I’m a fan of the ABC show ‘Shark Tank’ where entrepreneurs pitch an investment opportunity in their business to 5 millionaire potential investors. The ’sharks’ in turn ask the hard questions about the product or business and individually or collectively decide if they want to invest in the business.
Last night’s episode (#113) featured a product called ‘Grease Monkey Wipes‘. The product itself ended up with the investment from 2 of the sharks which was cool, but it was the first product I’ve watched on the show where the logo (shown right) was given such high praise from the panel. The YouTube clip shows one example of the sharks noting the logo, but from memory, there were at least 5 or 6 references to how great the logo/brand/monkey was.
Intrigued as to the designer behind this ‘awesome’ brand I decided to try and find out who designed the logo. Strangely enough, I am yet to find the mystery designer or agency anywhere – even after extensive searching.
I’m perplexed why this designer wouldn’t have attempted to leverage this awesome exposure. I know I wasn’t looking for someone to design a logo for me, but I’m sure there were dozens of people who were, and an endorsement from a panel of millionaires I’m sure would have been just the hook that would have flooded this designer with work – at least for the short time.
Unfortunately, television exposure such as this is like fire and ice. You need to take advantage of it within 72 hours or it’s lost forever – pending some additional peaks if the show is re-run int he future.
I’ve had one of my own clients being featured on a major network television show (although on a much smaller scale), but I ensured the links were in place that if someone wanted to find out who the designer was – it was quite a simple process. Now, I wasn’t flooded with work requests, but I did notice a spike in traffic to my site which is really what you’re looking for.
If you’re in a similar situation here’s some pointers on leveraging the exposure;
1. Get your portfolio up to date. You want to make sure all of these new visitors are seeing the best of your work. Make sure the logo is easily seen in your portfolio. You don’t want people to find your site & wonder why they can’t see it.
2. Write a blog article about your design process of that specific logo. Make sure you include the business name as well as the television show it will appear on (for keyword snagging).
3. Make sure you get it all online at least a week before it airs.
4. Upload the logo to a major public gallery (like logopond.com) and make sure there’s a link back to the article and/or your site. This is essential if you have a tight timeline before it airs.
5. Link to the article on related forums and social media (twitter, facebook, linkedin etc..)
I’d love to hear what other things would you recommend to maximize your leverage?
