How Not to Work a Trade Show Booth

As you can see from our posts throughout the last four days we learned a lot at NADA. This gathering produces great ideas applicable to the dealership business and to any business working to stay ahead during these challenging times and we can't wait to continue sharing these thoughts with you.

But there's one post I haven't written yet that was on my mind for most of the show. I wanted to wait until I had a moment to compose my thoughts. NADA is a huge show — one of the nation's larger trade shows actually. As a former frequent exhibitor myself, I am fascinated by the trade show world. I've always said you can bleed a lot of money at a trade show but the marketer in me still feels that, if done correctly, they can make a brand come to life. Since I mostly wear the marketer's hat now, I am often focused on creating brand experiences at a booth through careful integration of design, messaging, marketing, and sales.

There's one aspect that often gets overlooked: how the booth is worked by the staff. Let me preface what I am about to say with my understanding that this is a tough time for both the auto industry and the many vendors that support it. Trade shows are expensive and must demonstrate ROI (usually through the leads they produce) if they want to remain a part of the media mix. However, this quest for accountability and leads cannot come at the expense of attacking trade show attendees. Yes, I said attacking.

What did I see? As Dean and I walked the expo hall floor we were mauled and accosted by anything we made eye contact with. We had booth babes (show workers hired less for their extensive product expertise and more for their physical attributes) and every other imaginable incarnation of an old-timey huckster/carnival barker aggressively pushing their wares — even when irrelevant — to anything that would hove into their fields of vision. While taking the risk of actually talking to someone at a relevant booth (more on relevancy later) I literally saw a booth worker leap from his booth in front of an unsuspecting victim. Here is another conversation I heard:

Trade Show Huckster – HUCK for brevity's sake – walks out of booth, intercepting uninterested ATTENDEE and begins following them down the aisle walking several booths away from their own booth.

HUCK: Have you heard of company XYZ?!?

ATTENDEE: Well ... no ...

HUCK: Do you want to learn more about what we do at company XYZ?!?

ATTENDEE: Not really ...

Huck thrusts a stack of brochures at ATTENDEE.

HUCK: Here 'ya go! Take these home and read 'em and then you'll know!!

Both continue on their separate paths, shaking heads in exasperation.

Let me say again, I am not being dramatic. What I saw can objectively be described as attacks, leaping, accosting, etc. As a trade show attendee and a fellow marketer I have two responses to this. As an attendee, due to this behavior, I started avoiding eye contact with the booth workers and their booths. As a marketer, this leaves a pang in my stomach. Because of an aggressive booth employee folks aren't looking at my both much less stopping at it.

Notice in the above vignette I observe both the attendee and the huckster walking away in exasperation. I fully recognize that at a booth you can't sit quietly back like a priest waiting to take a confession. You have to work it a bit but it needs to be relevant to the prospect in order to produce a real lead rather than junk leads to show (fake) ROI. There's truly something to be said for quantity vs. quality when it comes to trade show leads.

After voicing my frustration I started waiting to see if anyone was doing it right. That's when I had the following conversation ...

Nice Booth Guy – NBG for brevity – stands at his booth as NICK walks by ...

NBG: Are you interested in online marketing ?

NICK: Why, yes I am ...

NBG: Let me tell you a bit about about what we do ...

NBG gives a true elevator speech — approx. 2 minutes then closes with ...

NBG: ... now sir I know you're busy today. We have a demo here but if you'd like I can call you later and we can go through it over the phone. Can I swipe your card?
NICK: I'd love it if we could do it later. I am going to give you my business card because that has better information to reach me at and I want to make sure I hear from you.

And ... SCENE. That was a great introductory brand experience. You can break down this successful interaction from the point of view of the exhibitor and the attendee:

• The attendee made a good connection and had an experience that was non-threatening and relevant.
  
• The exhibitor got a lead — a real lead not just a swiped card – and presented his brand as approachable and understanding of customers' time.
  

You see, I chose the word interaction above because both sides got something out of it. That's what a trade show is supposed to be – an interaction. Communion between the brand and the consumer at its most basic level. That's why — when done correctly with careful planning on all fronts — a trade show can be an impressive and effective marketing tool.

Off to the Big Easy

As I mentioned last week, today Dean and I are leaving for the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) Convention and Expo in New Orleans. Our very first client is an auto dealer and we serve several others in the industry as well (I say is because we have the very rare honor in the advertising business to say that we still have our first client). NADA has always provided exceptional workshops and an expo hall that is second to none.

Throughout the expo we will be reporting back on best practices and trade show goings on from this very big event. We do this not just for the benefit of our friends in the auto industry but for everyone. The news and lessons here are often ones we apply to clients across industries. Plus, as Dean said earlier, "If there was ever a year to go to NADA ..." With the economic downturn, industry struggles, Toyota overtaking GM, and keynotes from Ford's Alan Mulally and two former US presidents, this year should provide a great industry snapshot at a critical time as well as new media vendors looking to offer tools to a sector that needs new tools now more than ever.

More from the trade show floor ...

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!

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.