The Monster That Ate the Trade Show

Recently I attended the national conference for SHRM, the Society of Human Resource Managers. A big player at this large conference was Monster.com. Given this audience's relevance to them, it was no surprise that they decided to own the show.

I had planned to summarize their strategy for you here but I found an article from Exhibitor Online that explains in great detail their Monster trade show strategy first established at SHRM a couple years ago. (Just change New Orleans to DC and you'd basically have this year's show.)

A top notch strategy by a top notch (and innovative) outfit.

I love trade shows for a couple of different reasons ...

1. They're like marketing amusement parks
2. They generate new leads and business but they also ...
   
3. Provide important opportunities for brand interaction

It's this last point that gets to be sticky for Ricky ROI. You know the guy I'm talking about. The one at the end of the conference room table that questions trade shows all the time because of the sticker shock. Then you have to get into metrics that sell him on lead acquisition cost, etc.

Really, I think that lead acquisition can only be part of your objective at a trade show. There's something else at play on the trade show floor. It's several brands fighting for position in the already crowded real-estate of a consumer's mind. But at the end of the day, I think you've got to be there. (The caveat of course is that this is a relevant show to your audience, etc. A relationship that Monster has found with SHRM -- it just fits.) At some big industry shows you have to attend simply for perception. It tells your customer that you're a player in this market too.

After you make your case to Ricky ROI and you are resolved to attend, he will next try to flank you at the size and scope of your booth. "Just do a 10' x 10,'" he says, waxing budget management. I have a different axiom at this point: If you are going to go -- then GO! Once you've made the investment in a trade show, upping your real-estate is really a nominal expense and can beef up the perception of your company.

Finally, be like Monster. By that I mean, don't treat a trade show on your calendar like a meeting that you'll be attending. Treat it like an event or complex marketing campaign that you need to plan every detail of. Pre-show, on-site, off-site, post-show -- everything. Their simple act of sending limos to the airport to take arriving attendees to the conference hotels was a stroke of genius. With that they became my personal concierge for this show and were quickly on their way to owning the hearts and minds of many attendees.

After the personal experience one has interacting with a brand at a trade show (fun at the booth with giveaways and product demos, at off-site parties and functions, or even riding in their limos), I have all sorts of positive associations with Monster that Yahoo HotJobs and Career Builder will have a tough time un-doing.

The Point? Trade shows rock. Are they expensive: Hell yes. You can bleed money at these things. But if carefully strategized, you can knock the ball out of the park and get real results (for Ricky ROI) and brand equity (immeasurable -- sorry Ricky) that aren't possible with any other media.

P.S. I'm on a trade show bent. Please email me any great books about trade show marketing. They have to exist but none come to mind. It seems like a sort of bastard channel. I know there are mags like Exhibitor but I'm wondering if there is some book that is the cornerstone of this complex media.