Using Humor To Market Trade Show Booths

Though using humor in advertising may at first seem foreign in the realm of trade show displays

, think about the effectiveness of humor in forms of media, like with television commercials. The commercials that people tend to remember are the funniest ones. People gather around the water cooler on the Monday after the Super Bowl to discuss the funniest commercials more than they talk about the game itself. Marketing gurus have effectively given everyday items like auto insurance, beer, and soft drinks a funnier image through commercials, and the companies' bottom lines have increased as a result of memorable advertising.

Exhibitors at trade events can also use humor to attract booth attendees and promote their company's products or services. However, using humor in trade show displays must be done correctly.

Consistency And Demographics

Humor can be used quite effectively at trade show booths. One key thing to remember, however, is that your business must maintain a consistent corporate image across all forms of marketing. If you are known by your clients and competitors as a conservative, traditional company, this is probably due to a long-established reputation and marketing efforts that have upheld this competent, conventional image. It wouldn't make marketing sense to suddenly have some kind of humorous aspect introduced into your trade show displays. Trying to get laughs on the trade event floor will prove disadvantageous to your company.

In the same vein, it is important to have a firm knowledge of the type of humor that will appeal to your target audience at trade show displays. Different generations have widely varying ideas of what is funny. A joke that references pop culture from the 1970s will not go over very well with the 'Generation Y' crowd.

Come Up With Strong Characters

Almost all of the brands with memorable, humorous advertising campaigns have at least one character that perpetuates the brand image. Think of the Geico lizard, Chick-fil-A cows, and Taco Bell's dog. Many companies will use animals or a character to represent their company for their humorous marketing strategy. If you choose to use a character to promote your products or services in trade show booths, make sure this character is used throughout your marketing materials. Over time, people will begin to recognize the funny character(s) and associate them with your company.

Repeat And Exaggerate

Oftentimes, the most effective marketing messages are those that are bold and repetitive. It takes awhile for messages to sink in, so it is important to constantly bombard your audience with the message you are trying to deliver. However, this must be done carefully and slightly differently each time. First and foremost, make sure the joke is funny. Test out the marketing campaign on many different people to find out if they laugh. The joke must also get to the punch line quickly - visitors to trade show booths don't have the time to laugh at a ten-minute joke. The humor must also reflect well on your company and be a 'clean' sort of humor.

Humor often works because of exaggeration. You might work on contrasting exaggerated examples of normal industry-related things with how your company does things differently. A company offering the fastest internet service available might highlight and exaggerate the slow service offered by the other providers.

With these tips, exhibitors at trade show displays should be able to successfully use humor to gain an upper hand on the competition and affirm their place in the market.

by: Chris Harmen

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