TIM LESMEISTER - Trade Show Executive

News
Continued from page 11
if overall attendance figures are lower
than they would like, said Glenn Schutz,
BPA’s manager of communications.
“If organizers are still concerned about
reporting the figures of their first
event audit, they may keep the results
confidential for the first year,” Schutz
told Trade Show Executive. This rule meets
EEIAC requirements, he said. “Keeping
the results private allows organizers to
dissect their event and address attendance
issues based on accurate, third-party data.
And when times are better, the audit will
help take their event to the next level.”
Reach Glenn Hansen at (203) 447-
2800 or ghansen@bpaww.com; Glenn
Schutz at (203) 447-2800 or gschutz@
bpaww.com
Events Likely to Take
Hit in Changing Tech
Marketing Priorities
By Hil Anderson, senior editor
Carlsbad, CA – Spending on trade shows
and events will take a hit this year as
exhibitor companies reorganize their
marketing priorities to weather the
global recession, a panel of marketing
professionals in the technology sector
agreed during a recent webcast.
The online discussion presented
February 12 by BtoB Magazine concluded
that the travel expenses for both exhibitors
and attendees were among the low-hanging
fruit to be lopped off by the budget ax
as companies focus on cutting costs and
directly cultivating their customer base.
“There will indeed be a pullback on
events,” said panelist Mark Gambill, vice
president and chief marketing officer of
CDW Corporation (CDW), commenting
on the overall economic climate. “Event
spending will absolutely decrease although
Mark Gambill
Richard Vancil
[marketers] will probably never lose [their]
desire to be able to look someone in the eye
and have a conversation with them at a live
event.”
CDW is a seller of technology
products to government agencies and large
companies. Gambill said his company
was not cutting back on its presence at
trade shows in 2009. “We understand their
impact,” he said, but added that CDW’s
strategy was “probably an anomaly” in
terms of the entire IT sector.
BtoB Magazine announced that its
annual survey of marketers on their
global marketing spending plans for the
coming year found that while 31% of the
respondents planned to increase spending
on events, another 31% said they would be
cutting back and 38% planned no changes
in spending.
Richard Vancil, vice president of the
Executive Advisory Group, IDC, said live
events accounted for about 22% of the
marketing mix for technology companies.
“The activities that are the furthest from
revenue generation are the ones that are
taking the biggest cuts,” he said.
Marketing to Focus on Customer Base
The anticipated flatness of event
spending by companies is reflective of
a recessionary trend toward hanging on
to what they have and expanding their
customer base. The BtoB Magazine survey
found that while 12% of marketers said
their goal for 2009 would be increasing
brand awareness, 62% said acquiring new
customers was their top priority and another
20% said it was customer retention.
Trade shows play a role in all three
priorities. Events, however, will be in
competition with increased spending on
digital advertising, including e-mail ad
campaigns and social media.
Gambill said the best thing for any
company to do during the recession would
be to pound away at their customers about
the value and cost-effectiveness of their
product and how it can help them to be
more efficient and cut their own costs.
“Cost reduction is foremost on everyone’s
minds right now,” he said.
Reach Richard Vancil at
(508) 935-4372 or rvancil@idc.com;
Mark Gambill at (847) 465-6000 or
markgambill@cdw.com
New Marketing
Marching Orders
By Hil Anderson, senior editor
Carlsbad, CA – Show organizers
and suppliers may have to make
some changes to their marketing
strategies as the recession brings
about belt tightening both within
the company and among their
customers.
Marketing professionals who
briefed their colleagues in a February
12 BtoB Magazine webinar had some
suggestions on aligning strategy to
the times:
• Prioritize customers.
Decide which areas are the most
promising in terms of sales, but
also identify the key customers
you cannot afford to lose.
• Tighten the focus of
marketing as precisely as
possible on the customers’
needs and pain points. Avoid
flailing around with too many
new marketing ideas that only
pile on unproductive work.
• Be proactive with your
customers and emphasize the
cost savings you can provide
them. Good service and acting
professional may not be enough
to save an account.
• Keep your team intact.
Layoffs can spook remaining
employees who will bolt for a
new job at the first opportunity
and further decimate your staff
at a busy time. Challenge your
own staff to bring down their
expenses. Try shifting some
outside work back to in-house
talent.
• Experiment with social
media and online offerings.
It is less costly than other
promotional media and can be
deployed and adjusted easily.
Blogs and white papers from
company leadership add a ring
of authority to the message.
12 March 2009 Trade Show Executive www.TradeShowExecutive.com