Hands up who has just placed orders for 5000 brochures, 2000 neoprene showbags, 30kg of lollies and a 2000 branded stress balls? Thought so, expo’s are just around the corner! Great, so you’ve got your giveaways and stand material; the elements that you can control are under control. Staff, however, relies on a persons performance on the day – how do you control that element too? Brief them well.
The staff at your stand are your cash-cows at an expo, so it pays to make sure they know their stuff. It is up to you to give them the right brand messages and information to pass on to the masses, and the way to impart this is though a good brief.
• Length: Keep it, well, brief! It’s in the name so don’t make a dishonest document out of your brief by making it too lengthy. Where your brand and product messages are specific and detailed choose a few main points that the staff can start with.
• Product/brand: Give them a top-line overview that is easily remembered and retrieved. A few key phrases that the promo staff can confidently roll off the tongue act as an anchor back to the brand in conversations. The majority of people will be stall-hopping while doing the trade show rounds, so staff will only get a few sentences out to them. For that reason, reduce your brand, product, features and benefits into a couple of dot points that staff can punch out quickly.
• Tasks: Be specific about the tasks required of your promo host, that way they’ll know what they’re doing when they walk onto the job. You’ll save time and energy not having to direct them through the shift, and they’ll carry out their job with more confidence.
• Dress: While most companies supply uniforms, make sure you let the promo team know well in advance if they are required to supply anything; footwear especially can be difficult to source. Likewise, always make it clear what the outfit will be, especially if it is very tight or uncomfortable, as this will affect whether or not some people accept the job in the first place.
• On-sight contact: Make sure that you provide the phone number of someone who will be on-sight for the activation; it is imperative that this person be aware that they are the contact, have their phone on them, be available and responsive.
Staff should do their own research on your brand before the gig, but if you rely on their looking at your company’s website, it will be hit and miss as to whether they understand the crux of the brand and deliver the message accordingly. It is far better to streamline their communications by giving them specifics. A good brief will make for well informed and confident promo staff which will ultimately deliver the best results.
