Trade Show Tactic Taps into Taste

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As you step out onto the trade show floor, rows of multicolored banner displays and spectacularly lit trade show booths compete for your attention.  While drawing the crowd’s attention is important, what you really want to draw is booth traffic.  How can your pop up display stand out in the cacophony of sensory overload?  One web-based computer-game company found a solution by looking beyond the visual appeal.

When Good Old Games, Ltd. set their goals for the PAX Prime in 2011, they knew it would take some creative thinking to stand out at this trade show dedicated to gaming community. And though their trade show booth, decked out in oriental rugs, overstuffed arm chairs and a quilt rack, did stand out from the surrounding pop up displays for the homey look alone, what drew traffic from across the trade show floor was the wafting scent of fresh baked cookies.

Attendees stepping into the convention center immediately picked up the scent of chocolate chip cookies coming fresh from the oven and, in the midst of thumping music and flashing lights, steadfastly followed their noses past the surrounding trade show booths in search of the source.  To help them in their search, grey haired “booth babes” in flour dusted aprons shuffled through the crowd with plates of cookies, and directions to Good Old Games, Ltd. location of the trade show floor.

While the visual creativity of granny booth babes and a trade show booth displaying itself as Grandma’s parlor played an important part in the booth’s popularity, the big draw was the free cookies being drawn hot out of an in-booth oven and being served on napkins sporting the company’s logo.

The surrounding pop-up displays had no complaints as they spent the trade show enjoying not only the smell of fresh baked cookies, but also found a captive audience for their own promotions as the crowds gathered in line to wait for a snack.

In the end, Good Old Games, Ltd. well exceeded their goals.  Hoping to attract at least 7000 attendees to their trade show booth, they wound up entertaining 20,000 visitors. And the impression traveled beyond the display, as the company experienced a 30% uptick in their web traffic (once again exceeding their own set goal of a 10% increase).

Brand Loyalty Pops Up on the Trade Show Floor

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Brand loyalty has long been a cornerstone of good marketing, but in today’s highly competitive market, its importance is only increasing.  Last spring Forbes.com interviewed Jeff Mancini, Director of Digital Strategy for Interbrand on the subject of building brand loyalty.  “Strong brands are working to deepen the relationship with their consumers,” said Mancini.  Trade shows not only offer a venue for relationships to spark and grow, but they counter every pitfall of marketing which Mancini mentioned:

  1. Don’t Sell –This may seem counter intuitive in the world of business, but today’s consumers are wary of anything that reeks of marketing.  When you set up your pop-up display on the trade show floor you create a space where you can engage with your customers.  This face to face engagement creates the good will which fosters brand loyalty.  Whether you are engaging  a customer for the first time at your trade show booth, or inviting an existing customer to visit your pop-up display once they arrive at the event, you are building  those relationships that create brand loyalty and  yield you valuable word of mouth marketing.
  2. Don’t Pawn –Direct engagement with customers and clients is key.  Just as important as your eye catching retractable banner stands is a well trained staff that is knowledgeable about your company or products.  From the trade show booth, you can get customer feedback, answer questions, and introduce your newest products.  This direct exchange between company and client empowers customers and builds value for your products.
  3. Don’t Conform – Today’s customers value experiences.  Experiences keep customers engaged and get them talking.  Today’s conferences and trade shows have become experiences in themselves as event promoters weave together media, technology, entertainment, education and the promise of cutting edge product debuts for attendees.   Businesses have begun to boost traffic to their trade show booths with games and contests, or the addition of high tech interactive display elements.  Attendees seeking all the latest and greatest an industry has to offer will be on the trade show floor.   The question becomes how will your pop-up display engage them and give them an experience worth remembering?

Trade Show Success Begins with the Right Venue

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In order to get the best possible ROI for your banner stands, pop up displays and trade show booths, you need to know your venue.  From industry trade shows to community fairs, any number of venues could meet the marketing goals of your trade show booth or banner displays, but to really pump up the marketing impact of your pop up display you will want to ask:

 

 

1)      How is the show being promoted?

You’ve invested in eye catching graphics for your banner stands and pop up displays, but until they catch the eyes of you target audience, the investment won’t pay off.  Poorly promoted exhibitions and trade show may have you setting up your trade show booth on a sparsely populated floor.  Contact the venue or convention organizers beforehand and inquire about their marketing plan.  Will the show be promoted through newspapers, direct mail, and/or radio and TV ads? Is the marketing budget and strategy designed to draw the demographic you seek for your pop up display or trade show booth?

2)       Is there a dedicated website for the show?

The direct marketing benefit of having a trade show booth or pop up display on the convention floor increases when you have access to a central website.  Not only will this allow you to research and contact attendees in advance with invitations to visit your trade show booth, but, after the event, it can be a follow up tool for leads obtained during the show.  In addition, a dedicated website gives the assurance of good communication with the venue and organizers.  If the venue doesn’t permit you to park that vehicle in your trade show booth or string helium balloons from your banner stand, you’ll want to know that beforehand.

3)      Will there be incentives for attendees to visit all trade show booths?

Venues and organizers can encourage attendees to visit as many pop up displays as possible during the show by offering incentives, such as a punch card to be marked at each trade show booth visited.  By entering completed cards in a prize drawing the venue encourages attendees to stop by as many pop up displays as possible.

 

Sandy Surges through Convention Schedules

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On the afternoon of Sunday, October 28th exhibitors at the JA Special Delivery New York had only just begun to welcome traffic to their trade show booths when they received the announcement that City and State officials, eyeing the approaching Super Storm Sandy, had declared a mandatory evacuation of the Javits Center. Show officials responded and by 3:00 Sunday afternoon, pop up displays and banner stands were being packed back into their molded cases and carry bags for storage and transport.

Once  the storm hit, a surge from the Hudson River flooded portions of Level 1 where only hours earlier over 700 jewelry merchants had decked the floors with  banners stands, pop up displays and trade show booths all ready to move inventory for the upcoming holiday season.   Though a state-of-the-art renovation of the popular Convention Center which sits on Midtown’s West Side is currently underway, Tuesday morning found center officials
The Javits Center soon posted that both the ISC East conference and the Advanced Energy 2012 Expo had both been postponed.  Even if the center could have had itself up and ready to welcome a new wave of retractable banner stands and pop up exhibits, the city was in no state to welcome them just yet.  Extensive power outages had paralyzed segments of the city, while flooding had closed tunnels and bridges, and had evinspecting the building’s systems, and assessing the damages which came in on the heels of the surging West Hudson.  Before the floor could open to yet another shows worth of banner stands, pop up exhibits and trade show displays, there would be some work to do.en shut down the subway system making Manhattan an island once again.Officials for the Security Industry trade show, ISCEast quickly assured exhibitors
The one event which wasn’t put off by the historic storm was an event where the participants bring neither banner stands, nor pop up displays.  Now in its forty second year, the New York City Marathon will kick off as planned from the Javitz during the ING New York City Marathon Health and Fitness Expo.  The Expo, on the other hand, is sure to fill the Javits Exhibition Halls with tradeshow booths once again.that they would provide storage at no extra cost for exhibitors whose tradeshow booths and exhibits had already shipped to the Javits.  Those who needed to ship their banner stands and pop up displays out of the city would obviously need to wait until the surrounding streets, not to mention the three major airports, had reopened.

Set Up and Storage on the Trade Show Floor

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You’ve designed your display, picked out your trade show schedule and shipped you modular pop up pieces to your first Trade Show.  Now what?

Now you will face the hurdle of set up and storage, and again, you may find yourself in a territory rife with foreign sounding terms.  To help smooth your debut on the Trade Show floor you may need to know a few of the words you may be thrown.  It always helps to not have a blank look on your face when someone says ” You heading to the Boneyard?  I’ll walk with you.”

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Shipping to the Show

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Though the Trade Show is a venue that expands across all professions, few professions are actually centered around trade shows.  If you are a business person or tradesman on your way to your first Trade Show, getting you equipment shipped and ready make take you through what feels like a foreign country with its own lingo and road signs written in an incomprehensible script.  So to help you prepare I offer you a few translations (with the understanding that there are international terms that may differ still from these. . .)  Let’s begin with some of the shipping terms you may run into: Continue reading →

Facing the Fan Page

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If you have invested in a portable trade show display, you are going to want to see some traffic come through that display.  Just showing up is no longer enough.  In today’s world, you need to be connected to the social networks and one important marketing tool is the Facebook Fan page.  Many of today’s tradeshows will have their own Facebook Fan Page, and, as an exhibitor, you will want to make sure you join that page in order to stay abreast of all the news updates, announcements and calendar information for the event.

However, as a vendor who plans to be displaying at the trade show, a Facebook Fan Page is no less important.  Here are just a few of the ways in which  to use a Facebook Fan page to your advantage:

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Information Overload

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Today I want to keep this short and sweet.  Why?  Because, go on too long and people tune out.  The internet is not unlike a trade show.  You glance at a page and maybe it captures your attention, maybe not.  If you want to have a successful experience on the trade show floor, you have to know that much of the interaction you will have over the course of the show will not be in depth sales and service.  You want to attract new leads, and you want to get good leads.  This isn’t done with flashy show tactics or bombshell booth babes, and it certainly isn’t done with overblown promises without the product to back it up.  If what you have is a product or service worth having then give them the gist on the trade show floor, the road to follow up on, and then a way to touch base after the show.  The quality of your product is established in its development, the follow up can be conducted as long as you have a good system of gathering contact information.  But what about all those things you want to tell them about your product but simply do not have the time or space to do while at the show?

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We Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Badges*

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Just as badges were becoming all the more loaded with helpful contact information to quickly scan and download off the visiting booth attendee, someone figured out a way to slip the system.  Well, it’s hardly a nationwide movement, but it did make a debut asan official “movement” at the recent SXSW conference when an organized group of individuals chose not to register for a badge.  We’re not talking one or two, but a large enough number to qualify it as a movement which drew note.   Well, Austin has always enjoyed bucking the system (despite being the capitol of Texas,or perhaps because).  And with Austin  being a town full of college students, it’s rather naive to think you can wave a national music, film and tech conference in front of the city’s population and then expect them to simply look away if they don’t have the $450 to $1250 it takes to attend the interactive event. Granted, without a badge, participation is limited, but SXSW has grown into an event which exceeds its own definitions. There are almost as many unsanctioned events and activities which have sprung up around the festival as there are sanctioned.

They may not be of the same caliber, however they are building over time into a part of the event.  SXSW is not alone as the “trendy” trade shows and exhibitions have seen their attendance actually shoot up in recent years.  So, what to think of these badge-less rebels?

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Seek Your Geeks

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Here’s an important marketing question to ask yourself: How much of your customer base is nerds?  Geeks?  How many just might be spending the weekend speaking in Klingon?  Why does it matter?  Well, say you have invested in a spiffy portable trade show display.  You used it at the major industry show but now what are you going to do with it?  If your product line is something that can be consumed, enjoyed, or employed by nerds and other pockets of enthusiasts, you may want to find one of the many off-the-mainstream conventions and gatherings.  Embrace the fringe and you may not only find whole new venues for marketing, but you might get some cross marketing bump as you become the beverage associated with vampires or space pirates.  So, check out the possibilities and see if any of these might overlap with your customer base:

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