Effective Marketing

In our industry we know the importance of standing out from the crowd. But it’s all too easy to blend in when it comes to large exhibition halls like the ICC Sydney. So how do you stand out amongst hundreds of different exhibitors, and how do you cut through all the traffic?

We all expect to have information at our fingertips these days, whether it’s on our mobile phones, our tablets or computers. Touch screens are all around us and they are becoming extremely commonplace. It’s amazing how quickly touchscreens have come from a technological fantasy to something so widespread that it’s now considered standard. We only have to look at how much the mobile phone has advanced over the past decade to see how fast technology is advancing.

Sampling is still a massive component in the marketing mix, and there is often no better way to get a new product to market than by giving away samples. But how do you get noticed? How do you make some noise in an already crowded marketplace?

The exhibition industry is changing, and so are the products we use. There’s no need to organise a truck to collect your stand and then have three people ready to erect it – today’s products are much more portable and lightweight. 

When thinking of free samples we inevitably think about food and drink, because the food and beverage industries have made sampling an integral part of their marketing strategy for years. Despite how quickly our world is changing, and the technology that goes with it, the tradition of sampling still lives on albeit in a more non-traditional way.

With Aldi and Lidl opening stores across Australia and giving the traditional grocery stores a run for their money, is there really any room for a third grocery discounter?

German retail company, Schwarz Group, has plans to bring the hypermart chain Kaufland to Australia.

Kaufland has seen success in Eastern Europe with more than 1,230 stores and has a strategy similar to Lidl and Aldi but sells branded products as well as its’ own discount merchandise.

It took 3 years to build, over 15,000 tonnes of steel and enough concrete to fill 40 Olympic-sized swimming pools.

Whether you are planning a stand for an exhibition, a retail pop-up space or an experiential marketing campaign, it’s imperative you consider all aspects of the build. People tend to focus on the stand itself, which is understandable, but the flooring is often something that gets overlooked by inexperienced operators.

We have all seen them in Sydney, you have probably all be in one of them, and you may even have eaten at one of them – pop-up shops and kiosks are ‘popping’ up all over the place, and research indicates that consumers love them!

When it comes to your sampling activity, what are the things you need to get right?  It’s a question you need to ask yourself when you are deciding on the details of your sampling campaign, and there are a few factors to take into consideration. Here some tips for your next campaign…