Sales, showmanship and sex

By Jayne SeagraveOver the course of the last sixteen years, since I have been working in the home improvement industry, my company (Vancouver Tool Corp) has exhibited in over eighty trade shows and I have attended many more, primarily in the USA and Europe. With this considerable experience I should not have been concerned when, as President of the Worldwide DIY Council I was tasked with organising the Council Pavilion at the 2012 Expo Nacional Ferretera Show which takes place for three days in Guadalajara, Mexico every September. But with no previous experience of selling into this Latin American market nor of attending the show I was. While numerous emails sent to the organisers prior to the event were returned with my questions answered within an hour, (leading me to believe the show organiser slept with her laptop), there were a number of administrative issues over ordering furniture for the booth, exhibitors badges and the on-line information which sparked my concern. However, I am happy to report all issues melted away at 10.00am on September 6th at the start of what proved to be a thoroughly enjoyable, extremely busy and very profitable show.The hours are long: 10.00am to 8.00pm for the first two days and 10.00am to 6.00pm on the third, but in contrast to many other shows passed by in a networking blur. Expo Nacional Ferretera was the busiest trade show I have ever attended, in our Pavilion countless leads were generated, business cards collected and contacts made. Although I had been informed there would be a siesta time during the afternoon when the traffic would decrease, this did not occur. It was constantly humming and in contrast to N America/Europe involved a lot of entertainment. Elvis impersonators, Marilyn Monroe lookalikes, loud dance music, shots of tequila from 10.00am and numerous young, scantily clad women with breast and bum enhancements balancing on incredibly high heels and having their photographs taken with the male attendees, leading one of my colleagues to comment it was a “silicon show”. The Latin America carnival atmosphere was everywhere, especially during the final hours of the day when many of the larger exhibitors introduced entertainment.Expo Nacional Ferretera is not a garden show, nor a housewares show, not a pet show. This was one hundred percent tools and DIY. And there is money here: the larger companies had huge booths on multi-levels with neon light shows and numerous smartly dressed sales representatives to entertain clients in meeting rooms with food and drinks. Again, in contrast to the National Hardware Show in Las Vegas and International Hardware Fair in Cologne, both of which have seen a decline in these plush stands, these larger palatial booths were very much in evidence.At most of the shows I attend one of the busiest areas is the New Product Showcase. The National Hardware Show now charge an addition fee for exhibitors to place articles at this location and I have often had buyers visiting my booth as a direct result of seeing a product our company has in this New Product Area. I visited this Pavilion at Expo Nacional Ferretera (which was adjacent to one of the main entrance areas) on three separate occasions and no one else was looking around. Half the allocated spaces, in lovely glass cabinets, were not taken. This was not a destination site.The Show consisted of two halls, both receiving considerable traffic. There were of course a number of Asian exhibitors in smaller booths, allocated to a specific section of the hall. Their area was markedly quieter than the rest of the floor (the only washrooms that did not have long line-ups were in this location). The Worldwide DIY Council had ten USA/Canadian companies exhibiting, either within our Pavilion, independently or with their Mexican/South American distributor, a testament to how important North American manufacturers see this event (we have had a pavilion here for the last eight years). This year for the first time The Council held an International Networking Reception at the adjacent Hilton Hotel attended by approximately sixty members and their customers and clients. We will undoubtedly do this again.Attendees were predominantly Mexican. Although I was told 10 per cent would be non-Mexican I did not encounter anyone whom was not Mexican or North American at my booth.Overall I have to report WDIYC Members found Expo Nacional Ferretera to be a great success. My initial reservations concerning the organization were unfounded and it all came together very well. In summary the highlights (in contrast to European/USA trade shows) were:1. Attendance: heavy traffic – constantly busy. 2. Logistics: A number of good hotels adjacent to the show itself. It took less than 5 minutes to walk from my hotel bedroom to booth. Adjacent car parking. 3. Refreshments: bars, snack food, hot food and even ice cream and meeting/dining areas. 4. Publicity and communication: Excellent show directory and comprehensive details about those exhibiting. 5. Cost Effective: Flights from the USA/Canada to Guadalajara less than $500.00. WDIYC Members taking part in our Pavilion could exhibit for under $5,000.00 including hotel, meals , flight and furnished exhibition space within our Pavilion.On the negative side, it would seem that towards the end of each day a number of members of the public were admitted, so exhibitors were speaking to individuals who had no intention of placing orders. On the final day for the last two hours anyone could and everyone did enter the show. This resulted in a 'garage sale' type close as hundreds of people arrived, pesos rapidly changed hands and booths and the contents sold, dismantled and quickly taken away. This mildly negative observation however dwarfs my major complaint: the use of sex to sell DIY products. While the numerous female hostesses were stunningly attractive and certainly entertaining to the (predominantly male) visitors it was the element which disturbed me the most. I acknowledge young women have and continue to be used across the globe to market commodities and power tools, fasteners, and paint are not immune to this practice, but I had thought and hoped in the 21st century this practice was declining. Not so at the Expo Nacional Ferretera where sex as a mechanism to sell was endemic.In our industry we hear a lot about new and developing markets and the priority for manufacturers to start to move away from existing and often declining markets and access the new ones. The number of visitors, size of the booths and buzz at Expo Nacional Ferretera would suggest Mexico is very much a new market which manufacturers should explore. I have no doubt that members of the Worldwide DIY Council will continue to support this event.Jayne Seagrave is President of the Worldwide DIY Council (www.wdiyc.org) and Marketing Director for The Vancouver Tool Corp. (www.vancouvertool.com).The views expressed in this article are her own.