There are always exceptions

It just goes to show you there are always exceptions to the rule.

I'm firmly against having "booth babes " -- scantily clad women in your exhibit -- simpy there to attract male traffic. But at the recent IMTS 2006 in Chicago, Allied Machine showed me a new approach to having a booth babe that I can actually support.

Rather than just announce GEN3SYS as the latest, greatest innovation for the hole making industry, it was decided to launch this very unique tool on an equally unique platform, thus converting the traditionally conservative AMEC 40’ trade show exhibit into the Garden of Eden, complete with Eve, the apples and of course a few life-like serpents to round out the overall Eden setting. Marketing’s objective was to make certain that as many of the nearly 100,000 visitors to IMTS as possible, did not leave the show without first hearing, to some degree, about Allied’s presence and new offering of GEN3SYS (pronounced "Genesis," get it?), generated by the buzz of this stand-out booth exhibit. And stand out it did. Over the past several IMTS shows, AMEC averaged approximately 100 leads per day, despite every effort to draw attention and more people to the booth. After eight days of getting the constant flow of prospective customers to notice Allied’s booth and more importantly, Allied’s message of GEN3SYS (certainly along with Thread Mills, AccuPort and EcoCut) a record 2000+ visitors requested literature on AMEC products, almost tripling the number of leads received in earlier years at the more conservative booth presented at the show.

I asked Don Giammo, Marketing Coordinator for Allied Machine, about the decision to use Eve and the Garden of Eden theme:

"When the idea of a booth babe began to come into focus, I cringed at the thought of the shallowness plus the negative comments for 'pimping our ride...' but the gal, who's a Chicagoland model, turned out to come with personality, and interacted well with our booth visitors. Our objective was to be the buzz of the show, and from what we picked up on, it worked. Our follow-up, (the mailing of the literature & letters of acknowledgement) took place Sep 25-27, to over two-thousand leads... almost triple that of the '04 IMTS."

IMHO, what worked for Allied was this:

• The theme was congruent with the name of the product
• The "fun" theme didn't stop there. Allied staff worked hard to connect the dots between attracting attendees and meaningful interactions. You can watch an IMTS newscast and see for yourself.
• Eve may have visually attracted attendees, but she also was integral in helping start the business conversation and then handing off to an Allied staffer.

The bottom line is, it all worked because everything connected back to the overall objectives  and purpose for the show.

Comments

[Steve Markowski]

Dear Steve:

I can't say I was impressed with Eve as a non-objectified though scantily-clad booth babe. So what was the pay off for AMEC. Did their zillion show leads turn into cash?

I would be impressed by a hefty ROI from a well planned booth strategy.

Warmest regards.

Steve Markowski
www.MarketingAnalysisOnline.com