Today's Frugal Exhibitor

In the wake of an abysmal year that has led to tighter marketing budgets, as well as a re-evaluation of the value of face-to-face, it’s no mystery that exhibitors have had to become smarter about how they participate in tradeshows.

In their efforts to save dollars, while still getting in front of their clients and respective industries, exhibitors haven’t only adopted a less-is-more mentality about the events they participate in, but also a quality-over-quantity approach in selecting them. With more fine-tuned show strategies, greater cost-consciousness and enhanced attention to maximizing ROI, exhibitors have become more likely to readily cut out shows that aren’t meeting their objectives or offering them enough value.

Yet, with the distant beacon of an economic recovery in sight, will this frugal, savvier exhibitor remain the norm when times improve, or could the pendulum swing the other way? Not likely, according to many exhibitors. Frugal exhibiting appears to be the “new normal,” with no sign of shifting back any time soon.

Although tradeshows might continue to be an important component in a company’s overall marketing strategy, because of smaller travel and exhibiting budgets, exhibitors are spending more time calculating which events are worth their time and expense. This methodology just makes good sense, said Aimee Leeper, marketing manager of ATMGurus by Triton. She added although the company recently eliminated some shows from its marketing mix, it has replaced them with others that better meet business objectives and more closely match target markets.

“We choose where to exhibit based on how well the audience fits with the particular products we are focusing on at the time,” Leeper said. “It’s a simple question of 'what’s in it for us?’ If we can increase our bottom line by exhibiting (in an event), then it’s an easy decision to make.”

Like many exhibitors these days, ATMGurus is adhering closely to cost-saving efforts during events, including less exhibit space, staffing booths with fewer people, handing out less expensive giveaways and looking into speaking opportunities to enhance their brand, she added. But, cost issues aside, having a face-to-face presence is crucial in this fiercely competitive landscape, especially at key shows, Leeper said.

“There is the risk that people might guess that you are struggling if you vanish from an important industry event where all of your competition has a presence,” she added.

Fine-tuning one’s marketing strategy and choosing tradeshows to correspond to one’s target markets is important, but so are results. For Mary O’Neill, tradeshow group manager of Cisco, being a smarter exhibitor also means careful evaluation of the company’s different event ROI and then a re-evaluation of which tradeshows to keep or abandon going forward.

“We look at the results from the show and determine if (it is) still a wise investment,” O’Neill said. “We also start our fiscal year planning with a look at the event portfolio and make sure it maps to the marketing campaigns for the various business units.”

Although the company exhibits in about 300 regional and national events annually, Cisco has cut back on some shows and has worked to decrease its reliance on them by adopting face-to-face alternatives, including virtual technology and social media, O’Neill said. Still, the company has no plans to abandon live exhibiting, she added.

“I believe our participation will remain the same for the foreseeable future,” O’Neill said. “We have cut back our presence at many shows and have been focusing on executive meetings and customer intimacy activities. This has been paying off and will continue to be our strategy.”

Still, cutting back on events isn’t always a practice some exhibiting companies can afford to adopt.

Adrienne LeTourneau, co-founder of FairTribe, said expanding rather than contracting her company’s presence at tradeshows is an important strategy and vital component to its growth. Although newer exhibitors still are able to be smart about choosing the right shows and curtailing costs, less established companies shouldn’t necessarily roll back event presence if they wish to expand their outreach in their respective marketplaces, she added.

“We feel like it would be impossible for our company to continue to grow without being seen at tradeshows,” LeTourneau said. “We feel that tradeshows are our best opportunity to reach a large number of buyers in a short period of time and would like to expand our brand’s footprint to a national presence.”

As a new clothing brand that exhibits in up to four fashion industry events each year, adopting a less-is-more strategy that would limit her brand’s exposure would be counterproductive for the company, LeTourneau said. Unless they are a well-established brand and can write a season’s worth of orders at one show, LeTourneau said she believes some exhibitors could hurt themselves by limiting their exposure to new buyers and markets. Yet, having a savvy tradeshow strategy is just as important, if not more so, for fledgling companies, as being seen at the right events with the right buyers is key, she added.

“We are hoping to add more shows for 2010 and 2011, then will re-evaluate to see if sales from the new shows are worth the additional expense,” LeTourneau said. “We have not eliminated any shows yet, but are considering cutting back on MAGIC (Marketplace) to once a year to use that money to expand into other shows in other parts of the U.S.”

Yet, even some of the more established companies no longer are certain about the value of exhibiting, with the realities of rising exhibiting costs and buyers traveling to fewer events. This is a concern for Alan Beatty, executive vice president of Flojos, who wonders whether tradeshows are indeed worth the time and money anymore. Although the footwear company has maintained its presence at most of its core events, it has dropped or reduced its presence at shows with lagging buyer attendance and those taking place on dates that are out of sync with buying cycles, Beatty said.

“Being in tradeshows is not as glamorous, and exhibiting is not what is used to be, with the pressure of making money and getting out to see everybody,” he added. As cost-consciousness shows signs of remaining the industry norm going forward, Beatty said he believes many exhibiting companies will be forced to move online. This will be the wave of the future in exhibiting as teleconferencing and virtual technology improve, and become better able to replicate the face-to-face experience and visibility of products, he added. Keeping with this forward-thinking mindset, the company has been successfully using Skype for some of its sales efforts, Beatty said.

“Let’s face the fact that shows are outdated in today’s real market,” he added. “(Why should) a company need to spend thousands of dollars to show its product, when you can communicate with buyers online and provide them with pictures of your product? (However,) in today’s current market, exhibiting is important until we come up with a strategy that will utilize our time better.”

Even so, not all exhibiting companies like the idea of the industry moving online. As an exhibit designer and builder that also is an exhibitor itself in several major industry events each year, Nimlok comprehends the exhibitor perspective from both sides of the equation. Its approximately 4,000 clients have helped the company truly understand the mentality of exhibitors in this economy, said Joel Chaiken, Nimlok’s director of marketing. The company has witnessed its clients become more sophisticated in their exhibit and event strategy, with a more intense focus on ROI than ever before, he added.

“Exhibitors are going to spend their money where they know they will generate the most business,” Chaiken said. “It could be the difference between attending one big show because all of their customers attend it, versus a number of smaller shows that are down in traffic. Conversely, it could mean putting their money into a few smaller, emerging events because they have a higher probability of reaching a targeted audience.”

Despite the pressure of doing more with less, or even cutting back on shows, Chaiken said if the leads are there and if maintaining one’s company profile is important to them, many exhibitors will adjust their show budgets to stay in front of their customers. They might go to market on a smaller scale, including reducing booth size, limiting staffing or refreshing existing exhibit properties rather than purchasing new ones, but they’re still going to exhibit where they need to be, he added.

“We are definitely entering a realm of 'new normal,’” Chaiken said. “(Exhibitors) are making smarter purchasing decisions and are measuring their results. Advances in video integration and interactive marketing are allowing us to produce more powerful face-to-face experiences, while scaling down the size of our exhibits. It may not be about less-is-more as much as it is being targeted and engaging at every opportunity.”

Although some exhibitors might choose to remain loyal to some tried-and-true events, if an event no longer is meeting their needs, exhibitors now are more likely than ever to abandon ship and swim to more profitable shores.

According to Margit Weisgal, president and CEO of the Trade Show Exhibitors Assn., if shows want to retain a strong exhibitor presence, they should pay attention to this shift in industry attitudes, or lose out.

“Exhibitors are being smarter … (and) the smart exhibitors care about the right people in attendance,” she said. “The shows that are looking out for their customers and responding to their customers’ needs (will retain their exhibitors).”

Weisgal added strategic exhibitors are looking at many factors before deciding on their show schedule for the year and especially for 2010, given the current economic environment.

“The shows that are doing the independent audits and can prove the right people are there, they’re going to get the right exhibitors,” she said. “People are attending tradeshows and they are buyers, but give (the exhibitor) some data to back it up. It’s the 2009 version of 'show me the money.’”