Allison Fishman, VP-Marketing, Bosch Power Tools
World of Concrete, the annual trade show for the concrete construction and masonry industries, brought over 57,000 attendees to the Las Vegas Convention Center, Jan. 20-23. While there was plenty of innovation inside, the hottest action was taking place outside, where brands let attendees get hands-on with the latest power tools and technology—full-blast mode. EM couldn’t resist doing some damage with a demolition hammer and, along with hundreds of attendees, found that opportunity within the 10,500-square-foot exhibit by Bosch Power Tools.
Bosch leveraged branded shipping containers, like you’d find on a major job site, to create a somewhat enclosed environment in what is a very busy and noisy space (earplugs needed). Promoting the new “The more you Bosch, the more you feel like a Bosch” campaign, it blended the powerful and playful, inviting attendees to test out the latest tools at expert-staffed workstations, participate in head-to-head challenges and Jumbotron crowd games, and have photos taken with professional wrestler Randy “Macho Man” Savage, who will also be the star of the brand’s Super Bowl ad this year. Custom hard hats were the ultimate final touch.
“It’s all about empowering people,” Allison Fishman, vp-marketing at Bosch Power Tools, told EM. “Our space is designed to be open concept and very collaborative, because we want our users to get comfortable with our tools and also get their feedback.”
Event Marketer: Bosch has been exhibiting at WOC for over 45 years. How is your activation different this year?
Allison Fishman: This year we’ve increased the number of hands-on demos and also upped the game with respect to connecting and engaging with content creators. We’re very mindful about making sure that we have experts on-site who can work with them as they come into our booth and do personal tours and demos with product managers. And, of course, we have the photo experience, which has been very popular. You’re going to see these characters come to life as part of our campaign that we’ll be launching at the Big Game, so we wanted to introduce them to our core user group here first.
What is your measurement strategy for this activation?
It’s really important for us in a post-COVID environment to see how people are engaging with our shows. One thing we’re very pleased to see is that foot traffic is very much back. That’s our most macro-level metric. Engagement at workstations is tracked with badge scans. We want to make sure we’re creating meaningful, shareable experiences, so we also do a lot of social listening.
How is your trade show program evolving right now?
We’re working hard to produce products that are trade-specific, such as for carpenters, electricians, etc. So we want to identify shows that are specific to those particular trades and show up in a meaningful way for them. This is what’s on the horizon for us.
What is currently your biggest challenge in trade shows?
We know we can’t be in all places all the time, and be all things to all people, so we have to make sure that we are able to show up, and that we’re doing it in a way that’s useful to our workers. That’s first and foremost to us.
Photo credit: Anna Huddleston
