Kaon_Tradeshow_Whitepaper

7/27/2019 Kaon_Tradeshow_Whitepaper

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I N T E R A C T I V E

White PaPer by Kaon interactive

Delivering Compelling Customer

traDeshow experienCes

Interactive Solutions That Engage and Excite


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Visit us online at www.kaon.com or call 978.823.0111I N T E R A C T I V E




Sg SgMarketing and sales roessionals need to clearly commnicate rodct dierentiation and nctionality at every

tocoint, and events and tradesows are no excetion. And wile tradesow olarity as ctated in te ast

decade, te crrent landscae again sggests tat marketers are leveraging tese engagements as an eective strat

egy in generating sales leads, marketing new rodcts, and edcating cstomers.

Yet, te most recent ast as demonstrated a set o common trends across a wide variety o indstries, inclding a

sit toward ewer big indstry sows to comensate, wit more events overall; an increased nmber o rodcts to

demonstrate; smaller ootrints at sows; and (as oil rices ave skyrocketed) increased siing and drayage costs.

Simly t, todays tradesows resent te erect storm o roblems or marketers: ow to sow more rodcts at

more events wit less sace and ewer dollars?

isg cssWit an increased mandate or innovation, rodcts ave

become more exensive to acqire, rovision, ackage, si,

ower, maintain, and manage or eac tradesow engage

ment. In some organizations borrowing rodcts eiter

nal or rototye or tradesows as become increasingly

diclt, to te oint were some marketing teams need to

by te rodcts rom teir own comany, or resellers, jst

to gain access to tem. O corse, its no wonder marketing

teams are relctant; sing a rodct at a tradesow sbjectsit to otential damage dring siment or se, rendering te

rodct otentially nsable, wit te ossibility o incr

ring costs o a relacement. Tis is o signicant concern

were valable rodcts are involved, tog rototyes o

any variety o rodcts are almost always costly.

Exibitors send an aver

age o $113 or eac oten

tial cstomer tat enters an

exibit, and an average o

$197 or otential cstom

ers tat actally seak to a

sta member.

* Note: Potential customers are

attendees who express an inter-

est in an exhibiting companys

product type and with whom the

company has a good chance of

making contact.

H h h h ?*


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As rodct lines contine to exand, te ability to sowcase comlete rodct sets as brdened marketers, as no

commensrate increase in resorces as been aorded. Yet, rodct marketers, contine to reqest tat entire rodct lines be available at sows to lll all cstomer needs.

In addition to labor, osing and travel costs, exibitors are sending more to reac cstomers at sows. Exibitors

sent $129 or eac cstomer wo entered teir boot in 2006, comared wit $108 in 2005. In addition, exibitors

sent $223 or eac cstomer wo talked to a sta member in 2006, comared wit $214 in 2005.*

To sowcase ow otragos costs can be, one storage tecnology

comany at NXTComm 2007 sent as mc as $12,000 jst ower

ing igend eqiment at a sow. Siing can cost to $40,000

and drayage te cost o nion moving te eqiment on and o

te oor can rn as ig as $20,000. Ten tere are te costs o teeqiment itsel and te ersonnel to oerate and maintain it on te

road.

And wats more, additional sows reqire more rodcts tat need to be made available, sied, set , retrned

and sed. Comlicating matters, ocsed events call or secic rodcts, rater tan a general ool sed at oter

venes. Only in an ideal world wold marketing deartments ave nlimited access to watever rodcts tey

needed, wenever tey need tem, at a low cost.

Smll SpsFewer and ewer comanies are bying into te large ormats tat created te ondation o tradesow boot res

ences in ast years. Many comanies will ot to decrease sace at big sows and sread te dollars among smallerregional sows. Tis trend as reslted in less oor sace or exibits, and, in articlar, or rodct dislays. Wile

rodct lines exand, and ysical saces srink, tradesow ersonnel ace a conndrm eiter ct back on te

range o rodcts on te oor, or on te boot sace designated or cstomers and/or meeting rooms. Tog te

ormer reqires a greater ootrint as rodcts, nlike eole, reqire xtres, ligting, ower, etc.

a Fus cusm expOn te exibition oor, amongst ndreds o cometitors, exibitors need to break trog te cltter by creating an

exerience tat catres cstomer attention and emowers individals to interact wit teir rodcts. Marketers can

acieve tis goal by resenting rodcts and services in ways tat let adiences control teir own ser exerience. No

longer is mere resence scient to satisy te rosect visiting a boot. Esecially wen an average o ortytree

ercent o boot visitors lan to by an exibitors rodct or service witin te 12 monts ollowing te sow*.

Certain indstries sc as igtec, medical, telecom and networking sell rodcts tat do not travel well to te

sow oor, making tem nsitable or andson resentations. Analysts, rosective cstomers and jornalists are

not allowed to andle sensitive eqiment, and some rodcts can be too exensive to cart ot to satisy te crios

ity o te masses. Tese obstacles make it diclt or a comany to get its message ot.

Many comanies willot to decrease sace atbig sows and sread te

dollars among smallerregional or local sows.

* As stated in Trade Sow Trends Reort tt://www.exibitoronline.com/exibitormagazine/article.as?ID=532


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addssg cllgs

Wile te major callenges in delivering a viable tradesow exerience center on cost and rodct availability,

obstacles also abond arond rodct exertise. Now marketing deartment mst not only contend wit delivering

and setting rodcts at every sow, bt te reqisite rodct knowledge as well. Wile no dobt boots are likely

staed wit knowledgeable ersonnel, can tey sort all te trac tat comes in and ot o te boot? Are tey

edcated on every rodct and eatre? Tied in sales itces wit rosective cstomers, even te most knowl

edgeable sta may not be able to break away to el oters tat are ersing rodcts and inormation on teir own.

In te absence o more money and ersonnel, an ideal soltion wold be:

Inexensive to transort;

Simle to set and dismantle;

Able to sow a wide variety o rodcts;

Easily branded to extend te brand image o te comany and te boot;

Extensible, as te rodct line exands or canges;

Flexible, to be integrated into large and small event resences;

Knowledgeable, so tat rodct benets/sage inormation can be conveyed to cstomers clearly and concisly.

i tlgs t cg Plg FldFor all te reasons stated above, tradesows are an exensive roosition. Limits on te amont o rodcts to be

sown de to sace and cost constraints make exibiting a less tan te ideal marketing otion. Bt its te best

weve got. Or is it?

Imagine instead endless aisle o rodcts osed witin te connes o a tradesow boot. Tecnologies ave been

develoed, over te ast decade, to sow sc a breadt o rodcts virtally. Today, a very realistic digital reresentation allows a rodct model to be viewed rom every angle and looks and beaves exactly like te actal rodct,

giving te cstomer an exerience akin to aving te rodct in and. Cstomers are able to see ow a rodct

oerates, ow to cange batteries or ower slies, remove comonents, or erorm maintenance. Tese sotware

soltions now resent a real oortnity or comanies to consider a virtal rodct exerience at a variety o venes,

wen aving te ysical rodct(s) tere is simly not ractical, desirable or cost eective.

Wat as been missing is a resentation ormat tat eliminates te need or ysical rodcts to be resent at an

event, wic is comelling and realistic, and seamlessly integrates rodct inormation, messaging and branding. Te

Kaon vOSK was designed or tis secic rose. Te Kaon vOSK is a igdenition, LCD dislay, wit a llyinte

grated toc system, igerormance graic sbsystem, and igseed comter. Now, tradesow boots can

be eqied wit a ll range o (virtal) rodcts, easily accessible, and lly interactive so tat cstomers can engage

wit tose rodct eatres and benets tat are o interest to tem, wit te toc o a nger.

In tis new aradigm, te boot exerience is designed to maximize te cstomers exosre to te comany rod

cts, messages and eole. Te Kaon vOSK delivers a consistent and comelling cstomer exerience to inorm,

edcate and ersade all witin a very small ootrint. And, becase o te rolieration o toc screen systems sc

as ATMs, eole qickly identiy wit te ser interaction environment o te Kaon vOSK.


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Interactivity is a key asect o keeing cstomers

engaged and interested. Stdies demonstrate tateole ave a sort attention san or sales itc

es, videos, and oter traditional sales/marketing

media. Wen engaged in a dialoge, te attention

san increases dramatically. Frtermore, knowl

edge retention is signicantly enanced wen te cstomer is ysically involved in te sales rocess. Tis els te

cstomer make roer bying decisions, wic leads to iger cstomer satisaction and enances cstomer loyalty.

Te availability o virtal rodct models on te Kaon vOSK makes it easible to attend te wider variety o events

and to sowcase all, or te best range o rodcts, at eac event. Since te Kaon vOSK aliance is a atanel dis

lay, it makes it simle to incororate into a boot exerience, eiter in a standalone environment or integrated into

a wall dislay. Given te small ootrint, it is ractical in smaller venes as well as it is a comact system, it is inexensive to si and carries lower drayage costs and takes only mintes to set.

impg tdsw expTaking advantage o te Kaon vOSK tecnology is

not simly a costsaving exercise. To be sre, rodct

acqisition costs are redced or eliminated; siing

and drayage costs are dramatically redced; ewer

ersonnel are reqired or rodct installation and

dismantling all reslting in a dramatically lower

exense or tese events. Bt an additional set o

benets is accred to te sales and marketing rocessas well.

Tere is now a cativating way to attend and sow

case rodcts at events tat were reviosly inacces

sible, de eras to geograic restrictions (exand

ing or emerging markets, or examle) or were te

aroriate rodct secialists are not available.

Tereore, te overall reac o te marketing eort is

signicantly enanced, becase te Kaon vOSK can

be transorted and set easily in any nmber o

venes. As a reslt, a consistent, articlate, and comelling exerience is available to all rosects and cs

tomers, and at a lower cost tan reviosly ossible.

Wat breaks trog te cltter o tose large events

are interesting resentations o existing materials,

said Loree Stark, senior writer at Event Marketermaga

c c c sKAONS COMpELLING 3D VIRTuAL EXpERIENCE ELIMI-

NATES NEED FOR phYSICAL pRODuCTS AT TRADEShOWS

For a variety o reasons, inclding increasingly ex

ensive siing costs, we rsed a strategy to imlement creative, costeective ways to virtally takeor rodcts on te road or indstry tradesows

and oter cstomer events witot sacricing or

ability to demonstrate rodct eatres and benetsin a comelling way to or cstomers, said Bill Rozier,Vp o Global Marketing or Ciena Cororation.

Ciena Benets rom te Kaon vOSK:

Derived ROI rom a single indstry event

Eliminated need or all ysical rodctsat tradesows

Redction in recrring rodct siing costs by

85% er year

Eliminated over 800 ors o onsite rodctassembly/disassembly costs er year

Redce travel costs and tecnical sortstang at events

Based on or reslts bot in terms o cost savingsand ositive cstomer reaction, its clear tat Kaons

soltions are art o te next wave o ow comaniescondct bsiness, bot online and ofine.


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zine. Te Kaon vOSK gives a ar dierent ersective to a redictable rodct.

peole get to exerience tese rodcts on a level tey woldnt be able to[traditionally].

rusl cBecase o Kaons atented comression tecnology, once te extraordinarily

realistic virtal models and demos are created, tey can be alied across ml

tile latorms inclding websites, pDFs and sales latos, rter leveraging

te investment. Tis enables organizations to deliver a consistent and engaging

exerience across mlticannels and cstomer tocoints, wic is increas

ingly imerative to address te evercanging marketing mix.

SummKaons virtal rodct soltions ave been getting noticed in tradesow circles.

In Jne, te Kaon vOSK was recognized by te Massacsetts Inormation and

Tecnology Excange (MITX) as te best Interactive/Online Bsiness tecnol

ogy at its annal awards ceremony. It won te t annal International Innova

tion Award rom Trade Show Executive magazine, and Event Marketermagazine

named te Kaon vOSK one o te to 10 tecnologies tat are canging event

marketing.

It is now ossible to ave te ideal rodct exerience at every tradesow, big

or small. Innovations in tecnology develoment ave acilitated te se o vir

tal rodct models to deliver a comelling and engaging interactive cstomer

exerience at any event vene. Te reslting exerience delivers a ersasive

and interesting rodct and comany message, in a manner tat is easy to

remember and relevant to eac cstomer. Becase o te elimination o te

need to si every rodct, tradesow costs ave been dramatically redced,

as ave te costs o attending incremental sows not reviosly accessible to

te marketing organization.

In sort, more rodcts are available, to more eole, at more venes, in a

more comelling environment, at lower costs.

For more inFormation on How tHe kaon v-osk will bring your

products to liFe, call 978-823-0111 or experience it at

www.kaon.com.

Kaon Interactive, Kaon vOSK, and te Kaon logo are all trademarks o Kaon Interactive, Inc. All rigts reserved. Alloter names, trademarks, graics and statistics are te roerty o teir resective owners.

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Kaon_Tradeshow_Whitepaper