Publishers’ Letter – Fall 2021

FOR ANYONE WHO HAS VISITED A TRADE SHOW RECENTLY, it is apparent that attendance figures are off significantly, and we don’t really expect that to change over the course of 2022. It could take years, if at all, for some events to get back to pre-pandemic attendance figures.

One of the side effects that we’ve noticed is a proliferation of regional shows – small events with either one vendor working by themselves or a group of vendors – that are popping up around the country. But what is inevitable is that if everyone is doing it, and not coordinating their activities, each event becomes diluted.

As far as systems integrators are concerned, these events are putting enormous strain on their staff, as they only have so much time to spend during the week away from the job site. And we’ve noticed that most of these events do not cater to the design-build community. They are straight product fairs, not intended to demonstrate the design-build aspects of the technology.

We’ve been taking a different approach to working with our clients to effectively and efficiently market their brands and brand offerings. Our group has just come off a week-long series of livestreaming events for a multinational company that owns multiple brands. Through the use of video presentations and live Q&A sessions, these brands were able to introduce not only new products, but also showcase lifestyle advantages that will serve the interest of homeowners for years to come. In each presentation during the week we had to cut off the Q&A session at the top of the hour in order to get ready for the next presentation. That’s how engaged the audiences were. We believe this is the most effective way to get your branding message across, based on audience count and capture rate.

Imagine having 1,000 customers sit for a 40-minute presentation and an additional 20 minutes of live Q&A. You don’t get that at trade shows – national or regional! So why wouldn’t you engineer an event that can be tailored to audience demographic, geographical region and category segment?

One of the ideas we are now kicking around with several of our clients is the proof of concept to bring multiple complimentary products and services together for regional and seasonal HD livestream events. We will be able to concentrate on messaging specifically targeted to the design-build and technical audiences each vendor wants to communicate with.

One major bonus to this strategy of course is that video footage that is captured during these events can be repurposed throughout the year. Globally. On multiple platforms.

So if you’re interested in messaging and efficiencies, ping us and let’s talk. Trade shows as we’ve always known them have become an endangered species, so start thinking about new ways to survive.