Free bacon at trade shows (SXSW)
Image from shutterstock
Should we give away free stuff on our stand? This question gets asked every time we attend a trade show.
After entertaining a little debate I always find myself answering “No. A bowl of Quality Street is not a differentiator and it’s probably not going to attract the right type of person to our stand.”
But last week in Austin, at the South by SouthWest Interactive Festival (SXSW), I found myself questioning my strongly held belief.
In Texas, everything is bigger and better. As a result the on-stand gimmicks were actually worthy of note. There were hot dogs and free beer. Free books and a well-thought-out hangover kit. There was even the opportunity to meet a pair of Cheerleaders from the Dallas Coyboys.
My favourite giveaway at the event came from a 10-year old girl on a street corner. She was standing outside the event, holding a huge plate and yelling “bacon, bacon, get free bacon.” It smelled fantastic, tasted even better and proved to me that the right promotion, in an appropriate style can elicit an action.
Now I can’t actually remember the name of the company involved, but I did give them my card.
Do you believe in giveaways at trade shows? has anything worked for/on you?
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Adrian Swinscoe:
Hi Charlie,
Bacon sarnies!…..yum!
We’ve always found that giving away champagne or wine can be a great hook. Start with a big bottle for display but give away the little sample bottles with a prize draw for the big bottle.
A lot of people like a bit of a tipple….hic!
Adrian
23 March 2010, 8:56 amCharlie Osmond:
Thanks Adrian,
But what do you find it useful for? Is it purely as away of getting business cards dropped in a bowl? Or are you judicously giving small bottles to those people who visit the stand and appear to be good prospects?
I like that idea. Give a little surprise something only to relevant prospects.
Charlie
23 March 2010, 2:12 pmSunir Shah:
Hey Charlie,
The bacon company was FreshBooks:
http://www.freshbooks.com/blog/2010/03/24/10-ways-freshbooks-brought-home-the-bacon-at-sxsw-interactive-2010/
The girl was actually the cousin of the woman we contracted to manage the bacon stand for us. She was on spring break and decided to help out for something fun to do, and she killed it!
Cheers,
24 March 2010, 7:26 pmSunir Shah, Chief Handshaker, FreshBooks
Charlie Osmond:
Hi Sunir,
25 March 2010, 3:22 pmthanks for letting me know it was you. That’s a really impressive list of marketing activities for one conference. I especially like the custom Nikes