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Menu
Introduction
From the beginning
of trade shows, people have been aware that sex sells. It's believed
that trade shows have their roots in European open-air markets,
where a pretty girl would always attract attention.
From the 1920's
onward, glamour photography highlighted famous movie stars and models
at their sexiest, and many were paired with cars, planes, and other
automobiles for massive male appeal.
The 1950's pinup
girl was often found painted on the side of a bomber or lounging
against a shiny red car, smiling from a poster over a cadet's bunk-and
thus beautiful women came to be associated with cars. It's no wonder,
then, that auto show conventions came to rely heavily on booth babes.
Other male-dominated
industries began to follow suit, and soon booth babes were ubiquitous
at tech shows and comic book conventions as well. As business moved
online and trade shows became less a place to do business and more
a place to show off, some companies began to rely on booth babes
even more to attract attention.
The history
of booth babes isn't without controversy, however. As women began
to infiltrate traditionally male-dominated arenas-particularly the
tech industry-booth babes have become less accepted.
At the E3
trade shows in 2005, booth babes were banned from wearing provocative
clothing. Today, although you can still find them at trade shows
in many different industries, they continue to have their supporters
and detractors.
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Images
coutesey of e3girls.com
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Why
Companies Use Booth
Babes:
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| Despite
their detractors, however, many people don't have a problem with booth
babes. Here are a few reasons they're likely to continue to show up
at trade shows, even though they're controversial. |
Images
coutesey of e3girls.com
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Booth
babes can be great way to get the word out
Put a cute T-shirt on a good-looking girl with your logo on it, and
people will look at that logo all day. A lot of guys try to get their
pictures taken with booth babes as well-and they'll often post those
pictures on the Internet. If your promotional models are all over
the Net wearing your logo, people will see it. |
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Sex
sells
It's
almost too obvious to say here, but sex does attract attention. And
it's tough to lay the blame at the feet of the tech industry when
everyone from soft drink companies to car manufacturers uses it in
national campaigns. To some it might be sleazy, but it's also a tried-and-true
marketing tactic. |
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In
a male-dominated industry, it's smart marketing
There are more women than ever in the tech industry, but it's still
mostly male-dominated. This is true of other industries that rely
on booth babes at conventions as well. The first thing any savvy marketer
asks when devising an advertising plan is "who's your audience?"
And when your audience is mostly male, there's one thing you can be
sure will appeal to most of them-and that's a good-looking woman. |
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If
everyone else is using them, you'd better
One of the problems with doing a trade
show in an industry that traditionally uses booth babes is that
your competition will definitely use them. And if you're the only
booth that doesn't have pretty girls to attract a crowd, you'll
stand out-and not in a good way. Some people who object to booth
babes may look up to you for refusing to use them, but chances are
that in many male-dominated industries, the majority of the guys
will just shrug and go talk to that pretty girl at your competitor's
booth. In some industries, the babes aren't optional.
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Good
looking girls = more traffic to your booth
With all the pros and cons booth babes have going for them, the
one thing that stays constant is that they will always attract attention
and traffic. At a trade show, visitor traffic can make or break
your success-and many companies invest a huge amount of money in
their trade show appearances. With that much money riding on your
trade show success, it can be tough not to try to attract attention
at all costs-even if it means stooping to the lowest level.
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Booth
babes are OK...
| "While
I don't necessarily go to trade shows to check out the booth
babes, the hot ones can certainly attract me to a booth that
I may not have otherwise stopped at. It also helps if they actually
know what they are trying to sell. A pretty face + a hot body
+ sales(wo)manship could get me to buy anything."
CK Chung AKA Kid Disco - www.seodisco.com
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"I
am for booth babes... whole heartedly.".
Mike
McDonald , Web Pro News - www.webpronews.com
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"I've
been offered jobs as a booth babe before, although I only worked
one as a hair model at a hair show. Booth babes don't bother
me. It's been proven that attractive women can positively influence
both males and females when it comes to buying behavior, so
why would any respectable marketer ignore that?"
QualityGal,
We Build Pages - www.webuildpages.com
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"I'm
not against booth babes (or booth dudes). It's a form of marketing.
Whether or not it is an effective form of marketing, and whether
or not it alienates potential customers is a worthy discussion,
but I don't see anything inherently wrong with having booth
babes or booth dudes at an SEO/Tech trade show".
Donna
D. Fontenot, SEO Scoop - www.seo-scoop.com
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"I
can't say that it makes me more likely to approach a stand.
If I'm at a show I'll only go to those stands where I actually
want some of their information - having a scantily clad model
standing on the stand isn't going to change this. That said,
I won't pretend that it doesn't make a nice change from looking
at sweaty geeks".
Ciarán
Norris, Alltogether Digital - ciarinnorris.co.uk
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| "I'm
all for booth babes, as long as they're actually somewhat knowledgeable
and intelligent. If they're there simply to attract attention
but there's still someone around who does, indeed, have a brain,
then I'm still for them. If they are dimwitted but have nice
swag, I will at least pretend to be interested so that I can
get the rubber frog, but then I'll go on my merry way".
Julie
Joyce, Link Fish Media - www.linkfishmedia.com
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| "I
don't have a problem with using babes to attract attention,
sex sells. But what you're selling better be top notch and you
better be able to produce substance once a person steps into
the booth or it won't work for you the second time. Keep in
mind you'll alienate half the people at the show using those
antics so make that first punch - count."
Debra
Mastaler, Alliance Link - www.alliance-link.com
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"To
be honest, "booth babes" fits the fun-loving nature
of the SEO biz. Yes, it's sexist and silly. My only real complaint
is that they're women. If there were "Booth Hunks",
I would definitely check it out. I wouldn't hire the eye candy
unless I had something exceptional to offer. No one likes
to be teased and then be let down!"
Kimberly
Krause Berg, Usability Consultant - www.Cre8pc.com
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"Personally
don't have a problem with booth babes. I don't particularly
like or dislike them. It's pretty much up to the company displaying
a booth to decide. They may get more hype, visitors, and photos
taken of their booth, but at the same time some people may
look down on them for resorting to "eye candy" in
an effort to get attention."
Rebecca
Kelley, Seomoz - http://www.seomoz.org
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Are Booth Babes Risky
Business?
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Despite their
benefits, booth babes aren't everyone's cup of tea. Here are a few
reasons why choosing to use them is risky for your company image,
no matter how much attention they attract.
More
women are in high positions in tech
Booth babes appeal to guys, but they turn women off. That was fine
when only guys went to tech shows. But there are more and more women
in SEO, tech, video games, and other traditionally male-dominated
fields now-and if you have booth babes at your booth, these gals
will probably not be interested in visiting. Some women don't care
whether you use booth babes as long as your product is good-but
many feel offended and consider it objectification.
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Where
are the "Booth Hunks?"
Believe it or not, there are plenty of women who wouldn't have a
problem with using sex to sell at conventions-if they saw more equal
representation among the sexes. Many women see scantily clad female
promotional models everywhere and no good-looking men, and feel
left out from companies' marketing tactics. If you want to appeal
to girls as well as guys, it might be worth your while to hire a
booth hunk or two so the ladies don't feel left out.
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You'll
always offend someone with booth babes
It's not just women who get turned off by the "sex sells"
tactic. Some men don't like it, either. And at some conventions,
such as video game expos, there are kids among the crowd-and parents
of both sexes don't want their children looking at half-naked promotional
models. You miss out on more than just women when you use booth
babes.
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Some
people really get mad
Another problem with booth babes is that while they attract a lot
of traffic, when they offend someone they really offend. Those people
not only won't visit your booth, but they'll associate your company
with sleaze ever after and may never buy your products. If you want
that image and are targeting only the single, young male demographic,
that's fine-but it's not right for everyone. |
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All
shine and no substance doesn't make a good impression
Some companies think visitor volume is everything-and use booth
babes to attract traffic without doing much to convert those visitors
into buyers. It's tempting to think booth babes are a short cut
to trade show success, but if you don't also have knowledgeable
salespeople, good giveaways and a great product, you won't make
a good impression on your visitors.
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Booth
babes are not OK...
| "I
find booth babes to be insulting and demeaning to attendees.
There are far better ways to get someone into a booth rather
than thinking they have no brains and are motivated by only
one thing. It's even worse in the search space, which has a
huge number of women in it."
Danny
Sullivan, Search Engine Land - searchengineland.com
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"Boothbabes
work well at car shows, boat shows... etc.. I have never seen
a case in our industry where it was worth it for a company
to hire clueless models to talk to people at their booths".
Jeremy
Schoemaker, Shoemoney.com - www.shoemoney.com
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"A
booth babe usually tells me that the exhibitor has nothing
exciting to share about its product or service, and is instead
trying to rely on eye candy to make up for its lack of innovation."
Andy
Beal, Marketing Pilgrim - www.marketingpilgrim.com
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"It's
absolutely ridiculous booth babes are still being used, especially
in technical field. Maybe ok at a motor show but come on,
at a technical trade show? It's just degrading to women. There
are enough women in the technical field to make this not ok.
Why are
women's bodies still being seen as a tool for selling stuff?
It just ticks me off. Where are all the half naked men at
these shows? That just wouldn't happen!"
Lisa
Ditlefsen, SEO Chicks - www.seo-chicks.com
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| "Women
hired solely to attract people to a booth say more about the
company than they do about themselves. If a brand isn't strong
enough to draw people on its own, it has bigger problems than
a dodgy trade show practice. Such a company should at least
invest in some cool t-shirts to get people to wander by a bit
closer!"
Jane
Copland, Seomoz - www.seomoz.org
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While
my reptilian side cheers the prospect of seeing semi-nude,
attractive individuals in nearly any setting, professionally
I cannot respect companies that resort to degrading "booth
babe" promotions. It has been difficult enough for women
to gain professional equality and respect, so this type of
frat-boy thinking is liable to carry over into the workplace
and is ultimately short-sighted because it alienates good
customers and good prospective employees.
Perhaps
booth babes of either gender should be forced to pay a tax
to the show, as a result of an algorithmically-assigned Poor
Quality Score.
Andrew
Goodman, Traffick - www.traffick.com
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"Looking
at it from a human perspective instead of a "chick"
one, I find the concept silly. You should be relying on the
quality of your product/service to attract people to your
booth, not the ladies you have strutting around. Hopefully,
as the industry matures, so will the way we market at people.
It'd be nice to see vendors giving folks a bit more credit.
Until then, I just roll my eyes at the vendors and give props
to the ladies".
Lisa
Barone, SEO Consultant - www.twitter.com/lisabarone
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"Our
industry has enough hot women that are better than pure booth
babes"
Frank
Watson, Kangamurra Media - www.kangamurramedia.com
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"I
do believe it is inappropriate to have "Booth Babes"
at our conferences because, with all due respect, if these
women or men cannot have a reasonably intelligent conversation
with me about SEO or search engine advertising, then what
is the point of having them there? Believe me, it doesn't
take me very long to determine whether or not a "Booth
Babe" has a reasonable understanding of our industry.
But I
am never rude or disrespectful to them. Don't blame the "Booth
Babes" for doing their jobs. If anyone is being disrespectful,
it is the company that hires them. And it doesn't take me
very long to determine whether or not the company that hires
them has a reasonable understanding of SEO as well."
Shari
Thurow, Omni Marketing Interactive - www.search-usability.com
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| "I
think they are unnecessary. Especially in this day and age.
I just really don't get why you need a booth babe, if you're
product itself is rocking?
Do you
really want the traffic to your booth, just because of some
hot chick, and not because of your product/service?
It's kind
of like sending traffic to your site based on the keyword
"Paris Hilton Nude" and you sell copiers. There
will be no conversion, just traffic - is that a valuable use
of your time and resources? Likely not."
Liana
'Li' Evans, SEO Consultant - www.lianaevans.com
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"Men
aren't the only ones attending these trade shows. Women, myself
included, attend these trade shows. And, when I see a company
booth with only hot booth babes handing out their brochures
and samples it makes me think that this particular company
isn't interested in me as a customer or client. No problem...
I just move on to the next booth.
As long as these companies are aware that many women feel
the same way that I do and they are ok with that... then it's
their loss. They are losing out on a lot of business."
Shana
Albert, Social Media Specialist - www.socialdesire.com
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"To
booth babe or not to booth babe, that is the question. Should
we encourage booth babes at SEO conferences, well yes. As
long as there are men with major buying power in this industries
and overcrowded exhibit halls, booths need some way to get
peoples attention. I'm thinking booth babe dunking contest.
One of the reasons we need to get more women in this industry,
and more women with the ultimate buying power is so we can
get rid of booth babes and have hot booth guys that want to
give compliments and foot massages"
Lauren
Vaccarello, SEO Chicks & lvlogic - www.lvlogic.com
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"There
are definitely some styles of organizations and brands that
would benefit from "booth babes." I generally find
that those company's have a customer base (or at least they're
interacting with a specific type of customer base at that
show) that responds well to that. So, maybe a small affiliate
management company in a progressive industry with a younger
and more free-wheeling affiliate base would respond well to
that. But, I would hardly think that more scantily-clad women
at Google or Microsoft's booths at SES would represent their
brand how they want."
Ben
Wills, Nuudl - nuudl.com
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Sexism
in IT is still rife and as such "booth babes" will
continue to be popular, perpetuating the myth that brains
and beauty do not go together. While I can hold my own on
discussions of the problems of Windows NT and TCP/IP or the
issue of TTL and DNS changes when moving servers, or even
the issues of parent child relationships in C over C++, I
am still often perceived as unintelligent fluff when working
some trade show floors. This isn't the fault of the "booth
babes" but rather yet another clear example of how the
IT/tech industry is still extremely sexist.
Judith
Lewis, SEO Consultant - www.decabbit.com
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"Honestly
I don't notice (ignore) booth babes unless they are particularly
obnoxious. I then feel uncomfortable talking to them because
I'm not their target market. Plus I assume they can't answer
my questions so I bypass them. At some tradeshows, especially
several years ago, they were some of the few women I saw the
whole show. My theory from working in b-to-b tech though is
that booth babes can work very well - and the geekier the
attendees, the better the response."
Janet
Meiners, Marketing Pilgrim - www.marketingpilgrim.com
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Whether or not
you use booth babes at your next convention depends on your situation.
If your industry is heavily male-dominated, doesn't appeal to kids,
and if your competitors will probably be using them, you may want
to jump on the booth babe bandwagon. But there are other ways to
get attention as well-ways that may pay off more in the long run.
What's
you opinion on 'Booth Babes'?
We'd love
to know what you think. Share your opinion on 'Booth
Babes' at trade shows, in the comments section below.
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