Are You in Their Shoes?

Hosting conferences means that regularly I get exposed to some great ideas from the sponsors.

Yes, it is true that I run the Exhibiting and Sponsorship Institute, but the first thing you need to know about sponsoring and exhibiting is that there is no ONE WAY to do things. There are many ways and trying new ideas can deliver great results.

One of the great ideas I saw recently was when hosting the Crane Industry Council of Australia’s conference in Perth. 

The exhibitor was FinLease, a finance company. They had some awesome socks.

Here are the key reasons they are a great give away:

• The audience was predominantly male – men always need new black socks
• The message for the wearer can only be seen by the wearer – otherwise it is in their shoes
• The message is subtle – for the most part, they are standard black socks
• The cost per impression is very low – the wearer will see the message many times unlike some other gifts
• The cost per pair would be relatively low
• It is a great message – “We put ourselves in your shoes”. It is true literally and figuratively

A little bit of brainstorming, a dash of creativity and a willingness to do something a little different has created a winning marketing piece.

What would you do for your business?