I enjoy analyzing the dynamics at trade show booths. A trade show booth is a temporary embassy for a company. It can provide a glimpse of your team or company. Sometime it provides a glimpse of what is valued at your company.
At almost every trade show, there is at least one booth that employs a very noticeable gimmick to draw a crowd. Magicians, actors, and models in the booth are popular choices. Last month, a booth manager told me that he was using card games and a roulette wheel at his booth to "help attendees have a good time" So much for first impressions. More subtle gimmicks (also known as premiums or trinkets or incentives) include candy or other giveaways. How many times have you had a chance to win an iPod this year in exchange for providing your contact information?
After listening to a James Surowieki 2005 IT Conversations presentation, I had a few more insights into the Wisdom of Crowds. Sometimes there is wisdom but many times crowds are dumb. This is part of the message in Surowieki's best selling book, The Wisdom of Crowds.
Dumb crowds can form through an information cascade mechanism. Surowieki described a scenario where there are equally good choices such as two restaurants. The initial condition is that both establishments have no customers at the start of the lunch rush. Without any inside information about either restaurant, the first group of patrons randomly selects one of the restaurants. The next group of potential patrons notices that one restaurant is empty and the other has a small group of customers. They select the restaurant that already has some customers because it seems like a safer choice. The next groups of patrons continue to make the choice that is perceived to be "safer." Soon, one restaurant is bustling with customers and seems to capture the more favorable reputation.
The information cascade is promoted by a characteristic herd behavior in humans. It’s a way to appear reasonable. Often, the "safe" thing to do is imitate. It is one particular decision trap.
Trade show booth gimmicks are likely to produce low quality leads. Preferentially, these booths have visitors known as trick-or-treaters, literature collectors, or nomadic trade show attendees. These are the folks that get a free bag from one vendor and fill it with all the free stuff they can collect.
If your company is giving away bags, at least make sure that your logo can be prominently seen as these mobile billboards are carried all over the trade show floor.
Differentiate trinkets and samples
If you have a good product, giving away samples of your product is a good option. This allows potential customers to experience your product. If you have a good product and a company that needs to grow their brand, items such as shirts or cups with your logo are another good option.
Usually, gimmicks put a strain on the booth staff that should be focusing on more important stuff.
The next time that you see a lot of traffic at a trade show booth, analyze the dynamics. Is your staff on the way to setting a new record for the number of low quality leads collected or is your booth a great way to advance your customer's buying process?
