SEMA News—October 2012

CHRIS KERSTING

The SEMA Award: Spotlight on Trends and Innovation

As you read this, thousands of exhibitors are preparing hundreds of cars and trucks that will be on display at the 2012 SEMA Show. By the time the Show opens on October 30, exhibitors will have finished customizing the vehicle models they think will best showcase their new products and styling innovations for 2013.

SEMA recognizes that the cars and trucks exhibitors choose are a direct reflection of the important trends taking place in our industry. And that’s why, for the third year running, the SEMA Award team will fan out with clipboards and spreadsheets to tally every eligible vehicle in every booth at the Show. By Tuesday morning, the vehicle tallies will identify the models customized most often by SEMA exhibitors—and the SEMA Award winners in four categories will be announced at a special media conference in the Grand Lobby of the Las Vegas Convention Center.

Based on past years, we again expect that hundreds of media outlets will cover the SEMA Award, resulting in thousands of articles, blogs, videos and electronic highlights in both trade and consumer media. OEM winners also use the SEMA Award in their advertising, speaking to showroom consumers who shop their vehicles.

We created the SEMA Award as a means to capture and broadcast the exciting trends in specialty parts, styling and vehicle popularity. The award adds value for exhibitors and buyers alike:

• Manufacturers benefit by drawing media and attendee attention to the new products and innovations highlighted on the award-winning vehicles.
• OEM exhibitors benefit by the attention given to their new models, especially those aimed at the opinion-leading enthusiast segment of the car-buying public.
• Consumers benefit because they hear about the hottest new cars and trucks and the great range of new products with which to customize their rides.
• Retailers benefit because the whole pie grows larger, with OEMs and aftermarket manufacturers working together on platforms and accessories.

The SEMA Award is just one more example of how SEMA is working to help our industry sell more products. We make the effort because the message of the SEMA Award gets carried to a global audience. And we will work hard to continue building the program to have bottom-line impact.

This year, a team of SEMA staffers will visit booths that have winning vehicles and offer marketing materials designed to help buyers locate parts for the SEMA Award-winning vehicles. We’ll also be featuring customized examples of the winning vehicles in the January issue of SEMA News to make sure the parts information gets out across the entire industry.

We’re proud of the many features we add each year to the SEMA Show so that industry participants get great return on investment. This pre-Show issue of SEMA News provides some important highlights. You can also visit the SEMA Show website to learn about the many Show benefits and features we have to help you grow your business. We’re looking forward to a great SEMA Show again this year and hope to see you in Las Vegas!

—Chris Kersting, SEMA President and CEO