Home Show Trends: Adding a Show-Within-A-Show -- Does it make sense?

In the quest to fix dropping attendance, some consumer tradeshow managers are creating “niche” show themes, and offering “shows within a show.”

And at first blush, the idea of bringing a pet show into a home show struck our interest. We see the connection – obviously these people must have homes to be raising pets. We liked how it could blow fresh air into local media pitches. And [we liked] how embedding a niche show into your larger show has the potential to expose new consumers to your Home Show that otherwise wouldn’t have entered your doors. But time after time, upon hanging up the phone, these solutions seemed more a confusion than the “Ah-ha!” that follows “THE” answer.

Then it dawned on us. The reason it feels like a round peg in a square hole is that show managers seem to be haphazardly trying it instead of strategically using it. In other words, they don’t know exactly why the idea might work – they just know it feels like it could.

Well, we asked a lot of bright minds if they thought this trend has value and we ended up discovering that it has the potential to be a good idea…but only if it is implemented to solve a root problem, as opposed to the problem’s symptom:

Symptom = lowered attendance
Root Cause = X

To get to [X], we boiled down lowering attendance to the one common denominator* all struggling shows share: They are all floating in the downward stream of repeat. Same theme, same floorplan, same ad budget, same ad strategy, same seminar topics, same number of days even though market trends differ, even their list of exhibitors continues to be pretty much the same – but smaller and smaller…FYI: “We’ve always done it this way,” is a sure way to not be doing it much longer.

Haphazardly adding a show-within-a-show won’t fix any of this. But strategically adding an embedded show (meaning it’s part of a larger plan) can help a struggling homeshow rebuild attendance for all the reasons initially cited. But with an added benefit: it can also hone your staff’s sales skills - which can ultimately bring you the cornerstone of a successful show - a well-balanced, diverse list of quality exhibitors.

Think about it. With the newly embedded show, your sales staff is forced into “Sales 101” as they start from square one. There are no incoming orders for the new format - which forces your staff outside their box. They have to really think about their attendee’s needs - which means calling on businesses that possibly have never thought of marketing through a consumer trade show before. Your staff is educating, convincing, problem-solving, and relationship-building with a host of brand new exhibitors. These sales are hard because they’re involved and driven. And they are what your company needs in this new economy.

The learning that takes place with selling a niche show will undoubtedly filter into selling your overall show…which is why we think the bigger bang from this new trend will be in the great sales training tool this ‘show-within-a-show’ concept represents.

So have at it with your knitting shows, your woodworking shows and your pet shows. But be sure to remember this: Whatever you embed into your home show had better be a part of a larger plan, or else you’ll just be adding a bunch of barking dogs.





*other root causes to attendance drops found, but not addressed here: economy, competition, a show’s acting as a vampire onto itself by offering too many shows too close together, the advent of the big box retailer and the internet.