Upgrades to the 2011 SEMA Show New Products Showcase were made with an eye toward a bigger and more comprehensive display, with a component for “Featured Products,” greater product promotion through both traditional and social media outlets, and a new, larger area in the upper level of South Hall. Along with other aspects of the 2011 SEMA Show, the Showcase also will be referred to and themed as “Ideas Alive.” The concept references the SEMA Show’s history and ability to bring ideas for new products to life.
“Since the event’s inception, the SEMA Show has served as the venue for bringing new innovations to life and to market,” said Peter MacGillivray, SEMA VP of events and communications. “The New Products Showcase is instrumental at representing this energy and excitement. By expanding the program to include Featured Products and elevating the promotion of the products, the enhanced Showcase will be more exciting and lively than ever before.”
While the New Products component will remain exclusive to products meeting specific criteria in terms of when they’re available for shipment, the Featured Products component provides exhibitors an opportunity to promote existing lines to new customers. As in previous years, the Showcase will also include a component for first-time exhibitors, and all products will be displayed in one of 16 categories:
Collision Repair & Refinish
Exterior Accessory Product
Interior Accessory Product
Mobile Electronics Product
Off-Road/4-Wheel-Drive Product
Performance Racing Product
Performance Street Product
Powersports Product
Street Rod/Custom Car Product
Tire and Related Product
Tools and Equipment Product
Van/Pickup/Sport-Utility Product
Wheel and Related Product
Engineered New Product
Merchandising Display
Packaging Design
According to SEMA, thousands of buyers and media visit the New Products Showcase, often before the show floor even opens, to get a general overview of all the products at the show without having to walk the entire 1-million-square-feet Las Vegas Convention Center. Buyers and media may also identify and tag noteworthy products in the display and obtain details about those products, including manufacturer name, product details and booth location.
All products entered into the Showcase are also professionally photographed and distributed to media throughout the year. Videos of the products are also taken and posted on a variety of social media sites, including SEMA’s YouTube Channel, which SEMA says garnered more than 600,000 views in the six months following the 2010 SEMA Show.
“The SEMA Show will continue to serve as the premier venue for discovering new products in the automotive specialty equipment market,” said MacGillivray. “The enhanced Showcase will simply elevate the excitement and energy. Year after year, we see amazing creations from the industry, and we’re expecting even more this year.”
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