Best of Booths: Integrated Exhibitor Marketing at Pittcon

Pittcon’s laboratory science meeting wrapped up in New Orleans last month, and while it basically rained all week, it was at least warmer for our East Coast friends, suffering from the lie that has been Spring.

What did C&EN Media Group see at the event? Some great examples of consistent, integrated marketing from our fellow exhibitors.

For instance, Ametek published an ad in the Pittcon Today Onsite Publication. With a shoutout to their booth number, – and a reason to visit it, – they took advantage of the visibility in the publication to draw more attention to their onsite presence. In addition, they included another marketing asset in the ad: a link to a free white paper. As discussed earlier, white papers are great ways to educate your audience on the more technical nature of your products. This company found ways to provide a resource to readers, promote their onsite presence, and discuss their company’s services via constructive thought-leadership, all in one campaign.

It’s also worth mentioning that they truly connected the dots they laid out in their ad: they showed up with the car in their booth!

We also liked Anton-Paar’s presence at the event. While not as flashy as a convertible per se, their ‘tag line’ and imagery at their booth went hand-in-hand, something that can be easy to forget to do.

“Great People, Great Instruments”: This is clearly an important sentiment. They sponsored a 5K Walk/Run at Pittcon, with all proceeds going to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. This is also part of a larger foundation the company works with year round. Integrated marketing for good – we can all get behind that.

Finally, don’t forget simple advertising tactics: 1st Detect took the shuttle buses as an opportunity to remind attendees of their product demos. With so much going on, sessions to see, and general networking, these reminders can often be key in reaching your audience.

What did C&EN do at Pittcon? We’ve been on a mini-tour with our editor-in-chief, Bibiana Campos-Seijo, and she spoke with attendees again at this key event. Our integrated approach involved pulling in the staple elements of New Orleans, – beignets with cafe au lait, colorful beads, and pralines. We ran out of all of them, and got to meet a lot of great folks in the process.

See the slide show below for more pictures from the conference. We’ll also be going into detail on other spring events we have since attended, like SXSW’s Interactive Conference, and ACS’ own National Meeting.

Did you attend Pittcon? What marketing caught your eye?