Retail industry analyst RSR Research notes in “The Lasting Effects Of Shoptalk” that the new event in Las Vegas differentiates itself from other events by featuring “Full-out breakfast, lunch and dinner” that were accompanied by “impressive spreads of snacks and beverages throughout the day.” And goes on to remark, “These may seem like trivial things, but for someone who was in the event business in a former life, they tend to be the things that people remember most.”
I totally agree.
RSR’s remark totally resonates with my experience of conducting events.
Through my career in B2B technology marketing, I have seen three other things that can make events memorable and boost the organizers’ brand recall.
#1. Catch ‘Em Early
I was once traveling on the high-speed InterCity Express (ICE) from Frankfurt to Munich to attend a tradeshow. As soon as we crossed Stuttgart – roughly midway point – I suddenly saw some people on stilts ambling up and down the aisles of the train, distributing a card to every passenger.
I remarked to myself that they were rather brave to perch themselves atop stilts on a train running at 280 kph and wondered what they were up to.
A few minutes later, I had my answer: According to the card they handed me over, they were staging a skit on behalf of an exhibitor at the said tradeshow in Munich.
Although this incident happened over a decade ago, I still remember the vendor that pulled this stunt.
Catching the audience even before they enter the expo hall is a great way of making events unforgettable.
#2. Sex Appeal Sells
In the late ‘80s, there was this PC manufacturer who exhibited its wares at the then leading IT industry event of India. The company’s stand featured “booth babes” in mini skirts walking up and down the floor made of mirror. Enough said.
After a long time, a QR code gets hundreds of scans. It's the one on the @PeriPeriStore ad. Proves sex sells everything. Including QR…
— GTM360 (@GTM360) August 5, 2013
Three decades later, industry veterans still remember this event and the vendor.
#3. Offer Exclusive Deals
They say deals work only in B2C. A leading core banking solutions provider learned otherwise.
On the first day of a two day user conference, the vendor – my ex-employer – announced a special 20% discount for customers who placed the order for the latest version of its CBS before the event ended. By 5PM the next day, the vendor signed four deals.
This is a BIG deal in a market characterized by multimillion dollar ticket sizes and 9-12 months sales cycles, as anyone who is familiar with high value B2B technology marketing and sales would know.
Several years later, executives of the company keep talking about this event. More importantly, the experience gave its marketing team new ideas to compress long sales cycles.
Now that we know how to make events unforgettable, let us remember that organizing events can be quite challenging.
Surprisingly, this is one area where not much has changed over the years.
Events seem to be as painful to plan and execute today as they were back in the day. The lead organizer of the Startup Master Class event conducted last month noted that his core team of organizers hadn’t taken a weekend off during the previous six months and that the crew members hadn’t slept a wink for 48 hours before the D-Day.
This discourages many vendors from organizing their own events.
Which is a pity since events deliver a huge Return on Marketing Investment (ROMI) – notwithstanding what Dilbert says!
At an ERP company I used to work at one point, we used to see a spike in the number of deals signed in the quarter immediately following every one of its events. I’m guessing that, when a prospect sees so many other prospects at a vendor’s event, s/he gets the “we’re all in the same boat” feeling, which can provide a great sense of comfort and induce them to sign on the dotted line of high-risk deals.
Attending events organized by others is no substitute for conducting your own events. Accordingly, I’d strongly recommend vendors to go through the hardship of conducting their own events.
Another issue with events is that they can get very expensive. This was another thing confirmed by the lead organizer of the aforementioned SMC event.
But fear not. There are ways to breakeven on events or even make a profit, as I’d learned during my stint with the above mentioned ERP company. If you have a compelling story that can attract the “right titles”, we’ll help you find ways to recover your event’s costs.
