Most cities and towns seem to be slowly opening up again in most of the country. For a large part of the country, businesses and events are opening much slower than anyone certainly imagined. As a result, quite of few major events/trade shows are being either canceled or postponed for 2021. Let’s look at a few:

    • The Academy Awards – moved from February to the end of April
    • Boston Marathon – postponed for all of 2021
    • North American International Auto Show – canceled for 2021
    • National Marine Manufacturers Association – canceled the first 9 events in 2021, hoping for a “live” event in April
    • National Hardware Show – moved to May 11-12th
    • Ultimate Fishing Show moved to March 25-28 (may still be pushed later in the year)
    • The International Consumer Electronics Show was held in January with no in-person attendance.

All of the above shows, and hundreds more, are either being canceled, postponed for a date later in the year, or have gone 100% virtual. But what does this mean relative to co-op funding?

Thousands of local businesses rent booth space at these events and display the latest and greatest of all the manufacturer brands they sell. Many of these businesses/exhibitors utilized co-op funding to cover the cost of their booth space, signage, giveaways, etc. With many of these shows just not happening in 2021, the businesses will have additional co-op money to spend elsewhere. This is a great time as a Media Publisher or Agency, to put together multi-platform campaigns for these advertisers and help them get additional visitors into their store or their online sales portal. You can help the business use that co-op money and assist them in ‘making up’ for the customer traffic they may have normally obtained at these shows.

Here are just a few of the brands that offer funding for Trade Shows that should now be utilized for traditional or digital advertising.

    • Brunswick Boat Group (just a few of the brands they own – Sea Ray, Boston Whaler, Bayliner, Mercury Marine)
    • Yamaha Marine
    • Raynor Garage Doors

To find a complete list of brands offering co-op in the Boating, Auto, Fishing, Hardware, and Electronics industries you can subscribe to the Co>Op Connect database. To find out more, or schedule your database demo, contact us at [email protected].

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