Over the last years I have been attending many exhibitions and sometimes it is painful to watch how companies who invest big budgets in attending the show do not get the most out of it.
I would like to give you a fresh perspective on it. We already know some basics that we can use to attract the customer: an eye catching design, prize draw, freebies, using light, sound and visual movements for impact. These are all good. If you want to add a little extra, you need to think what the customers at the event are missing. Conduct research and find it out. Remember, exhibition companies and conference organizations are functioning on very strict budgets and sometimes there are some areas to improve, which you can use for your advantage. For example:
1. What are exhibitions or conferences often missing? Good espresso! Here is a great opportunity for your company to stand out. SyncForce, our sponsor at the B2B Marketing Forum in Amsterdam, brought a small car supplying fresh espresso all day – and it was the most popular place at the event.
2. Another great example I have seen was at the Nationale Marketing Dag – offering a free ice-cream on a hot summer day. Look at the big line of people at the stand – it generated big traffic at the show.
3. Shoeshine stand. Who wouldn’t want to stop to give your shoes an extra shine? Consider the audience for this though, if you expect a lot of people wearing casual sport shoes, etc – this is not a good catch.
4. Hire a magician or dancers at the stand as this will generate big traffic, especially with the loud music around the show – the only risk here is that you will be the general crowd but not necessary the audience who are genuinely interested in your product. They will watch the show and disappear immediately as music stops. My favorite example here is renting a small photostudio where you can take a photo as a memory, check out this fun photo I just made at the Nationale MarketingDag. 
5. Freebies (promotional items) – we all know that you can’t miss here and you don’t have to spend much on it. I think that the key to success here is to have a creative way to connect it with the message you are trying to get across. A good example of this is a small and bright Hand Sanitizer Disinfectant Spray with the sign “Protect from your viruses” given away by Microsoft at the Infosecurity show.
6. And now one of my very favorite tips shared by Jonathan Clark : when you go to a big conference what do you miss the most (many times)? Good Wi-Fi connection and not enough power supply. Creative sponsors are using this to their advantage. Sponsoring free Wi-Fi is an option, but 1) there are less and less conferences who are missing it and 2) it’s a little risky enterprise: if Wi-Fi will not work well, you get more complaints than recognition. Extra supply of the Power Cords is a great idea though. If you are a sponsor at the conference, simply bring a bunch of power squids and distribute them around the room. Its not a big investment and you can use it for other events. I would invest not in the simple power cords, but State of Art: modern, trendy, like for example the Power Squid Surge3000 Calamari Edition for the US but or Belkin Surgemaster 6V + tel. + A/V for European market or Philips have one for the UK Philips PowerSquid
I hope this post will give you a few more new ideas and if you have others to share, I would love to hear from you. Just post a comment on this blog.