WE, Great Bridal Expo Trade Partnership Vows
Women’s Network Will Title 20 Trade Shows, Promote Events On-Air
By Linda Haugsted -- Multichannel News, 9/6/2008 3:59:00 AM
WE TV has exchanged vows with The Great Bridal Expo, a 30-year-old trade show which brings soon-to-weds and wedding vendors together, a partnership that will allow the network and the expo to leverage their respective brands.
WE, which devotes 40% of its primetime schedule to wedding-related programming, will be the title sponsor of the trade show, which hits 20 cities twice each year. In turn, WE will run taggable promotion spots for the events, including schedule details.
Affiliates cite bridal programming as the most unique aspect of WE's content mix, said network senior vice president of marketing Kenetta Bailey. In addition to the TV programming, WE has made a big investment in the “WE go Bridal” area of its Web site, she added.
“We've got it on the air, online and we decided to be on the ground, too,” Bailey said of the trade-show partnership.
The bridal show attracts 170,000 consumers during its nine-month season each year — consumers who are about to make big changes in their lives, including consolidating households, Bailey said. That makes them attractive targets for WE's cable affiliates, she added.
WE will also do some market research at the shows to share with affiliates, said Bailey.
“WE TV is the cable network that created an on-air destination for bridal programming, and is truly the ideal partner for The Great Bridal Expo in terms of not only promotion that will drive foot traffic, but also creating unique experiences on the show floor that appeal to our audience,” said Bill Heaton, founder and CEO of The Great Bridal Expo Group.
WE will support the partnership with sweepstakes that will provide winners with tickets to local events in markets including Dearborn, Mich.; Dallas, Los Angeles, Anaheim, Denver, Phoenix, Philadelphia and New York.
The network will use the show to promote new bridal shows which will debut in October. These include Amazing Wedding Cakes, focusing on noted bakers in Los Angeles, New York and Chicago; My Fair Wedding, in which noted party planner David Tutera helps brides who think they have good wedding ideas but really don't; and Rich Bride, Poor Bride, aiding brides with champagne tastes to cope with their beer budget. Tutera will visit some of the shows, signing autographs and offering advice, Bailey said.
Though the tour is underway — its most recent stop was last weekend in New York — WE will have its promotional support geared up to join the Expos by mid-October, Bailey said.
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Great Bridal Expo is not a reputable company. Either is their CEO, Bill Heaton. We have had some very negative experiences with them.
Veronia Hegll - 12/3/2008 2:53:00 AM EST -
OH! Great Bridal Expo is the absolute worst!! Bill Heaton, Great Bridal Expo CEO is the problem behind it all. I know because we used to do a lot of events with them. They don't put out any money to advertise the events. You are just wasting your time with trying to get any type of resolution from them. We stopped working with them. I think a lot of vendors have. I have heard the shows attendance has been really super low.
Elaine Dawsom - 10/25/2008 9:38:00 AM EDT -
We, file for divorce!
Sammie Derick - 10/20/2008 5:15:00 PM EDT -
You can just forget about anything good with Great Bridal Expo. There
xpos are not any good and if you are en exhibitor and have any issues
theu will jsut ignore you. That is Bill Heatons way of doing business.
For all you business owners out there there are other locall bridal
shows that have much better success than this national company that
is not even local. The first show that had a low attendance Great Bridal
Expo said oh it was just that show & blamed it on the weather although
we did not have any inclement weather?? We thought OK. We tried
again & had the same negative experience. What was worst was the
negative response from Great Bridal Expo which was basically nothing!!
The sales rep accidently forwarded a note from the company President
back to her saying "oh only a few others complained this time". Can
you imagine? if Great Bridal Expo were my company I would go to the
ends of the Earth to make my customers happy. The really sad thing is
that we were going to even do it again!! Our advertising/show budget
had just been approved. We always asked for more than we ever got.
This time we asked for a lot more!! We put in every major East Coast
city & not just once but the spring & fall shows!! When the company
President Bill Heaton & the sales lady Deborah continued to ignore us
we just used the money on other shows that were a tremendous
success!! That should be put in the book "How to Not Run Your
Company" for Dummies!!! That was a substantial amount of money.
We ended up being bought out by a large regional chain that was
planning on becoming one of the sponsors of the show. Well, not after
we shared our experience. So sorry you all have experienced the same
issues. We were wondering if it was just us, an isolated incident or not.
I think a lot of people just get tired of asking them for their money
back. Buyer BEWARE of Great Bridal Expo!!
Gladys Steinwitz - 10/20/2008 4:54:00 PM EDT -
I am a bride & wish I hadn't wasted my time going to our Great Bridal
Expo event. Everything everyone has said on this board is true. The
events are NO good. Don't waste your time brides.
Candice Quinet - 10/16/2008 2:20:00 AM EDT
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