Construction Computer Software (CCS) at The Big 5 International Building and Construction Show 25th – 28th November 2013
The Sales and Marketing Manager (Gulf) Joanna Pollard attended an Exhibiting Skills Masterclass hosted by DMG at the H Hotel, Dubai in September 2013, presented by John Blaskey of The Exhibiting Agency and in preparation for The Big 5 Construction Show in Dubai, November 2013.
Following the Masterclass, The Exhibiting Agency were hired to provide an in house workshop for the team at Construction Computer Software, challenging them to review their total approach to Exhibiting. Working through a Strategy Review, Exhibitor Planning Report and culminating in a Creative and Implementation Workshop.
An exciting and very different theme was agreed. With a bit of imagination and some clever graphics their tiny 9m2 was transformed into an aircraft and punched well above its weight.
The CCS team were trained to “spot”, enabling them to qualify (or not) passers by. Outcomes were agreed, show objectives and messaging. A paper feedback form was created, in line with their theme and Jo and her team were “flying high”.
After a very stressful pre-show disaster (the stand was flooded) the team were delighted with the results:
- 339 qualified leads
- 79% of which had not heard of CCS before the show!
- 108 CCS assessed as three star leads
- and 48 requests for call backs
At the post show debrief the team agreed what they had done well:
- We increased our brand awareness with people who didn’t know us (picked up by on-line magazines etc).
- Outsmarted – out imaged our neighbour / competitor.
- The stand process worked and we gathered important information.
- Resisted giving out literature.
- Created curiosity and were pro-active.
- Adapted quickly to things that didn’t work and fixed problems.
- Invested in planning / consultancy.
- We used the space well. The stand design was highly effective.
They say that an investment in knowledge always pays the best interest and this couldn’t be more true when describing our experience with John and the exhibiting agency. He showed us the path, helped us explore all possibilities and finally drill down to an exciting and hugely successful theme and strategy. Not only did this make the event attractive to passers-by, but fun for my team to participate in. The hardest part was resisting the temptation to take and hand out brochures as it goes against all previous experience, but it quickly became an easy situation to handle. Would I recommend John and his team to others looking to get results from an exhibition – Absolutely!!
