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TOBACCO BUSINESS
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2013
Take Me Out
to the Trade Show,
Take Me to TPC…
PUBLISHER’S LETTER
BY ed o’connor
H
ow does that song go? “Take me out to the ball
game, take me out with the crowd. Buy me some
peanuts and Cracker Jack, I don’t care if I never
get back…” Now try this: “Take me out to the trade show,
take me to TPC. We’ll buy e-cigs and RYO, I don’t care if
we never go home.” By gosh, I think you’ve got it!
If you want to see the Red Sox play the Yankees in
Fenway Park, a highly valued event, get your tickets early.
The same goes for Tobacco Plus Convenience (TPC) 2014,
January 29-30 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Reg-
ister early at
for
the “best seats in the house.”
Before you hop in the car, get on your horse or head for
the airport, let’s plan to have “fun,” and lots of it. Hav-
ing fun at a trade show requires you to get around to all
of the exhibits with your buying plan. Take advantage of
the special, unique and different offerings and the great
show specials. This is your opportunity to make the most
of your best and limited asset—your shelf space. Trade
shows represent a huge cost for business-to-business
(B2B) marketers: your suppliers. They need to make their
trade show investment pay off for you. This requires roll-
ing out their best deals and looking forward to the oppor-
tunity to personally greet, meet and spend time learning
about your item needs.
Mike Thimmesch, Skyline Exhibits’ director of customer
engagement, has this to say about attending, exhibiting or
advertising at a trade show:
“It might seem that in a hyper-connected world, a trade
show is a rather quaint idea—like a flea market or drive-in
movie. The fact is, trade shows command a huge pres-
ence in the marketing realm.” Consider the following sta-
tistics and how the importance of TPC 2014 benefits you:
• The top two sales-related objectives at trade shows
are related to relationship management and engagement.
Above all else, exhibitors want to meet with existing and
prospective customers—that’s you. You are the main
event. (Source: CEIR, Changing Environment Study)
• The No. 1 reason for attending (not exhibiting) at
trade shows is to see new products. 92 percent of trade
show attendees say they are looking for new products.
It’s been the No. 1 reason for 25 years! (Source: CEIR, The
Role and Value of Face to Face). Likely, that’s you too.
• Business-to-business exhibitions were 39 percent of
B2B marketing budgets in 2011, the largest amount of any
other marketing channel.
• The number of shows conducted has held steady
over the past several years, demonstrating the resilience
of trade shows. (Source: The Spend Decision: Analyzing
How Exhibits Fit Into the Overall Marketing Plan)
And that’s how you benefit! Exhibitors’ personal com-
mitment and financial investment in you insures the value
of your attendance.
Value and highly valued events are even more impor-
tant today in a high-tech world where high-touch is di-
luted by our arms-length connectedness. Come on out to
the TPC 2014 trade show. This is your personal invitation.
If you’re going to Fenway to watch a Sox/Yankees game,
be sure to get your tickets early.
Best to you,
