Geneva Motor Show – 8th -18th March – Lots of USB Flash Drives on Show

The 82^nd Geneva International Motor Show opens  in a couple of days’ time and despite the economic doom and gloom across Europe the show organises are still expecting more than 700,000 visitors to attend the show. Add to this the 10,000 members of the press and the staff and entourage of the 260 exhibitors at the show and you start to get some idea of the scale of the event – it’s huge!

This year alone more 180 new models and designs will be unveiled at the show and to top things off and add to the excitement the winner of the 2012 Car of the Year Award will be announced during the show.

What’s going to be interesting at the show this year is just how many of the motor manufacturers will use promotional USB flash drives at their press events and on their stands – based on the number of printed USB flash drives we’ve supplied to a variety of different exhibitors’ at the show it’s going to be quite a lot!

Traditional “paper” and CD/DVD “Press packs” are increasingly being replaced by USB flash drives partly because they are cheaper but also because they are more popular with the journalists who don’t really want to lug around heavy, glossy packs from every manufacturer press briefing session they attend. But it’s not only about the reduction in weight, you can load video clips, adverts, interviews, product sheets, FAQ’s and so much more on a decent sized USB flash drive.

Promotional USB Drives

Whether “petrol heads” will be as enthusiastic about a printed USB flash drive instead of a nice, thick, glossy brochure with lots of photos they can drool over is a different matter. But, if USB flash drives are what does it for you then you are likely to be able to collect a bag full of them at the show – arguably the value of the drives you could collect (and other associated goodies) could far outweigh the entry costs to the show!

The other interesting dimension in all of this is whether the custom and printed USB drives handed out at events like the Geneva Motor Show will become collectors’ items of tomorrow. There’s no doubt that if you can get your hands on a Ferrari, Bentley or Aston Martin USB stick that it’ll be worth tucking away for a few years – if you can get one in a presentation box then so much the better! As ever it will be the scarcity of the item combined with the exclusivity of the brand that will drive any future value.

So, if you’re planning to attend the Motor Show this year keep a beady eye out for promotional USB flash drives and where you can grab a few from the top marques. If you can’t buy the cars on show then you never know in a few years’ time the USB sticks you pick up today might go some way towards paying for your car of tomorrow!