Stand attractions and visitor giveaways are supposed to spread goodwill for the exhibitor.
However, carmaker BMW got into hot water last week and into an “ice cream scandal” in China following the Shanghai auto show.
It was a case of a show promotion going badly awry and garnering masses of publicity of the wrong kind.
In a nutshell, stand staff were filmed giving ice creams to Western attendees but not to Chinese guests.
So far, more than 530 million people have commented negatively via social media in China.
BMW has apologised for the “sloppy internal management and the dereliction of duty by our staff.”
The company also highlighted it will improve training.
We can all make mistakes, so there’s no gloating here.
We can learn from things that go wrong for us and others.
Details, large and small, are vital in all projects.
So too, is effective delegation.
As the news item, I saw in The Street jests, “BMW will need a bigger ice cream budget going forward.”
On the other hand, it might also need more effective training for stand staff, especially when working in new markets.
Very best,
PS. For event training that covers all the details of successful exhibiting see https://theexhibitionagency.com/exhibitor-training-courses/