Marketing Roadmaps

Is the right person staffing your booth? Guest post by Meagan Francis (BlogHer Marketing Lessons, Part 3)

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Today’s guest post — the first ever — is from blogger Meagan Francis.  I will still have a post about the Responsibility Project trip to Ellis Island for you, but I need to check a few facts. Just because I work over the weekend, I do not expect Liberty Mutual‘s PR agency to do so. Instead, I’m changing up the order and running Meagan’s post today.

Meagan Francis is a magazine writer, parenting author, and mom blogger. She blogs about life, motherhood, and the pursuit of happiness at The Happiest Mom, and her book The Happiest Mom: Ten Secrets To Enjoying Parenthood will be published in 2011. Some of her best friends are marketing professionals.

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This was my fourth BlogHer conference, and overall, I had a wonderful time. This year I thought the sponsors were handled in a tasteful way and I commend BlogHer for taking feedback to heart and toning down the “over-sponsored” feel that some experienced in 2009. I think BlogHer, as an organization, did a great job this year and I don’t have any complaints with how they handled the Expo areas.

Buuut…while most of the companies I encountered seemed to have an appropriate and effective presence on the Expo floor, there were a few experiences that left me shaking my head (and running for the door). Here’s what happened:

When I approached a booth belonging to a natural baby products company, I was already in a bit of a daze. I’d just left another stall in which a young man with all the finesse of a drunken 20-year-old hoping to score on Spring Break had slap-chop-surprised me into spinning a wheel, answering questions about a product I know little about and have never used; accepting some Post-It notes as a prize, and then having my photo taken with said company’s logo–all within a minute’s time. As I collected my photo and staggered away, still not exactly sure what had just happened, he boasted to the young woman sharing his booth: “See? It’s all in the presentation.”

Uh-huh.

At this point, I had one goal: to get the hell off the BlogHer Expo floor. Free samples, coupons, and chats with company reps can be fantastic and fun, but my experience with this guy had sent me running for the door…if I could just find it. On my way out, though, I decided to make one more stop at this booth. I use natural and organic products whenever possible, and with five kids I figured it was a company I’d like to know a little more about.

I approached the booth, which was staffed by a man and a woman—the “pitch” man and a female pediatrician acting as a spokesperson. There were already two women standing in front of the man, who was giving a presentation of the company’s uncommonly strong baby wipes.

“See?” he said, pulling hard on both sides. “It doesn’t come apart when you wipe.” He forcefully shoved a finger through the wipe, and it tore slightly. “I worked out today, or else I’d never have been able to rip it.”

The women responded with enthusiastic murmurs. “Oh, my husband would love this,” one exclaimed. “He always hates changing poopy diapers because the wipes fall apart.”

“Me, too!” agreed the pitch man. “That doesn’t happen with these, though. There’s no seepage, either.” They continued to chat, extolling the virtues of the nearly indestructible butt-wipers, for a few more minutes. Finally, he handed the women a package of wipes and they walked away.

I stood there for a few more minutes, examining a product label, but still very much at the booth…maybe two feet away from the man.

“Did you really work out this morning?” asked the female rep.

“No,” snorted the man. “I don’t even have kids. I’ve never changed a diaper in my life, and I never will.”

He began to yammer on about his father and how his father had never changed a diaper, and his girlfriend hopes to have kids one day and he plans on carrying on the family tradition of men never changing diapers but he isn’t sure his girlfriend will go for it, and the whole time I’m thinking, “Um, hey, dude. I’m STILL RIGHT HERE.”

After I walked away from the booth—and made a beeline for the exit—I thought a lot more about the experience. I wasn’t angry, or offended, exactly. Hey, the rep had probably been trained in exactly what to do and say, and it wouldn’t be the first time I’d been underestimated by some smarmy young fella.

But I was amazed that companies had really put these people in charge of representing their brand—in some cases, maybe as a first impression—to thousands of potential consumers…and that they’d chosen such a corny way to do it, too. Instead of setting up a situation in which I could have a real conversation about the product with somebody educated enough to give me the scoop, I played a silly game at one booth, and got a tutorial on baby wipes with somebody who’s never used one at another.

In the case of the spin-the-wheel game: I’ve been doing that at the county fair for decades, and it wasn’t any more impressive then than it is now. A coupon for a product I don’t know or care anything about? Some Post-Its? Is there any proof that this kind of marketing actually works? I know that a coupon for a product I’ve never used—with no other context or education about the product–is not likely to make me try it. And when you’re being showered with coupons from every company at the expo, it’s certainly not enough to convince me to blog about it, either.

And at the natural baby products booth…the guy they hired to run the booth doesn’t even have kids? Has no real-life experience with the product? And is kind of a jackass, to boot?

I’m certainly not going to boycott either of these products. I don’t think any less of them then I did before. But I’m also not any more likely to buy them, which you would think would kind of be the point of renting the space and hiring the help in the first place. Last I knew there were 2,400 attendees at BlogHer. Most of them blog, some on small platforms, some with audiences of hundreds of thousands. Beyond that, there’s Twitter, Facebook, PTA, and the bleachers at the local soccer game. Women talk about the products we use and love, and not just on the Internet, either.

Can you say “wasted opportunity”?

It seems to me that they’d have been better off hiring a parent (maybe even a parent blogger?), or an existing, enthusiastic customer to run the booth. Instead of games and trickery, why not just have a conversation? Let me taste or smell or touch the product, or try the service. I don’t need more samples to take home, and for God’s sake, I don’t need a 50-cents-off coupon. Just teach me a little. Tell me why I should try it when I get home.

Many of the companies on the BlogHer expo floor did a great job of this. But there were a few major, obnoxious flops. And the unfortunate thing for all those companies that got it right? The bad eggs sent me—and I’m sure not just me—running for the door.

And I didn’t return.

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Comments

  1. Excellent post, Meagan! I’ve seen this happen, and also get a similar feeling about many blog posts out there- brands aligning themselves with bloggers set up like an expo floor on the Internet, and just throwing them a pitch to use and letting that be a face and representation of their brand. I shake my head and run far from that, too.

    Steph

  2. I think you and I had a similarly crummy experience at that natural baby products booth. Mine was enough for me to not really ever consider their products again. I was unimpressed overall with the expo experience this year, which was a sharp contrast to last year.

  3. thanks for putting this out there! I think it’s extremely important that companies realize who they are dealing with and not underestimate the power of bloggers :o)

  4. Companies in the expo at BlogHer definitely recognize the power of the blogosphere. After all, they’ve invested time and money in the conference to reach those bloggers.

    Meagan’s point is that after spending all that money to reach your customers, don’t blow it by having a dopey “Demo Dan” create the wrong impression of your brand.

    I didn’t spend much time in the expo but I will share 2 brief positive examples.When I stopped by the Honey Board booth, they offered me some of their honey sticks. I don’t eat many sweets and if I took them for my son, I just KNEW they’d leak all over my stuff, so I declined. They did not push me at all to take them, but when I mentioned that my son LOVES honey, they offered me a recipe booklet just for kids (which he thinks is great) and asked if I’d like a t-shirt for him. Note that the t-shirts were not on display. That’s how to work the booth. Engage the customer, connect authentically and don’t push crap on them they don’t want. But if you’ve got a live one, give ’em something special.

    The Got Milk folks were similarly professional. I loved the little cereal to go container and gladly took one, but did not want a milk mustache picture. Just not my thing. They did not push me either.

  5. Exactly, Susan! I am surprised…and honestly a little bummed for the companies…that they obviously put plenty of cold hard cash into the BlogHer experience but then wound up alienating people by staffing those booths with carnival barkers instead of credible company reps. Well, that and the fact that I just don’t think coupons and wheel-spinning games are really that effective, but I suppose there’s a reason marketers keep doing them. On the other hand, had the guy asking me to spin the wheel been charming and relatable instead of Dopey Dan (LOVE that, LOL) maybe I’d have been enticed to hang around and find out more?

    I have to say the companies I always connect with most on the expo floor are the organizations and companies still small enough to send actual employees–sometimes even the business owner–as reps. I know that’s not possible for every company, but those are the booths where I just want to hang around, chat, and find out more. I spent quite a bit of time, for example, at the KidsHealth.org booth because it was staffed by somebody who works for them (and therefore understands the mission and how to talk about it) and is also a fellow blogger.

    Part of the problem is that BlogHer isn’t exactly a trade show. We’re there in dual roles–as consumers and as story-tellers. So how can marketers appeal to our consumer side while giving us good stories to tell…hopefully stories that end well instead of badly?

  6. PS…also, I wonder if Dopey Dan #2 was told that he should lie and pretend to be a parent, or if he came up with that shtick himself? Either way…bad move.

  8. Having consulted in internal communications for 10 yrs before I had kids, this kind of thing really ticks me off. Companies spend so much time and money trying to get a good product to market, but spend so little on training their employees about their brand and mission and then it results in a huge consumer FAIL like you experienced. The heart of a brand comes from within and if you can’t walk the talk with your employees, then I truly believe the company’s bottom line will be affected.

  9. I think I met the same guy at the that booth. Because I don’t have little kids he didn’t want to talk to me.

    Hello, I’m a grandma that takes care of and has money to spend on kids.

  10. It honestly felt like there were two different types of booths in the Expo hall – some had people that seemed genuinely excited about their products and interested in the people they were talking to, and the others were filled with “rent-a-marketers” who focused on the hard sell and appeared to be going through their script. Obviously, I enjoyed the real conversations I had with the first group, and tried to gnaw my arm off to get away from the others.

    One bad experience I had was very early on, when we stopped at a booth and they asked if I’d share some tips for them on video. I had the time, so I agreed. After the video, I got a product sample, but the friend with me didn’t get one because she wouldn’t do a video. At that point I was offended – it felt like they had bought me for the price of a cheap sample, and had I known that was the way it worked, I never would have agreed to speak on camera.

    The P&G house, on the other hand, was completely fun and comfortable. I talked to chemical engineers, pharmacists, and others involved in the actual design of their products, and never felt pressured or obligated to do anything or accept any sample.

    I agree with you, Meagan – I’d rather see people involved in the running of the company staff the booth, or maybe even bloggers who are true enthusiasts of the products. Then I think we’d get more genuine conversations and make better connections rather than walk away from the entire expo feeling disenchanted or downright angry.

  11. Such a smart analysis Meagan. I especially love your comment above that blogher is not a trade show and we’re all there for different reasons.

    I had a very similar impression of that booth – I went in as a publisher who has worked with that company before, is a fan, and was looking for concrete info about some of the product launches we had previously been interested in. Instead, Sideshow Bob (my version of Demo Dan) couldn’t seem to adapt to the difference in how I was approaching him and what my role was there, versus who he expected me to be. I had specific needs and questions and he only wanted to push me on products I had no interest learning about.

    I thought his madcap, push push push style was also reflected in the booth design itself which was cluttered, garish and didn’t reflect the brand. For what it’s worth when I asked about the PR agency I had been working with, Sideshow Bob mentioned the company no longer worked with them, and he was with a new company.

    He’s got a steep learning curve.

    Overall though, I thought the booths were handled quite well. Professional and fun and not pushy at all. That’s why an experience like this one stands out.

  12. I want to also add that this isn’t a criticism that’s exclusive to Blogher booths, and it’s not about whiny bloggers. I was at a huge trade show this weekend and some people behind the booths are welcoming and warm, and some look at your name tag to see if you’re worth talking to at all.

    People! They’re imperfect!

  13. Absolutely. Booth babes and demo dopes (or sideshow bobs) have been a staple of the trade show circuit for ever.

    I think we just can’t help but want better at the BlogHer expo. Real engagement not false friendliness (or the cold shoulder as the case may be)

  14. Great post. I think it’s true that this happens at pretty much everywhere I go, but it’s a sad commentary on things. I approached the McDonald’s booth with the express purpose of collecting the 4 pins they were giving away. In order to get the pins, I had to take part in four different activities, which I was more than happy to do. But the women at the booth made it incredibly difficult. I had to ask four times about the pins (one for each pin) and they barely engaged me at each activity, despite the fact that I was happy to play along. The last booth was a promo for Ronald McDonald house that I thought was worthwhile, but no one wanted to talk about it. Later, when I mentioned it to other bloggers, most didn’t even see that part of the booth, didn’t know about the 4 pins and felt similarly ignored while standing there. A giant waste of time and money if your reps refuse to even talk to the people who are already interested!

  15. On a positive note, the team at Ubisoft were warm and engaging. They played some games with me, chatted about my interests and left me feeling like I had made new friends. I was already engaged with the brand, but their booth team solidified my positive vibes.

  17. Love your points! This was my first BlogHer experience. On our second trip to the Expo on Saturday morning we started into the second floor. Our first stop by the McDonald’s area. We were approached by a friendly woman to try their oatmeal. When we declined since we were not hungry it was like we has ostracized ourselves. From that moment on, nobody at the booth gave us the time of day. As the mother of young children, I was interested in what they had set up. I also wanted to learn more about the Ronald McDonald house. Apparently I was being punished. Before leaving we asked to take photos with Ronald. Note to companies, please do not have a snarky individual heading up your corporate mascot – BIG mistake! We definitely left the McDonald’s booth with a bad taste in our mouths.

    As you mentioned there were a lot of pitch people there who did not know the products they were trying to promote. There were also PR representative who simply were tossing swag and coupons in our face and almost asking us to go on our way.

    Thank goodness there were a lot of companies that really got it. Places like Fisher Price, Hasbro, Pillsbury, and Sprout to name a few (others that escape my mind). People in these areas asked about our blogs, wanted to know what your kids liked, and took the time to chat with us. I also want to commend some of the BlogHer Suites that were manned by people with a passion for their products. Love the MyBlogSpark area. The individuals in this suite knew what they were talking about, engaged bloggers and took cards. Several of the PR representatives have even e-mailed back since the event.

  18. Well said, Meagan. I felt the same way.

    If they’d hire mom bloggers to help man the booths, they’d probably get more out of it.

    That said, I thought that the suites upstairs were quite good, especially Ketchum’s, Microsoft’s (thanks for the laptop loaner) and Hershey’s (full disclosure: I was their spokesmom last year.) They had higher level people who make great contacts for bloggers like us who work as speakers and spokespeople while giving us concrete information about their products and services. Nicely done, folks.