Making Trade Shows a Key Branding Tool

Making Trade Shows a Key Branding Tool

by MarkTrue

Ask any 10 marketing managers why they exhibit at trade shows,and nine of them will say they have to be there or their customers and prospectswill think somethings wrong. While thats often very true, its notexactly a ringing endorsement for the millions of dollars organizations spend ontrade shows each year. Often, companies expect very little from trade showsbecause they havent done the hard work before, during and after to achievegreat results. Managing the brand with integrated pre-show planning, on-siteshow activities and postshow follow-up delivers traffic that counts and resultsthat make trade shows a foundation for brand building.

Pre-Show Planning

Many organizations overlook the fact that trade showsrepresent gathering points for an industry. Like the watering holes of theSerengeti, eventually everyone shows up. If youve selected the show or showscarefully, your customers and prospects will be among those at the show. Yourchallenge is to cull your prospects out of the crowd and lure them to yourbooth.

Numerous studies show that between 75 percent and 85 percentof trade show attendees hit the floor with a list of which booths they want tosee, so the task is easier if you focus on the moment before the show, whenprospects are planning. Direct mailwith a unique and relevant messagesentto prospects is the best way to get on their lists. Because of mailbox clutter,however, you need something unique to get their attentionsomethingdimensional, for example. If youre limited to postcards, make them big andsend more than one so you can make an impression when the time is right.

Commit to calling your key prospects four to six weeks beforethe show, asking whether they will be attending. If they are, give them a reasonto stop by your booth: a new product, a new feature or simply a chance to do along overdue review of existing products that may solve new problems. Sales andcustomer service staff can take on this responsibility months before a showtakes place. Keeping a list of trade shows the prospect attends is easier iftheyre assigned a field in the contact database.

When Kemin Foods first launched its FloraGLO Lutein into thefood and beverage market several years ago, it was necessary to communicate themain benefit and give recipients a reason to stop by a relatively small 30-footbooth at the huge IFT Food Expo. Because lutein protects the eyes much like apair of sunglasses, it made sense to utilize a promotion featuring sunglasses tobring interested traffic to the booth. Using a carefully refined internal prospect list, Kemin mailedmore than 500 sunglass cases to prospects and asked the short survey inside bereturned to the booth to receive a free pair of sunglasses. Overall, thepromotion had a return rate of more than 30 percent.

Kemin also used the give-away to confirm the prospectsname, title, telephone number, e-mail and information about future plans forfortifying foods with lutein. When you give away something of value to aprospect, in most cases you can get something in return, like information.

Pre-show work pays off on the show floor. RFI Ingredients tookadvantage of the trade show as a gathering spot during the 2003 SupplySide WestTrade Show in Las Vegas. Throughout the show, the table in the center of the20-by-20 gazebo-like display was used for meetings. Ellen Schutt, RFIsmarketing director, said it was only possible because RFI did its homeworkbefore the show.

The sales staff started 30 days before the show contactingcustomers and prospects to get appointments for specific times, she said. Itworked well because its a low-risk proposition for both RFI and our prospector customer; were both already there, so we save a lot on travel expenses andtravel time. Its very convenient for everybody.

RFI had nearly 20 meetings over the two days at SupplySide,including breakfasts, lunches and dinners, in addition to meetings on the showfloor.

On-Site Activities

Once many exhibitors get to the show, they set up the samedisplay theyve used for years, lay out familiar literature, park themselvesat a table and glue their cell phones to their ears for the next two or threedays. Many dont have new products or services, dont make their existingproducts relevant, and dont invest in sponsorships nor do anything else tostand out from the crowd. Often theyll grouse about slow traffic, complainabout booth location, and accuse show management of not doing enough to supporttheir efforts.

Shows often offer plenty of opportunities to get your name outin front of the crowd with sponsorships. Sponsorships are key to a showsprofitability and, by using creativity, can pay off during and after a show.

Several years ago, a small company was a first-time exhibitorat a cable television trade show in Florida. After an in-depth discussion, wediscovered the companys use of company-owned pickup trucks represented ahigher level of quality to the customer, but its Chevy S-10 truck was too bigfor the 10-by-20 booth. Instead, the booth featured a large photograph of thetruck and the company bought a $3,000 coffee break. Two employees drove one of the companys trucks to the show,had it detailed locally, then had it delivered to the hotel via tow truck andplaced in the hall between the exhibits and the educational sessions. During thefirst morning break, pastries and coffee were served from the back of the pickuptruck, which was styled by the catering staff to differentiate it even more froma plain buffet table. Because of the logistics of removing the truck, it stayedin place until the end of the show two days later, the company logo prominentlydisplayed on the side and the companys booth number exhibited on a signinside the cab. Many visitors to the booth asked specifically about the truckafter seeing it in the lobby.

As a budget saver, offer to provide custom mouse pads or wristrests with your company logo and booth number for the computer booth locator ormessage service thats common at many shows. Or look for other empty spacesthat can be exploited with signsas long as it supports your brand. If itsnot already a formal sponsorship, offer a small fee and ask for right of firstrefusal for future shows.

At the 2001 Nutritionals Show, Kemin expanded on the normalopening night reception and contracted the Bacon Brothers band to give aconcert. The top 20 customers were invited to a meet-and-greet session beforethe show where they received autographed CDs and had photos taken with the band,including with actor Kevin Bacon. The customers watched the one-hour show fromfront-row seats. The integrated activities strengthened customer relationships,raised awareness of the FloraGLO brand among the 500 attendees and createdindustry buzz.

If you dont have a built-in system with your pre-showpromotion (contest, survey, etc.), its a good idea to rent the lead retrievalsystem available at most shows. Even if youre using your own list, you may beable to add more information to your records based on the data supplied byscanning a badge. And you may be able to pick up a prospect you didnt evenknow about who was walking the floor looking for new ideas (though dont baseyour whole effort on finding these prospects). Remember to assign someone tohand-carry the leads back to the office so they dont get lost. Speaking fromexperience: Its hard to follow up on a lead thats been stowed away withthe trade show exhibit!

Post-Show Follow-Up

Even the best pre-show planning and on-site activities canfall short of expectations if the leads gathered at a show are not addressedafter it is over. Part of pre-show planning should include how leads are to befulfilled. Will you offer a special premium item, select technicalliterature or a telephone call?

A common mistake made by many trade show exhibitors is to putevery piece of literature they own on display and hand out bulging pocketfolders full of information. The paper rarely makes it back to the recipientsoffice and often ends up in the hands of your competition. Theyre going toget it one way or the other, but theres no reason to make it easy for them. The biggest problem is that such a tactic leaves the exhibitornothing to send a prospect after the show. By carefully qualifying your leadsand providing only limited literature that meets immediate information needs,you leave yourself an opportunity to follow up with more detailed informationafter the show, perhaps during a personal sales call.

A little work before and during the show pays off after theshow, and makes trade shows a key brand building tool, not just something you have to do.

In his position as brand warrior for the REL Group, Mark True helps clients in a variety of industries discover, refine and leverage their brands with marketing communications. Prior to joining REL, True served as marketing communications manager for Kemin Foods and account executive for Genesis Marketing Communications. He can be reached at[email protected].