The Marketing Executives Group International

By: Mike Mraz

The path of least resistance leads to nowhere!

I’ve been making presentations to exhibitors for years. Recently I’ve noticed that many of them seem to be planning better. Their strategy is better. They’re finding, learning about and taking advantage of current trends. They are discovering the value of targeted pre-show promotions. Effective exhibit design, even at the 10 foot and table top level, seems to be more prevalent.

The tactics and behavior in the booth once the show starts seems to be stuck in the past. The importance of preparing your exhibit staff certainly isn’t new to anyone. People like me have been pounding that drum for years! The Center for Exhibit Industry Research (CEIR) http://www.ceir.orgroutinely identifies exhibit staff performance as accounting for as much as 85% of the bang for your exhibiting buck.

Fish Bowls, Golf Clubs & Mini Skirts all represent “tactics” that personify trade shows and “conventions” as we knew them. We might as well add the funny hats with the big red fez to the list. As strategy seems to be getting better, these old school tactics seem to still be the default for many exhibitors today.

 O.K., before I get too far into this, I’ll admit that the use of these tactics could be justifiable. With the right “bait” a fish bowl will attract lots of business cards. In fact, I think that one of the most significant factors in the success of the I-pod is their popularity as trade show prizes a.k.a. “fish bowl bait”. You do have to remember that when you offer to give away a free I-pod, what you have when it’s all said and done, is a data base of people who want a free I-pod. Some companies call them “leads”. I call them “fish bowl fodder”. Actually, what the fish bowl provides you with is a data base of people who walked by your exhibit and desire a new I-pod. Wouldn’t it make more sense to loose the fish bowl, keep the I-pod for yourself, exhibit for branding’s sake and purchase the post show list of attendees. This way you’ll have a much more comprehensive list of who attended the event. Think about the reality of what is going on. Someone walks by your exhibit. They see your offer. Motivated by the prize, they drop their business card in the fish bowl. In their heart of hearts do they know that the drawing will be “fixed” and the I-pod will be awarded to some preferred current client? Probably, but optimism prevails and in the fish bowl goes their business card. They also have little or no fear of being badgered by the exhibitor after the show because they know that almost 80% of these “leads” will never be contacted after the event.

Several industries still cling to the Mini Skirt theory. I’m not sure who to be more sorry for, the nice young lady, the drooling attendee, the embarrassed fellow staffers or the rest of us in the industry for having to be associated with such foolery. Hey! I’m no prude! I get it. And I know that there are very legitimate reasons for having “pretty people” (male and/or female) in the booth. In the cosmetics, hair and fashion industries it’s a must. But come on….Mortgage Banking?? I do know that there are some “Professional Exhibit Staffers” out there. I’ve worked with some of them. They take their work very seriously. Sure they can turn some heads on the show floor. But, their own heads aren’t empty! They take pride in knowing as much as they can about the company they’ve been hired to represent and the industry at large. They do their best to support the show floor objectives of the exhibitor. The fact that they are attractive is just an added bonus.

How about the Great Putting Challenge? I know of a national, publicly traded company, who for years used the Great Putting Challenge as their main interaction tactic. And yes, you guessed it! They actually gave away putters to those who successfully drained two consecutive putts. Other golf paraphernalia was awarded to those less fortunate. As you might imagine, great lengths were taken to insure that current clients were successful. This would have made more sense to me if their business had anything even remotely to do with golf. It did not. Putting is one thing. How about the virtual driving range? Talk about a law suit waiting to happen! Same shtick with a bigger stick! Unless you are Nike and can have Tiger Woods in your booth giving free putting lessons and your staff is interacting with the thousands of attendees as they are waiting for their turn, leave the golf clubs at home.

All three of these tactics have been known to attract attention and draw a crowd. In order to create value out of the activity, the exhibitor MUST interact with the participants and capture data for follow up. After all, isn’t skin-to-skin interaction our primary reason for exhibiting?

Mike Mraz is a Minneapolis based Trade Show Strategist. His philosophy, bio and company profile can be found at http://www.linkedin.com/in/mikemraz