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John Hamari

John Hamari
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Delighting the Customer

Posted by John Hamari on Jun 30, 2020 10:45:00 AM
Go Beyond Customer Satisfaction

If you’re with a long-standing company, you probably have loads of repeat customers or customers who’ve been with you through thick and thin. You might assume it’s because you’re the best or they are pleased as punch. In reality, these customers might be sticking around out of convenience or habit or because nothing better has come along for them. That’s not the same as loyalty.

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Topics: Nashville trade show marketing, marketing, Knoxville trade show marketing, Trade Show Displays in Nashville, trade show exhibiting, Trade Show Exhibits Knoxville, trade show exhibits Nashville, tradeshows, experiential marketing, Retail Marketing, marketing and advertising, customer centricity, Amazon

Amazon: 5 Lessons Learned for Trade Show Marketers

Posted by John Hamari on Jun 16, 2020 10:45:00 AM

Recently, Amazon announced the creation of its “Operations Center of Excellence” right here in my hometown of Nashville. This $230 million investment will focus on improvements and innovation in customer fulfillment, transportation, supply chain, and related functions. Its footprint will be evident as the behemoth covers a million square feet and employs 5,000 people.

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Topics: Nashville trade show marketing, marketing, Knoxville trade show marketing, Trade Show Displays in Nashville, trade show exhibiting, Trade Show Exhibits Knoxville, trade show exhibits Nashville, tradeshows, experiential marketing, Retail Marketing, marketing and advertising, customer centricity, Amazon

Design for Memorability - 15 Keys for Exhibit Design

Posted by John Hamari on May 29, 2018 11:00:00 AM

Anyone who has ever been part of the creative process knows firsthand that designing trade show exhibits can prove a challenge in all the best and worst ways. Creatively, business executives love getting the chance to flex their marketing muscles and design trade show exhibits that effectively capture the very essence of their brand. However, achieving that goal can prove a daunting challenge.

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Topics: Nashville trade show marketing, trade show marketing, design, booth design, exhibit design, trade show exhibits Nashville, Tradeshow event, trade show leads

10 Tips for Stretching Your Trade Show Budget

Posted by John Hamari on May 22, 2018 11:12:00 AM


Stretching an already tight budget can be a challenge and the trick is to pursue savings that are transparent to the attendees at your exhibit space.  Whether you’re planning your company’s initial launch into trade shows or taking over an exhibit schedule previously handled by another trade show manager, the associated costs can be a little intimidating. If your budget is limited, these 10 tips can help you get the most out of your exhibit dollars:

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Topics: Nashville trade show marketing, trade show marketing, trade show exhibits Nashville, Tradeshow event, trade show leads, budget, marketing budget, ROI, return on investment, budgeting and measurement, trade show planning and logistics

14 Ways to Avoid Trade Show Theft, Thieving, and Other Types of Chicanery

Posted by John Hamari on May 8, 2018 10:51:44 AM


You don’t need to go to Las Vegas to gamble, all you have to do is bring something of high value to a trade show. Everyone is faced with the common problem of theft on the show floor. That being said, I wanted to share some of the tricks of the trade that we have employed over time to take preventative action:

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Topics: Nashville trade show marketing, trade show marketing, trade show exhibits Nashville, Tradeshow event, trade show leads, protecting your trade show booth, theft deterrent

Don't Tell Me - Let Me Try...

Posted by John Hamari on May 1, 2018 10:55:36 AM

Experiential Marketing At Trade Shows

Some things must be felt, seen, tasted, smelled, attempted, or heard in order to be believed.  Through a campaign, we can tell someone what we think or how great our offering is, however there is no replacement for showing someone face to face and allowing them to experience it for themselves.

Experiential marketing allows your skeptical prospects or most dedicated customers to develop an emotional investment in your products or services, literally helping them shape your brand’s evolution. Another by-product of this is shortening the sales cycle because the prospects and clients are becoming more comfortable with who and what they are purchasing.

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Topics: Insider, Nashville trade show marketing, marketing, trade show marketing, trade show exhibits Nashville, Tradeshow event, trade show leads, branding, F2F, face to face marketing, B2B, client relationships, experiential marketing

Top 20 Fun Trade Show Activities...The Must Do's

Posted by John Hamari on Apr 3, 2018 10:55:00 AM

Trade shows are a serious marketing medium in which we invest billions of dollars. In our quest to achieve business results, we often talk about getting the highest ROI (Return on Investment) or ROO (Return on Objectives).  But what about the greatest ROF (Return on Fun)… more specifically, how do we make the shows fun for ourselves?

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Topics: Nashville trade show exhibits, marketing, trade show displays, trade show exhibiting, trade show exhibits, Trade Show Exhibits Knoxville, trade shows, environments, trade show leads, ROI, return on investment, F2F, face to face marketing, B2B, client relationships

6 Steps to Effective Lead Management

Posted by John Hamari on Mar 20, 2018 10:59:35 AM

An alarming statistic is that 79% of Trade Show Leads are never followed up on… how crazy is that?  There are tools that abound to make all of our lives easier when it comes to lead management.  Most exhibitors have replaced the old “business card fishbowls” with badge scanners and software. But far too many exhibitors are still merely collecting as many cold prospects as possible and handing them over to sales. That approach can make the follow-up sales efforts overwhelming. Using the following six lead management steps will ensure your lead generation efforts identify the quality leads.

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Topics: Nashville trade show exhibits, marketing, trade show exhibits, Trade Show Exhibits Knoxville, trade shows, trade show leads, sales leads

Growing Brand Advantage

Posted by John Hamari on Mar 6, 2018 11:47:15 AM

We all know that branding has intrinsic value, but how much value can actually ascribe to a “Brand”… more specifically our brand.  This is no small question and one that is challenging to answer.

Consider this simple example pulled from each of our everyday lives. When we visit the drug store or grocery store and we have to choose between the “store brand” version of a product or the branded version positioned right next to it on the shelf.  The dilemma that faces us in that moment is do we compromise on perceived quality and go for the less expensive “store branded” version?  It seems like there would be a lot of us that would pick the less expensive option… Not true. 

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Topics: Nashville trade show exhibits, marketing, trade show exhibits, Trade Show Exhibits Knoxville, trade shows, branding

Priceless...Yet Free

Posted by John Hamari on Feb 6, 2018 10:58:43 AM


5 Ideas for Client Engagement

No one wants to be replaced, as a company or a person, and having remarkable client engagement that eclipses that of your competitors makes you hard to replace.  Once we differentiate ourselves we become difficult to switch out with other companies that do the same thing that we do.  The best part about delivering this intangible value to clients is that it is fairly low cost or no cost, but essential to success. 

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Topics: marketing, trade show displays Knoxville, trade show exhibiting, trade show exhibits, trade show exhibits Nashville, tradeshows, branding, client relationships

10 Convincing Points Why Trade Shows are Worth the Spend

Posted by John Hamari on Jan 23, 2018 10:54:29 AM

As your company's Marketing Warrior, you know the value of trade shows in generating leads and cultivating existing client relationships.  However, with a tight marketing budget you need some ammunition to convince the powers that be that the spend on trade shows is well worth the expense.  Here are some talking points to help you when your boss asks, "Why are we spending so much on trade shows?"

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Topics: trade show exhibiting, Trade Show Exhibits Knoxville, trade show exhibits Nashville, tradeshows, marketing budget, ROI, return on investment

Annual Brand Checkup

Posted by John Hamari on Jan 9, 2018 2:38:40 PM

How Is Your Brand Health?

“How healthy is our brand and what kind of return are we receiving?” This common question looms in the minds of marketers far and wide who wrestle with this on a regular basis. As we begin 2018 and reflect back on 2017, we will inevitably consider each phase of our marketing mix and ask this very question. Upon reflection, it becomes a fair bit more challenging to evaluate how well people are adopting our brand or further yet, verifying if it is supporting what we stand for. So let’s look at one option for the question of “How do I measure our brand?” Here are some simple litmus tests that can be used to measure how "sticky" our brand is... and the health of our brand.

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Topics: trade show exhibiting, Trade Show Exhibits Knoxville, trade show exhibits Nashville, vision, marketing budget

Key to Success: FAILURE... What?

Posted by John Hamari on Jan 4, 2018 3:53:56 PM

Failure is Not Fatal

One of the better sources for business success I have found is by observing everyday life and applying the principles I’ve learned to what we do inside our organizations. A great example is a recent ski trip to Vail Colorado and watching snow boarders who were still in their teens or younger.  They gather their courage at the edge of the run and dive straight in.  The kids attempt a trick or move, and I can tell you the majority of the time they fail and “kiss the snow.”  When they fall, they pop back up and turn around and try it again… and again, until they get it or run out of sunlight.  There is even a fairly good crowd gathered that will hoot, howl and whistle at epic failures.  It is counterintuitive, but these kids are celebrating the failure they just watched - knowing the success it will lead to.  These kids understand something that many organizations miss, that one key ingredient to getting better at snowboarding [or anything] is failure.  You will not get better unless you take some risks and fail, then try again until you accomplish what you set out to do.

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Topics: marketing, success, failure, corporate culture

Tactical Engagement-2

Click Here for Your Free eBook

Decide on the right tactics for attracting attendees to your trade show booth by gaining understanding of the relationship between the attendee and you, the exhibitor.

Key Takeaways Include:

  • Paralysis by analysis is a very real thing.
  • Who's at the end of the colored carpet?
  • What's the perfect promotion?

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