Magic Marketing

This year, being divisible by 10, marketing managers have again decided that using a magician to present on their booths would be a good idea. There is a rash of card tricks, vanishing dollar bills and marketing ladies being sawn in half across all the “1,500+ companies and 800,000+ square feet of exhibit space”.

These guys are great at attracting a crowd to your booth (you want that right?) with non-stop banter and amazing tricks (“ooh” and “ahh”). Obviously some of these guys have even talked to the companies who’s booths they are performing on, because they smatter their performance with references to the products.

So, as one guy is about to do a “cut the lady in half trick” he’s wittily making a reference to cutting video: “do you want to edit in Avid or Final Cut Pro”. The audience stares blankly whist presumably thinking “I don’t give a f*** just cut the girl up…”

No, really, no, this works as well as using knock out gas to build a “booth stickiness”. All these folks are doing is saying:

1. Our products are so boring that we have to use this cheap trick to get you to stand in front of our booth. That means as soon as he’s finished you might as well move on: “nothing to see here”.
2. Our marketing department is so devoid of understanding of our products, markets and what our sweaty customers do with them that this is what counts for “communicating benefits”.
3. We’re desparate, please make it look like we’re interesting by filling up the aisle next to our booth.
4. We’re screwed.

I can’t decide whether using a magician is better or worse than going for a marketing message like this:

What the heck does that mean?

“Waitress, another Margarita over here if you would be so kind…””

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