Posted by
Barry Siskind
UFI’s Community Manager

Consumers love to emulate celebrities. They copy their fashions, mimic their mannerisms and buy the products they pitch. Whether we admit it or not we are firmly entrenched in a celebrity worship culture.

B to C exhibitions have understood the power of celebrity endorsements for years. Authors, television personalities, artists, actors and even politicians are often included in the promotion of these events. But it is rare to see this same technique used at a B to B event, with the exception of well-known speakers as part of the seminar series.

Recently social anthropologist Jamie Tehrani wrote a piece for BBC news about the celebrity culture. He said, “Fame is a powerful cultural magnet. As a hyper-social species, we acquire the bulk of our knowledge, ideas and skills by copying from others, rather than through individual trial-and-error. However, we pay far more attention to the habits and behaviours demonstrated by famous people than those demonstrated by ordinary members of our community.”

In the rush to find methods of attracting visitors, is the use of celebrity spokespeople something that has been underutilized. Is this a technique that, with some encouragement, our exhibitors could also employ?

Read Professor Tehrani’s article and give it some serious consideration.

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-23046602