Summer Spells Success for CMA Client Events

The Transportation Marketing and Sales Association (TMSA) and Rental and Staging Network (RSN) commended CMA on the innovative strategies and tactics used to stage two successful meetings. The TMSA Annual Conference held in early June at the Rancho Bernardo Inn in San Diego, California and RSN’s Leadership Symposium, held in early August at the Westin O’Hare in Chicago both exceeded client expectations thanks to the collaborative efforts of CMA’s internal teams.

CMA handled all aspects of the TMSA Conference including attendee registration, speaker arrangements, on-site management, food and beverage and site selection, as well as developing the annual Conference program and executing marketing materials. By promoting the Conference through public relations and e-mail communications, CMA generated interest in the event among members and throughout the transportation and logistics industries leading to a total of 175 attendees. CMA also tapped into members’ growing use and interest in social media and created a Twitter contest to keep attendees engaged. 

CMA was also instrumental in launching RSN’s first-ever Leadership Symposium. A network of geographically-diverse rental and staging companies with complete event capabilities, RSN turned to CMA to stage an event focused on business development education for RSN’s 16 member companies. CMA promoted the Symposium with public relations to raise awareness for the association within the audio/visual industry. 

A Time and A Place for Wild and Crazy PR

A Time and A Place for Wild and Crazy PR

Everyone knows PR is all about awareness. Publicity stunts and in-your-face strategies are effective for the right time, place and client and creating news is often essential to spreading an important message. So if all of that is indeed true, you might ask, who exactly are they right for?

If a client comes to CMA and asks us to stage a publicity stunt, our strategists analyze the situation first to see if this sometimes costly awareness tool is worth risking the company or organization’s credibility. After all, the best publicity stunts are those that have a clever, clear message and a detailed plan to avoid backfire.

In fact, one of my favorite recent publicity stunts was the event to cap off Snickers’ “Bar Hunger” campaign, mostly because of its simplicity in expressing its message. Movie star David Arquette lived two days in a Plexiglas box atop the Madison Square Garden marquee to raise awareness for hunger in America. By literally putting himself on display, Arquette and the publicity team provided the media with a unique story that included a good message—without embarrassing the organization or the celebrity.

But the truth is, effective PR is not really about wild and crazy ideas. It’s about giving the media something to work with that might be valuable to their community. In the case of the Snickers campaign, the extremity of the stunt matched the urgency of the message. Everyone walking by could be a potential donor so widespread voyeurism and shock-value proved effective.

However, more specific audiences need more than a stunt to sell them on your products and services, especially if you sell business-to-business. Perhaps holding an event at a well-attended trade show is the key to launching a new product to your target audience. Hire a respected speaker that is appropriate for your industry and provide educational value for your audience. Often this type of awareness helps a company maintain and build credibility without being viewed as a rampant risk-taker and the media takes notice just the same.

Kaitlin Friedmann
Public Relations Manager
kfriedmann@cmasolutions.com

Tricks of the Tradeshow

Tricks of the Tradeshow

While trade shows can be important venues for lead generation, product launches, and one-on-one interaction with prospects, the ROI is not always obvious unless you thoroughly prepare to make the most of your investment.

I recently led a CMA Power Series seminar, Tricks of the Tradeshow, exploring effective tradeshow planning, execution and follow up to maximize show results while minimizing unnecessary costs.

Choosing the right tradeshow. Do not always assume the biggest or best attended show is the one to participate in. Rather, choose the tradeshow best aligned with your product or service and which will draw the greatest number of targeted prospects.

Why are you attending? Have a clear show attendance goal and develop tactics supporting your objectives. There are many possible reasons why a company may choose to participate in a tradeshow including:

• Generating sales and leads from attendees
• Launching a new product or announcing an industry innovation
• Seeking strategic alliances with other vendors
• Performing competitive intelligence

Tradeshow budget tips. Tradeshows can require a significant investment, but savvy businesses leverage a number of strategies to minimize costs:

• Take advantage of discounted dates for ordering booth materials. For some shows this is almost one-half the cost compared to ordering on the “regular” deadline.

• Rent items for your booth, such as furniture, instead of purchasing them. Furniture can be heavy, increasing the overall cost of shipping.

• Ship to the show warehouse instead of direct to the show site, which adds special and absolutely unnecessary material and handling costs from the show services company.

Train your exhibit staff. Your staff needs to be briefed on all new programs and initiatives as well as being knowledgeable about the company and its products/services. Booth staff are expected to be experts and prepping employees in advance ensures they will meet that expectation.

Turn leads into sales. Offer to send marketing materials to an interested prospect’s office to lighten his/her load of materials carried around at the show or the airport. As a practical matter, confirming their receipt once the prospect is back in the office gives you a legitimate reason to follow up, and follow up and follow up. Otherwise, all the work at the show is a wash. One call doesn’t cut it. Be persistent!

Stay tuned for information about CMA’s next Power Series topic!

Erin Higgins
Manager, Client Services
ehiggins@cmasolutions.com