In the decades since the Wienermobile was launched, mobile marketing has become much more than a rolling billboard. Now an important weapon in a company's strategic marketing arsenal, mobile exhibitions, product demonstrations and executive briefings are hitting the road more often and more extravagantly than ever before. Mobile exhibits bring new levels of cost-effectiveness and marketing efficiency in today's down economy, as more companies curtail participation in large tradeshows and limit personnel travel to conferences and events.

Changing Economic Considerations

It's a simple fact that tradeshow attendance is down in this economy. "In this economic climate it's often easier for the client to take their message to their potential customers than to have the customer come to them," said Howard Kayne, senior producer of environments at MC2 in New York City. "People aren't traveling to tradeshows as they once were so going to the customer is a very cost-effective way to get the message out."

Companies and organizations simply can't afford to spend the historically significant budgets to exhibit at, and staff, a major show that lasts only three to five days, Kayne noted. And prospective customer companies don't want groups of people traveling to shows or conferences in the age of the Internet, when they can get so much product information online. Plus, there is concern now about potential undue purchasing influence if people are being wined, dined and entertained.

Bill Rozier, vice president of global marketing for network specialists Ciena Corp., based in Linthicum, Md., agreed.

"Large industry tradeshows have become less and less valuable to us over the years. While that's in decline, customer-specific or exclusive events have become far more important to us," Rozier said. "We've redirected budgets from those large shows into these customer-specific events, of which our mobile exhibit systems are the primary execution."

Mobile Exhibit Advantages

Mobile exhibits provide the ability to tailor product presentations and demonstrations to specific customer audiences that are more likely to be receptive. There aren't any of the usual tradeshow distractions, such as high noise levels, surging crowds in exhibit halls and the distractions afforded by golf, tennis or cocktail receptions and dinners.

According to Kayne, one client is rolling out a new technology-laden mobile exhibit that provides an opportunity to put a briefing center on wheels, marrying the concept of executive briefing centers with mobile marketing.

"They can deliver their messaging directly to their customer's parking lot," he said. "We're not just talking about a conference room with a video screen. We're talking about a conference room with an audio-video system worthy of any corporate briefing center or boardroom. They can have a live presentation from a corporate officer to the field via broadband Internet or satellite link and follow that with local product demonstrations targeted specifically to the customer.

"They can talk about specific sets of services and how a product program might be enhanced by our services. It's an opportunity for prospects to talk face-to-face with the company's technicians and developers, to see hardware and software in action, evaluate it, ask questions and get feedback in real time."

Kayne also noted mobile executive briefings for a single customer audience a time helps created a better bond with potential customers and clients. Sales staffs also can learn more about what it will take to succeed and tailor solutions for clients without fear of exposing good ideas to competitors. And, since each truck is wrapped with bold graphics, the rolling billboard effect still has the much-needed wow factor.

More Strategic Approach to Mobile Exhibits
Creating a successful mobile exhibit experience requires several steps and a fair amount of time, according to Clayton Ferguson, producer of experiential mobile exhibitions for the Branded Entertainment group at Exhibitgroup/Giltspur in Southern California. He explained the process begins with advance planning to decide:

• What the goals of the exhibit should be
• What the product or service branding should encompass
• What messaging should be developed around that branding
• What products to display and all related logistics for doing so
• What presentations, displays or demos need to be created to sell/promote the products or services
• What marketing programs need to be developed for pre- and post-show outreach
• How will the entire program be monitored and evaluated.

Kayne at MC2 agreed. "Clients shouldn't underestimate the level of detail and the time that's required for mobile exhibits," he said. "A tradeshow exhibit can be turned around fairly quickly, and it's only up for three to five days. If there are problems with the show, in terms of messaging, they're short-lived. In the case of mobile exhibits, any issues are going to be there for quite a while, so the better the planning, the better the execution and delivery."

That's borne out by the approach taken at Exhibitgroup/Giltspur. The Branded Entertainment division creates mobile exhibitions primarily for the film industry. The process is very similar to those used for corporate America, but Ferguson's group has the advantage of dealing with properties that are better known to the public.

"When you look at film marketing, most companies are conducting a two-week media blitz prior to the film opening," Ferguson said. "But we've seen a trend recently to engage audiences more actively by using promotional tours for several months in advance. You're reaching a wider audience of millions of people by going to large events such as state fairs, sports events, museum exhibitions and music concerts, in addition to generating the volume of publicity you'd have achieved if you were only doing a two-week media tour."

In the case of Harry Potter: The Exhibition, which is currently on display at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, visitors can play an actual game of Quidditch and toss the Quoffle ball through hoops and to friends. Children also can tug on Mandrakes like their favorite characters from the books and movies.

"With major entertainment franchises such as the Harry Potter books and films, you're engaging people emotionally and they feel like they're part of the experience, almost part of the movie," Ferguson said. "The movable exhibition offers the same sights and sounds people would have at the movie, and this is a great way to connect with the fans."

Parallel Programs in Corporate Markets
Similarly, prospective customers of Ciena Corp. don't have to visit Maryland or go to a tradeshow. The Ciena Innovation Lab will come to them at their offices.

Ciena's product and marketing groups spent two to three years evaluating whether to replace some major tradeshows with mobile demo centers, Rozier said, but once the decision was made to proceed it took less than three months to have the first tractor-trailer unit on the road. That was about 18 months ago. Just recently, Ciena launched a second trailer that it shipped overseas for use in Europe and a second European unit is expected to be on the road in 2010.

"When we plan our programs we won't do anything unless we have the support of our local sales people," Rozier said. "The sales staff's job is to get us the list of who likely attendees will be so that we can do pre-event mailings to them as well as gather information about them for future marketing programs. We do follow-up mailings to thank them for attending and encourage them to visit our Web site where they can get more information.

It's truly a multi-touch exercise - we don't just drive and arrive. We use the same marketing disciplines we use in other forms, but it just happens to take place in the truck."
Sales people love the program, Rozier said, because they log quality time with the customer. The 30 to 40 people who visit the truck wouldn't likely come to a tradeshow, and sales people have the opportunity to uncover opportunities they weren't aware of before the truck arrived.

Given the breadth of Ciena's product lines and the physical size of the systems, the company has also incorporated modular touchscreen graphics terminals that provide interactive 3-D views of the equipment within the truck's demo area. Created by Kaon Interactive, these units let users simulate the "look and feel" interaction of the real products, including viewing, zooming, panning and rotating - even opening doors and compartments - to better understand the sophistication of the Ciena products without having to actually bring the large physical equipment on the tour.

Parallel Paths and ROI
Whether used for consumer or business marketing, mobile exhibit centers tend to follow parallel roads to generating an excellent return on investment.

"For a marketer this is a very cost-effective way to get the message out," Kayne said. "A mobile exhibit is a significant investment in resources, but it's an investment that you can deliver again and again, so the ROI should be very high. You can amortize the cost over so many more presentations and the conversions to sales are very good and are provable."

In the case of Harry Potter: The Exhibition, the scale is a bit bigger. Since the experiential program will be visiting cities around the world over a four to five year period, it's designed to be set up for multi-month stays in various cities. The first exhibition in Chicago required 12 53-foot trailers to transport everything to the Museum of Science and Industry. This includes hundreds of costumes, sets and props from the Harry Potter films plus nearly 3 tons of rigging, lighting, speakers, cables and special effects gear. It takes 10 museum employees to operate the exhibit on a daily basis.

"The exhibition has attracted more than 10,000 visitors a week during its stay in Chicago," Ferguson says. "It will close there in late September and we'll truck the whole show to Boston, where it will open at the Museum of Science on Oct. 25."

Much the same success story, albeit on a lesser scale, is occurring at Ciena Corp. The mobile Ciena Innovation Lab started its tour in December 2008 and through this July it's been used to host nearly 1,500 visitors from about 130 different companies. The truck has covered nearly 27,000 miles around the U.S., making 45 stops for product meetings in at least 42 different cities.

"Those are good numbers, but the real value is in the quality of the attendees with whom we've met," Rozier said. "Of the total number of visitors to our Innovation Lab, 22 percent have been senior management, including vice presidents, directors and manager levels. About 74 percent are from operating personnel most intimately involved in networking operations, such as system architects, engineers, technicians, etc. We've even had one to two percent of attendees at the C-level, including chief executives, chief technology officers and chief financial officers."