or Pinnacle Exhibits LLC, creating four massive, high-tech, interactive displays for clients at the 2005 Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) was, well, the pinnacle of its achievements.
E3 is one of the world’s largest showcases for the video-game industry, filled with flashy, over-the-top exhibits.
Peter Gallagher, Pinnacle’s general manager, was excited about the exhibits, including a 54,000-square-foot, three-story exhibit for Sony Computer Entertainment Inc., but couldn’t help thinking how great it would be if the prospective clients he was trying to woo in the medical, dental, and educational industries could attend E3 to see them.
 |
|
 Category: Non-traditional promotion
Company: Pinnacle Exhibits LLC
Creative/Production Agency : Pinnacle Exhibits, LLC, Irvine, CA, 949-451-9100,
www.pinnacle-exhibits.com
Show: Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) 2005
Budget: $4,000
Goals:
 Give targeted prospects a tour of its exhibit at E3.
Spend 1 to 1.5 hours one-on-one with each client.
Initiate solid projects.
Results:
Attracted 40 prospective clients, representing a possible $18 million in sales.
Spent an average of 2.5 to 3 hours with each client.
Initiated eight to 10 solid possible projects. |
|
|
|
|
When he stopped to think about it, he came up with a simple solution — why not just invite prospects to the show? Pinnacle could show off its new exhibits in action, and clients could see for themselves what the company was capable of.
It was a strategy that had the potential to create a big bang — some $18 million in sales if each prospective client took the bait — with almost no bucks. The booths were already there. The only cost to Pinnacle would be printing and mailing the invitations, the time it took to show prospective clients around E3, and a few other incidentals.
But how, exactly, would Pinnacle get prospective clients to the show? Since E3 was to be held in Los Angeles, Gallagher decided to roll out the red carpet. He called it Pinnacle’s “Red Carpet Tour,” and even attached a small piece of red carpet to each invitation.
“We wanted these to be VIP tours with one of us from Pinnacle and one prospective client,” says Gallagher. “If clients had been working with a salesperson, we included that person’s card with the invitation.”
The next step was deciding whom to invite. Gallagher and his team gathered the names of 70 prospective clients, all within an easy commute of the Los Angeles Convention Center. “These were the people that we really, really wanted to impress,” Gallagher says.
When clients RSVP’d, Pinnacle sent them a “trade show survival” gift bag, including items such as a waist pack that held a small bottle of water, a badge holder. and a luggage tag. All of the items were branded with Pinnacle’s logo.
At E3, Pinnacle account executives greeted invited VIPs and led them through the four exhibits. Pinnacle’s president, Chris Olberding, provided a backstage tour of the massive Sony exhibit.
With an investment of less than $4,000, Pinnacle was able to spend an average of 2.5 to 3 hours with 40 prospective clients, who collectively represented $18 million in sales.
Just two months after E3, three invitees asked Pinnacle to put together exhibit proposals for them, and seven additional attendees have shown solid interest in discussing new projects.
Judges appreciated the high-yield results generated by such a simple idea. “It’s elementary-school logic — show off your work.”  |
|
 |
|
Invite Only
Pinnacle sent invitations for its “Red Carpet Tour” to 70 prospective clients. Each invitation featured photos of exhibits fabricated by Pinnacle and even included a small piece of red carpet. |
 |
 |
|
Survival Kit
When prospects arrived at E3, Pinnacle representatives met them
with “trade show
survival” gift bags, including a waist
pack, mints, a memo pad, a luggage tag,
and a badge holder. |
|
