So I'm exhibiting my company (electronics manufacturer) at a trade exhibition soon.
Anyone on here have experience at creating buzz to get people to come to my stall? I'm thinking of doing a raffle for tickets to a game for the local premiership football club – any other tips?

WCA could regale people with his tales of electrical daring do and maybe do the odd 'how not to' demo?

You'll just be yet another stand giving stuff away. What's your usp?

USP – we are a uni spin out company, and mainly focus on working with innovative early stage companies. I've been thinking of trying to create a Garage like atmosphere – as in HP google apple etc were started in garages. Or I might sell out and just hire a pretty blonde to entice the punters.

If its a blokey show, raffling a bright red Fender Stratocaster will pull the crowds.

They can cost less than you think.

Used to find at motorsport events that hands on stuff like pit stop challenges worked really well to pull people in, timed stuff running the course of the show with a prize at the end. Handy for building a database of customers too when they leave their contact details.

Give away bags of pork scratchings.

Whats your budget?

Cheryl Cole performing live in a bikini with a 45 piece orchestra and a full compliment of dancers. And fireworks and stuff?

or some warm Blue Nun and some cheesy balls?

Budget is about 2 grand.
Maybe I could invite Cheryl Cole's half sister, I've heard she's living it up on a council estate in toon.

Hire some attractive young ladies and paint them up in your corporate colours with body paint.

I work at loads of exhibitions.

You need to consider your target audience. If your industry is predominately male then a nice promo girl/booth bitch will get you a long way. Aesthetic AND quickly able to get up to speed on your proposal/product is important. If you don't want to pay for one then any aesthetically pleasing woman will do, the smarter and more engaging the better!

For a more mixed audience then raffles etc probably won't work, people want immediate reward for visiting your stand. Wiis and similar games consoles are getting pretty popular for enticing people in, it's all about footfall, you want to keep people on the stand not just hand them a leaflet that they will add to the thousands of others in the bin.

Do you have a proper stand or just a shell scheme plot?

If it is just shell then you have a lot of white space to make interesting, posters and or a projector showing video and information about your product is a good way to do this. If you don;t have room for a projector (mock your stand up in the office) the a plasma screen on an attractive stand or cabinet will be just as good.

It is important you work out the layout of your stand before you arrive, don;t just turn up and randomly stick up posters, it looks SO un-professional as do badly lined up projectors, stacks of leaflets on plastic trestle tables and badly produced artwork.

If you have room then some comfortable seating will help, people spend a lot of time on their feet at exhibitions and somewhere to sit down will be welcomed.

Refreshments are good if allowed by the organisers, check into the H&S aspects of hot drinks though, a good coffee for free will get people in.

Oh and most importantly, get off your stand and press the flesh, lots of it. Attend seminars etc and ask questions/actively engage in the event as a whole. don't just sit on the stand looking bored until someone spots you have free pens and humours you for 2 minutes so they can write down someone else's phone number

HTH

a black curtain and make everyone sign NDA's prior to being allowed behind it.

Mr michael wright you the man.
We have a shell scheme plot, thanks for all those points they are a big help.

no worries, the only plus side of raffles etc is the resultant contact details but you have to be careful acting on them and supply the option to opt out of further marketing materials IIRC

story from friend of mine who is a good friend of one half of fixie inc.

when the guys from fixie inc. were starting up they wheeled a couple of finished bikes into the EuroBike at Friedrichshafen, locked them with a few beefy locks to something immovable and scattered lots of flyers around them on the floor and walked away.

beer + girls.

every trade show I have ever been to, the most popular stands have beer and girls.

identikit creosote-esque fake tanned blonde harlots. I think you can order them by the crateful.

identikit creosote-esque fake tanned blonde harlots. I think you can order them by the crateful.

But to get that unique selling point operate your stand as an actually, genuine knocking shop. Others promise but you deliver!

tits sell

Fit women.
Alcohol.
Freebies – relevant to your audience.
Anything you can demo.
Case studies, i.e. have a happy client on the stand with you.