by SCOTT GOLDBERG, Executive Vice President & Managing Director, Carve Communications
Trade shows, industry events, and media showcases are still very much a thing. Many have even seen significant year-over-year attendance increases in recent years.
The truth is that industry events and trade shows like Toy Fair New York, CES, Gen Con, and others still have a purpose. The same goes for media and influencer events like The Toy Insider’s Sweet Suite and Holiday of Play, Pepcom, Showstoppers, and Carve-X.
MORE BANG, FEWER BUCKS
Therefore, the question to ask yourself and your team shouldn’t be whether or not you need to participate in these events, but how do you maximize the opportunity? How do you do more for less? How do you get more for your money? How do you get more juice from the squeeze?
We’ve seen it all over the years, from big, bold, million-dollar booths with more than 100 staffers to six-figure one-hour celebrity appearances and even acrobats suspended from the ceiling to in-booth press conferences and simple branded swag or snacks. Here’s the issue: in the case of the million-dollar booth and celebrity appearance, those in attendance had no clue what the company was about, what product they were promoting, or, simply put, what they were trying to sell.
In the live event space, it’s not about how much you spend. You don’t need the largest booth or to be the biggest sponsor to break through the clutter and noise and be successful. But you do need to be intentional — both with your audience and your product and/or brand message — and stay within your budget and execute flawlessly.
CONSIDER THE FOLLOWING
- Intention: Who’s the audience you are trying to reach? And what is your story/narrative?
- Budget: Remember, you don’t need to spend the most to win, but you do need to stick to your budget.
- Success: What does success look like? Examples could be appointments, on-site sales, traffic to your booth, or media coverage.
Based on the answers to the questions above, you should be in a good position to develop a plan. That could be anything from a “media stunt” or influencer contest at your booth to one of my favorites: the #SnoopDoop we executed earlier this year at Holiday of Play featuring the best Snoop Dogg celebrity doppelgänger you’ve ever seen! Why was it such a success? The activation came in just under budget, the booth was packed from start to finish, and the buzz about whether or not he was the real Snoop Dogg is still going on months later.
It all comes down to understanding how to capture your audience’s attention best and then how to maintain or maximize that attention to further your success at the show. For example, if you want media coverage, create an activation that will stop reporters in their tracks and make them come over to say, “What’s that?” or “Can I take a picture?” If you’re looking to book on-site sales, consider what incentives you can offer the show attendees, such as an exciting giveaway (more than just free product samples) or buyer discounts for bigger orders. For influencers, the tried and true approach is to create something super shareable and worthy of social media posts while making your brand handle and hashtags obvious, memorable, and easy to include.
The goal here was to give you the answers you need and the necessary tools to execute your next show as successfully as possible with your team. This brings us to the final question(s) to ask yourself and your team: Based on the initiative you created, do you have the right team in place that knows how to execute and has the proven track record to do so? If not, do you know someone in your network who can?
A version of this feature was originally published in The Toy Book’s 2025 International Innovation Issue. Click here to read the full issue! Want to receive The Toy Book in print? Click here for subscription options!
