| |
I N T E G R A T E D P R O G R A M |
 |
Exhibitor: Derse Inc.
Creative/Production: Derse Inc., Milwaukee, 414-257-2000, www.derse.com
Show: EXHIBITOR Show, 2005
Budget: $36,000
Goals:
 Respond to attendees complaints of overly aggressive exhibit staffers.
Convert two show-generated prospects into clients.
Generate 90 qualified sales leads.
Results:
Created a “Not a Peep” theme that focused on listening rather than talking. 
Converted six prospects into clients, three times its goal.
Generated 186 qualified leads — a 30-percent increase over 2004.
|
| |
|
 hut up and listen! This succinct, albeit frank, directive was issued by attendees at EXHIBITOR Show 2004 in Las Vegas. Through a show-sponsored survey, attendees revealed they felt booth staffers at the 2004 show were too aggressive and more interested in driving their own agendas than listening to attendees' needs.
For the 2005 show, Derse Inc., a Milwaukee-headquartered exhibit- and event-marketing firm, didn’t just consider this directive when planning its exhibit strategy, it took it literally. Using an integrated program featuring marshmallow Peeps, Derse uttered “not a peep” until attendees initiated conversations.
Reacting to attendees’ complaints, Derse’s “you talk, we listen” approach integrated bright-yellow marshmallow-Peeps candy throughout, starting with its pre-show mailer two weeks prior to the show. Derse sent attendees a small cardboard box — a Peep case — containing a Peep nestled in faux grass. An enclosed card featuring a picture of a yellow Peep promised staffers would utter “Not a peep, until … we’ve listened to you,” while the back included clever instructions for proper Peep care.
At the show, attendees found a second Peep case inside their show bags. However, this case only contained a card inviting attendees to Derse’s exhibit to obtain their tasty Peep.
To further promote the mute message and drive traffic to its booth, billboards featuring Peeps lined the route to the exhibit hall. Guerilla marketers stationed throughout the convention center doled out cards reading: “Admit one: Peep Show, Derse Exhibits booth 659.”
When attendees arrived at the 20-by-40-foot booth, they found Peep-inspired graphics along with Peep-yellow furniture and decorative, oversized Peeps atop a side wall and on a light fixture positioned over the reception desk. Booth staffers covered their mouths with hand-held masks featuring an image of a taped mouth on one side and the phrase “Ask me your pressing question” on the other, breaking their silence only after attendees started talking to them. After listening to attendees’ needs, staffers offered qualified prospects a T-shirt featuring what else, but a yellow Peep.
Derse continued the mum’s-the-word theme after the show by sending qualified prospects a third Peep case — Peep included — with a card that read: “Not a Peep? We were listening, and we heard plenty.”
But Derse didn’t just listen the whole time — it found time to gather leads as well. Compared to 2004, booth traffic increased by 72 percent on the first day of the show and 49 percent for the entire three-day run. It also scored 186 qualified leads, a 30-percent increase from 2004. After the show, six prospects became new clients, a 67-percent increase from the previous year.
In addition to the campaign results, judges felt its well-integrated elements and clever, tongue-tied premise made it one of the best promotions in the last 10 years. They also applauded the fact that the campaign was a response to a customer-stated problem. According to judges and attendees, silence really is golden. e
|
