As I write this, there are thousands of tweets containing the trending topic of CES or the Consumer Electronics Show. This mecca of gadgets, laptops, and basically anything running on electricity is the focal point of any geek’s life this week, and so it should be. As I read about the interesting news that EVERYBODY is at the Lenovo booth, I realised that I have been to quite a strange range of conventions and that it is rare to see a true win at these rallies of industry. Some memories:
- Home Building & Remodelling Expo (Milwaukee, USA) – I can’t remember one single memorable item from this show that I have been to at least 5 times, except one. A patio deck manufacturer that had a fully built deck as a booth with all his staff wearing cooking aprons. I do not remember the package or the product, but I do remember that aged white bearded man, standing on his deck holding a pair of tongs and handing out hot dogs.
- HH Backer Pet Industry Christmas Show (Chicago, USA) – I was with a retail team that was in the mood for new products. We walked through hundreds of booths and met vendors from all over the world. I still remember one logo better than any other, and it was on a wheeled box: UrineOff. We didn’t carry it, but I remember it better than any other product.
- Defcon (Las Vegas, USA) This congregation of hackers, crackers, script kiddies and wannabes is something you have to see. There are contests to out the FBI agent and lock picking contests. My most vivid memory? Aside from the roaring laughter of news of a US defence contractors plans to make weapon deployment systems web browser based, it was the first time I saw the video to Benny Bennassi’s Satisfaction.
What do these strange cross section of memories, industries and experiences have in common?
All of them made no sense from a traditional marketing perspective, but they worked. I am not saying they were necessarily intentional, but that’s not the issue. The fact is that one man on a deck 16 years ago handing out grilled meat still reminds me of outdoor living and cooking space. One cardboard box (probably the one thing a pet wouldn’t soil) rolling past me burnt the purple and yellow logo of a urine remover in my brain for over 2 years. And the Benassi video, well that caused me to not only realise how starved some of the convention participants were, but led me into a whole new genre of Euro Electro House, later of which I which I bought albums of.
The reason this isn’t easily replicated is because of the psychology at the time. Marketers often search out the best scenarios in which to operate in for the best result. But marketing is not just a simple wave of the flag, or attention grabber, it’s a fully orchestrated symphony of signals that is supposed to achieve the same end. The most successful vendor in a convention or trade show floor is the one who does not understand sales, but who understands the microcosm that trade show floors are. UrineOff provided the most convenient and biggest carrier for all you free stuff (swag). A hacker in Las Vegas, was able to guess my subconscious thought that the male to female ratio was over 4:1. A deck and patio manufacturer may have had enough floor experience to know that interior decorators are a dime a dozen, and that his product represented everything great about the home building experience for men. For any other marketing situation, these would have been out of place, weird and even inappropriate but they nailed it, at least with me.
Marketers, just like business school students, are always trying to one up each other, and tend to be more concerned with image than anything. Marketing also uses people’s natural politeness to their advantage. But when people are bombarded and on the border of ad nauseum (pun intended), there is a vacuum that can be filled with a little generosity by marketers. Trade shows are exhausting, competitive and ironically solitary, so why not be the epitome of helpfulness while also achieving your objectives?
