Marshall Yard:

Some marketing departments are so wedded to their exhibit house that they rarely seek competitive bids on projects. Maybe twice per decade [MAYBE]. Even then, they have every intention of using their existing vendor NO MATTER WHAT the competition has to offer:

“Well, we really liked your design. We think your offering is innovative, and can take our trade show results to a higher level. Your price was great, too. But we feel really comfortable working with our existing exhibit house. We really appreciate the exorbitant amount of work you’ve done for the past three months. Let’s stay in touch?”

One of our junior Account Executives heard this very line (OK, I’ve embellished a bit) a couple of weeks ago. We had to buy her a new handset for her phone after she broke it in a frenzied hang-up mishap. You probably get the picture?

When it comes to working with vendors, loyalty is highly important. Blind allegiance in spite of your company’s interests is another thing. If your exhibit house is not offering you a drastic increase in value for your marketing dollar, then they’re likely allied with their own best interests at total odds with your own. With marketing budgets getting haircuts, who can afford to ignore this sort of “business as usual” attitude?

Remember: the guy with the gun (customer) is shooting at the home-wrecker (competition). Not at you! Worst case scenario they will have to do some deep discounting to get this year’s business - Is that such a bad thing?