Case study · Experiential · GMC
Half the booth. Thirty percent more hand-raisers.
How GMC got more reach at Overland Expo on less money, by borrowing the show floor instead of buying it.
Budget
Booth footprint
Hand-raisers (about 350)
Partners carrying GMC
On the floor at Overland Expo, in front of the Hummer EV
The problem
Overland Expo is where GMC's truck buyers already gather. It's a premium audience and expensive to reach. The budget came in about 5% lower than the year before, and the mandate didn't change: prove the investment and bring back more than we took.
The reframe
Stop buying reach. Borrow it.
Four aftermarket accessory makers already had the booths, the traffic and the gear that makes a truck worth stopping for. They needed something to show it on. GMC had the trucks.
The fix
- 01Half the booth, same address. Cut the sponsorship and footprint in half and kept the premium location.
- 02Four partner booths. GMC trucks in four partner booths, loaded with their gear. Their products looked better; our trucks showed up in four more places.
- 03One game across the floor. A digital scavenger hunt with check-ins and a map routed attendees through every partner and back to GMC, and made every step measurable.
The result
About 350 hand-raisers at one event, up 30% from the year before, on a smaller budget. That's roughly 27% less spent per lead. Four partners carried GMC through their own traffic.
more hand-raisers, on less money.
What this means for you
Most companies try to fix a reach problem by spending more. The better fix is usually already paid for by someone else: a partner's audience, a neighbor's traffic, a channel that already has your customers' attention. Find what you can borrow, make it measurable, move the number.