“Care for some elephant dung?” asked an exhibitor as I approached his eco-friendly exhibit at the Go Green Expo on Friday, the event I mentioned earlier this week.
I could see and smell that he didn’t have actual manure at his booth; he was handing out business cards made from the material.
Another attendee passing the booth was asked the same question. She promptly turned up her nose and said, “No.”
It’s difficult to say whether or not this exhibitor’s marketing approach was clever or off base, but being at an eco-friendly event meant that attendees would see products from all walks of “green life.”
Still, not all potential clients will understand or agree with the way you phrase what you offer, so it’s wise to test your approach and edit your words and phrases to attract as many people as possible rather than repel them.
What would be your reaction if asked to accept a piece of poo?
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
I’m thinking my reaction would be that I wouldn’t take the card myself, as I tend to sometimes forget and put things in my mouth (yeah, my wife talks to me about this all the time), and when I remembered what I had in my mouth I’d probably freak. lol
Oh my.
The good news about putting something such as the business card in your mouth is that the waste was treated, to some degree, before it was made into a card.
There are much worse things that we all do, but I won’t tell.
The person who turned up their nose at this doesn’t belong at a green expo. Oh well, at least you had fun!
Amy,
It does seem strange that this attendee didn’t “get it,” but not everyone does, even if it seems they would at such an event.
She may have been ordered to attend by her boss, making for an automatically bad experience, or she may have attended just because it was free and was looking for freebies from each vendor. Some people attend just for that reason.