3. Assuming that your main objective is to generate qualified leads we
need to first work out exactly how many of these leads are enough to
justify the expense and manpower of the exhibition itself and make
sure you’re getting a decent return on investment.
High visibility is key when it comes to promoting a brand but
spreading yourself too thinly can cause its own set of problems.
These range from not having enough time to promote your attendance
at the exhibition or to effectively follow up leads, to exhibition fatigue
for your staff.
A more effective strategy is to focus on a few, well chosen exhibitions
and really make your attendance there count.
Quality over quantity
“We asked you to come up with a strong theme for the
show, something that would attract, retain and entertain
an audience.You did this with great style...’’
Chris Hayward, McAfee
about The Big News Show, Infosec’08
4.
5. What makes a perfect exhibition?
As well as generating new leads and customers, you should also be looking to own the higher ground. The following questions are
examples of the type of questions you should be asking before committing to an exhibition. The more points you accumulate, the more
relevant the exhibition is for you.
3
What makes a perfect exhibition?
As well as generating new leads and customers,you should also be
looking to own the higher ground.The following questions are examples
of the type of questions you should be asking before committing to
an exhibition.The more points you accumulate,the more relevant the
exhibition is for you.
Question Yes (2 points) Maybe (1 Point) No (0 Points)
Can you own the thought leadership
space by running an interactive seminar?
Is the event relevance to your current
offering or message?
Is there proof that the event is growing,
either in numbers or in reputation?
Is there a relevant target audience?
Is there good feedback from the previous year?
Do you have the right resources available for
the exhibition?
Does the event feel good value for money?
GRAND TOTAL:
6. Engaging the delegate
Once the exhibitions have been chosen we need to ensure the maximum
number of target delegates attend the exhibition and speak to you. We do this
by engaging the audience at the earliest possible stage. To effectively do this
we need to create and sustain interest by creating a coherent thread that runs
from the invitation process, to the event and also the follow up phase.
Messaging
The easiest way to do this is to have a message throughout the journey of
the campaign. To cut through the noise generated by your competitors the
message needs to be entertaining, thought provoking and stylish. It needs to
be anticipated, relevant and personal, so that the recipient wants to find out
more. There are endless ways to achieve this, but also plenty of opportunities
to make mistakes, such as using overtly technical language, the hard sell and
treating all your customers the same.
4.0
7. Integrating the message can be simple or in-depth as each
individual project has different needs. The list below shows
some of the options available:
• Branded invitation as start of journey. This could either
simply let people know that you’re going to be at a certain
event or incentivise them to attend.
• Quiz/competition – again this needs to be relevant and
focussed on the delegates needs and could be as
basic as a fill in card or an interactive quiz that will drive
people to your stand.
• Media that says something relevant to your audience
whilst tapping in to the thread of the overall message.
This could be anything from a documentary style
case study to a feature film.
Integration
‘’We wanted to create a buzz... putting across messages that are key to the themes
of the conference but in a way that entertains, leaves people thinking and with a
smile on their face.’’
David Hopkins, Siemens Enterprise Communications about
Citizen Sally at SOCITM ‘08
• Buy in from stand representatives – incentivising them
and making sure they are involved in the process.
• Game based interaction – links to alternative reality
branding.
• Branded relevant collateral.
• Leverage from other events/other activities.
• Live actors and performers that will enhance and draw
people to the stand.
• Flash mobbing and mass improvisation (for large
exhibitions only).
• PR opportunities.
8. ‘’Ultimately you achieved the goal we set you of attracting those
crowds... we had more presentations than ever before and I thought you
all worked tirelessly for the full three days and it really paid off”
Chris Hayward, McAfee about the Big News Show, Infosec ‘08
Getting the most from your staff
The most crucial resource at any exhibition is the stand staff
themselves. However relevant the message or enticing the bait that
gets the delegate to visit the stand, it is the staff that are ultimately
responsible for building a rapport with the delegates, identifying and
cultivating leads and initiating a reason for you to get in touch after
the event.
It’s important that the staff keep motivated throughout the day to
make sure they talk to as many potential clients as possible. This
happens by involving them early in the creation of the exhibitions so
they know exactly how the creative idea maps onto their goals.
Unfortunately a day off the road can be perceived as a bit of a waste
of time, perhaps by your top sales people. Our goal should be to
create an exhibition where that is not the case, and where your
representatives care as much about the outcomes as you do.
We would suggest a short briefing before the exhibition so that
everyone involved can discuss and ask any questions they might
have, as this will ensure that we have a coherent strategy.
9. Citizen Sally and Siemens
Our aim was simple - to promote Siemens technology offering to
the public sector. To replace a formal PowerPoint presentation, we
produced some genuine branded content in the form of ‘Citizen
Sally – Power to the People’, a 40 minute live comedy drama that
brought the real issues behind the technology to life. The play
was presented at SOCITM 2008 in a slot – just before the closing
speech - where traditionally attendances were low as delegates
made their way home, making the need to make an impact even
greater.
SOCITM’s President described Sally as “an innovative approach to
presenting some of the key issues that local government is having
to contend with’’. Delegate feedback gave a score of 7.5 out of 10
for relevance and quality; whilst 403 delegates visited the
website, with 114 watching the videos. The website was launched
two weeks before the play itself and contained a series of
‘homemade’ videos and blog; and plans are afoot to develop Sally
into a fully fledged online sitcom.
Case Studies
At Infosec 2008, we created the ‘McAfee Big News Show’ to
draw traffic to the Infosec stand and engage with the audience.
Presented in the style of a spoof news show we incorporated live
and pre-recorded footage to make McAfee the big story of the
event. With a live anchorman, roving reporter, quizzes and
interviews, we ensured there were multiple points of interest for
the audience.
The key was to make the event relevant to the message rather
than creating a draw to the stand that in no way directly linked
to McAfee. The Big News Show integrated with the stand and
allowed the stand employees to be guests within the framework
of the show creating a cohesive feel to the whole event. We had
to apologise to the other exhibitors for stealing their audiences
and limelight for the first ten minutes of every hour throughout
the event!
McAfee Big News Show
