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Being
in more than one place at the same time is not only possible, it’s a real advantage for a virtual character trying
to increase traffic at a tradeshow booth. The sales managers
and marketing consultants at Motorcraft, Ford Motor Company’s
automotive aftermarket division, learned this at the
recent AAPEX conference held in Las Vegas.
They hired pioneer
performance animation artist Gary Jesch to perform as “Motorcraft
Mike” in their 50x70 foot booth, alongside NASCAR
Winston Cup driver Elliot Sadler. Jesch remained hidden
in a storage closet the entire show, working from his
Digital Puppeteer performance animation system, while
Motorcraft Mike drummed up business on the aisle of the
booth from his widescreen plasma display. Jesch has frequently
served tradeshow exhibitors as a traffic builder, but
this time the job had an unusual twist.
 Once
Motorcraft Mike gathered 30-50 show attendees together,
he then switched to another plasma screen 30 feet away
in the booth, where he ran a simple contest and gave
away prizes, twice an hour. With the help of a professional
booth hostess, the entire group would move deep into
the booth, where one attendee was asked to identify the “wrong” part
on an engine display. When the person found the “wrong” part,
he won an Elliot Sadler Motorcraft race team ball cap,
and the rest of the group won matchbox-sized NASCAR race
cars. Almost 1,000 cars were given away in the four days
of the tradeshow.
This concept
was developed by Skip Lehman, of Mach2 Management, and
Steve DeBano, of Ogilvy & Mather, who were hired
by Motorcraft managers to deliver a crucial brand message.
The exhibit builder was Exhibitgroup/Giltspur of Pittsburg,
who has handled the Motorcraft account for several years,
and they worked with their I&D division, ExpoServices
to set up the booth. National Micro Rental provided the
plasma screens.
 Jesch
designed a way to deliver his digital puppet image to
each location in the booth by switching the computer
graphics and audio signal from his control booth. The
high-res graphic of the character was then tweaked to
fit the aspect ratio of the plasma screen during set-up.
When Motorcraft Mike moved away from one location, his
face was replaced by a graphic of the Motorcraft logo.
Attendees enjoyed
the mystery of trying to figure out how the character
could see them, hear them and talk with them like a real
person, calling them by name and discussing the issues
they faced in their industry. Motorcraft’s Lou
Folino, Brand Development Manager, said he liked the
way Jesch, who performed as Mike, showed sharp business
acumen in relating with each attendee on a personal level,
while speaking on behalf of the Ford-owned auto parts
company. Jesch used marketing copy from the ad agency
as his script, continuously talking about the brand during
show hours, 9-5 daily. He also took very few “pit-stops.”
 “CHOPS
Rule Number One says that just as soon as I take off
the Face Tracker to go on break, the most important
person we are trying to impress will walk up,” Jesch
said. So his performance is non-stop (expect for a rare
5-minute
break), as he talks with attendees and Motorcraft staff
from the plasma screen. “Of course, I can see and
talk with people who are far away from the booth, over
at a distant aisle, and it takes a second for them to
understand what’s going on. Then they come over
and chat,” he explained.
“It’s
also kind of funny how people will stand at the edge
of the booth, where the carpet changes color, before
they come in.” He recommends that exhibitors who
use his show install booth carpet the same color as the
aisle carpet for better results. It’s human nature,
he says, to treat the border like a fence and walk around
the corner, instead of cutting through the open area
of the booth.
As competition
for tradeshow attendees’ attention increases, this
new technique of getting people into a large booth is
a powerful traffic builder. While giving away free stuff
is known for its ability to draw large crowds to an exhibitor’s
booth, using CHOPS with two screens influences traffic
flow, delivers the marketing message and qualifies attendees
on the spot, breaking the ice for the sales staff. It
also allows companies to control just how much “free
stuff” is given away, and who gets it.
Mach2’s
director Skip Lehman said Jesch did a good job of
dealing with the presentation challenge and is interested
in
trying it again at other tradeshows.
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