Learn from Super Bowl ads

Let's expand on a crucial concept - memorability - from my vlog, Make it a car crash at your booth. Remember, to increase your chances of being remembered at your trade show display, you need activity plus involvement. The other key is that you communicated your message in an easy-to-absorb way.

I recently read a post from Seth Godin, The difference between a show and a story. In this blog he discusses the hype associated with Super Bowl ads:

The lesson of these ads is simple. Putting on a show is expensive, time-consuming and quite fun. And it rarely works.

Marketing is telling a story that sticks, that spreads and that changes the way people act. The story you tell is far more important than the way you tell it. Don't worry so much about being cool, and worry a lot more about resonating your story with my worldview. If you don't have a story, then a great show isn't going to help much.

Does spending $15,000 for the space outside the convention center for your inflatable bubble that has your company name on it make you memorable? Does collecting as many business cards as possible in a fish bowl because you are raffling off a large flat screen TV make you memorable? (Maybe to the guy who wins.) Does having beautiful women handing out your literature make you memorable? The answer is NO.

This is why messaging is so important. This is why training your staff with proper qualifying questions and procedures for collecting contact information is so important. This is why the quality of the people and tools that you use is so important.

Learn from most Super Bowl ads. Don't waste your money. You can still put on a show, but make sure it has a story. Now you are memorable.