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HOW TO MAKE A SPLASH AT TRADE SHOWS WITHOUT DROPPING A FORTUNE.
Nearly every trade show has its major players. General Motors wowed attendees at the January 2000 North American International Auto Show in Detroit by introducing its new sport utility pickup, the Avalanche, in a showroom complete with a snow blower that created the illusion of snow falling on the stage and audience during the instant the Avalanche was first revealed. The cost: more than $300,000 for sound, lighting, and special effects.
But more than one in four companies attending trade shows have fewer than 50 employees, according to Susan Friedmann, a trade-show consultant based in Lake Placid, N.Y., which means they have nowhere near what it costs to stage a GM-style extravaganza. Even modest efforts can be costly: A standard 10-foot-by-10-foot exhibit space generally runs anywhere from $1,000 to $6,000. When you tack on airfare, hotel expenses, and production costs, you'll usually end up dropping at least $10,000.
So how do you become a trade-show hit on a limited budget? The secret, say trade-show consultants: Use your size to your advantage. Following are nine ways Friedmann and other consultants recommend to draw crowds to your booth without breaking the bank—or having to manufacture a snowstorm to attract attention.
BE THE EARLY BIRD
In the trade-show game, procrastinators suffer. When you get your exhibitor kit—which spells out details about electrical needs, furniture, and shipping—read it immediately, urges Donna Curry, a former show consultant who recently joined the San Francisco–based start-up Evoke Software as its marketing events manager.
“If you reserve everything you need in advance, you can realize a 20 percent to 30 percent discount.” Small businesses, which generally don't have to go through multiple chains of command for expenditure approvals, have an edge over larger companies in getting their applications in on time. The kit usually arrives 30 to 60 days prior to the show. Early planning may also help you snag one of the better spaces on the show floor. “You should question every dot and dash on the floor plan,” says Friedmann. “A little black mark could mean a six-foot pillar in front of your booth.”
RENT YOUR BOOTH
Just getting your feet wet? Most shows offer the option of renting a prefab booth from the show's contractor. Alternatively, Friedmann suggests securing a rent-to-buy agreement with a company that manufactures portable displays, so you can test-drive the booth before you commit to buying it.
Among the largest portable-display companies: Diamond Displays International (www.diamonddisplays.com, 1-800-747-EXPO), Downing Displays (www.downingdisplays.com, 1-800-883-1800), Nimlok (www.nimlok.com, 1-800-233-8870), Nomadic Display (www.nomadicdisplay.com, 1-800-732-9395), and TigerMark (www.tigermark.com, 1-800-225-4060).
MAXIMIZE THE MEDIA
Look for press angles before the show even starts. VerbalTek Incorporated, a Silicon Valley start-up specializing in speech recognition technology, pitched a feature-story idea to publications that would have an audience at the November 2000 Comdex show (one of the largest Internet/ e-commerce shows in North America) and a presence at the show as well.
“The idea was to cover a small start-up going to Comdex for the first time, wide-eyed, shallow-pocketed, but with a lot of intestinal fortitude,” says Victor Heman, vice president of public relations services at The Corsi Group, VerbalTek's advertising/public relations firm in San Francisco. Silicon Valley Biz Ink, a weekly tech business publication, ran the story and, during the show, distributed copies of the issue in which it was featured. VerbalTek got a free piggyback ride. You can also get extra mileage at little cost through press coverage, provided you have something newsworthy to announce. Create a press kit and keep it stocked in the trade-show press office throughout the show. Just make sure reporters know where to find you. “Even at the larger shows, only about 30 percent of companies take advantage of this great option,” Friedmann says.
SEND TEASER MAILINGS
When the Los Angeles–based Pollack PR Marketing Group was charged with generating buzz for Doumar Products Inc., whose product, a glue remover, lifts old stickers and decals off most surfaces, the firm placed a race car on the show floor and plastered it with stickers. In advance of the show, attendees and reporters were mailed bumper stickers and an invitation to participate in a “Take It Off” campaign. The booth was mobbed. Cost: $500 for the car and $250 for the bumper stickers and postage.
USE FLEXIBLE SIGNAGE
Your target audience may vary from show to show, and hiring a design firm to generate new signage can get expensive. To circumvent the problem, the Humor Network, a four-year-old e-mail direct marketing company that sends subscribers a daily joke and targeted promotions, carts an easel to each show, where it posts customized messages. One such message courting online advertising partners read, ask us how being funny can make you money, according to CEO Eric Targan.
OFFER GIVEAWAYS THAT LAST
Candy and other edible freebies may lure grazers to your booth, but a successful giveaway leaves a lasting impression well after the show is over. At a World of Concrete Show several years ago, one company gave away a “crack meter”—a thin, credit card–like item with markings to help engineers and surveyors measure the thickness of cracks in concrete. “It cost less than one cent to produce, and people were lining up to get them,” says Friedmann.
The Humor Network distributed 3,000 buttons featuring blinking emoticons—expressions of emotion created by stringing together punctuation marks or other characters often found in e-mail correspondence, the best known of which is the :) smiley face—in the first few hours of the Internet World Show held last October at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York. The buttons were a great representation of the Humor Network's brand, considering that it's an online company specializing in humorous e-mail marketing. Result: coverage in 50 different magazines and newspapers. Cost: $1.25 per button.
SEEK OUT SPEAKING GIGS
Assuming the trade show is tied to a conference, ask the show organizer about opportunities to share your expertise as a panelist or presenter at one of the educational sessions. “This shouldn't be used as a soapbox, but rather, as a chance to build your credibility,” says Friedmann. At the end of your presentation, tell audience members they can stop by your booth if they'd like a copy of your remarks.
BE SELECTIVE
“If you have a limited budget, you might want to go to an association show or industry-specific show instead of a huge horizontal show that cuts across all industries,” says Donna Curry of Evoke Software. The cost for booth rentals is generally lower at such events. For example, booth space at the School, Home and Office Products Association show this year was $1,750 for a 10-foot-by-10-foot space, whereas the same amount of space at Internet World Fall 2000, a massive horizontal show, went for $4,995. Also, because association shows tend to be smaller than horizontal shows since they have more industry-specific clients, a smaller exhibitor is less likely to get lost in the melee of an association show. To find listings of upcoming shows, check out the Trade Show News Network (www.tsnn.com, tradeshows.com), American Society of Association Executives (www.asaenet.org), and Tradeshow Week (www.tradeshowweek.com).
SKIP THE ACTUAL SHOW
VerbalTek passed up the standard booth option at the Comdex show and instead booked a meeting suite far from the din of the show floor, where its execs could meet with prospective business partners one on one. The company also shelled out $5,000 for a two-minute “interview” on the Comdex in-house TV program, which aired in the show halls and in hotel rooms. The result: 40 sales leads, as well as 30 or so queries from the media.