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Partnership Announcement: Tradeshow 'shenanigans'?

Posted by Anonymous on 5/6/2009 at 1:43 PM ET 500 Points
Our #1 BIG-MAMMA tradeshow is at the end of June this year in Washington DC. We're planning to announce a really cool partnership with another company and are trying to come up with cool, fun, exciting ideas that cost little to nothing to announce the partnership between the two companies a) to build awareness of the partnership, b) to drive traffic to our booth, c) to stroke the egos of those involved (come on, at least I'm honest).

So other than a boring old ribbon-cutting ceremony, what else could we do? We'll have PR, web, email and direct mail communications pre-show that we could use to tease or unveil shenanigans via.
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  • Posted by SteveByrneMarketing on 5/6/2009 at 4:27 PM Member
    It seems like you are looking for tactical and promotional options from a creative thinking pov, but what about a strong driving core strategy for the show, for the partnership. If you have one, please let us know what it is.

    If not, then maybe change the focus to creating strategy before implementation.

    Thanks

    Steve
  • Posted by SteveByrneMarketing on 5/6/2009 at 7:54 PM Accepted
    "CONNECTING our customers (who happen to be educators) with the best possible digital content"

    You might create a fun contest/game directly related to connecting educators to digital content. They would experience the connection through game camaraderie with other educators and your show people.

    (some form of darts, putting, use your imagination - just make it fun, and with a prize)

    Also, you could have your people walk the floor and select attendees to participate in the games.

    hope this helps,

    Steve
  • Posted by Jay Hamilton-Roth on 5/7/2009 at 9:55 AM Member
    I think you need to start with the reason the public should care about your partnership. What's in it for them? What will the 2 of you be able to do for them different/better than before (and than your competitors)? Focus on the benefit (paint some clear pictures). Otherwise your "ta da" will be "ho-hum".
  • Posted on 5/7/2009 at 11:31 AM Accepted
    I think the "ta da" is less important than the connection. Attracting attention is good, but interacting with your potential customers is better. It's not the quantity of leads, but the quality that counts.

    I wrote a blog post on this a few days ago (check my site for the whole thing), but in essence it was a case study of someone who went to a trade show and did two things:

    1) raffled off a great prize
    2) created a questionnaire asking visitors to his booth what they wanted from his product, and what kinds of issues were most important when making a choice

    This often led to intensive discussion about what the customer really wanted and needed.

    He ended up with much better contacts, plus valuable information which will allow him to contact these people again, and better target his promotions to fit their needs.

    Other booths had Guitar Hero and flashy digital cartoons. Those booths had more visits, but the booth in my post got better leads and more business.

    Which would you choose?
  • Posted by Paul Kemper on 5/8/2009 at 8:27 AM Accepted
    WHat about a live quiz every 10 minutes with two peoplefrom the booth audience answering questions. You might use your combined tools to soup up some funny content (look at YouTube for stuff) and then quickly ask 5 questions about it. Use sound, light and video to pre-announce every round and pull people into your booth. Then explain the setup you are using (just a 1 minute pitch). Then maybe a 1-minute video and the 5 questions. Think of some nice give-aways others might want to have too.
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