How would
it sound to have a virtual cartoon character discuss
irritated bowel syndrome (IBS)?- If you are a
doctor treating hundreds of patients a year for this
and other related digestive tract disorders, that
might not seem unusual to hear, at the New Orleans
tradeshow for Digestive Disease Week. What might
be strange is having this animation speak to you
in terms that salesmen usually use.
Under the
guidance and planning of E-Brain's Donna Malakoff, (www.ebrainsinc.com)
Mice DisplayWorks and the Prometheus Labs (PL) team,
(www.prometheuslabs.com)
the company was represented in the booth by Virtual
Vinnie, with a few modifications. His normal-looking
skin was
replaced
with a skin that looked like marble stone used to carve
Greek statues, and his jutting haircut was rounded
off a little, in the process.
PL's main
objective was to engage those attendees who were skirting
around the booth and bring them in, where one of about
20 sales reps could introduce them to PL's systems
for diagnosing and treating bowel disorders. Doctors
can be a bit shy, they knew, and the marketing staff
wanted to have a unique
advantage. The booth manager was also very aware that her location was
at the front end of an aisle, near the entrance, surrounded
on both sides by two of the biggest pharmaceutical
companies in the industry.
The manager's
other needs were to create a "buzz" on the
show floor and to deliver an improved return on investment
to her company, for the budget required to support
such a high-profile exhibit at their most important
tradeshow of the year.
The
PL booth was designed and constructed by MiceDisplayworks
of Irvine, CA, and featured the CHOPS Bubble Screen
on the left, facing one direction, while Jesch's
control booth is shown in the center, facing the
other side of the aisle. In the center of the booth,
PL had a pair of kiosks set up to run demos and deliver
product information.
According
to EBrains, the solution was obvious. Use the virtual
character to pull traffic into the booth, after engaging
the attendees - The problem of getting more than
a couple minutes of time with each attendee was solved
by giving them more to do, once they came into the
booth.
The Prometheus
character caught their attention by working with a
front person from the PL sales staff who would read
the attendee's name from their badge. He would start
breaking the ice by asking where the person came from,
how they liked New Orleans, what they did in the industry.
If the person was a physician from the US, they fit
the PL customer description and the character began
to engage them in a dialog.
If the person
wasn't from the US (PL limited this for market reasons)
or wasn't a qualified prospect, the character thanked
them for stopping.
However, if
the person was a qualified prospect, the character
began to probe to learn what was important, which issues
mattered, what could be improved. A PL salesperson
was also standing right there listening, until the
character suggested to the attendee that taking a few
minutes with a PL rep in the booth would be in his
or her best interests. From there, the attendee was
taken to the demo, where they received a very expensive
laser pen as a gift.
 Finally,
the rep would personally walk the attendee around the
booth to where Gary Jesch was performing as Prometheus,
and together they would marvel at the amazing animation
system. All in all, the reps had each attendee's attention
for 10-15 minutes, gained their trust, impressed them
with the wizardry of the animation, gave them a great
parting gift and personal attention to their specific
questions. They also made plans for follow-up after
the show in most cases.
Recent
interest in 3D animated characters helps exhibitors
- Ongoing promotion of Shrek 2, which was about
to open, helped make the appearance of Prometheus
at the show even more attractive. It seemed that
people who attended were captivated by his presence
and amazed at his ability to discuss things that
were important to them, in a fun and lively way.
Many people commented on the performer's quickness
and clever way of having a good time, while making
them feel good in the process.
This type
of booth attraction was completely new to DDW, which
caused show management to marvel, and easily accept
PL's intentions to do something a little different.
The constant chatter by the character was never a problem
for other exhibitors and the booth's manager was in
constant control of the speaker volume coming from
the CHOPS Bubble Screen display.
Jesch was
also able to handle his own equipment from his rental
mini-van, thus avoiding truck freight, and paying drayage
fees to the labor union for coming in on the back dock.
He also did his own set-up, load-in and load-out for
the three day appearance
Additionally,
Jesch worked with EBrains and O'Connor to prepare all
the content for his presentation, including one-liner
marketing messages, opening lines for the sales process
and engaging the attendees, as well as advising them
on the flow of traffic and booth construction considerations.
The end result
was a very happy customer in PL, buzz after the show,
and plenty of hot prospects for the nationwide sales
staff to work on, in the following weeks after DDW.
|
Prometheus
Labs used CHOPS to pull people from the aisles
of their most important tradeshow of the year, and to
increase the time they spent inside the booth. As
a result, more show attendees
visited longer with the sales and account representatives,
looking at their demos and discussing
their important issues with openness and candor.