagonist?
Set the scene. Rather than relying on something like a flat PowerPoint presentation to tell your company story, use your technological resources to show it instead. For example, create a video that sets the scene of your company’s beginnings, maybe even including home videos to really tug at their heartstrings when introducing the “characters” and setting. As you lead your visitors through the hallways of your EBC to the next station, have interactive displays lining the walls. Unbeknownst to them, this is in fact part of the story. With touchscreens that feature content they can clip through and drag-and-drop, they are taken through the timeline of a product’s production—the product you are specifically showcasing in this tour. Make this introduction specific to the visitor and something they can experience themselves, whatever technology you use.
Differentiate Your Brand
This is the part of your tour when you develop the plot. What is the conflict or problem that the customer is facing, and how does your brand serve as their resolution? Rather than telling your partners how you’re better than your competitors, give them a chance to personally experience the difference. With vivid visualization and immersion in the actual technology, you allow the customer to experience for themselves all of your product offerings and, ultimately, what makes your brand different.
The plot thickens. Pick and choose the stations and technology you use in each customer visit. If one partner organization is focused more on using the newest products in your market, showcase these products in an innovative, modern way. For instance, Raytheon Australia recently held its grand opening for its Next Generation Customer Engagement Centre. Their partners walk into a 320-degree CAVE2, with equipment mock-ups displayed in 3D across the 72 screens that make up the system. Raytheon is showcasing its latest innovations with the most advanced virtual reality technology. This experience literally brings their designs to life for their partners. This visit is sure to be one that the customer remembers.
Let’s say a different visitor comes to your EBC and is focused more on the relationship with your company and how you will accommodate their needs. Emphasize this while demonstrating your customer service process with collaborative technology that allows both you and your customers to interact with each other. Virtual reality is an effective training and role-playing resource when defining customer service values and policies. By juxtaposing a collaborative experience with your products, you are proving that your prospective partners can trust your brand above your competitors.
By personalizing your resources with each customer visit you are able to highlight different aspects of your brand that are relevant to each separate decision-maker.
Make the Experience Worthy of a Sequel
An effective executive briefing program will leave your visitors hoping for more, whether it is a second visit to the EBC or adding to the products they plan to purchase. Whether you save the CAVE2 showing for the end as your big finale, or you surprise your visitors with a meet-and-greet with some of your existing customers, these types of personal encounters will help you positively imprint your brand in the minds of your prospective partners. This is the part of your brand story when you give them a reason to sign on the dotted line and partner with you.
Use Your Brand to Close the Deal
An effective executive briefing center is one that informs your visitors through tailored experiences with your brand. They should learn everything they need to know on their visit that will entice them to work with you. Using immersive, interactive, and collaborative technology to provide an experiential visit enables your customers to not only know your brand better but experience it for themselves. Learn more about designing a successful EBC in order to tell your brand story and close the deal.