*Trade Show Exhibitions Becoming Extinct? A recent BMA Trade Show survey depicts a marketing channel in transition. On June 15, 2007, during the Business Marketing
Association Annual Conference, Tim Roberts, president of Catalyst Exhibits Inc., released survey results sounding a wake-up call for marketers. The survey questioned
nearly 10,000 B2B and corporate marketing professionals. Here are some of the statistics you should know:
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82% view leads as an important factor in making a company decision to exhibit at trade shows;
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81% cited building brand identity and awareness;
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48% count sales;
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23.6% of the overall marketing communications budget is represented by tradeshows;
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74% plan to exhibit at the same number or more shows in 2007 versus 2006;
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18% of trade show budget is spent on booth services, while only 10% is spent on customer facing marketing opportunities; and,
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Three out of four exhibit at tradeshows, with an average of 18 shows per year.
Roberts believes inviting senior management into the process is crucial, saying: "This means the process itself will have to change. Tradeshow planning will have to evolve
into a strategic marketing exercise rather than a logistical deployment. The conversations will have to change. You'll have to assemble teams who can handle this. You'll have
to search out vendors who can respond and support you. And you'll have to be bold enough to take action in a time when many will not."
Source: BMA *Conservation? What Conservation? When it comes to energy conservation, many chief information officers have simply buried their heads in the sand.
But they may not be able to afford to do that much longer. Energy costs are typically 10% of the corporate tech budget, and they could rise to as much as 50% in just a few years,
according to consulting firm Gartner. As employee-relations ambassadors, PR executives should follow these do's and don'ts to conserve energy:
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DO get some sleep. Check that your computers power-management system is turned on.
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DO look for the label. Check for the Energy Star.
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DO get smart. Buy a smart power strip, which can sense long periods of non-use.
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DO keep it cool. Use energy-efficient cooling systems.
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DO more with less. Use virtualization software, which makes it possible to run several software programs on the same server.
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DON'T wait. Take steps to conserve energy now.
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DON'T lose power. Look for equipment with power supplies that are at least 80% efficient.
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DON'T leave it on. Encourage employees to turn off computers at night and on the weekends.
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DON'T forget about Mother Nature. Some date center cooling systems can take advantage of cool outside air.
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DON'T leave it to chance. If you want to promote the use of energy-efficient products, make sure to make that explicit in your corporate-procurement policies.
Source: BusinessWeek.com
*Monkey See, Monkey Do? The Intelligent New Business Survey from business developer Pearlfinders polled 150 U.S. corporations for insight on successful new
business activity. A series of questions were given to marketing decision-makers to confirm: 1. What prompts them to search for a new PR agency, 2. The most effective ways for
agencies to engage with them, and 3. The reasons they choose one PR agency over another. The findings reveal sharp contrasts between what marketing agencies tell us and what
marketing decision-makers say; here they are:
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Clients don't feel that size matters, but the main agencies do.
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83% don't feel geographical location is an issue, but many agencies think it is. Agencies should not overly worry that their physical location will prevent clients from
buying a winning solution from them.
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85% of clients don't feel agencies prepare enough.
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75% are buying solutions to their business problems. Agencies should present a solution, not a discipline.
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Clients want agencies to be far more proactive. Agencies should proactively reach out to the brands they want to work with.
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Agencies should develop keener customer insights and communicate these energetically to their prospect-base.
Source: Intelligent New Business Survey