Let’s start with the question, “What are good memorable trade show displays?” Good memorable trade show displays are those displays that get people saying things like, “Did you see the trade show display for the ACME Fake Vomit Company?” Specifically, if people remember a particular trade show display AND they remember what company it was for AND also they can tell you what the company does and why they would be interested in the company or may choose to use the company, then said company has a good memorable trade show display. The key is that people need to remember the company, what it does, and why they would chose to do business with the company.

On the other hand, if someone says, “Wow, did you see the trade show display booth with the ten-layer velvet chocolate cake with pink champagne shooting out the top?”, and then you ask them what company had that trade show display and they say, “I don’t know, but the cake was delicious…” then that, my friend, is the definition of a bad memorable trade show display. Put another way, you need your trade show display to be remembered for the right reasons!

I think I can make my point the best (at least to myself) by bringing in the sock-puppet monkey. During the last Superbowl, a car company ran what I call the “sock-puppet monkey car commercial”.

Sock Monkey SuperBowl TV Commercial

The funny thing was that after the game when we were talking about which commercials we thought were the best (and most memorable), everyone remembered the sock monkey commercial (the music rocks). But when we tried to come up with the name of the company that it was for… no one could. Most of us assumed it was for a car company, but that’s about as far as we got. The current hip term that comes to mind to me is… epic fail.

Now you may be thinking that people will see the TV commercial over and over and over again, and eventually the name of the car company will stick (which I am told is a common TV commercial tactic). But people won’t see your trade show display over and over again… they will most likely see it once. And as far as the sock-puppet monkey car commercial goes, I asked my wife yesterday (who has probably seen the TV commercial at least a dozen times) which car company it was for. She said she really wasn’t sure, but then guessed the right company, but then changed her mind and went with a different car company… which makes me wonder, does the commercial really work for the car company that isn’t even in it?

But enough about retro toys and thumping music… it’s great to have a memorable trade show display, but only if it is the right kind of memorable trade show display… otherwise you might end up helping your competitor more than yourself! Make sure trade show attendees remember who you are, what you do, and how you can help them!

In my humble opinion, for a trade show giveaway to qualify as the “best trade show giveaway idea ever”, it has to be unique, and “best” probably varies from person to person (just like the question “what is the best flavor of ice cream” or “which of the Rocky movies was the best one”).

One of the best trade show giveaway items I ever got was at WESTEC, a huge machinery show in LA that I’ve gone to many a time (and not because of the Makita Tools calendar girls and other booth babes there… not that there’s anything wrong with them though). WestTec is the place to see huge mills, lathes, and machining centers. The HAAS trade show booth had a brand-spankin-new, super-expensive, state-of-the-art multi-axis, computer-controlled, does-everything-including-making-a-kitchen-sink HAAS machining center on demonstration. They were feeding in a 4 inch diameter bar of steel on one end, and 8 inch long parts that had been lathed, machined, and engraved were being spit out the other end. I had no ideas what one could do with these part (it was simply to demonstrate all the machining things that could be done with this machine), but the parts looked cool so I asked it I could have one – and they gave me one. I quickly realized that the part weighed several pounds, but nonetheless lugged it around the show, and in the end, the part ended up being a one-of-a-kind door jamb in my office for many years (until it disappeared in a move).

The door jamb was a great conversation starter – countless people asked me what it was or what it was for, and I’d tell them the story behind it and how it was made by this super-amazing HAAS machining center. No, I never did purchase that HAAS machine – because I had no need for it and wasn’t a trade show prospect. But I spread the word. I’m not sure if it was really the best trade show giveway idea ever, but it certainly was unique. I personally think that the best trade show giveaway items are those that are unique, and that say something about your company.

What do you think? What’s the most amazing, think-outside-of-the-box, best trade show giveaway idea that you have ever seen, gotten, or handed out at a trade show? Leave me a comment and let me know!

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The Trade Show Guru’s Insight of the Day
Stuck in a trade show conundrum? Check out these trade show conundrum resources. Whatever you do, don’t let a  trade show conundrum derail your trade show marketing plans or weaken your trade show zen, even if you’re not sure what a trade show conundrum is. Face your trade show conundrum and deal with it. Show your trade show conundrum who’s the boss! If you’re searching for trade show enlightenment, or simply the best trade show giveaway idea ever, may you find it and your trade show mojo, and have your best trade show ever!

So if you’re going to spend your hard earned marketing budget dollars at a trade show, you want to make sure you pick up enough trade show leads and/or make enough trade show sales to recoup your expenses and actually make money. But if you make the mistake of using a cheap trade show display, and your trade show image is unprofessional (and cheap) there is a good chance that your potential trade show traffic will be turned off and will just pass your trade show booth by. My advice is to you is that you spend the money necessary to have a professional trade show display with a smart trade show design that draws a crowd. Don’t skimp on your trade show image… first impressions are often the only impression, especially if the first impression is that you are cheap.

Now the above said, sometimes “cheap” trade show displays can actually end up being the hit of the show.

The trade show display above obviously didn’t cost a lot of money, yet makes a very clear point, and is effective. So sometimes if you are clever enough, you can actually make “cheap” work to your advantage. But for most of us, it is better to spend the money to get the job done right. You don’t have to spend a fortune, and you don’t need to overpay or spend money on useless features, but make sure you get a professional trade show display that will get you enough trade show traffic and trade show business to justify your exhibiting efforts and make your company a trade show success.

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Trade Show Guru random thought of the day:
Avoid trade show bananas and achieve trade show nirvana.

I, your friendly neighborhood trade show guru, thought I knew everything there was to know about trade shows… well, at least I thought I was familiar with everything about trade shows. After all, I even know about trade show zombies! But last week I came across a trade show term I’d never heard of before, trade show outboarding.

Trade show outboarding does not mean strapping an outboard motor to your trade show boat, er… booth, nor does the phrase have anything at all to do with outboard motors or engines. Rather, trade show outboarding is done by trade show outboarders (also referred to as trade show parasites and not to be confused with the previously mentioned trade show zombies) and refers to companies that don’t pay for a trade show exhibit booth space, but instead rent a room in a nearby hotel and set up their “offsite” or “outboard” trade show booth in their hotel room or suite. I’m not sure how they manage to get traffic to their hotel room (do they wander around the trade show and hand out trade show giveaway pens with their hotel room number on the pens?), but apparently the “problem” (at least it is a problem to the trade show promoters that aren’t collecting the trade show exhibit space fees) is growing, and trade show organizers are asking the hotels to crack down on these trade show outboards.

As I said, I just don’t understand how the trade show outboarders would get much traffic to their hotel rooms, but apparently they do, or I don’t see why this would be an issue. I’m not sure where I stand on whether or not this tactic is “legitimate”… I support “guerilla marketing” but I also believe in “playing by the rules”. I’ve included a portion of the New York Times article below in which I first read about the practice of trade show outboarding. So what do you think? Would it work? Is it legitimate?

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Convention industry insiders disdainfully call them “outboarders” — those vendors who set up shop in a hotel suite near a trade show site to promote their products. Unsanctioned exhibitors were an issue last month at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, a large trade show.

The industry sees the vendors as parasites who latch onto the host convention and reap the advantages of the often-considerable resources spent on organizing the show and drawing a crowd — without paying their share of the costs.

The vendors, on the other hand, argue that they are suffering in the weak economy and that the rock-bottom rates offered by some hotels help them stretch their marketing budgets.

Caught in the middle of this tug of war are the hotels, which are increasingly being asked to keep out the interlopers.

While unsanctioned exhibits are not new, they appear to be on the rise. They became an issue at the annual Consumer Electronics Show last month in Las Vegas, one of the largest trade shows in the United States. According to technology bloggers and others attending the show, hotel security people forced some vendors to vacate suites in which they were demonstrating products.

“Outboarding is wrong,” said Jason Oxman, the senior vice president of industry affairs for the Consumer Electronics Association, which produces the Consumer Electronics Show each January. “An outboarder takes advantage of the significant investment a trade show makes.”

But Mr. Oxman denied that the association had stepped up enforcement against the vendors, suggesting that the crackdown was instituted by the hotels themselves. “Our antennas are raised for people that try and circumvent the show process,” said Ron Reese, vice president of communications for Las Vegas Sands, the parent company of two official show hotels, the Palazzo Las Vegas and the Venetian Las Vegas. He said the association spent tens of millions each year promoting and producing the show, which draws 120,000 participants. Professional exhibit managers who play by the rules and pay to exhibit also resent vendors who come to town but do not exhibit on the trade show floor, he said.

Nor is the electronics association alone in its sentiments about the outside vendors. “This instance with the C.E.S. is going to raise some awareness,” said John Foster, a convention industry lawyer. Although the show took place only last month, Mr. Foster said he had already been approached by several organizers of smaller events eager to learn how they could thwart the outside exhibitors. “Whenever you get a big show that goes through an incident like this, that publicity generates a lot of interest in how to stop the problem,” he added.

The electronics association pointed to a long-standing policy prohibiting any type of consumer electronics-related events taking place in Las Vegas over the show dates. Mr. Oxman acknowledged, though, that this rule was almost impossible to enforce if vendors choose from among the many hotels in Las Vegas that do not have a contract with the association.

“Everybody does it,” said one hardware vendor who spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid speaking out publicly against the electronics association, which retaliates against vendors who run unsanctioned events by stripping them of the points a vendor can earn by exhibiting legitimately. More points translate to a better selection of show floor space for future shows. Those with no points to forfeit can be kicked out of the association.

The vendor said her company chose the Palazzo because it was inexpensive, and received a verbal assurance that its exhibit would be permitted.

What happened instead, she said, was that hotel security forced the company to dismantle its demonstrations and remove all product-marketing materials. The vendor referred to the eviction as the result of a “miscommunication.” Mr. Reese of the Sands said all guests were presented with criteria for their stay upon check-in; a prohibition on in-room exhibiting is among the rules.

Bob Buskirk, who attended the electronics show and owns a Web site, ThinkComputers, that reviews hardware and software products, said he had “never been kicked out of a hotel room or even heard of companies being kicked out.” But this January, he said, two of his meetings were disrupted when the vendors were ejected by hotel security. “From what I’ve heard anecdotally, the amount of unlicensed vendors was certainly the most it’s been in recent memory,” said Mr. Reese of the Sands.

Mr. Buskirk, who has been attending the show for five years, said that the show’s exhibits seemed to take up much less space this year. A spokeswoman for the association confirmed that the show’s size dropped to 1.4 million square feet of exhibit space.

Steven Rudner, a hospitality industry lawyer who represents hotels, countered that stipulations like those from the electronics association restrict a hotel’s ability to do business. “To switch the burden of enforcing this on a hotel seems to be completely unreasonable,” Mr. Rudner said. Some groups, he said, go so far as to try and make the hotel responsible for screening all guests to insure that no competitors book suites or meeting space that could be used for private events.

Lawyers who represent trade show producers said this kind of strong language is necessary to protect the investments made by hosts and exhibitors, especially in an economy where hotels might be tempted to turn a blind eye to unsanctioned exhibits to book needed business. “They want to play both sides of it,” said Barbara Dunn, a partner at the convention industry law firm, Howe & Hutton Ltd. “There’s no question that the hotel industry is hurting.”

In some cases, she said, vendors who want to skirt a trade show’s policies will deliberately obscure their affiliation or their plans to run an exhibit in a suite, making enforcement even harder.

Some other trade shows have used less confrontational methods, which they say are just as effective. Megan Tanel, vice president of exhibitions and events for the Association of Equipment Manufacturers, said violations of exhibitor rules at her shows go to a committee made up of other industry members.

“It comes down to your peers, customers and competitors to decide your fate,” she said. This usually works, but when it does not, she says she tries to convince vendors it is in their best interests to be an official part of the show.

source: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/16/business/16shows.html

I know some readers will click through to this post just to see the pictures… and you’re expecting to see barely dressed, sexy women. Well, I don’t want to disappoint, so here is one…

tradeshow booth babe

And I don’t want to descriminate against my female readers, so here’s a male “booth babe”…

alternate tradeshow booth babe

OK, now that the obligatory eye-candy “tradeshow booth babe” pictures are out of the way, let me get to the point.

Tradeshow booth babes are a bad idea.

I’m familiar with the saying “sex sells” and maybe if you’re selling Miami-Vice-style cigarette jet boats to middle aged men or cheap beer to college kids, then having a skimpily clad blonde bimbo isn’t an entirely bad idea. But for most tradeshow exhibitors, booth babes are a bad idea. There are much better ways to attract qualified prospects to your tradeshow booth (even handing out trade show giveaways pens is a better idea than having a booth babe).

Having booth babes at your tradeshow booth will probably draw a crowd… but it will be a crowd of people clogging up your tradeshow booth wanting to see the pretty girl and probably having absolutely no interest in your product, service, or company. And for those people who are interested in your company, they will probably wonder if your product is any good at all if you have to resort to booth babes to try to sell it.

So let your competitors employ the booth babes at their tradeshow booths. Trust me and make your tradeshow booth a “booth-babe-free-zone”. If you are thinking about hiring a booth babe, look at this picture…

This is what a tradeshow booth babe will most likely do for your tradeshow marketing efforts, and is the mental image you should get if you seriously a booth babe for your own trade show booth… To repeat, tradeshow booth babes are a bad idea!

But just in case you didn’t get my point, let me show you another mental image to store away in the back of your head in the event you are ever, ever tempted to go the route of hiring a tradeshow booth babe to hawk your tradeshow wares…

Don’t do it. While “tradeshow booth babes” may be ok for a blog post, they are not ok for your tradeshow booth.

Care to disagree?

One might also think with the recession and economic hard times, that companies have been cutting back on their trade show marketing expenditures. That is probably also true.

And finally, because of these things, one might think that trade shows are becoming a thing of the past, a proverbial marketing dinosaur, a modern day Pony Express. One might ask, “Are trade shows obsolete?”

The answer to the question, “Are trade shows obsolete?” is a resounding no. Trade shows are not obsolete, rather, trade shows are still very much alive, and are still an important and effective marketing method.

Marketing, like most things, changes, improves, evolves, goes through fads, and also “rediscovers” old truisms. One of those truisms is that there is no substitute for face-to-face (human interaction) marketing. There is also no substitute for the economics of a target-rich environment. And people will always want free stuff, and will always be interested in filling their bags with trade show giveaways. There will always be trade shows. Trade shows are here to stay, and will remain a powerful marketing tool.

The Power of Trade Shows Today – Running the Numbers

An estimated 110 million people attend more than 4,000 trade shows in the United States and Canada every year.  That’s a lot of people, and a lot of trade shows.

And according to the marketing experts who crunch the numbers, trade shows remain the more cost-effective way of face-to-face marketing when compared to doing office or field sales calls. Although exhibiting at a trade show is not inexpensive, the opportunity to meet and talk to so many high-value prospects can pay off. It is a big investment… but it can have a big payoff.

To compare the costs acquiring leads and sales via trade show exhibiting versus field sales calls, consider the following numbers, provided by CEIR.org:

For the past 10 years, an average of 81%-83% of trade show attendees have some kind of buying power.
The average attendee spends 9.2 hours at a 2-3 day trade show.
86% of visitors to your booth will be new contacts.
77% of visitors to your booth will remember your company for up to 10 weeks.

Cost per lead from show averages $212.
Cost per lead from field (sales call) averages $308.
Cost per sale from a show averages $705.
Cost per sale from the field (sales call) averages $1140.
That’s 38% less to close a sale from a trade show lead!

Comparing meeting prospects at a trade show versus doing field sales calls, trade shows have the advantage. Of course to be fair, the numbers are a little different when you compare the costs of trade show marketing to internet marketing, but sometimes you just need face-to-face marketing and a focused prospect environment to find prospects and make sales.

Like any tool, trade shows are only effective if you know what you’re doing. You need to pick the right trade show to exhibit at. And you need to do proper trade show planning (don’t be a trade show kinsella) and you need to do proper trade show promotion. You need to make sure you design the perfect trade show display (or at least avoid bonehead trade show display design mistakes), and that you have a well-trained trade show booth staff. You should be aware of the common trade show exhibiting pitfalls, such as having your trade show booth swarmed by trade show zombies. And in the end, you need to know when to “panic” and make sure things happen, and when stop, take a deep breath, relax, and let trade show zen take over.

Should you run the numbers and decide to exhibit at a trade show, may karma smile upon you, and may you have much trade show success!

Will at the Health Living blog (who eats his vegetables) came fairly close with his guess. Will may have recognized the picture was of Kevin Costner and remembered that Costner played the character Ray Kinsella in the movie Field of Dreams. In any event, Will wrote this comment…

“Kinsella, William, of Shoeless Joe fame? What does he have to do with trade shoes, I mean shows?”

Great pun (trade shoes) and definately Will is on the right track. William Kinsella wrote the novel Shoeless Joe. This novel was later adapted into the movie Field of Dreams, which is the source of the term “trade show kinsella”. In Field of Dreams, a “vision” tells Ray Kinsella (Kevin Costner) to build a baseball field in the middle of nowhere (his corn farm in Iowa). Ray is told to just build the baseball field and then have faith… That is, to believe:

If you build it, they will come.

A trade show kinsella is a trade show exhibitor who believes the same thing about his trade show booth, that is, just sign up and show up and They Will Come (that is, prospects and customers will magically show up at your booth).

Ray Kinsella did have some famous baseball player ghosts show up at his baseball field in the middle of nowhere (the advantage of being in a Hollywood movie). If you practice the same advice (Just Build It and the Crowds Will Appear), your trade show booth “crowd” will probably only consist of a few trade show ghosts (along with the trade show zombies). Unlike the movies, your trade show marketing efforts won’t have a happy Hollywood ending.

The moral and lesson of this story is:

Don’t be a trade show kinsella. Don’t just sign up for a trade show booth and expect trade show success.

Don’t be a trade show kinsella. You need to promote your trade show booth BEFORE the show. Do a mailing to all the people who are signed up to attend the show. Let them know in advance!

Don’t be a trade show kinsella. Let your customers know that you’ll be exhibiting at the trade show and invite them to attend.

Don’t be a trade show kinsella. Promote your trade show booth AT the trade show. Have a contest at your trade show booth. Hand out trade show giveaways. Give people a reason to stop by. If you want the trade show crowds, you need to do trade show promotion! You don’t need to be a trade show PT Barnum, but you do need to promote your trade show exhibit booth!

The key is, if you want to be a trade show success, you can’t be a trade show kinsella. Study and learn, and commit to working hard. Trade show marketing isn’t easy. It takes hard work and commitment. But if you do it right, it can be a hugely successful.

To learn more about how to promote your trade show booth, read some of my other trade show marketing posts, including trade show planning and trade show secrets.

And whatever you do, don’t be a trade show kinsella!

Common Sense – R.I.P.

Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as:Knowing when to come in out of the rain; Why the early bird gets the worm; Life isn’t always fair; and Maybe it was my fault.

Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don’t spend more than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults, not children, are in charge).

His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a 6-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.

Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children.

Common Sense took a beating when you couldn’t defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault.

Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.

Common Sense was preceded in death, by his parents, Truth and Trust, by his wife, Discretion, by his daughter, Responsibility, and by his son, Reason.

He is survived by his 4 stepbrothers: I Know My Rights, I Want It Now, Someone Else Is To Blame, and I’m The Victim.

~ ~ ~

So what do you think, is common sense dead, or just on vacation?

And do you know what a trade show kinsella is?

1. First, your trade show exhibit has catch people’s attention when they are passing by your exhibit space. Consider your exhibit to be just one little tree in a forest (of many, many trees). So job number one is to have a attention-grabbing trade show exhibit design. When people walk by your exhibit booth, you’ve got to have a something to grab their attention. One time-tested way of “getting noticed” is to have a catchy tagline with a captivating background image.

2. Second, you must make sure that the next thing people see is WHO you are and WHAT you do. Make sure your company name is at the top of your trade show exhibit design and is easy to find. You must also explain what your company actually does. Test your design by having a friend look at it for a few seconds and then have them tell you who you are and what you do.

3. Third, you need to explain to prospects “what’s in it for them.” Your exhibit design must address this question to be effective. People reasonably are thinking about themselves and want to know if you can help them. As an example, if you a vacation or travel company, you might say how many different locations you service. No matter what, you must tell prospects how you will help them.

To conclude, the dirty little secret behind designing great trade show exhibits involves is that if you can cover the three basics above, you don’t necessarily have to hire a high-priced professional designer. The secret is that you just need to make sure you create an exhibit design that covers the three basic items above. Your exhibit design should catch people’s attention and draw them it. Your exhibit design must say who you are and what you do. And most critically, your exhibit design must state how you help or benefit customers. You can easily improve your trade show marketing efforts by just creating a trade show exhibit design that does these three simple things. Then maybe you can put the money you save by not hiring a high-priced designer into buying some cool customized trade show giveaway pens to hand out to all those prospects that your effective trade show exhibit design pulls into your trade show booth.

Good karma and good fortune with your next trade show, and may you end up with more trade show booth traffic than you know what to do with!

WHAT’S YOUR POINT! First you have to figure out why you’re exhibiting in the first place. Why are you at the trade show? What are you selling? What makes you different? What makes you better than the other guys with other trade show booths? What is your USP (unique selling proposition). What is your trade show marketing message? If you don’t know these answers, how will your prospects know, and why should they come to your booth? You need to figure out your “point” and make sure it’s clear, compelling, and communicated.

KEYWORDS! You’ve got to figure out your keywords, and make sure they are big and prominent on your trade show display design, just like you would want them to be prominent on your webpage or blog post. What are people searching for or looking for that you provide? Figure out your keywords, and put them in your display design and all your other trade show marketing materials.

LINKS! just like people on the internet will never know about your blog or website if you don’t create links to it; similarly, people that will be attending the trade show won’t know about your trade show exhibit booth if you don’t send out pre-show mailers to people that will be attending the show. Don’t rely on random foot traffic (or that they’ll notice you on the list of 1,001 trade show exhibit booths. Let people know in advance about your exhibit booth. And of course, your pre-show mailer must have your clear marketing message and keywords on it.

REWARD! Why should people visit your website or blog, and why should they stop by your booth? Of course, your mailer should explain what benefit you can provide to your prospects, but how about offering a reward as well? Consider having and handing out trade show giveaways, such as trade show giveaway pens. Put your company name and contact info on the trade show giveaways so people remember you.

TRAFFIC! Remember, the key to a successful trade show exhibit booth is traffic. Don’t cross your fingers and hope for traffic. Plan ahead and optimize. Figure out your unique selling proposition. Figure out your keywords. What are people searching for, and what do you offer of value? Get those “links” with pre-show mailers. Publicize and advertise! Build hype in advance. Get the word out! And reward people that click through (or in the case of trade show exhibit booths, that stop by your booth space).

So remember for your next show to practice SEO for trade show exhibit booths. Here’s to your “optimized” trade show exhibit booth being a huge success, and may you have more exhibit booth traffic than you can handle!