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The lanyard which holds your pass will bear the name of a sponsor who hopes it will become indelibly etched in your mind if it is hung round your neck for three or four days.

As you make your way inside, a popular promotional gift with exhibitors near the entrance is often a bag to enable visitors to carry the literature, and other promotional gifts they pick up as they go about their business.
Dennis D'Arcy of Aberdeen-based Recognition Express, which specialises in making companies stand out from the crowd, says that the demand for promotional gifts for this year's Offshore Europe is busier than ever.

He said there is a strong possibility the bags being handed out will be from the increasingly popular range of green products which are "flavour of the month" at the moment.

"You can get everything from a coaster made out of recycled tyres or a pen made from sustainable wood to a ruler made from recycled CD cases or a frisbee made from recycled packaging," he said.

"However by far and away the most popular gift on the stands is still pens because they are cheap, you can get your logo on them quite easily and if it is a nice pen people will use them for some time and that's the whole point of the exercise - to keep you name in front of your customers.

"Flash drives are also proving popular and while they are coming down substantially in price companies might not hand them out to every Tom, Dick and Harry who passes their stand but they may give them to people with serious inquiries.

"Confectionery is also popular and many companies will be handing out credit card style containers of mints with their company name and logo on the front. However they will also be handing out small packets of sweets, chocolate business cards and even personalised pralines.

"People will be leaving with bags full of promotional gifts and the idea is to hand out something which will jog their memory about your company or product," said Dennis D'Arcy.

"There are really two tiers of promotional gifts - there are the cheap and cheerful ones which are simply designed to get your company name into people's brain and are handed out to anyone who passes and there are the more expensive gifts for potential customers.
"A popular gift in the latter category is a boxed pen which also has a torch and a laser pointer on if for assisting in presentations."

He said these promotions definitely work and the evidence for that was the fact that companies continually repeat the process.

"It does not cost a lot given the amount of money they are likely to be spending on their stands and it really is important to try to give people something which will keep their name in front of potential customers when the exhibition has long ended.

"For example reusable bags bearing a company name may be carried for months afterwards.

"There is a huge range of potential gifts from pens and baseball caps to umbrellas and electronic goods.

"It is important to organise your promotional gifts in plenty of time to ensure you are able to get exactly what you want.

"This is the busiest it has ever been. People don't seem to be slowing down. "They say it is important to market during a recession and that's exactly what companies are doing - even if it is simply handing out a pen to ensure their name is not forgotten by potential customers."

making an exhibit of yourself

Bray Leino Events, an experienced international stand contractor with extensive knowledge of the energy sector, gives some advice on the run up to Offshore Europe.

It's Offshore Europe year again and if your company is exhibiting it's time to start planning.

In today's tough economic climate, marketing budgets are coming under close scrutiny and many companies will have been faced with budget cuts for their stand. But, while it may be expensive, exhibiting is a very effective marketing tool if well planned and executed.

Reasons to exhibit during uncertain times:

Trade shows are the only way you can get a face to face meeting with prospects and customers other than a direct sales call - you can accomplish more in a day than in a month of calls in the field

During uncertain times it is important to communicate the image of a strength and dependability.

Your competitors may be cutting back - a great time to make an impact and be more aggressive in the market place.

The first key to successful exhibiting is to set some form of objectives for attending and measurement criteria. If you can't measure your impact at this year's show it will be even harder to justify the budget for next year so it is vitally important to be able to produce tangible results to justify your future expenditure.

Tips to make your budget go further:

• Plan ahead
  There is no such thing as cheap and fast in the world of exhibition suppliers and at least three months is the ideal time to plan for the physical requirements of your stand so you can budget effectively.
• Accommodation
  Finding a place to stay for your out of town staff in Aberdeen is the big budget buster so book as soon as possible for your incoming staff and visitors .
• Literature
  Most literature is overproduced for an exhibition. You can show a visitor a brochure or information pack and say you would be happy to bring one to them on a personal basis after the show. In this you have a good reason to call on them at a later date.
• People
  People are key to communicating your message. Your stand staff are the ambassadors for your brand and are key to maximising your return of investment. Get your staff to take accountability, tell them how much it costs to exhibit and how many leads need to be generated in order to make the event worthwhile.
• Graphics
  Trade show experts say you only have three seconds to make an impression on a passing visitor so your graphics should give a clear concise message. It is worth investing in creative and well thought out stand graphics which communicate the image of a strong and dependable company
• Audio Visual
  Instead of communicating messages via static graphic panels, think about what video or presentation materials you already own or could edit to suit the purposes on the stand. AV presentations give more dynamism to a stand and information can be made available on a memory stick or DVD.
• Size
  If your budget does not allow you to create the presence you feel worthy of your brand, then consider reducing the size of your floor space. It is much better to exhibit in a sophisticated way in a smaller space then fill up a large space with a sparse and low cost display.

Stand training courses are available through the Chamber of Commerce. Further information is available on line at www.agcc.co.uk or contact Fiona Fernie at Fiona.fernie@agcc.co.uk or 01224 343917