Why Hire A Costumed Character

Over the past couple of years, the look-a-like costumes of your child's favorite character have become the hottest birthday party entertainment.

The popular look-a-likes of Dora, Elmo, Diego, Backyardigans, Spongebob, etc. have captured a large portion of the parties. That is why in every major city you see a growth in the number of performers carrying the costumes. In most cases, the demand for the costumes out-weigh the supply.

Why is this such a phenomena?

My guess is with the growth of all the accessories involving the purchase of everything from pillows to key chains, this was the next logical step. You can already find the plates, napkins, cups, tablecloths of your child's favorite character at your local party store.

Also, this is a little kid's driven industry. The average range of 2-5 years is the majority of kids at most costumed character parties.

While clowns and magicians still make up a large part of the party entertainment, their numbers have dwindle a bit for the little kids party scene. Clowns sometimes are very scary to young kids even adults. Most magic shows unless it's silly magic, tend to hold the attention of kids older than five.

Let's understand that a 6 foot big-headed character walking through your door with loud music can be very frightening as well. Usually kids 3 years old or less have this issue. The 4 and 5 year old kids tend to have requested the characters who perform at their parties.

The programs offered usually come in varying forms, but these are the two most popular:

1) A clown or "party leader/helper" starts off with some face painting or balloon twisting. Usually, after 30-40 minutes, the party leader leaves, comes back in the costume to theme music and performs a meet & greet, dancing, plays games, poses for photos.

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2) Party leader and character are 2 separate performers and they do a combination of meet & greet, dancing/singing to theme music, games, posing for photos, and possibly slicing the cake.

Under both scenarios, most parties are usually one hour.

Usually, the characters do not speak, especially they are accompanied by a party leader.

There is an an exception to this rule, most superhero character impersonators of Spiderman, Batman, Darth Vader, Power Rangers, etc. speak and sometimes perform activities such as magic, balloon twisting, karate demos, and much more. The upper age range for these parties average around 8 or 9 years old.

Prices for this type of entertainment vary from $75 to $300 or more per hour.

The question I usually receive is, "Why can't I find the characters in my city?". The reason is the above mentioned characters and most of the costumed performers you see on television are copyrighted characters. There are various copyright infringement laws protect the rights of the license holder.

Most characters for birthday parties are look-a-likes or impersonators of the characters you see on tv.

The performers can be seen at birthday parties in gyms, homes, recreation centers, party rooms, outdoor parks, etc. Just about anywhere you can have a party. They are now more prevalent at grand openies, open houses, and festival and fairs.

In some cases, finding these performers takes much effort and determination.

You may need contact a company with a huge database of performers in your area and nationally.

How To Increase Traffic To Your Trade Show Booth

Whether you promote or sell a product or service, your trade show objective is to drive a many potential customers to your booth as possible.



The old sales adage, "see more people" also holds true for trade shows.



Here are 5 tips to increase the amount of traffic.



1) Tell existing clients about the event.

You can do this by mailers, telephone, or better yet, email.



Why existing clients? Well, they have already purchased your product and you can tell about upgrades or newer products you may have on display.



Moreover, think of the testimonial opportunity when you have a client at your booth telling your prospects how great your product is and how it helped them solve their problem.



2) Have a positive attitude.
No matter what's happening that day with your business, keep your attitude upbeat. It never hurts to have a smile on your face when greeting prospects.



3) Serve a freshly baked or cooked snack.

Here's where you say, "He has lost his mind". But seriously, studies show people purchase more when hungry. Plus a snack keeps them at your booth longer and gives you a chance to pitch your product or service.



Snacks such as freshly baked cookies in a convection oven or freshly popped corn will suffice. Make sure the venue allows you do this; otherwise, consider pre-packaged snacks.



Place them out one hour before lunch or dinner.



4) Provide Entertainment

A variety entertainer such as a magician, caricaturist, or perhaps a juggler may keep your visitors longer around your booth.



If you hire a caricaturist, there are usually prospects hanging around your booth waiting their turn or admiring the artist's work.



Either way, increased traffic is good thing.



Magicians doing close-up magic may wow your visitors and keep them around longer than usual. Another opportunity to spring into action.



You can also have a contest to guess how the magician pulled off his trick. Have all the participants place their name, email address, phone number, etc into a fishbowl. The winner will receive a prize related to your product or service.


The key here is to make the prize useful or something of value. Cheap trinkets will drive away traffic just as quickly as you gained it.




5) Provide Giveaways.

Since this article is on attracting traffic, I would suggest you market your giveaways in all pre-show literature. The giveaways must be added incentive for your prospect to visit your booth.

Make sure it's easily noticeable to the visitors.

There are many other methods of driving traffic to your booth, but these have been used effectively by many organizations over the years.