“PLAYING BY THE RULES”
by Contributor
(Mar. 2, 2016) — Trade shows are all part of the rich tapestry of marketing small business owners have to endure in an attempt to reach out and ensnare new customers. Let’s be honest here: who wants to spend days sitting in a trade show booth for twelve hours, handing out cheap pens and talking to random people. Yes, some of them might be interested in your products and services, but many will be as bored as you.
That said, with the right trade show booth, it is possible to make a trade show work for you. But just in case you are thinking of booking your space at a trade show over the next few months, check out the following epic fails and make sure your business doesn’t make the same mistakes.
Awkward Dancing Girls
Booth babes are a common fixture at trade shows. Lots of companies hire attractive young women to draw customers into their booth. Mostly it works pretty well, although anyone who enters your booth to talk to a booth babe is unlikely to be a qualified prospect.
Attractive young women standing around handing out flyers are one thing, but asking them to dance is quite another, particularly when they can’t dance. The Alpine Girls dance at the International Motor Show in Bangkok is a classic example of when dancing girls don’t work.
Giveaway Foul
If you’re going to advertise a product giveaway, at least stick to your own rules. A software company exhibiting at the VMworld conference didn’t – and came in for a lot of abuse as a result. The winner of a Segway should have been an attendee present at the time of the draw, who was also wearing a company tee-shirt. Sadly the winner was present, but didn’t have a tee-shirt on. The audience was not happy and lots of abuse followed.
Toilet Paper Sponsorship
Branded toilet paper is an interesting marketing exercise. Unfortunately, the company in question used a heavy duty paper to print the information on, which soon started to cause a ‘blockage’ in the conference centre toilets. The offending rolls were removed and returned to the booth, where they became a temporary visitor attraction – so all was not lost!
Dubious Extras
A Russian company invited Barcelona trade show attendees to register for a free dinner with fine dining and champagne. All good, you might think, as it is sure to be a popular offer. Unfortunately, the company also supplied a number of female ‘companions’ for the male diners. Not surprisingly, no men complained, but the company soon had its contract terminated because of ‘dubious practices’.
Breaking Bad
There are usually a number of rules trade show exhibitors have to adhere to, which include not handing out promotional materials outside of your booth. A software company decided to break the rules when they took a small booth at the RSA conference in San Francisco. They paid actors to play hackers who had ‘taken over the company’. The actors promoted their stunt all over the venue – breaking the rules in the process. The company booth was soon shut down over ‘rule violations’.
If you need help with your next trade show and you prefer to play by the rules, look at Finesse Exhibitions for booth ideas.