Size Doesn't Matter

The first stone thrown at my previous Monster Trade Show post is always, "Yeah, well they're Monster," the detractor says with emphasis on the company name that conjures a giant Philistine of a corporation. And I have a follow up to this implication that we should all remember from David & Goliath: Size doesn't matter. That's what I reminded myself as I was standing there staring at their both like some sort of brand stalker.

At the end of the day, the magical part of what was happening at that booth had nothing to do with how big a company Monster is. Sure the war chest helps launch an effort like that but they have something more important and more rare than money -- acceptance of BIG ideas. These big ideas yield remarkable results. And you don't have to be Monster-sized to yield remarkable results.

A company of one has the capability of producing a trade show presence like Monster's. Careful now, I don't mean literally a 20' x 40' island booth with t-shirts, parties, and limos. I mean a trade show strategy that, at its own scale, is remarkable and keeps the show buzzing in its own way. All you need is acceptance of some big (and perhaps even crazy) ideas to help your idea stick in the minds of the attendees.

Remarkability defies size.

Case in point, a recent favorite of mine was a small company that put a new spin on the ubiquitous iPod giveaway. They had about twenty of them stacked up at their booth inviting salacious glances from passersby. But the real magic came not from the Pyramid-o-Pod but rather from what you had to do to get one.

In your bag of conference goodies was a button. Nothing fancy just a plain ol' button with the company name on it and their new slogan. With the button came instructions to wear this throughout the conference because they would have their reps walking around and at certain times their boss back at the booth would call one of these reps on their cell phone. Upon receiving the call, the rep was instructed to give an iPod to the first person they saw with the button on.

The results: Everybody was wearing the button all of the time! Plus, you wanted to be near this company's reps on the off chance that if they got the call you'd get the iPod (you should win some type of a marketing award for inventing a scheme that makes a consumer want to be near a sales rep). Finally, it created an 'active' buzz around this company and their presence at the show. To put it another way: they had it "goin' on." Simple and remarkable. Who can't make a few hundred buttons and buy some iPods?

The Point? Size doesn't matter. Remarkability trumps all. You have the power to be like Monster et al. if you open yourself up to the permeation of BIG ideas that your marketers are probably trying to sell you on for something or other right now.

P.S. I often speak of remarkability and to not feel like a hack, I have to plug Seth Godin's book Purple Cow which defines the concept of building remarkability into your business plan. If you do one thing for me (besides reading this blog), read this book!