Origins Trade Day

It's an idea that's been around for many years: Add a trade show to Origins. Well, this year they've finally gone and done it: The Origins Trade Day will occur on Wednesday, June 23rd. There's no extra fee, and retailers will get a chance to talk to manufacturers without swarms of gamers wandering about at the same time. I suppose the manufacturers will have to set up early, or at least have part of their booths ready for this. But it's certainly a good opportunity to add some new retailers for your products without spending a lot extra, assuming you were already planning on exhibiting at Origins.

Trade shows should be handled differently than consumer shows. If you want to make the most of the Origins Trade Day, prepare for it.  Make sure you have fliers ready that showcase what you're doing to help retailers, and explain why your products will sell well for any retailer... and how to sell them. It's also important to listen to what retailers are telling you. Find out why your products sell or don't sell for them. Ask them what's hot in their stores and what's not. What do other manufacturers do for the retailer that really helps them sell products? Make the most of a trade event by making it a two-way information flow.

Marketing's job should include both getting information out to the field and bringing information back in from the field. And then making sense of what you find out, and translating it into better marketing efforts.