California Polytechnic State University Senior Project

1. Taking the Lead: A Best Practices Analysis of Race Expo Marketing
A Senior Project
presented to
the Faculty of the Recreation, Parks, & Tourism Administration Department
California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo
In Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Degree
Bachelor of Science
by
Jessica Mattson
March, 2016
© 2016 Jessica Mattson

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ABSTRACT
TAKING THE LEAD: A BEST
PRACTICES ANALYSIS OF RACE EXPO MARKETING
JESSICA MATTSON
MARCH 2016
Marketing is the main element for creating relationships with customers. As marketing
trends are aiming more towards customer experience, expositions are becoming an
effective marketing tool. The purpose of this study was to examine the marketing
practices of Fluid Sports Nutrition for exhibiting at business-to-customer expos. The
researcher examined the best marketing strategies for pre-show, at-show, and post-show
stages. A question and answer guide was created to collect the data. The results reveal
that pre-show and post-show strategies must be personalized in order to make an impact
on the customer. While during the expo, maintaining engagement with customers is the
most effective marketing strategy. For exhibitors to reach maximum potential, they must
consider strategically planning effective marketing strategies for each stage of the
exhibition process.
Keywords: exhibition, marketing, expo, race, booth, strategies

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE
ABSTRACT........................................................................................................................ ii
TABLE OF CONTENTS...................................................................................................iii
Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION AND REVIEW OF LITERATURE.................................... 1
Background of Study ...................................................................................................... 1
Review of Literature ....................................................................................................... 2
Purpose of the Study....................................................................................................... 9
Research Questions....................................................................................................... 10
Chapter 2 METHODS....................................................................................................... 11
Description of Organization/s....................................................................................... 11
Description of Instrument ............................................................................................. 12
Description of Procedures............................................................................................. 12
Chapter 3 PRESENTATION OF THE RESULTS........................................................... 14
Pre-Show Marketing..................................................................................................... 14
At-Show Marketing ...................................................................................................... 15
Post-Show Marketing ................................................................................................... 17
Chapter 4 DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS............................................................ 18
Discussion..................................................................................................................... 18
Conclusions................................................................................................................... 21
Recommendations......................................................................................................... 21
REFERENCES ................................................................................................................. 22
APPENDIXES.................................................................................................................. 25

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Chapter 1
INTRODUCTION AND REVIEW OF LITERATURE
Background of Study
Connecting with customers is one of the most important goals that companies can
achieve. Creating relationships with customers starts with an effective marketing
objective. Marketing has been evolving for years; starting with the selling of natural
goods, to products, to services, and finally the most contemporary method: selling
experiences. With this being the present marketing trend, exhibitions and trade shows
have been increasing in popularity. The exhibition industry has shown that they are a
frontrunner in marketing tactics and are worthwhile for companies. According to a study
from The Global Association of the Exhibition Industry (2014), there are approximately
31,000 exhibitions per year welcoming 4.4 million exhibiting companies and 260 million
visitors. There are few marketing opportunities which enable this magnitude of publicity
and promotion. In addition, exhibitions are unique in the way that they emphasize face-
to-face interactions where communication is strictly between the companies, their
representatives, and the consumer. Exhibitions give companies a way to focus on creating
meaningful and memorable customer experiences instead of paying for ads in an already
saturated internet market. This being said, there are established ways to assure a
worthwhile return on investment for exhibitors. These methods are usually industry
specific, for example, technology, sports, and culinary arts will all have different
methods. In the sports industry, exhibitions can also be associated with races, games, or
tournaments and are typically renamed as expos. At race expos, there is a large demand

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for post-exercise recovery nutrition due to the market being athletes. Specifically
focusing on this niche market, the purpose of this study was to develop a case study to
examine the marketing practices of Fluid Sports Nutrition for exhibiting at business-to-
customer expos.
Review of Literature
Research for this review of literature was conducted at Robert E. Kennedy
Library on the campus of California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. In
addition to books and other resources, the following online databases were utilized:
Academic Search Premier, SPORTDiscus, ABI/INFORM Complete, Google Scholar, and
Proquest. The following review of literature will include an explanation of what
exhibitions and expositions are, an overview of successful strategies for exhibition and
exposition marketing, and an examination of the niche industry of sports nutrition and its
association with race expos.
There are multiple terms that may seem synonymous; exhibitions, expositions,
and a popular term, trade shows. While there may not be much of a difference between
these words on the surface, in actuality there are a number of distinctions. Soilen (2013)
explained, “Exhibitions and expos are as the words suggest, more about showing products
and services that about selling them. Trade shows or industry shows are business-to-
business events…” (p. xvii). As this review will be concentrating on exhibitions and
expos, it is important to go into depth about the descriptions of these specific events.
London was the first to use the word exhibition in the context of publicly displaying
objects. Britain uses the term exhibit as a way to describe the display of one object, but in

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America, exhibit is used to label an individual company’s booth at a show (Soilen). The
term expos (short term for expositions) has been used by the French since 1565 (Soilen).
Although there are differences between exhibitions and expos, there are definite
similarities and common goals between the two. For the sake of unnecessary
repetitiveness, exhibition and expos will stand interchangeably in this study.
Exhibitions are structured by a hierarchy. This hierarchy starts with the organizer,
then goes to the exhibitor, and finishes with the consumer or attendee. The exhibition
organizer (a third-party company) determines and plans the expo venue, where exhibitor
booths will be placed in the venue, how large or small booth spaces are, how many
exhibitors will be attending, how many attendees are allowed in the venue, how the expo
is being marketed to attendees, as well as their overall goal for the event (Lin, 2013).
These types of events are, “…designed to exhibit new products and to exchange
knowledge with companies or consumers in the same industry” (Choe, Lee, & Kim,
2014, p. 901). This design is a gateway for companies to utilize a face-to-face
communication model. It fosters personal interaction between professionals in the
industry and their consumers (Kang & Schrier, 2011). Exhibitions are unique simply by
being, “…places where exhibitors and attendees can share their common interests and
discuss industry trends” (Kang & Schrier, p. 66). Being able to interact with your
customers on a personal level is great publicity and an even better marketing strategy.
A 2003 study by the Business Marketing Association (BMA) (2003) stated that
marketers spend around 85 billion dollars a year to promote goods and services. Of that
$85 billion, $17.3 billion is spent on trade shows or events (BMA). The study also
concluded that companies allocate 25% or more of their annual advertising and sales

7. 4
promotion budgets to exhibition activities (BMA). With a quarter of the budget spent on
exhibiting, companies need to use the money in the most cost-effective way possible.
This means assessing all of the pros and cons of an expo. As Upton (2016) puts,
The pros and cons are many and varied. Much depends on the location, duration
and timing of the event, the way it is marketed, and whether it will deliver the
right audience and therefore the right number of business leads. (p. 1)
There is variability in the pros and cons depending on the goals of the company.
Exhibitions tend to be beneficial for goals that are related to increasing company image
(Upton, 2016). Exhibitors need to determine what they deem important. This decision
making process ultimately boils down to perceived value (Kang & Schrier, 2011). In the
exhibition industry, perceived value can come in tangible and intangible forms; with
some of these forms being the opportunity to sell products, or the opportunity to build
relationships. In Kang and Schrier’s 2007 study, 179 exhibitors evaluated the usefulness
of the show they participated in. They found that, “exhibitors evaluate the success of a
tradeshow in accordance with their business success, pleasure, or self-satisfaction in
emotional and social aspects” (Kang & Schrier, p. 69). In addition, the study found four
main reasons as to why companies attend these events:being able to scope out the
competition, communicating with customers, judging the marketplace, and having the
event be an avenue to boost staff morale (Kang & Schrier). For a company, it is critical
that each potential exhibition is researched and evaluated. This standards are could be the
determining factor for whether or not participation in the exhibition is a worthwhile
investment.

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Once a company determines which expo is right for them, their next step is to
improve marketing strategies for a greater return on investment. In this day in age,
companies are doing all they can to increase the amount of new customers and improve
customer retention. Exhibitions have shown to be a very effective tool to achieve this
through being able to create positive experiences for customers. Evolving into an
experience-based economy, “….customers consider the benefits and experiences that
goods and services provide for them, rather than just the purchase of goods” (Choe et al.,
2014, p. 901). Attendees use exhibitions similar to the way exhibitors do, a place to
gather information, learn about trends, and attain general awareness about the industry
(Jung, 2005). Jung sampled 200 exhibition attendees and determined what aspects of
exhibitions they thought were the most important. The results concluded that there were
six dimensions of what the study called service quality. These dimensions were booth
management, contents, registration, access, booth layout and function, and exhibition and
booth attractiveness (Jung, p. 85). The study also found that the content (amount of
contributing exhibitors and quality of products/services presented) of the expo was the
most important dimension for attendees, with the second most important dimension being
booth layout and function.
In order to make the best exhibitor marketing decisions, it would be constructive
to create a plan for the pre-show, at-show, and post-show stages. The objective for pre-
show marketing should focus on how to let your customers know you will be there (Chu
& Chiu, 2013). This can be accomplished by sending out information about the show or
sending specific invitations. Another technique to use at this stage could be to make use
of media or advertising. As Friedmann (2005) articulately states, “The media has the

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power to influence your trade show efforts whether it is in television, radio, or print” (p.
35). The longest stage, and the one that requires the most planning, is at-show. During
the show the strategy should focus on determining tactics to bring attendees to the booth.
This includes booth design and management (Chu & Chiu, 2013). Media can also play a
part in this stage by being able to create opportunities to give a company more awareness.
For example, a reporter’s job is to walk around the exhibition to find story ideas. If a
company has newsworthy information on hand, using reporters is way to gain free
publicity. Not to mention, there may be chances to lead a workshop or presentation at the
exhibition. Companies who take those opportunities are usually perceived as industry
experts, and subsequently could be what sets them apart from the rest (Friedmann, 2005).
At the post-show stage, following up with the attendees and other companies is a perfect
way to establish substantial relationships. Follow up can consist of phone calls, personal
letters, social media shout-outs, personal visits, or simply sending samples (Chu & Chiu,
2013). One issue that companies may run into is lack of resources (budget, staff, and
equipment). They must allocate these resources wisely which can make it difficult to
decide which aspect is more important to focus on. A study conducted by Chu & Chiu, at
the Department of International Business at Southern Taiwan University of Science and
Technology discovered the solution. The most important pre-show strategy was sending
invitations rather than advertising. “For at-show strategies, professional competence of
the staff was the most important” (Chu & Chiu, p. 68). As for the post-show stage, phone
calls and letters were the most important. As stated before, the at-show stage is the most
intensive stage and should require most of resources and effort. This being said, the

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ability to proceed further in determining the best marketing strategies for this specific
stage has shown to be necessary.
Continuing further into the study, it concluded that during the show, “ranking in
terms of importance was staff, booth, and product, in that order” (Chu & Chiu, p. 68).
Even more specifically, the study found that in relation to exhibitor’s physical booths,
visibility of the booth, as well as booth design were the most important factors (Chu &
Chiu). As determined by the preceding literature, it is safe to say that booth staff training
and booth design would be the best strategies to focus on. Exhibitions are a type of show
business and booth staff needs to understand that they are putting on a performance. It is
about creating a social, fun, and inviting environment. It can be about selling a product,
but it is mostly about being personable to your customers. Bringing a genuine side to the
booth allows for attendees to be more comfortable, and feel more relatable to not only the
staff, but to the company as a whole. After all, the staff is directly representing the
company and the ones building relationships with attendees. Staff also needs to be aware
of the different types of visitors that may stop by the booth. Being able to identify and
deal with various types of people can be very useful in determining who is a prospect and
who is there casually. Friedmann (2005), formed some common types of attendees.
Demonstration Junkies (attracted to the booth/demonstration and may be
prospects), Curiosity Cats (just interested in the design/construction of booth and
are time wasters), Paper lovers (love to collect marketing materials and may be
prospects), Jeopardy Gigolos (love to win contests and may be time wasters),
Keepsakers (attracted by giveaways and may be time wasters, Hawks (attend
shows just to sell their own product to you and are time wasters), Job seekers

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(attend to find job opportunities, but may be a prospect), and Snoops (the
competition that asks specific questions about the company, and are time wasters)
(p. 1).
At exhibitions, there is a sense of time-restriction; “most visitors (58%) wait 60 seconds
or less for help before they leave. Forty-two percent are willing to wait 3-5 minutes.
Eleven percent are willing to wait half a minute and 6% are not willing to wait at all”
(Soilen, 2013, p.81). With this short amount of time to grab the attention of attendees, it
is critical that exhibitors have the best booth design. Booth design comes down to being
able to be unique, uniform, and simple (Soilen). These three characteristics play hand in
hand; to be different, a booth needs to be uniform (possibly with a theme, with color
schemes, with staff clothing, with the layout and location); to be uniform a plan needs to
be created that is creative, cohesive, and mirrors company image (Soilen). And to be
simple, the marketing plan needs to be carefully thought out with extreme attention to
detail. These details include knowing the best location for the booth, having an easily
navigated booth (maps), and having aspects of the booth appeal to all five senses.
Furthermore, creating memorable activities for attendees to participate in and crafting
useful amenities to give away are also worthy to note. Also, understanding the
competition and their goals, and having a clear message regarding the company and the
product (Soilen). If all of these details and facets are skillfully implemented, it will reflect
positively on visitors.
It may seem that the above literature favors large exhibitions or specific shows,
yet this is not the case. One example that exemplifies the contrary are race expos. Race
expos can be small, serving around 10 exhibitors or large serving over 50 exhibitors, with

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a wide range of services and products to offer. The difference between race expos and
industry specific exhibitions is that the target market is athletes. Race expos are called
race expos due to the event being in conjunction with an athletic race; “ An expo [is] a
way of adding a fun activity to a race weekend as well as giving exposure to
sponsors…allows vendors to exhibit their products and services… to reach a large
number of people” (Piepenburg, 2001, p. 4). Athletes are niche group of attendees that
usually lean towards the products that they already own, or the new and exciting products
that companies have to offer (Roberts, 2012). In relation to the ideology of athletes, there
is a greater appreciation for products they believe will help them improve their athletic
goals and the sports nutrition market is benefiting from it (Wood, 2011). An athletic
recovery study explains, “The quantity of nutrients is important, but the timing of these is
also important. In some cases …the stimulus for recovery is strongest in the period
immediately after exercise” (Burke, 2010, p. 507). There will always be a need for sports
recovery nutrition in this market. In result, “the sports nutrition market in North America
was valued at USD 10.53 billion in 2013” (Wood, 2015, p. 1). As the abundance of sports
nutrition companies in the industry has grown, so has the competition at race expos. This
is due to companies being able to directly access their target market, and therefore are
needing to grasp and properly apply the leading strategies for race expo marketing.
Purpose of the Study
The purpose of this study was to examine the marketing practices of Fluid Sports
Nutrition for exhibiting at business-to-customer expos.

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Research Questions
This study attempted to answer the following research questions:
1. What are the best marketing practices for an exhibitor?
2. What stage of the company-customer contact is the most important?
3. What is the most effective marketing strategy to utilize during the expo?
4. What goals can exhibitors expect to achieve by participating in expos?

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Chapter 2
METHODS
The purpose of this study was to examine the marketing practices of Fluid Sports
Nutrition for exhibiting at business-to-customer expos. This chapter includes the
following sections: description of organization, description of instrument, and description
of procedures.
Description of Organization
Fluid Sport’s Nutrition (2016) started out as a senior project collaboration
between a nutritional biochemist and an exercise physiologist student at California
Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly). The idea was created when founders Richard
Smith and Davin Brown saw a need for a new development in sports nutrition, one that
would help all athletic individuals recover faster after a workout. After making the first
batch of Fluid Recovery in a house near the Cal Poly campus, the recipe gained rapid
popularity. Their Fluid Recovery mix is now offered in Chocolate Wave, Tropical
Escape, and Berry Treasure flavors, with Chocolate Wave being their most popular. They
have become well known in the sports nutrition industry and currently sell their products
throughout the United States as well as in Costa Rica and Canada. Along with their
growth in sales, Fluid has been the go-to company for sponsorship at local races and for
local teams. They currently participate in over twenty-five race expos a year. Even with
their growth, they choose to operate on a small business level. Fluid currently has a total

15. 12
of two full-time employees, and they manage the company from a large warehouse in the
San Luis Obispo hills. Their vision is, “To harness our passion for physical fitness and
nutrition and provide products that are admired throughout our industry and the athletic
community” (2016, p. 1).
Description of Instrument
The instrument utilized in this study was a case study of best practices developed
by the researcher (see Appendix A). The systematic method employed was a best
practices comparison guide that would give the researcher an in-depth understanding of
the company’s current practices as it relates to exhibition marketing. From findings in the
literature, the researcher characterized the instrument to focus on pre-show practices, at-
show practices, and post-show practices. By using this instrument, the necessary
qualitative and quantitative data was collected.
A pilot study was performed on Osmo Nutrition in order to determine if there
were any changes that needed to be made to the structure of the instrument. In result, the
researcher altered the structure to a question and answer guide to be able to acquire more
specific and detailed data.
Description of Procedures
A case study was conducted on best practices for exhibition marketing for Fluid
Sports Nutrition. The instrument used was a question and answer guide that contained 13
questions. The research was conducted in February 2016 by interviewing the expo
director and founder, Richard Smith. Interviews were conducted over two weeks, meeting

16. 13
once a week, as to not overwhelm the interviewee. As the instrument was just a guide, the
researcher was allowed to follow conversational flow as it lead to finding even more
specific data. The data was recorded on a voice recorder, as well as outlined in a Word
document. The results of this study will be discussed in Chapter 3.

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Chapter 3
PRESENTATION OF THE RESULTS
The purpose of this study was to examine the marketing practices of Fluid Sports
Nutrition for exhibiting at business-to-customer expos. A case study was utilized to
examine Fluid Sports Nutrition. This chapter includes the following sections: pre-show,
at-show, and post-show expo marketing.
Pre-Show Marketing
Fluid Sports Nutrition (Fluid)’s CEO, Richard Smith, acknowledges that the
company has limited reach in letting attendees know they will be at a certain race expo.
They do not actively promote every single event they attend. When they do promote their
attendance, it is usually due to the large size of the event. For example, Fluid always
announces their attendance at Sea Otter Classic as a result of the event servicing over a
thousand attendees. Fluid conserves their marketing efforts for certain expos in order to
fortify their image at these large-scale events. When the company does announce their
participation at an expo, it is done so through online measures. The three main methods
Fluid uses for pre-show marketing are electronic newsletters, social media posts, and
through affiliates. Electronic newsletters are emailed to loyal subscribers explaining new
updates about the company, including where they will be exhibiting. Fluid mostly focuses
on utilizing their 11,000 likers on Facebook and 2,033 followers on Instagram to share
their various campaigns over social media. In addition, they use their affiliates such as the
various cycling, triathlon, and running teams that Fluid sponsors, in order to promote and

18. 15
advertise the company. The teams post about Fluid on their social media platforms and
websites, as well as individual members posting on their personal social media pages.
Fluid has halted all traditional advertising methods like print, television, and radio. They
have concentrated on digital and contemporary means such as online shopping ads.
As for their pre-show goals, Fluid has criteria they follow to decide which expos
they attend in order to reach customers. The company seldom attends an expo that brings
in fewer than 1,000 attendees. In the rare case that Fluid does attend a smaller expo, other
marketing opportunities must present themselves in order to be worth the effort. In prior
events, Fluid has taken advantage of the opportunity to have their products be the only
athlete nutrition available on the race course and at the expo. They want to maximize
their efforts by being able to reach as many potential customers as possible.
At-Show Marketing
Fluid’s expo budget depends on a multitude of factors such as, the size of the
expo, the amount of staff to maintain the booth, the amount of traveling required, the
revenue collected prior to the expo, and the projected revenue the event will bring. There
is an overarching budget for all events Fluid attends, yet each event has a unique and
individual budget.
Once these budgets have been set, the staff member that is managing the booth
contacts the expo organizer to discuss logistics about the event. This includes deciding
booth placement, size of space, and the cost to be an exhibitor. They also review attendee
numbers so that the correct amount of recovery product needed to serve the amount of

19. 16
people at the event. In addition, it needs to be decided if a health permit is needed in
order to sell and give product to attendees.
Following finalization of logistics, the booth design process begins. Fluid’s
current booth design includes one branded EZ-up, two branded flags, and a branded
vehicle the staff calls, the Fluid Mobile. Depending on the type of race, the company also
brings various branded gear such as, hats, shirts, or cycling kits. When attendees walk by
the booth, the first thing they will most likely see is the Fluid branded dispensers. Fluid’s
booth layout is set up with packaged samples and pre-made drinks placed on a table
located at the forefront of the booth. This layout has been adopted over years of trial and
error. The error primarily being that attendees felt intimidated by the booth staff being the
first point of contact. Therefore, the staff operates on this understanding, and let attendees
try the product, and then have the customer lead the discussion. Fluid never hires
temporary staff to operate their booth. The company only brings individuals who are
familiar with the product, either being an athlete or are already a repeat customer. It is
required that the staff is knowledgeable by being able to draw from historical experience.
During the event, Fluid uses a passive marketing strategy by having attendees
come to the booth voluntarily. This allows the individual to pull the marketing along as
they infer about the company, ask about the products, and recognize the brand. As stated
by Smith, “We want the people to carry the marketing, we stand behind our product, and
we want to have the people inquire about our product, not have us tell them how great it
is.” Occasionally, the staff actively seeks out expo-goers by walking around the expo
passing out samples, yet this isn’t the main focus.

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Fluid’s main goal for attending expos is attraction of online customers and to
drive people to local stores where they can buy product. Currently, Fluid has 2,000
online customers. The company’s idea for gaining more customers is, the more people try
it, the more people will buy it. The at-show marketing strategy comes in three phases.
The first phase being customer awareness; wanting people to know about Fluid and the
products offered. Phase two addresses differentiation and value proposition. Phase three
focuses on convergence. Fluid measures the success of the booth by sales revenue, the
quantity of visitors at the booth, and the total email contacts they receive. The goal is to
gain as many opportunities for future marketing as possible.
Post-Show Marketing
Following up with attendees and visitors is predominantly managed through
email. The booth staff collects as many emails as possible during the event in order to
fulfill the post-show marketing strategies. Richard Smith claims that this is the most
effective strategy because, “It is very out of sight, out of mind in marketing. We need to
keep people engaged by having them remember our brand.” Fluid sends newsletters and
promotions in order to solidify the connections made during the expo.

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Chapter 4
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS
This study was directed to explore the elements of booth marketing practices for
exhibitors at race expos. This concluding chapter will include the following: a discussion
of the findings, limitations, conclusions based on research questions, and implications of
the findings, and recommendations for future research.
Discussion
In regards to pre-show marketing, Fluid uses electronic media to announce their
participation at an event. Their current strategy is a great starting point due to the fact that
technology is growing rapidly and continues to be the best way to reach the masses. As
researched, the most important pre-show strategy is sending invitations rather than
advertising (Chu & Chiu, 2013). Fluid must be aware that social media posts and email
newsletters can be made to seem like a form of advertising. The difference between
sending invitations and advertising is the personal aspect. In order to make sure emails do
not get sent to the trash and social media posts do not get overlooked, it is recommended
that Fluid makes their content individualized. This can be done by means of organizing
emails by the event they were retrieved and inviting people back to visit. Or even creating
a Facebook event and sending out individual invitations. The goal for pre-show
marketing is to make the receiver of the message feel special and involved.
As far as at-show strategies, Fluid has a very simple booth design accompanied
with knowledgeable booth staff. This stage of the show is what Fluid focuses most of

22. 19
their efforts on, and it shows, especially through their booth staff. Staff professionalism
and product expertise is the most significant factor for at-show marketing strategies (Chu
& Chiu, 2013). Fluid is right on target, as they are exclusive to whom they bring to staff
their events and require that each individual go through some training. While they have a
strong staffing plan, there is always room for improvement. During training, it would be
recommended that the staff be taught about the different types of visitors they will
encounter as well as, how to deal with the various types of people.
This being said, booth design is what gets attendees to approach the staff. Fluid’s
present design is quite straightforward, with it consisting of a branded EZ-up, a table, and
samples. While humble is better than pretentious, there needs to be a bit more cohesion
and excitement in order to reach its full potential. A booth needs to showcase a brand,
and therefore needs to be unique, but uniform. The best way this can be achieved, is by
having a theme that includes a set color scheme and matching dress code for booth staff.
Another viewpoint to focus on, and possibly more effective, is the technique used to get
attendees engaged. At the moment, Fluid takes a passive style that lets attendees
approach the booth on their own terms. As this method takes the intimidation factor out
of the picture, there are more efficient practices that take on an active style.
Demonstration activities and contests are a great means to make attendees remember a
booth, and therefore, a product (Soilen, 2013).
Once the expo is over, Fluid uses the same tactics (e-mail and newsletters) for
post- show marketing as they do for pre-show marketing. Again, as communication
continues to increase via technology, this technique works well for follow-up. However,
post-show is established as the most important stage from the perspective of visitors

23. 20
according to a study conducted by Chu & Chiu (2012). Because of this fact, there needs
to be more emphasis on the continuation of communication with attendees post-expo. In
order to reassemble current strategies to reach maximum effectiveness, there needs to be
an element of individualization and thoughtfulness to every email and every newsletter.
An example of this could be thanking the attendee for taking the time to talk with the
team at a certain event and give them a few samples. Or since Fluid’s main goal is to get
more online shoppers, give each attendee a discount code for the online store if they
refer-a-friend to sign up for email newsletters.
The overall study does have limitations as it is only based on a best practices
internal analysis, which was confined to interview only. The research was also
completed within a 10-day time restraint that limited the researcher. An argument could
be made that this study could be limiting due to the small sample size. The researcher
has close ties with the chief executive officer and therefore a bias of analysis could have
occurred. Despite these limitations, the information gathered was adequate for the study.
With the popularity of expos and exhibitions, it is essential for exhibiting
companies to reach maximum return on investment. This can only be achieved through
understanding and utilizing the best marketing practices for pre-show, at-show, and post-
show stages. While most companies have implemented strategies for each stage, most are
not reaching their full potential or expo goals. Therefore, this best practices analysis is
important not only for Fluid, but for every exhibitor at any race expo.

24. 21
Conclusions
Based on the findings of this study, the following conclusions are drawn:
1. It is imperative to keep attendees engaged and involved throughout all stages.
2. The most important stage of the company-customer contact is post-show.
3. The most effective at-show marketing strategy is booth staff professionalism
and knowledgeability.
4. The goals that companies can expect to be most achievable are improving
company image and an increase of word-of-mouth marketing.
Recommendations
Based on the conclusions of this study, the following recommendations are made:
1. Consider strategically planning effective marketing strategies for each stage of
the exhibition process.
2. Focus on how to maintain engagement throughout the exhibition process.
3. Fluid Sports Nutrition should create Facebook events to encourage attendance
and solidify personal relationships.
4. Fluid Sports Nutrition should develop an efficient demonstration activity to be
the main at-show marketing tactic.
5. Fluid Sports Nutrition must keep in mind cohesiveness, uniformity, and
uniqueness when creating a booth design.
6. Future research should explore new marketing techniques of companies that
are successful in other industries.

25. 22
REFERENCES

26. 23
REFERENCES
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of their experiences: A comparison between high versus low mindful visitors.
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Fluid Sports Nutrition, Inc. (2016). About us. Retrieved from http://livefluid.com/about/
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28. 25
APPENDIXES

29. 26
Appendix A
Instrument

30. 27
I. Pre-Show
a. How do you notify people that your company is exhibiting?
i. Notes:
b. Do you currently advertise?
i. Notes:
c. What are your pre-show goals?
i. Notes:
II. At- Show
a. How do you prepare for the expo?
i. Notes:
b. What is your expo budget?
i. Notes:
c. What strategies do you implement when discussing logistics with the expo
organizer?
i. Notes
d. What is your current booth design?
i. Notes:
e. How are you displaying products?
i. Notes:
f. Do you currently have demo activities?
i. Notes:
g. Do you have trained staff at your booth?
i. Notes:

31. 28
h. What are you hoping to achieve when people visit your booth?
i. Notes:
III. Post-Show
a. How do you follow up with visitors after the expo?
i. Notes:
b. How would you solidify contacts for follow-up?
i. Notes: