AgVoice | Think differently to sample your products in exhibitions and road shows

This idea is based on the simple principle where we used to solve various puzzles and contests as kids. It is basically to find the odd man out from the multiple choices of questions that is given to you. As all of us know exhibitions and fairs are a great platform to demonstrate and sample your products. But the challenge is you need to stand out in such huge exhibitions as there will be several brands competing to woo visitors to their stall.

You need not be in the same category to participate in such exhibitions. You can and pick and choose exhibitions where you may not establish a direct connect with the products but there will still be some connect to the range of products that is being exhibited in that exhibition and you may surprise many of your prospects who will visit the stall.

One example which is fresh in my mind is about a great exhibition of toys where normally you would find most toy brands that would participate here. But to my utter surprise I got to know that a brand of battery participated in this exhibition. While there was no direct connect with the exhibition the brand of battery earned a huge mileage and stood out in that exhibition. Similarly I would look at exploring branded organic vegetables and fruits in a medical exposition where there is no direct connect as you will only see pharma related products in these exhibitions. But you can surprise your audience by participating in this exhibition and draw huge crowds to your stall. With so much rapid changes that are taking place in the market one needs to surprise and delight the customer in today’s world of marketing.

To be successful, marketers must keep the customer engaged with sampling and demos in an interesting manner at road shows. With more malls and shopping complexes coming up across the country, the retail space is getting crowded. In this scenario, it is innovative demonstration and sampling that will differentiate products and brands in the consumer’s mind. A new car brand that got launched long time back in the US cleverly demonstrated their car. Instead of just allowing potential customers to test drive a single model, the manufacturer had the three leading competitors also available for a test drive and comparison alongside. Now that’s a truly daring and brilliant strategy to demonstrate your product. Marketers need to keep innovating such ideas to bring in stickiness and connect their brand with their audiences with ease. | By Ganapathy Viswanathan, Vice President, Optima Response

About the writer:

Ganapathy Viswanathan the current Vice President of Optima Response has over 2 decades of industry experience in Communication, Branding and Public Relations. He has worked in diverse disciplines with several Multinational agencies such as Ogilvy & Mather, Lowe and Mudra Group. Some of the major brands he was associated were Titan Watches, Philips, Maharashtra Tourism, Dettol soap, Kelvinator and Bayer Group. His last assignment was in the field of Public Relations where he spearheaded the western region offices of 2020 MSL as General Manager.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and do not reflect in any way of Adgully