SALES SOURCE | Geoffrey James

Are 'Booth Babes' an Effective Marketing Tool?

Many companies are still hiring eye candy to staff their booths at trade shows. What do you think of this widespread practice?

Screen shot/BBC News

'Booth babe' at CES

 

For decades, the high tech industry, the computer game industry, the car industry, the tool industry and numerous others have hired "booth babes" to draw customers into their booths at trade shows.

While the booth babes at high-tech shops aren't as scantily clad as in, say, the automobile industry, there was plenty of cheesecake on display at the recent CES show.  Here's a video from the BBC showing some examples, along with some unintentionally hilarious commentary.

I'm curious what you readers think about this. On the one hand, the whole idea seems both distasteful and, frankly, a bit unimaginative. Can't these highly paid marketing geeks come up with something better? Is this just an example (as a friend of mine put it) of "guys thinking with their secondary brain"?

On the other hand, if the so-called booth babes weren't a good marketing investment, would so many companies still be hiring them?

Leave a comment with your opinion.

Geoffrey James writes the "Sales Source" column on Inc.com, the world's most-visited sales-oriented blog. His newly published book is Business to Business Selling: Power Words and Strategies From the World's Top Sales Experts. @Sales_Source