Candy is King!
Posted by Selena Yang on 2 October 2009 | 0 Comments
In many ways, the exhibit booths at last week's MIXX Conference were living, breathing come-to-life ads that were all vying for attendees' time and attention. Our booth had a very steady flow of visitors and since I managed our overall booth presence, I have to wonder - What made our "living, breathing ad" work so well?
A conference during Advertising Week consists of multiple vendors luring people into their booths, attending several panels, listening to keynote sessions, walking the conference floor to meet up with current and prospective clients in between checking emails on the BlackBerry, scarfing down the sub par food you managed to grab to sustain enough energy to do all of the above the following day all while realizing you probably should have worn a more comfortable pair of shoes. We were all jockeying for attendees' time and attention in what we all know is a very noisy, fragmented environment. So how can you get people to pay attention to your booth?
The same 3 tenets that we believe differentiate our premium ad network from others in the marketplace hold true and can be applied to this particular case.
- Transparency - Our booth displayed several glass candy jars front and center. There was no hiding what our booth was all about - candy, in orange and grey, our company colors. Our candy jars were literally transparent. Attendees' knew exactly what was in front of them and they preferred some candy over others. Some liked everything that was set out. But the key was that they got to see all their options before selecting what they wanted.
- Quality - The candy that we offered was of quality. They were orange and grey plain and peanut M&Ms, orange and silver-wrapped Hershey's kisses, Reese's peanut butter cups (very trusted brand names!), chocolate-covered malt balls in orange and silver-foiled Jordan almonds that really looked like silver. Attendees saw what we were offering and they quickly realized we were giving them a lot of really good candy to choose from, all displayed in a very pleasing fashion. No remnant candy here - the hodge-podge mix you can pick up from any corner drug store with questionable-looking no name candy inside would have thrown the whole candy buffet off.
- Engagement - This is where we shined. It's amazing how something as basic and simple as candy is so easy to engage everybody with. Men, women, younger folks, older crowds, associates to VPs - all of them were transported back to an old-time candy shop as they stood at the front of our booth. Everybody received a small plastic bag and could pick and choose and scoop in their own candy. And it made them feel happy and excited because candy should do that. It made them feel so good sometimes that I saw people coming back a few times the same day and following day. People were spending minutes, not seconds, in our living, breathing ad, engaging with the candy and our brand.
It may seem like such a simple concept but, oftentimes, simplicity wins out. I'm reminded of my friend's beloved acronym. K.I.S.S. Keep It Simple Stupid. It really doesn't get much simpler than candy.
