Behold! It’s that time once again, folks, when normally mild-mannered geophysicists, Odessa tool runners and Norwegian technologists meet to drink watery American beer, play business card bridge and eat $40 hot dogs at Reliant Park. Yes, it's the Offshore Technology Conference 2008.
Super-hyped, and nicely organized for an event of that scale, it’s the premier offshore industry event for professionals, service industries and suppliers to gather and discuss common issues of ocean resource development (ch-ching).
Technological innovations and forums on economic, social, and political aspects of resource development and environmental protection have been the mainstay of this worldwide conference--even though each year without fail the men’s room has consistent reservoir management challenges.
Exhibitors employed all of the tried and true attention-getters, from the shameless exploitation to The Beautiful People to the screaming of corporate windbags (I’m talking about the awesome bagpipes from the Infield Systems / Craig Group bagpipe player in the Scottish section--not the Press Room).
Sandvik had a pool table. BJ Services, for some strange reason, brought back bad childhood memories with a ski-ball set up--how that ties into the company’s corporate messaging escaped me. And more giveaways per square foot than a meeting of the Texas Legislature.
When you think about the resources so many entities from around the world put into setting the people, booths, material, meetings and other components of a trade show experience into place--it’s truly astounding. It’s a very targeted audience, and a HUGE outlay of budget.
That’s why I’m always amazed at how little planning goes into the tradeshow experience by some otherwise brilliant companies.
I know most exhibitors at the show have an engineering culture. Nothing wrong with that. In fact, it’s essential if they want respect from their markets. But marketing and an engineering culture can work hand in hand. If there ever was a single place you could point and say: “Good marketing could have tripled your return on investment right here,” it’s at the OTC.
Literally hundreds of companies could have made more money at the show by paying more attention to:
• The booth’s message
• The build-up leading to the event
• The stop-by experience
• The look and behavior of those working the booth
• The company’s visual identity as a whole
All of which takes a lot of forethought and research. Not having a big budget is no excuse. Exhibiting at OTC costs a freakin’ fortune; if you can afford to be there—you can afford to do it right.
One company who DID do it right was Houston-based service and technology provider Weatherford. Sporting a freshly constructed booth, it wasn’t the wait staff or the big spending that set Weatherford apart. It was the big thinking that went into it.
Every part of the booth promoted a unified brand experience. The booth’s messaging paralleled the benefits-oriented message of the overall corporate brand. The look and feel was consistent from the people to the print collateral to the displays.
There was even a professional builder of Legos constructing a giant offshore platform paralleling the Build Better Recovery tagline that was also echoed on its website. Guessing how many Legos it took to build the platform became a contest--and a nice data collection tool. Nice to see someone get it right in the oil patch.
If you want to learn a little more about how you can do it right, too, check out
Trade Show & Event Marketing: Plan, Promote & Profit by Ruth Stevens, How to Get the Most Out of Trade Shows by Steve Miller or Poweful Exhibit Marketing by Gary Siskin--as well as some of the awesome whitepapers written by Craig Koopersmith's crew at Skyline Displays of Houston (you'll have to give a little info but it's worth it).
