Ask swap meet vendor Roy Thompson why he’s at the ASD Show in Las Vegas this week, and he’ll say, “We’re looking for anything that catches our eye.” A show veteran, he says he is confident he can source interesting items, too. “We know we can find quality products here and buy the quantities that we need,” he says.
Moreover, this year the management of the show is making it easy to find some of those eye-catching products. A new program of large floor labels helps attendees pick out which exhibitors have not been to the show before. Every one of the 300 first-time exhibitors gets a striking red “NEW” label on the floor outside the booth. This initiative is the brainchild of group marketing director Camille Candella.
“This is the first year we’ve done this,” she says. “This is a way we can call out the new exhibitors. Some have been in business for many years, and some are brand new, but these people are new to our show.”
According to Candella, highlighting the new exhibitors gives attendees a sense that they are getting more value out of coming to the show. “The number one reason buyers come to the show is for new products,” she explains. “They have to keep their merchandise fresh so customers will come into their stores. I wanted to make sure that we were calling that out a little better.”
But how are these new exhibitors faring? Suren Shrestha of Serenity Tibet is enthusiastic about selling his handmade knit caps and “Singing Bowls” from Nepal. “This show is our first,” he said on the morning of the second day of the show. “I came to sell my products. So far there has been a lot of response, and I got a few orders yesterday.”
Michael Beyer of Drink-A-Lyzer is also a newcomer to the show. “I think it’s a terrific place to introduce new products,” he says. “We have a fantastic product and thought that this show would be a great place to launch.”
Simon Dogan of Perform X Bands is exhibiting at the ASD Show for the first time, selling health bracelets. “I used to come to the show as an attendee,” he says, “so I knew that this show would have the traffic we need.”
Candella intends to continue and improve the program. “We’re going to make the stickers bigger, so we can see them better,” she says. “We’re going to put the resources into calling out those new people, at every show.”