You may remember last week at this time we were all taking about the kick off of the E3 Expo in Los Angeles, Ca. and the rumors that were swirling around concerning the latest in high tech games that would be announced. As it turns out Project Natal (now called Kinect) and the Nintendo 3DS both premiered to huge crowds and immediately were proclaimed crowd favorites. Though I wasn’t able to attend the trade show, I did catch the majority of the coverage which was carried live on the G4 network and I gotta say impressed is simply not a good enough description of how I felt after catching a glimpse of all the amazing booths. From a full sized wrestling ring featuring characters in the video game Lucha Libre AAA Heroes of the Ring to literally hundreds of hands on demos of some of the most talked about games in years, if the folks behind E3 did anything right it was knowing what video game fans wanted to see and making sure those vendors were there.
As a vendor your priorities are different from those that are responsible for the scheduling and promotion of an event, but the lessons learned from E3 still apply:
- Customers want to be catered to. Long gone are the days when a company can just put a product on the market, come up with a general slogan, and hope to attract attention. Today’s consumers want to feel like you are talking directly to them. They want custom graphics, hands on demonstrations, sneak peeks or spoilers for upcoming products, and over the top demos. At the same time people want to know they are getting a certain amount of quality with their purchase as well as the thrill of being the first in their group of friends to own such an amazing item.
- In order to be successful you must go where the people are. The E3 Expo is a classic example of how birds of a feather flock together. If you’re a company that understands the value of attending trade shows and other events in order to showcase your products to the public, than you want to make sure you are setting your kiosks up where the people actually are. If you make kitchen appliances there’s no need to setup at a video game convention. If you paint portraits for a living, a car show isn’t the place to show off your skills. Before you hit the road make sure you’re not going to be the odd duck at the event and that there are similar products being demonstrated.
While events like the E3 Expo are amazing to witness and generate tons of support for all those involved, beyond the glitz and glamour lie some very important lessons that all vendors need to take notice of. By creating custom demonstrations geared towards making consumers feel unique and catered to, companies are finding better ways to create buzz and generate sales. Also in order to get the most of a trade show you want to make sure your product stands out from the crowd while at the same time is connected to the other vendors around you.