Anyone who’s ever lived in an apartment knows that noise carries through walls all too easily. To demonstrate how its AcousticBlok soundproofing product can save your sanity in a similar situation, Aetec Marketing Group created a simple in-booth demonstration at the 2006 American Institute of Architects Minnesota show. Sporadically throughout the show, a staffer placed a box made of AcousticBlok material over an iPod playing at top volume in a speaker dock, and completely eliminated the sound. The staffer then lifted the box, and the music blared again. As attendees recovered from the audible blast, the staffer explained how the product can help reduce sound transference in buildings.

Nothing says celebration quite like a bottle of bubbly. That’s why Fuego North America LLC gave each member of the media a bottle of branded sparkling-red wine following its product-launch press event at the 2007 Kitchen/Bath Industry Show & Conference in Las Vegas. The wine bottle had a Fuego Red label on the front, while the back label proclaimed, “We’re Fuego. We don’t do pink. We also don’t do traditional, conventional, and same ol’, same ol’, either. Something to consider as you ponder the bubbles rising to the top of your glass of sparkling red with its hints of cassis, red plums, and elderberries.” The company distributed 60 bottles to writers and editors, keeping Fuego on their minds — and their lips — long after the show came to a close.

As a small competitor among behemoth exhibits, Display Studios Inc. turned up the heat to attract attention at EXHIBITOR2007, an educational conference and exhibition for trade show and event marketers. The company challenged attendees with the words “Get Fired Up” emblazoned across the back of its 10-by-20-foot booth and helped warm things up with a grill-themed exhibit that also emphasized the company’s home base of Kansas City, KS — a city known for its barbecue. Staffers handed out bottles of grilling spices labeled with the company’s name and booth number, along with the tagline “Booth Design with Spice Appeal.” The booth also featured a huge photograph of flames covering the back wall, and a shiny barbecue grill that attendees could register to win in a drawing at the end of the three-day show. More than 140 people signed up for the drawing, 30 of which were deemed high-quality sales leads.

Corrugated cardboard isn’t usually among exhibitors’ first choices for booth construction, but when your company’s products are made from cardboard, it’s an obvious one. Exhibiting for the first time at GlobalShop 2007, Mid-America Display, a manufacturer of cardboard retail-display systems, crafted a corrugated-cardboard exhibit to demonstrate its expertise in that medium. The 20-by-30-foot booth looked like a steel high-rise under construction,complete with girders and crane, to suggest that attendees “get in on the ground floor” of this relatively new company. Attendees stopped by to see the exhibit, with many touching the girders to see if they were really cardboard. Collecting more than 180 leads, Mid-America created a strong foundation on which to build its business.