10 Years Later, We’re Still Playing IMTS Bingo

In the summer of 2016 leading up to IMTS in Chicago, Ivor Andrew celebrated the occasion the only way we know how: by poking some light fun to illuminate a problem that needed a solution.

Keith Booton, our Founder and CEO, cooked up a BINGO! card. Each square was filled with clichéd marketing phrases that a disheartening amount of manufacturing companies broadcast to the world. It got some attention and helped to introduce us to industrial clients that we’re still working with today.

It resonated because of how widespread the problem is. Many IMTS exhibitors have vast expertise in fields outside of marketing, and they also don’t have the time to develop unique marketing of their own. So they look to the left, they look to the right, and they happily say what the people around them are already saying.

And so, if you walked the halls of IMTS 2016 with this card in hand, you’d have shouted BINGO! real quick.

And at IMTS 2026, we have a prediction: you’ll be shouting BINGO! faster than ever before.

The cliche-filled firehose known as A.I.

You may have heard a thing or two about generative A.I. in recent months. Technologies like ChatGPT and Claude instantaneously return query results on just about any topic or length, seemingly from scratch. If you squint, it looks a little like magic.

But then you dig deeper, and you realize generative A.I. aggregates content that already exists. In other words, it returns cliche after cliche.

Ever since we started Ivor Andrew more than 20 years ago, we’ve seen industrial manufacturing companies shortcut their marketing efforts to save time and money. Generative A.I. is one of the latest ways for them to do that.

Unfortunately, just like all the tactics that came before it, this strategy makes them anonymous and forgettable.

The better way to handle industrial marketing

It’s the same recipe for success in any sector: partner with experts and let them guide you.

Ivor Andrew is an industrial marketing agency that uncovers clients’ unique stories, branding and value propositions. We build unique, effective identities backed by strategic thinking and powered by unstoppable creativity.

Talk to us about what we can do for your company. And don’t forget to print out the IMTS BINGO! card and see how quickly you can get five in a row at the show.