Good promotion or Bad promotion?

Last week, some of us represented our company at a career fair in a reputed school in California. Our neighbors were from an organization that is into social media and very popular among students these days. They were giving away free t-shirts which people seemed to take quite a liking for. At about noon, when the crowd started dispersing for lunch, a relatively older looking lady stopped by their booth. She did not look like she was interested in looking for a job at the fair. She seemed to be awed by their impressive booth design. She probably fancied getting one of those free t-shirts too. She approached them and asked for a t-shirt but the gentleman behind the booth snapped “Ma’am these are only for students!” 

She patiently asked him “Why is that? What is the purpose of the free giveaways anyway?”

He said “They are meant for students to keep. It is a company initiative for marketing our brand name in the student community.”

She replied “Well, my friend, you seem to have decided that I am not good enough to promote your brand name. With today’s experience, I have not been left with much to say about your company. If one of my students asks me about you, I wonder what my response would be. Do you think you have done a good job at brand promotion today? Or do you think you may have lost a great marketing opportunity?” And just like that, she left. 

Isn’t it amazing that every time we interact with someone, we convey a message. This message could do a good promotion or a bad promotion of who we represent. At events like trade shows, we are an image of our company. At global events, we are sometimes an image of our country. In a much more personal group, we are an image of ourselves. What do you want your image to look like?