As you can see from our posts throughout the last four days we learned a lot at NADA. This gathering produces great ideas applicable to the dealership business and to any business working to stay ahead during these challenging times and we can’t wait to continue sharing these thoughts with you.
But there’s one post I haven’t written yet that was on my mind for most of the show. I wanted to wait until I had a moment to compose my thoughts. NADA is a huge show — one of the nation’s larger trade shows actually. As a former frequent exhibitor myself, I am fascinated by the trade show world. I’ve always said you can bleed a lot of money at a trade show but the marketer in me still feels that, if done correctly, they can make a brand come to life. Since I mostly wear the marketer’s hat now, I am often focused on creating brand experiences at a booth through careful integration of design, messaging, marketing, and sales.
There’s one aspect that often gets overlooked: how the booth is worked by the staff. Let me preface what I am about to say with my understanding that this is a tough time for both the auto industry and the many vendors that support it. Trade shows are expensive and must demonstrate ROI (usually through the leads they produce) if they want to remain a part of the media mix. However, this quest for accountability and leads cannot come at the expense of attacking trade show attendees. Yes, I said attacking.
What did I see? As Dean and I walked the expo hall floor we were mauled and accosted by anything we made eye contact with. We had booth babes (show workers hired less for their extensive product expertise and more for their physical attributes) and every other imaginable incarnation of an old-timey huckster/carnival barker aggressively pushing their wares — even when irrelevant — to anything that would hove into their fields of vision. While taking the risk of actually talking to someone at a relevant booth (more on relevancy later) I literally saw a booth worker leap from his booth in front of an unsuspecting victim. Here is another conversation I heard:
Trade Show Huckster – HUCK for brevity’s sake – walks out of booth, intercepting uninterested ATTENDEE and begins following them down the aisle walking several booths away from their own booth.
HUCK: Have you heard of company XYZ?!?
ATTENDEE: Well … no …
HUCK: Do you want to learn more about what we do at company XYZ?!?
ATTENDEE: Not really …
Huck thrusts a stack of brochures at ATTENDEE.
HUCK: Here ‘ya go! Take these home and read ‘em and then you’ll know!!
Both continue on their separate paths, shaking heads in exasperation.
Let me say again, I am not being dramatic. What I saw can objectively be described as attacks, leaping, accosting, etc. As a trade show attendee and a fellow marketer I have two responses to this. As an attendee, due to this behavior, I started avoiding eye contact with the booth workers and their booths. As a marketer, this leaves a pang in my stomach. Because of an aggressive booth employee folks aren’t looking at my both much less stopping at it.
Notice in the above vignette I observe both the attendee and the huckster walking away in exasperation. I fully recognize that at a booth you can’t sit quietly back like a priest waiting to take a confession. You have to work it a bit but it needs to be relevant to the prospect in order to produce a real lead rather than junk leads to show (fake) ROI. There’s truly something to be said for quantity vs. quality when it comes to trade show leads.
After voicing my frustration I started waiting to see if anyone was doing it right. That’s when I had the following conversation …
Nice Booth Guy – NBG for brevity – stands at his booth as NICK walks by …
NBG: Are you interested in online marketing ?
NICK: Why, yes I am …
NBG: Let me tell you a bit about about what we do …
NBG gives a true elevator speech — approx. 2 minutes then closes with …
NBG: … now sir I know you’re busy today. We have a demo here but if you’d like I can call you later and we can go through it over the phone. Can I swipe your card?
NICK: I’d love it if we could do it later. I am going to give you my business card because that has better information to reach me at and I want to make sure I hear from you.
And … SCENE. That was a great introductory brand experience. You can break down this successful interaction from the point of view of the exhibitor and the attendee:
- The attendee made a good connection and had an experience that was non-threatening and relevant.
- The exhibitor got a lead — a real lead not just a swiped card – and presented his brand as approachable and understanding of customers’ time.
You see, I chose the word interaction above because both sides got something out of it. That’s what a trade show is supposed to be – an interaction. Communion between the brand and the consumer at its most basic level. That’s why — when done correctly with careful planning on all fronts — a trade show can be an impressive and effective marketing tool.
As we prepare for the 
This Thursday, we’ll be at the Iowa City Area Chamber of Commerce’s 
