 When Bolder Media Inc. and Starz Media LLC launched the “Wow Wow Wubbzy” cartoon at the 2008 Licensing International Expo, they wanted the character and the cartoon to make an indelible impact. So instead of handing out a DVD or a boring press release to tell the story of the funny, friendly character, the entertainment marketing and production firms gave away a 2.5-by-4-inch flip book. As attendees rapidly flipped the pages of the book, much like cartoonists did in the early days of the industry, attendees saw Wubbzy skateboarding by turning the book one way or falling in a mud puddle by turning over the book and flipping the other way. While the flip books may have been an old-fashioned method of animation, they caught the attention of 9,900 attendees (roughly 40 percent of the show’s attendance) who took them home, and less than 24 hours after the first books were handed out, several of them showed up on eBay. Wow wow wowser, now that’s some serious exposure.
When exhibit house Steelhead Productions launched its rental-only policy at EXHIBITOR2008, it did so with a smile. Citing environmental reasons for its switch from custom exhibit options to rental-only exhibit offerings, Steelhead used an “Exhibit Happy. Rent.” theme to drive home the message. Booth staffers clad in T-shirts bearing a smiley face and the words “Exhibit Happy. Rent.” steered attendees toward touchscreens to view a presentation explaining the change. They then took a Polaroid photograph of each attendee smiling and posted it on a 10-foot-tall photo collage. After the show, Steelhead mailed each attendee his or her photo along with a thank-you note.
Ever heard of pervious cement? Neither have most attendees. So to explain its main benefit — it allows rainwater to flow through it, which in turn replenishes the ground water instead of creating wasted runoff — pervious-cement manufacturer Cemstone Products Co. turned an aquarium into a tabletop demonstration. At the 2008 American Institute of Architects Minnesota show, Cemstone positioned an aquarium just below eye level, with river rocks filling the bottom third. A slab of the company’s pervious cement covered the top of the aquarium, while a pump hooked to a water reservoir pushed water out of a pipe and over the slab. The water streamed through the cement into the aquarium, creating an innovative, eye-catching display that also showed the flow-through nature of the product without staffers uttering a single word.
At the 2007 BookExpo America show, Random House Inc. wanted to draw attention to one of its new releases, “Borat: Touristic Guidings to Minor Nation of U.S. and A. and Touristic Guidings to Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan,” based on Sacha Baron Cohen’s movie, “Borat.” So the book publisher brought in three Borat impersonators who roamed the show floor dressed in outfits that mimicked those in the movie, such as skimpy running shorts and a bad suit. Accompanied by photographers, the impersonators posed for pictures with attendees, handed out promotional material about the book, and pointed attendees to the Random House booth. When attendees arrived at the booth, staffers provided the Web address to a Flickr photo page where the company posted 96 of the attendee/impersonator photos after the show. In addition to generating booth traffic, the tactic also garnered close to 1,000 hits on the Flickr page. Not bad publicity for a bunch of bogus Borats. |
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At the 2007 Hospitality Design Expo, SpiritSleep.com wanted attendees to know it had a solution for storing bulky, extra mattresses. The design of its innerspring mattresses allows them to be rolled up and tucked away in a closet. The mattresses can also be shipped without a bulky, oversized box. So SpiritSleep.com placed a rolled and packaged mattress on the floor of its 10-by-10 booth with the phrase “I’m a Queen Size Innerspring UPS Shippable Mattress!” written on it in black permanent marker. The simple product display quickly communicated the benefit of the company’s mattresses, and served as an easy icebreaker for staffers.
At the Orgatec 2008 show, Dietiker Switzerland took a detour past conventional exhibit structures and turned its roughly 45-by-70-foot booth into an abstract Swiss flag. The furniture manufacturer wanted to retain an open space, while focusing on its products and the company’s Swiss heritage. So instead of traditional walls and graphics, Dietiker built an aluminum frame, suspended it from the convention-center ceiling above its space, and created exhibit walls and a ceiling by hanging intermittent red and white paper banners from the frame. Dietiker’s color choice echoed the Swiss flag, while the 1- to 3-foot banners, some of which were emblazoned with the company’s name, provided a border that defined the space without completely enclosing it.
The reduce-reuse-recycle practice is alive and well on the trade show floor, and for Altera Coffee Roasters, it offers added benefits. At the 2008 Specialty Coffee Association of America show, the company stacked three empty product boxes, reinforced their corners, and placed a wooden slab on top — voila, instant exhibit table. Staffers could store setup materials or tools in the boxes until they were needed after the show; plus, the simple solution became a branded attention getter and gave a friendly nod to Mother Earth.
What's The Big Idea?
Do you have a clever exhibit-related tip? Did your last exhibit have an über-cool traffic builder?
Contact Janet Van Vleet [email protected].
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