The Purposes of Exhibiting at a NAMM Trade Show

| October 6, 2009

NAMM reviewed the purposes of participating in a NAMM trade show from the view of the exhibitor. We compiled information and quotes from your peers for our white paper, “The Decision to Exhibit,” and posted it online to help industry members recognize the importance of coming together as an industry.

• Brand Visibility

Brand awareness begins with people initially learning about the existence of a company, seeing the brand name and images, and making their first contact with the brand.

“We’re very pleased with the steady traffic that has been visiting our display at the NAMM Show within minutes of the show opening. Dealers are eager to see new products and new technologies.” – Dennis Houlihan, Roland Corporation U.S.

• Face-to-Face Meetings

If you are at an event with your target audience, the decision makers will be among the attendees, so they can see and touch the product, ask questions, give feedback on site and share their experience with others afterward.

“I think if you’re here exhibiting your products, you’re being proactive and showing your customers and the world that you want to do business. We’re not complaining about it—we’re doing it…and so far today we’ve had a lot of traffic.” – Stephan Fyock, Numark Industries

• Prospective Buyers

Closing a deal is more effective when qualified leads at a show meet with staff and get to see products firsthand.

“We’re getting a lot of floor traffic and musicians are out playing the gear, and that’s what we want. You can see it’s a non-stop flow of people, which is what it’s about. Right now everybody’s kind of looking, but we’ve written a few orders, and it’s only day one." – Mike Van Tine, Musical Distributors Group

• Customer Connections

Active customers who are at the show save money on travel and other expenses related to meeting in person in the effort to build the current relationship.  

“We thought it was important to be here to respond to our customer’s needs and provide what they’re looking for. For us it was an awesome show. We got a lot of great orders this weekend so that was a really nice surprise.” – Ron Manus, Alfred Music Publishing

Other Opportunities

Exhibitors have the opportunity to:

• build partnerships with other exhibitors or advocacy groups

• see what other products are on the market

• work with media

• promote products in guides, maps and other special recognition

“We've been very pleased with the attendance from our dealers—it's exceeded our expectations. The black nickel trumpet was just introduced this year—we appreciated the honor of it being acknowledged in ‘Best in Show.' The awareness was great, and we got a very good response from our dealers.” – Randy Huey, Antigua Winds