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Expo Offers Attendees New Planning Services

By Bill Schober, Editorial Director

One of the trades I've plied these many years here at the In-Store Marketing Institute is serving as a "concierge" at our trade shows. No, I don't make restaurant reservations or score "Oprah" tickets. What our concierge service entails is having a few of us (Harold Fischer, Peter Hoyt, etc.) hang around our show booth to chat with attendees -- usually CPG marketers -- who have display projects in mind and want to visit the booths of P-O-P producers who might be a good match. Typically, we ask them qualifying questions, find out what their priorities are and walk them over to producers we think will do right by them.

Most likely, we'll be concierges again at this year's In-Store Marketing Expo, September 26-27 at the Lakeside Center at McCormick Place in Chicago. This year, however, we'll have some help. Our trade show department is automating our concierge service by adding a "product locator." This system will manifest itself in several ways:

  • When attendees visit www.instorexpo.com to sign up for the show in advance, there are a series of nine questions within the online registration process that will query them on project needs, areas of specialization, regional preferences, and so on. As the show dates approach, each attendee will be able to access a personalized list of booths they should visit that match their specific needs.
     
  • If an attendee doesn't preregister for the show early (or as is more common, an assistant group-registers a team and doesn't add the product locator data), starting in August, there will be e-reminders that will prompt them to go online and complete the product locator part of the process.
     
  • And if, for some unbelievably strange reason, it's late September and you still find yourself in the lobby of the show without the benefit of product locator info, you will be able to walk up to a kiosk, get in line, and look up specific services and companies.

So, why am I being such a "nudge" about all of this in July? We're encouraging people to inject more planning into their show participation. The airlines certainly do their bit by their pricing policies. We're doing it by organizing our attendee information into lists of booths to visit and itineraries of events to attend.

Here's another point that will help build a better show experience for all involved. We're encouraging exhibitors to ensure that, if they list a certain type of P-O-P as being within their realm of expertise, there's at least one example of it on display inside their booth.

I can say, from personal experience, that it is more than annoying to go to a booth with a qualified prospect who's expressed interest in a particular display, only to find that it's not there. (What's worse is encountering a booth that's manned by a blase field rep. Ask these guys about a specific display, and they lean back on their heels and say something like, "That's Johnson's account. He must be out to lunch right now." It's rare -- but it happens. One time, I brought a Home Depot executive over to visit a booth in which nobody could speak English!)

And lest I be accused of picking only on suppliers, here's some scolding for you CPG and agency types: By all means, attend our seminars, but don't just "dine & dash." Get down on the show floor. If your head is screwed on at all correctly, you should be able to ferret out some front-line, competitive intelligence that will prove handy at the next inter-departmental meeting.

And speaking of blase, "due diligence" does not mean strolling through the aisles in a daze. The newer, developmental in-store marketing ideas are usually secreted inside booths. Whether you're using our itineraries or not, get pushy and poke around.

It's always better to be over-prepared, especially when you consider the almost-dizzying array of items on the Expo agenda this year:

  • Networking opportunities (that's sometimes code for "cocktails") include the Design of the Times Gallery, the DOT Awards Reception, and the Women in P-O-P Benefit to Fight Breast Cancer.
     
  • The keynote presentations, which kick off every day, are free. But they often fill up, so get there early. Your itinerary will have the details.
     
  • The Digital Signage Pavilion is focused around digital signage, kiosks and content management software, hardware and networks.
     
  • The On-Demand and Digital Printing Pavilion features the latest in online management and short-run printing technologies.
     
  • The Retail Media Forum, which showcases in-store advertising mediums, not only has its own exhibit area (free to all attendees) but boasts a series of topical seminars (special tickets required). The schedule can be added to your customized itinerary.
     
  • The FutureVision Gallery, located inside the Retail Media Forum, will house the latest in interactivity and retail technology. We're talking "virtual dressing rooms" and "robotic shoppers."
     
  • The Packaging Pavilion will help attendees locate, review and meet solution providers on retail packaging, channel-specific package solutions, custom thermoforming, transparent packaging, specialty die cutting, package design services and more.
     
  • The What's New Theater will feature free, 30-minute presentations from exhibitors on a variety of topics ranging from CAD and P-O-P workflow to environmental sustainability and temporary display trends. Again, check your itinerary for timings.


Published: July 2007

Source: In-Store Marketing Institute/P-O-P Times