June 2015 Archives

I can't count the number of times I've walked the aisles at trade shows, only to happen upon companies that have brought seemingly every item in their inventory to display in their exhibits. They've pinned products on walls, scattered them atop tables, or otherwise displayed them in their booths based on the myth that attendees will be unfulfilled if they're shown the X-1000 widget in beige when they were really hoping to see the taupe version.

Every time I see these flea-market-like exhibits, I shake my head. A booth merchandised like a Spencer's Gifts store sends a certain message, showcasing a company's goods rather than any message about the company's key differentiators or dedication to its customers. This strategy might be great if you're running a truck-stop gift shop, where the emphasis is on showing off the goods. But it misses the mark in the trade show industry, where success often comes from making a memorable first impression that helps your brand stand out on the show floor.

A Star-Spangled Mess

One of the best before-and-after examples in the category of cluttered exhibits is the Valley Forge Flag Co. At a recent expo, Valley Forge Flag set up a 10-by-20-foot exhibit and filled it wall to wall with Old Glory. It had big flags, medium flags, flags that fit on your desk, fringed flags, all-weather flags, and pretty much every size of the Stars and Stripes available.

Attendees at the show included retailers looking for products to stock in their stores. At the Valley Forge Flag booth, those retailers found products alright, but nothing in the booth positioned Valley Forge's flags as better or more desirable than any other flag on the market. After all, it's presumable that every company in the flag-making business offers up an equally rich product catalogue. And Old Glory is what it is: 13 stripes alternating red then white from top to bottom and a blue field filled with 50 white stars arranged in rows of six and five. Even the length-to-width ratio is set. So, frankly, any two American flags, whether they are made by Valley Forge Flag or sewn by the living descendants of Betsy Ross, are almost exactly the same.

The worst part about Valley Forge's display was that the exhibit failed to tell attendees what is so great about the company's flags, as opposed to every other American-flag-making company. And, at least in this company's case, that story can make all the difference.

What you wouldn't have known by walking past the Valley Forge booth is that all the American flags on the moon are Valley Forge flags. Every flag on a military coffin is made by Valley Forge Flag. And the flag on President Kennedy's coffin, guess who made it? Valley Forge Flag, of course. And while other flag makers can use the same materials and follow the same dimensional instructions set out by Congress for making American flags, only Valley Forge Flag has been a part of these iconic moments in American history.

Now, wouldn't that be a great story to tell attendees? Wouldn't the story of Valley Forge Flag's place in history tell attendees that this company is about more than just making standard flags in all sizes? For a company like Valley Forge Flag, the difference between trotting out the inventory and telling its unique and compelling story would be the difference between trying to make a simple sale and trying to differentiate itself on a level that no other flag manufacturer can compete.

I Can't Believe It's Not Cluttered

There is nothing inherently wrong with displaying oodles of offerings. But if your exhibit focuses too much on merchandising and not enough on communicating with buyers and driving home your differentiators, you should ask yourself the following questions and think about the message that you are sending with all that clutter.

1. Is my exhibit cluttered? No matter how neat and clean your display might be, if you're showcasing more than a few versions of what is essentially the same item, there is probably more product in your booth than anyone beyond the most dedicated attendee will take the time to see.

If you're unsure whether you've got too many products on display, pay attention to how often each one is referenced at your next show. If it's not attracting attention, it's probably not essential.

2. What message am I sending? Stand back and examine your booth. What message does it communicate to passersby? If the bulk of doodads is overshadowing your company's key messages, or detracting from your differentiators, it's time to clean house. While you might think having the beige and taupe widgets on hand makes you look prepared, in reality, having too much product in the booth looks unorganized.

If you need to showcase widgets, doodads, and thingies, then bring one of each and let attendees know they all come in eight different colors. Or bring your product line on USB thumb drives and hand them out, letting attendees peruse all the features of each model of your products. Unless you're the only company to offer that widget in eight different colors, displaying all eight is unlikely to help you differentiate yourself from your competitors.

3. What should my message be? Whether you've filled your booth with American flags or an array of widgets, you've essentially told attendees to focus on the variety of your product line. OK, that's not horrible, but in doing so, you've also taken the focus off your story. Why are your widgets -- in all their colors and with all their features -- better than similar products? Are your widgets cheaper? Are they higher quality? Are they used by large, recognizable clients?

Chances are, no matter what industry you're in, you have a competitor that makes a product similar to your own. If you're going to win the sales battle against that competitor, I guarantee it won't be because you have eight colors of widgets or 50-plus versions of the American flag. You need to find the story -- the compelling reason why your company should be trusted to deliver this product -- and let that take center stage instead.

Thankfully, Valley Forge Flag has learned its lesson and designed a new booth that tells its unique story through iconic back-wall graphics. But when I think back to the company's old exhibit, I'm awestruck by the fact that I wouldn't have ever known its story had I not badgered the booth staffer with questions.

To this day, every time I see an American flag, I am reminded of Valley Forge.

But I bet that to most of the attendees who visited the company's old booth, a flag is a flag -- and Valley Forge, much like its competitors, has them in every size imaginable.

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Six weeks, five countries, four conferences and a pile of travel expense receipts that desperately needs to be sorted.

In the middle of the activity, I received a call from a conference organizer seeking my participation in an upcoming big event.

As many of these conversations go, I initially felt complimented when hearing "You've been identified as a thought leader and someone we'd like to have as a key part of our event".

But as the dialogue wore on, I realized that I was being pitched sponsorship rather than be recognized for thought leadership.

The questions I was asked were intended to help me rationalize writing that big check for sponsorship and included:

1. Why do you attend conferences?
2. What's the value of the exposure if you present, exhibit, or sponsor?
3. What is the value of just one project that results from contacts made at the event?

You can see where it was all headed.

Yes, we attend industry events to learn, but probably the networking is most valued. I fully understand the model and realize that sponsorship dollars fund the event as well as generate a bottom line for organizers.

My revelation was that the conference business is increasingly becoming a game of haves and have-nots.

Sponsoring organizations shell out significant dollars to sponsor events and key speaking slots on the agenda are allocated to them as part of the package. That is reasonable considering the investment made.

Suppliers, agencies, and consultants are another matter.

I am fascinated by the message that suppliers or vendors are "bad" and can't be trusted to present without pitching their wares. Some ground rules are clear, that no presentation should be a sales pitch, veiled or otherwise. Adhering to this rule improves the content of the conference material and raises overall value for delegates. Anyone crossing the line too much or too often should not be invited back as there's plenty of time for selling during the networking and break times.

On the other hand, there are some highly informed people working in the supplier community that can be of great interest to a delegate group. For example, find the people who are talking about subjects on gamification, location based marketing, mobile payments and NFC, social media measurement, or coalition loyalty. Through their focus and passion for their areas of speciality, they can bring great value to an event.

There are some things in life you can complain about and then there are the ones that we can actually hope to change. I am hoping that the conference business will shift ever so slightly. For example, I would like to see that at least one speaking spot in a morning and afternoon of a typical conference event be allocated based on merit, not money. That means that out of approximately 16 speakers, 4 would be invited based on their material, not just the size of their supporting organization.

This 25% concession would probably not impact the overall sponsorship fees received by organizers. They might even be able to increase revenues through higher registrations or a higher price point.

There's a very good chance that the model will not change, mostly because it does not have to. Only a Wall Street style boycott would bring that level of change and, since most of us go to conferences for the networking, I don't expect we'll see much of an uprising.

At the same time, conference organizers should be on alert. Some brands are shifting attention to proprietary events, where stakeholders are brought together in high quality environments and an open exchange of valuable information takes place. As dollars in travel and marketing budgets stay tight, watch for these high quality privately organized events to become even more attractive.

Maybe that will create the impetus for the general conference industry to alter their approach to the business. We'll see.

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If I had a dollar for every time I heard or read the phrase "nothing will replace face-to-face meetings," I would be rich (er).

The sad truth is that in some cases they've already been replaced.

The recession, green movement, costs to exhibit, travel hassles, generation Y's social networking predilections (pick one) have opened the door to virtual events with good reason--they save money and environmental resources while attracting a new audience of exhibitors and attendees. Rather than run towards the exits with brains on fire fearing the cannibalization or elimination of live events by virtual platforms, it's time to take stock of the real opportunities that virtual event platforms offer to stimulate live attendance and grow face-to-face events.

The bad news

At the same time virtual events are on the rise, face-to-face trade show producers are experiencing their share of challenges. Many organizers are struggling to get a handle on how to grow their events in the face of increased competition from new media channels, continued economic volatility, and rising costs. Exhibitors remain irritated by labor practices and the ever-increasing costs to exhibit. The recent uptick in attendance numbers at some shows doesn't change the general lack of industry growth overall.

The good news

When done well, virtual experiences stimulate immersion, flow, and presence--the primary reasons why virtual games like World of Warcraft (WOW) are so addictive. To a lesser extent, virtual trade shows and conferences perform in the same way. Like every great concert, sporting event, or cocktail party next door, watching and listening to the action from a distance only makes you crave being there when the opportunity comes along. Incidently, BLIZZCON, the live conference for WOW gamers, sells out almost immediately after the dates are announced every year!

The plan

To prevent the further shrinkage of live events, producers must develop a strategy that allows each of the two mediums--face-to-face and virtual events--do what they uniquely do best and treats virtual platforms like any other content strategy that adapts to address the various stages of the sales funnel:

Stage I: Webinars. Bring in live subject matter experts to deliver regularly scheduled, FREE, and interactive presentations to an audience that is both familiar with the live event (jazzed from attending the year before) and entirely new. Content delivered virtually at this stage should create brand awareness, pique the interest of newcomers and reinforce the loyalty of your customer base.

Stage II: The Virtual Preview. Use your live event speakers and keynote presenters to offer a glimpse of what's in store at the face-to-face event. However, lest you think you can get away with something brief, commercial-like, and only at 50% power, think again. This is the point at which you MUST go after potential live attendees with both barrels, offering original content for FREE with the understanding that the virtual attendees are in a buying mode.

Stage III: The Hybrid Event. Stream content live from the physical trade show and conference to the virtual audience. This is an opportunity to appeal to serious potential participants--remote attendees, exhibitors, and even sponsors--who want to learn about the event with the intention of participating the following year. This is your opportunity to showcase your product in a three-dimensional way. The best way to do that is to not treat the virtual audience as voyeurs or second-class citizens. You have to engage them, give them a voice, allow them to participate, and frustrate them (in a good way) so that they regret not having attended the live event.

Stage IV: The Live Trade Show and Conference. Reward loyalists who have made the shift from virtual attendee to live attendee with an experience that emulates the online environment but cannot be duplicated online--rich human interaction, unlimited opportunities to engage in small groups and intimate settings, information on demand, and plenty of tactile experiences. The content and engagement delivered by the live event must be so compelling and actionable that it pushes live attendees back into the post-event virtual stream to form the live event's virtual community.

The Takeaway: This virtual rescue plan forces live events to differentiate themselves from virtual platforms by offering a level of engagement that virtual events cannot deliver. The richness of the live experience drives attendance.

The online content (unique information delivered by live speakers, not archived presentations) recognizes where virtual attendees are in the buying (attending) cycle and delivers content commensurate with that stage of the sales funnel. It allows potential participants--attendees, exhibitors, and sponsors--to jump into and out of the content stream all year long. Yes, this is a long-term approach.

Yes, it requires deviation from conventional growth strategies and a level of investment on the part of the event organizer. But, some would argue, the only way forward for the live event industry is not to look back.

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