Trying to do something noteworthy at your latest trade show but your budget doesn’t support it? Here is a case study supplied by Marketing Sherpas to get you started.
Do you yearn to dominate your industry’s biggest trade show, but just don’t have the budget for a giant booth or flashy party? You’re going to love this Case Study… Hear how a trade organization with a “meager booth” got mega-attention from both press and attendees at CES by flooding the show floor with 300-identically dressed models, carefully scripted to murmur one word under their breath. Includes lots of useful details on logistics, plus links to photos and resources:
CHALLENGE
“We couldn’t afford a big trade show display, we just couldn’t,” says Eric Schneider Marketing Manager Bluetooth Special Interest Group. “We’re a trade association operating on a modest budget.”
This January 192,000 mass retailers and technology engineers and developers, attended the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. There were so many booths that the entire Convention Center was filled, plus there were overflow booths located in tents pitched outside and in the halls of the nearby Hilton.
The hundreds of exhibitors included heavy-hitters such as Microsoft, Sony, Dell, Verizon, Intel, and HP. “I’d heard tall tales about CES,” says Schneider, “but everything was bigger and more outrageous than I could have ever imaged. Some companies put millions of dollars into their booths.”
Despite the fact that Bluetooth’s floor space was “meager,” Schneider’s goal was get buzz throughout the show.
Over the previous 12 months, Bluetooth’s technology had reached critical mass in terms of 3,000 manufacturers incorporating it in their products. But, the brand was hardly known by the outside world — especially amongst retailers.
CES was the perfect platform to launch the brand to the rest of the consumer electronics world … if Bluetooth could get anyone to pay attention.
CAMPAIGN
Schneider and his agency turned to a scene in the 1999 film ‘The Thomas Crown Affair’ for inspiration — where an art thief distracts police attention by flooding a large museum with dozens of look-alike bowler hat-wearing businessmen.
If Bluetooth could fill the Convention Center with hundreds of identical models in matching outfits, it could make a similar impression. In effect the entire show floor would become Bluetooth’s booth.
The logistics team for the campaign codenamed ‘Operation Blueshock’ swung into action right after Labor Day. There were seven major steps:
Step #1. Getting permission
If you’re planning to do anything unusual at a trade show, first you must get permission from show organizers. The Blueshock team didn’t want to lessen their impact by spoiling the surprise, so they described the campaign very broadly to show organizers. “Can we have a couple of 100 employees give out cards at the show?”
They also contacted about 20 different staffers at the Convention Center itself to make sure that every level of security and management were ok with them flooding entryways with several hundred models en masse.
Step #2. On-site visit
Although they had been planning from show floor maps, the team invested in an on-site visit to spec out the situation in reality. So in November, they flew in to attend COMDEX (another big show in the same space.)
They paid extra attention to how traffic used various entrances, noting which were likely to become clogged and which were fairly open. Even though Convention Center security management were on board with the campaign, the team knew that news might not trickle down to every single security guard at the show itself.
They didn’t want the fate of the entire campaign to rest in the hands of a guard who might slow or stop the models from entering the floor en masse. So, they decided split the models into large teams and to use several different entrances at once.
Step #3. Costuming
Obviously it was critical that the models stand out from the attendees. “We didn’t want to do a typical booth babe,” says Schneider. “People who go to CES tend to dress down, so we decided to stand out with formal wear.”
Formal wear as in black tuxedos with blue pocket handkerchiefs for the male models and classic black cocktail dresses with blue clutch bags for the women. The women’s hair was pulled back, and both sexes wore matching wrap-around sunglasses to help them maintain composure and avoid eye contact as they marched through the hall.
“In contrast to smiling booth staffers, our models were serious, almost robotic. They stood out, they were on an important mission. It was very Matrix-like in a lot of ways.”
Where do you get 150-matching tuxedos? The team called dozens of sources months before the show and finally ended up shipping them in from Texas. The 150-matching dresses for the female models also came from Texas, in this case a bridal retailer was able to help out.
Note: While women’s dresses were fairly easy to fit — they only come in a limited number of sizes and bridal-outfitters always leave extra cloth for alterations — tuxedos have “about five different moving parts” so getting the right size for each model can be very difficult.
Step #4. Hiring models
Hiring 300 models for a show in Vegas was also a challenge. Eight of the ten agencies the team called said it would be close to impossible. The team checked the references of the two agencies that showed no hesitation, and picked the best. (Link below.)
As each model was hired, the agency made them sign an NDA (non-disclosure agreement) so they wouldn’t tell anyone about the campaign beforehand. Plus the agency identified the most responsible professionals as potential team leaders for the groups as they walked the show floor.
The agency also carefully measured models for outfits. This was critical because when you call in “blind” orders for formal wear (orders for which the tailor has not met the wearer), there’s usually an average 70% failure rate. With the agency’s help, this campaign only had a 30% failure rate, and the majority of problems were relatively minor.
Read the entire article an Marketing Sherpas.
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