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The Promotional Idea Showcase - Fall 2000 - Updated
Quarterly
ENERGIZE YOUR EXHIBITS
by Karen Akers |
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| Let’s face it. Trade show exhibiting is hard
work. But a solid plan and some unique promotional products can make this arduous task
easier. Here’s how: |
Trade shows are one of the fastest growing, most effective
marketing tools today. In 1997, nearly 20% of $73 billion in business-to-business spending
went toward exhibiting at trade shows, according to the Center for Exhibition Industry
Research (CEIR). It also found that exhibiting at trade shows jumped from the fifth
most-popular B2B marketing tactic in ’95 to the third most-popular in ’97.
But are all of those marketing dollars well spent? If not, you could be undervaluing your
company’s show presence. Are you getting the most out of your exhibits? Consider some
tips from firms with front-line experience:
Before The Show
After setting your objectives, you’ll need to figure out how you’re going to get
people into your booth. To that end, work closely with your counselor to make sure your
marketing theme is consistent throughout all show materials – ads, the booth itself,
staff attire, signage and gifts.
Pre-show mailings are essential to your success at a show, asserts Susan Friedmann, the
“Trade Show Coach” and author of Still More Secrets of Successful Exhibiting.
She suggests using every existing means of communication to invite prospects to your booth
– mail, faxes, e-mail, postcards, stickers on invoices, etc. Give people a reason to
come to your booth. Things like “See our new product” or “Try a free sample”
offer far more of an incentive to showgoers than a mailing that simply says, “Come
visit us.”
Research shows that logoed products enhance pre-show promotions. CEIR found that pre-show
mailings including imprinted gifts can increase booth traffic almost three times beyond a
mailing without a gift. In fact, carefully planned direct-mail campaigns can frequently
pull double-digit response rates – 30% or more in many cases.
You should also check to see if the show has a Web site. Find out if your information is
automatically listed, if you can have an enhanced page, a link to your own page or place a
banner ad. These sites often remain active long after a show’s over – along with
your company’s message.
Traffic Builders
You’ve promoted, set up and staffed the booth. Now it’s time to draw in the
attendees. Some suggestions on traffic building:
1. Hook ’em and reel ’em in. There’s no better way to get
someone’s attention than giving him no choice but to interact with your product.
Promotional consultant Bob Lederer is fond of throwing foam stress balls to passersby.
“It immediately puts a smile on their face. It’s like throwing a fishing line
out into the water,” he says. “You’ve done something sort of funny and nice
at the same time.”
Counselor Darrell Marriot did a show promotion for Integrated Chipware that included
stressballs as a juggling set. Recipients juggled (or tried to) for hours. In addition, he
created a unified presence for Integrated at the show. The shapes and colors of the stress
balls were reproduced throughout the booth on shirts, ties and earrings worn by staffers,
as well as on custom mousepads and screensavers. The client liked the promotion so much it
used it the following year, this time adding a professional juggler to draw even more
people.
2. Make a racket. Counselor Vicki Moran had a client who wanted to do
just that. The solution: imprinted paddleballs. Attendees quickly became addicted to the
toys and paddled them all over the show floor. The client, a computer firm, was so pleased
with the results it made paddle balls a regular part of its exhibit.
Consider holding a noisy contest, like yodeling, blowing whistles or playing harmonicas.
People from all over the floor will tend to follow their ears to your booth to see what’s
going on.
Of course, when doing something noisy, you also have to know just how long to make it
last. There’s a line between amusing and annoying that shouldn’t be crossed.
Intervals generally work best.
3. Use the show’s own marketing opportunities. Advertise in the show
guide or publication. Your message is right where you want it to be: in front of people
planning their show visit. If there’s a show media kit, include imprinted products.
You can even offer to have them printed with both the show’s and your own logo.
Some exhibiting firms offer passport programs, where attendees must get a card stamped by
several participating booths to be entered into a prize drawing. Getting involved in such
programs increases your up-front costs, but then, how much would you pay to almost
guarantee hundreds of prospects will seek out your booth? Of course, it’s a challenge
to separate genuine leads from those just in it for the prize drawing. But you can often
ask people to fill out lead cards, interact with the staff or answer a few questions
before you stamp their forms. Donating a big-ticket item (big-screen TV, DVD player) for a
show drawing also gets a firm’s name out there. Weigh the exposure against the cost.
4. Be trendy. Keep aware of hot trends. As the ’90s ended, a number
of elements combined to create the love of all things retro, whether it be ’40s swing
or ’70s disco. Granted, predicting the next big thing (Hawaiian-style shirts?
Japanimation à la The Powerpuff Girls?) is tricky, and being trendy can shorten the life
of your display. But if you latch on to a trend as it’s growing, attendees will
absolutely notice.
5. Create a challenge. Games draw crowds. Try blackjack, poker, roulette,
game wheels, golf putting, softball/football throwing, soccer ball kicking, maybe even a
dunking booth. Tying a game to your message can make it work harder for you. A
pharmaceutical company used a Jeopardy-like game with a wheel that was a replica of its
new birth-control pill pack.
6. Wine and dine ’em. Booths that offer free food seem consistently
busy. You don’t have to be a food products company. Chocolate is always a favorite,
but cookies, hard candy, ice cream, miniature hot dogs, etc., will draw hungry showgoers,
too.
Some shows allow alcoholic beverages in the exhibit hall. A booth handing out drinks will
probably be one of the most popular at the show, but keep the per-person distribution
moderate; you want patrons to remember your sales pitch the next day, after all.
7. Make your booth sexy. Yes, even in today’s politically correct
world, sex still sells. Attractive people, well-known or not, can have visitors lined up.
One company showcased Miss USA. Attendees were photographed with her and the cameras were
distributed as premiums. But it doesn’t have to be limited to pretty women; some
booths have used Mr. Universe types with equal success.
8. Show a slice of life. Lifestyle displays place products/services in
settings showing how they can be used. One magnet company featured its products on a
refrigerator sitting in its booth. Another company that sold sports-related goods made its
space look like a locker room.
9. Get some wheels. Maybe it’s a remnant of watching game shows, but
people are naturally attracted to cars on show floors. Classic or expensive models tend to
work best, but you don’t have to limit yourself to them. Ask attendees to fill out
lead cards as raffle entries for a year’s lease on a Porsche, Jaguar, Humvee or even
Volkswagen Beetle or Dodge Viper. Enlist the car’s dealer and manufacturer as
co-sponsors, and it may be more affordable than you think. One firm even leased out a
Rolls Royce Silver Shadow.
If leasing’s out of your budget, renting a notable car just for the show can also
steer in a lot of traffic. Think of the attention something like a 1938 Duesenberg or 2000
Ferrari Testarossa would generate. A chemical additives firm showcased an antique car to
commemorate its anniversary and target auto-industry showgoers who would use its products.
It worked. Of course, you’ll need a slightly larger space if you decide to go this
route.
10. Let fame rub off. If you can swing it financially, having a celebrity
in your booth signing autographs or chatting with visitors can draw all kinds of crowds,
espically if it’s someone who’s particularly hot with the public. You can draw
from sports or show business figures. And, the time they spend with you need not be all
that long. At a recent show, one company featured baseball Hall-of-Famer Fergie Jenkins
signing autographs for two hours. People were lined up nearly the length of the exhibit
hall. Just make sure they have to come into the booth first. The thing you want to ensure,
however, is that you get a celeb people have heard of; if you can’t afford it, it’s
better to go another route than book someone who was in a TV sitcom 25 years ago and has
only worked dinner theatres since.
11. Share your expertise. Consider giving a workshop or seminar at the
show. A successful presentation can set you up as an expert and give you a captive
audience – and you’ll increase awareness of your company and industry. In the
same vein, videos about your products can also work. Just be sure neither is too long or
too boring. Consider it from the listener’s point of view; they might welcome the
opportunity to sit for a while, but they are there to see the rest of the show, too.
Decisions, Decisions
No matter what industry you’re in, chances are there are trade shows that meet your
needs. Counselor Philip Davis recommends industry-specific shows because of their
clear-cut demographics. “We believe the best shows are [those] with a specific target
attendeeship,” he says. “This allows you to focus on the clientele and know,
before you get to the floor, who you’ll be dealing with and what you’ll be
saying.”
So, how to choose where to exhibit? The first step is to keep an eye out for upcoming
events. Watch newspapers for information or use the Net. Start with trade show sites or a
regional information site such as Digital City (digitalcity.com),
CitySearch (citysearch.com) or Yahoo Get Local (http://local.yahoo.com).
Find out as much about the show as possible before buying booth space. Statistics,
including exhibitor lists, from previous years can give you a good idea of who attends and
what it’s about. If possible, attend a show before exhibiting, “Observe the
traffic flow and other exhibitors,” Marriot says. “Pay special attention to the
number of attendees. Talk to exhibitors about whether their expectations are being met.”
Karen Akers is associate editor of Imprint. |
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