Marketing and all things related

Andy Sernovitz published a great post at Damn! I Wish I'd Thought of That! last week that highlighted one of the most clever trade show marketing techniques I've seen in a long time.

I should start by saying I've never been a proponent of sponsoring cocktail hours or parties at trade shows, conferences or other events.  I've just never seen them deliver the bang for the buck.  Many salespeople will argue that they deliver an intangible return on investment in terms of providing face time with current and prospective customers.  I'm not even a "numbers person," but when it comes to sponsored cocktail parties at trade shows, I find myself asking to see some hard numbers proving they're worth the investment.

Just when I think I can't be convinced that sponsoring cocktail parties at trade shows is a good idea, here comes AOL Body with a creative way to get people talking about them before and after their sponsored reception at the BlogHer convention.  Their idea was to get people talking and create buzz marketing that would carry on after the reception was over.  How did they do it?  Simple, they used custom cocktail napkins.

Instead of printing cocktail napkins for the reception that highlighted just their logo, slogan, URL or the usual stuff you see on promotional items, AOL Body printed a factoid on each napkin.  Guests noticed the interesting facts on their napkins and actually talked about them - a lot.  Even better, they passed the napkins around!

So here was a pricey reception that could have ended with the usual tipsy attendees saying, "Thanks for the drinks," then moving on to the next event without a second thought about the sponsor.  Instead, AOL Body changed that behavior by giving attendees something to talk about and kept their name at the forefront of the event.  Suddenly, the return on investment for the reception got a lot higher.

Kudos to AOL Body for making me think twice and showing first-class creativity!

Have you seen any sponsored parties at a trade show or conference where the sponsoring company did a great job of ensuring they'd hit the ROI goals for the event?

Photo courtesy of Damn! I Wish I'd Thought of That!