PR Play

Any company that is trying to reach a core audience – such as members of an association that really need to know how you and your company’s solution can help them reach the next level of success – will toy with the idea of going to a trade show.  For those of you who have been to trade shows, you know they can be overwhelming, massive, intimidating, draining, and costly.

I just traveled to San Diego to support one of our clients, Pedal to Properties, as they took the national stage at the National Association of REALTORS conference, the biggest show for realtors this year. Pedal to Properties, based in Boulder, is franchising its concept – great technology, green practices and optional bike tours to homes for clients – so it was time to go see if this concept would resonate outside bike-friendly Boulder.

Going was a big decision for the Pedal to Properties team as they had to do a pre-show marketing push, pull together bikes to get to San Diego, build out a booth space, pull together marketing materials in short order, and even map out tours in and around the conference center and downtown San Diego via their signature bikes.  After spending a couple days in the exhibit area with the Pedal to Properties management team, including Matt Kolb, founder,  and Tim Majors, president, U.S. operations, I’d say the results were stellar.

You’d see a person walk up, soak in the message, laugh, and walk away. More frequently, though, you’d see the Realtor smile and say ‘what a great concept.’ And then the dialogue would begin. Once people realized there is so much more than “just bikes,” they began to see why this franchise has so much potential. In just a couple days, this group pulled in hundreds of leads, people who are ready to open a franchise, and some great attention from bloggers and media covering the event. See here and here if you don’t believe me.