You Don’t Build A Brand, You Launch One
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Whether you have bootstrapped your way to starting a new modelling agency, you are releasing your next line of children’s products or you are about to announce your arrival into the online gaming world, hosting a launch party so incredible it will split the calendar into before and after is a great way to get your brand noticed. It is how to set the tone of your brand, how to get tongues wagging and magazine articles circulating. It has how to let the world know that you have arrived.
The bad news is, this ain’t no easy feat. The good news is, we have a list of top tips to help you blow up like a New Year’s eve fireworks display.
Build Up Your Relationships
Unfortunately, it takes more than just meeting people and hoping for the best. You need to go above and beyond just collecting business cards and then cc’ing them into a mass email two weeks before your planned launch. That is not going to show you as genuine. Instead, take the time out of your schedule to build rapport with these people, call them and meet them, spend time with them in person and make them feel special and appreciated. That is how to build a relationship.
Avoid Conflicts At All Costs
The worst thing you can do is give people a reason not to turn up to your launch, and that is what will happen if you schedule your launch on the same day as another event. It could be that the rest of the industry likes to do their thing in the early summer, or at the start of December. Break the mold. Do it in the quiet months when you won’t have to compete for clients and attendees because everyone’s schedules are empty.
Location, Location, Location
Where you host your launch party is as important a decision as any. That’s the bad news. The good news is, event venues are not hard to find if you know where to look. Something that is worth considering is being unique. It is thinking outside the box and offering the kind of event that will last in people’s memories long after the hangover wears off. It could be that you do something special with an event location, or it could be that you hold your event somewhere totally unpredictable – an old church, a beach, anywhere. A good launch party needs to create a sense of curiosity.
Exclusivity Is A Powerful Tool
Create a sense of exclusivity and you will see people desperate to attend because they will feel important. That is something most people find hard to ignore. How you do this is up to you. It could be that you set up an invite-only email or perhaps only those with direct contact with the founders and employees can get in. Another great way to get this sense of exclusivity is to make the invite plus one only. When you do this, your guests will start to predict who may be inside, what kind of networking they could do and that feeling of being anyone that is anyone.
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