zOwie Omega Discussion Forum

I'm probably among the strongest advocates of trade shows you're likely to find. My first exhibition in 1983, board of directors for leading international trade show association, and longest-tenured member of editorial advisory board for exhibitor journal.

If you are looking to any trade show for "official" product credential here, I'd strongly advise you to reconsider.

While a lot of exhibitors like to hold off on new product introductions until on their stand here, the "credibility" of those announcements is not considered to have undergone the same scrutiny or "commitment" as consumer advertising. For example, here in Detroit at our international auto show, I did a research study about 10 years ago where we noted that 30% of key exhibitors' budgets were allocated to "revising" their booths based on feedback from the first few days of the event.

That's hundreds of thousands of dollars, "on the fly," as it were.

Why? Changing out products based on attendee reaction. It's a key advantage of trade shows, their dynamic nature.

In the case of the Bond watch, we're talking about a company that has already subjected itself to the far higher bar of international advertising, 24/7, and a matter for which it states, "we now consider this whole issue to be closed."

How "closed"?

Well, according to Omega SA even through this morning, the Seamaster 2535.80 is a James Bond watch. I'm still waiting for someone to reference for me the movie in which the James Bond character wore it. But, if your definition of "Bond watch" is simply "whatever Omega says it is," then you already have a more public, visible, strong statement on that than you're ever going to get from a trade show.

Especially after all that's happened, I'd be highly reluctant to accept anything from a trade show floor as definitive.