OMRON knocks it out of the park at ATX Anaheim 2018 show starring Forpheus

OMRON is a big brand in the industrial automation world. The Japanese-based company, largely known for their safety, motion control and PLC products, made a big change to its products a few years ago by acquiring ADEPT Technologies which included SCARA robots, packaging, material handling and a family of autonomous robotics.

Branding in the automation and capital equipment space is complex. OMRON made a big commitment to their marketing, bringing the ping pong playing robot Forpheus, to ATX Anaheim. Building a large scale, complex, AI driven robotic demonstration unit, shipping across the country, installing in only a few days time, supporting the technology (because if something goes wrong, it will go wrong at a trade event) and tactically promoting and partnering with UBM, the show organizer, was no small task.

Here is what I liked about the OMRON marketing and brand push:

The technology works.

I was a bit skeptical at first. I mean how hard could this be? The robot is a packaging style, five axis inverted robot (Delta bot). The mass on the end effector is low, meaning it can move very quickly. There are three cameras. The ball location is updated 80 times per second. AI evaluates the player’s pose and movements and determines the player’s capability and response. The robot calculates trajectories both ways and predicts where it needs to place its paddle. The robot employs deep learning calculating the player’s movements and develops responses based on its learning. I’ve played ping pong since I was a kid, and now I am feeling a little inadequate. Forpheus is beating me.

OMRON thought big and won big.

OMRON used big thinking and took a strong branding approach. Their overarching message: Technology and people working together to be better. This theme runs through all their marketing. Their aim is to take the fear out of people and automation working side by side. Visiting the extensive and impressive OMRON booth, the messages were clear: Innovation, factory of the future, robotics and artificial intelligence. I learned a lot about OMRON’s extensive product offerings and had the opportunity to meet their team.

Engaging and fun.

I signed up online, but the folks from #OMRON were kind enough to take me on a PR tour of the booth, the technologies they brought, and facilitated my match with Forpheus.

Execution.

This was obviously an OMRON big team effort. Corporate, PR, HR, technology, programming, marketing and service and support---all would have had a hand in organizing this marketing coup. It worked flawlessly, and I noticed that the bot was calibrated each morning to prepare Forpheus for the day’s activities.

The business side of trade event marketing.

Part of this promotion was to attract, engage, educate, demonstrate innovation, and brand OMRON to its end customers as a complete provider of automation products. A secondary goal: talent attraction. Youth want to work for a company that has a cool brand. OMRON hit it out of the park with thousands of their target audience touring their booth, watching and engaging with staff and yes, having fun.

Props to the OMRON staff onsite: Maggie Liu, Kristine Sorenson, Austin Ryan, Keith Kersten and Laura Studwell for the tour and to UBM staff Steve Everly, David Attolino and Colleen Sepich for their promotion and strategy.

Disclosure: Although UBM is a client of mine, this is not a paid post. I just really liked how OMRON executed, so I started writing this post on the plane from LAX to YYZ.

Jim Beretta is a strategic marketer to the robotic, automation and machine builder community located in Cambridge, Ontario. He consults companies, manufacturers, associations and tech start-ups across North America and Europe.

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