Late last month I traveled to Las Vegas to attend the SHOT Show, the largest and most comprehensive trade show for professionals involved with the shooting and hunting industries, on behalf of UTM, a client that manufactures training ammunition systems for military and law enforcement agencies.
The company organized a demo day for existing and prospective customers where they could learn and interact with the company’s products — gun bolt conversions, which adapt standard service weapons for use in various real-world training scenarios and training ammunition, which includes man marker rounds (MMR), target bullet rounds (TBR) and blanks (SBR& BBR) for use in pistols, rifles, submachine guns (SMG) and select machine guns.
Having practiced PR for nearly 15 years, I’ve seen journalists completely change their tune regarding a product or service once they’ve had the opportunity to try it for themselves. As such we decided to invite select journalists to the UTM demo in Sin City.
We’ve all heard the old adage that “great products sell themselves.” And in a sense we are in the business of selling our clients’ stories. Our pitch often resonates most when a journalist can have first-hand experience with the product. The UTM demo was a great success with high attendance by customers, prospects and journalists. We had multiple media appointments booked throughout the day and the feedback was similar across the board. “I knew your product was interesting and I’d read your press materials but NOW I truly understand it.”
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention what differentiated this demo from the dozens of others I’ve witnessed over the years. With this demo we actually had the opportunity to shoot a journalist! UTM’s Man Marker Round is commonly used in force-on-force training scenarios, where military and law enforcement professionals run through real-world combat situations. To understand the minimal pain penalty, the impact felt when the Man Marker Round hits protected skin, and to be able to accurately explain the product’s accuracy to readers, some journalists volunteered to have a MMR shot at them. Of course they followed guidelines and wore two layers of clothing, gloves, a facemask and goggles.
If your company is planning to attend an industry trade show where various influencers are present, consider scheduling product demonstrations. And remember to keep the following tips in mind when demonstrating your product to a journalist:
· Set up an “education” area where reporters can learn about the technology and nuances of the product
· Think through possible photography shots that might appeal to a journalist and stage those shots in advance (we live in a multi-media world and as a result journalists often wear many hats, i.e. reporter, editor and photojournalist)
· Set up a demonstration-only area
· If you are conducting a demonstration that is open to people outside of the media, inform other parties that a journalist will be present while they are at the event (having a customer make an inaccurate statement or joking comment may reflect poorly on your brand)
· The standard sales pitch will have to be modified for a media demonstration, so speak to how your product fits in with current news trends and angles; think of yourself as a resource rather than salesperson
And remember your efforts aren’t over when the booth or demos are broken down. Continue to communicate with journalists and influencers after the show to ensure you maximize buzz that started around a product demonstration.