The Kent Business Show: A lesson in branding
For the second year in a row, Red and White Media Limited exhibited at The Kent Business Show at the Ashford International Hotel. This event is not only a great opportunity to showcase our business and what we do, but also a valuable case study in marketing and branding.
According to the organisers, KBS 2026 featured over 80 exhibitors and saw over 1,000 visitors come through the doors on the day. Personally, we found it rewarding and exhausting, as we had a non-stop stream of visitors to our stand from 9 am to around 1 pm. Thankfully, as there were two of us on the stand this year, it enabled me to go and listen to two of the many panel sessions featuring influential Kent businesses and leaders.
Now that I’ve had time to ruminate further on the day, I realise that an event like this offers the perfect opportunity to think about branding; what it really is, how to do it well, and what it can do for your business. We received so many compliments on the day about our branding. We were fully colour-coordinated and logoed up, from the banners, goody bags, leaflets, chocolates and pens, right down to the red tablecloth and the branded polo shirts and hoodies. It paid off - I had several conversations about how important branding is, and how it can really make a business stand out.
Why should you bother with branding? Here are my top three reasons:
It makes you memorable
At least three people said our branding made them think of Arsenal Football Club! In case you missed it, we are massive, lifelong Arsenal fans, so although some people might see this as a negative, I take it as a compliment! I want people to make that connection, because it’s personal to me. I named the company Red and White Media in a nod to my late father, who took me to Arsenal games from the age of 15 onwards. It was always our ‘thing’, the activity that we did together, just for us. Unfortunately, he died some years ago, so he never got to see me running my own business, but I like to think he would be proud, and this is my way of honouring that bond between us.
Stand-out branding makes you recognisable
For two years in a row, visitors and other exhibitors told me that my branding was visible as soon as they started walking down our aisle. Some people even recognised me from last year, because they remembered the colours and the company name. When I started my journey, several peers told me I was making a mistake using red, because it’s a universal colour for danger. I worried about this for months, until a networking contact told me that red also signifies luck in some cultures. At this year’s show, a contact pointed out that red is also the colour of love; I love writing and marketing, so I’ll take that! The point is, people are starting to hold Red and White Media in their minds, because our brand is recognisable: this also circles back to point 1.
Consistency builds trust
Okay, I’ll admit that one visitor to the stand actually whistled and said, “That is a LOT of red!” I worried for about five seconds, until he said, “At least it makes you consistent.” I hadn’t thought about this aspect of our branding, but he’s right. We show up to events and networking either wearing red and white, or writing in a red notebook, or even carrying a red handbag. People I meet are now starting to refer to me as ‘the red and white lady’ (if you’ve been following my journey, you will know that in my previous business, I was known as the ‘pink lady’ for the same reason). People expect me to show up in a certain way; it makes me consistent, and consistency builds trust. Without that, clients won’t come knocking.
It was fascinating to walk the aisles, talk to other businesses, and take a look at the branding on other stands. Some businesses were obviously well-established, while others were newer, but most had one thing in common - they had their branding nailed. Sure, some of the companies present were quite low-key and perhaps not as in-your-face as we were, but others were absolutely out there in terms of their colours, logos, branded products and apparel. I recognised many of those businesses from last year’s show.
We marketers talk a lot about the importance of branding, and ‘living’ your brand (some of us do this more than others!). Is it necessary to build a business? I would say yes, although you don’t have to be as colourful and vibrant as we are. But for the reasons outlined above and more, taking a consistent approach to your branding enables people to remember you, build a relationship with you, and hopefully put you at the forefront of their minds when they need your products or services.
If you haven’t yet built a brand, or you aren’t sure where to start, get in touch. We’re more than happy to give advice and have an informal chat about our experience of branding during our journey so far, having built two businesses on the back of it.
