Wolfgang Puck brunch at CES show - event planning and public relations.
Bush Furniture is one of the largest manufacturers of ready-to-assemble home furnishings in the world. One of its most important customer groups is consumer electronics retailers -- and the largest trade show for these retailers is the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas in January. Although formerly an exhibitor at the show, Bush had just committed to funding a beautiful, permanent showroom in the World Market Center, a campus devoted to the home furnishings industry, located less than a mile from the CES. Because they were spending money on that showroom, they did not want to have to pay for another “booth” at the CES. How were they going to get buyers to take time and leave that busy show and go to the Bush showroom?
We reasoned that the easiest time to get a buyer there was first thing in the morning, before he even went to CES. To make sure that we caught the buyers' attention, we created an over the top event - two days of gourmet brunches by the Wolfgang Puck Group. Further, to make it easy to get to Bush Furniture, we hired a fleet of luxury limousines and developed a schedule of pick up and drop offs for buyers. Finally, to thank the buyers for visiting, we gave each a gift certificate to Omaha Steaks.
The results had nearly 100 buyers - including every top customer - visiting the Bush showroom, meaning that they had to physically leave the CES show just for Bush. Bush observed that buyers spent more time in their showroom than at any other show and certainly more time than they might have in a booth at CES. Orders exceeded expectations. And the budget for the event was still far less than the cost of a booth at CES.