Freeman Greens and Grows Your ROI

Sept 29, 2008

What if your event delivered not only solid ROI but also the satisfaction of being good to the environment?

    That's what you get from Freeman. The Dallas-based face-to-face marketing agency, which handles upwards of 3,900 expositions and trade shows each year, has made eco-consciousness a central tenet of its corporate philosophy.



    "Every RFP that we answer now has some sort of green element to it," says Carrie Freeman Parsons, vice chairman and chief marketing officer for Freeman, which has 41 offices spread out across North America. "We've made it a central part of our business, and we're fortunate in that we have enough scale to make a difference."

    Among the company's resource-saving efforts is the recycling of carpet used on trade show floors and exhibit spaces. Since the program began in 2006, more than 40 million square feet of carpeting has been repurposed-with the help of a manufacturer of drainage pipes-into plastic pipes for septic systems. Not only has the program saved untold space in already crowded landfills, it also won the 2008 Innovation Award from Trade Show Executive magazine.

    In another major eco-coup earlier this year, Freeman teamed with construction-centric publishing company Hanley Wood at the World of Concrete show in Las Vegas in an effort that amounted to 81 percent of all post-show waste being recycled. Additionally, much of the concrete that was poured during the show for demonstrations was reused.

    In addition to its green initiatives, Freeman offers clients more ROI boosting benefits through a recent partnership with BDMetrics. Baltimore-based BDMetrics has developed an "Event-Centric Media Platform" that provides online tools for the trade show manager, exhibitor and attendee. These online tools allow attendees to create custom event itineraries and walking maps highlighting their desired sessions and booths, while providing exhibitors the ability to communicate directly with the high-quality, high-value trade show audience-before, during and after the show. Delivering this value makes the Freeman/BDMetrics relationship a win-win for attendees and exhibitors.
   
    Additionally, according to Freeman Parsons, the full fruit of the partnership has yet to be harvested. "Together BDMetrics and Freeman are developing the next generation trade show platform, which will also include expanded social networking tools and more," she says. "Our goal is get people more excited in advance about coming to an event, and to help them keep in touch after the show. If we can do that, our clients are going to be more successful."

Download the 2008 Experiential Marketing section here (PDF)

For more Experiential Marketing coverage:
Part I
Part II

Download the 2007 Experiential Marketing section here (PDF)