NuCalm Demonstrates How to Make a Splash at CES
January 18, 2017
For members of iSportconnect, one thing is certain at the start of any new year. There will be plenty of trade shows to attend around the world. One of the biggest of all, the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, has already taken place this month, and iSportconnect partner NuCalm enjoyed a huge success at the 50th anniversary event from January 5-8. NuCalm was awarded ‘Best of CES’ by the Daily Express in the UK and ‘Best Healthcare Technology at CES’ by Innovation & Tech Today.
To put things into perspective, CES welcomed over 180,000 attendees from 158 countries, with over 35,000 exhibitors in more than 2.5 million net square feet of exhibition space scattered across several locations on the Las Vegas Strip.
NuCalm, iSportconnect’s Official Neuroscience Solutions Partner, had an impressive 40’ x 20’ booth with 17 NuCalm stations but, given the huge scale of the show, that was a small footprint, and in addition, the location was away from the main hall. And yet, the NuCalm booth was packed for the duration.
Within 20 minutes of the show’s opening on Thursday morning, all 17 NuCalm relaxation stations were full – and they stayed full with a waiting line of 30-60 minutes for the entire four days.
“We didn’t advertise the booth, and people couldn’t easily find us from the programme because we were listed as Solace Lifesciences rather than NuCalm, but none of that mattered,” said NuCalm CEO Jim Poole. “When the show closed on Sunday afternoon, we were still turning people away.”
A total of 1,043 CES visitors were able to enjoy a restorative NuCalm session.
In the wake of this success, iSportconnect asked Poole to share his insights on how to make the most of exhibiting at a trade show.
In a trade show environment, with so much to look at, so many people, so much noise how do you make your booth stand out?
“Height, dimensions, approachability, presence, visuals, and colour schemes are all important to capturing people’s attention and compelling people to pause, take notice, and hopefully read the messaging,” he said. The messaging on NuCalm’s booth was an invitation: Enjoy over 2 hours of deep, restorative sleep in 20 minutes with NuCalm.
“Many products don’t need to be demonstrated at a trade show, especially if the audience has a frame of reference,” Poole said. “But there are many products that are experiential, such as a massage chair, a virtual reality headset, or NuCalm.
Our product is a category creator, the only patented technology of its kind in the world, and as such it presents a unique situation with an audience as they have no point of reference. We can articulate the benefits of deep, restorative relaxation, but to feel the clarity, positive energy, muscle relaxation, peace of mind, a demonstration is far superior to simply trying to explain it.”
NuCalm is a technology-based solution, but one of the keys to success at CES was allowing the attendees to experience its benefits.
“The NuCalm demonstration is unique,” Poole said. “It’s an intimate thing to speak about someone’s stress and sleep quality. NuCalm also involves the participant applying a cream to their neck, and one of our team members applying patches behind their ears, so we are in their personal space and the participant is potentially nervous because they don’t know what to expect. The process demands a safe, trusting human touch.”
“Building a brand is one of the most challenging aspects of growing a business,” he observed. “Frequency of messaging and consistency of the message is pivotal to creating the brand image and perception in the target audience’s mind. If the messaging is not consistent, you will confuse the audience. And your brand is not just your logo, your name, your location, your brochures, your website, your promotions, or your marketing collateral. Your brand is the consistent high quality service you provide. At CES, we were able to demonstrate that value in person, and it resonated throughout Las Vegas.”
To find out more about NuCalm and who they work with in the sports industry, click here to view their website.
