New NY Incentive Expo Focusing on Brands

Posted on by Chief Marketer Staff

The New York Incentive, Rewards and Recognition Expo (IRRE) is banking on top-name brands and an upscale venue to draw thousands of attendees to breathe new life into the trade show.

Brands on board to exhibit include Gucci Watch, Godiva, Sony, Bang & Olufsen, Bulova, Bose, Coach, L.L. Bean, Cross, Omaha Steaks, Denon, Levenger and scores of other household names.

“It’s about the brands,” said Jim Kilmetis, executive vice president of sales and marketing for Selling Communications, co-producer of the new show.

IRRE is subtitled “The Brands Show,” both in terms of the conference program, as well as commercial aspects. The event, which is set for May 30-31 at the Sheraton Towers Hotel in Manhattan, is expected to draw 5,000 attendees.

Beyond the brand names, Selling Communications has high hopes attendees will prefer an upscale midtown hotel like the Sheraton for its location. Previous organizers used the Jacob Javits Convention Center, which overwhelmed some exhibitors and attendees with its overly spacious floor plan.

The IRRE was created to fill the void left last fall when trade publisher VNU decided to pull the plug on the Incentive Show. VNU said it planned to convert its traditional show format into a virtual trade show and Webinar series instead.

With a new producer at the helm, the IRRE floor of 150 booths will be composed of 80% major brands looking for partnership opportunities, the reverse of what the old show had become, Kilmetis said. The old show at the Javits Convention Center floor was largely dominated by promotional product suppliers.

In an effort to spur attendance for IRRE, the show organizers have targeted 400-500 of the top buyers who will be wined and dined, given complimentary Broadway show tickets to the hit The Drowsy Chaperone, receive $300 off the trade show admission price (they’ll only pay $99), and also each be handed $125 in “bonus bucks,” which can be redeemed for merchandise on the show floor.

Six weeks out, IRRE is about 25% toward its goal of attracting 5,000 attendees, although Kilmetis is expecting a registration spike leading up to the event. He wouldn’t discuss how much of a financial hit Selling Communications is taking to entice exhibitors and attendees, but the new show is expected to be profitable in its first year.

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