At the 2008 Aviation Industry Expo, ConocoPhillips Co. partnered with Ascent Aviation Group Inc., a Phillips 66 distributor, and created a perfect activity to not only increase traffic but also highlight the Ascent brand: a climbing wall. A 25-foot-tall obelisk towered over the 30-by-20-foot booth, where it could be seen from just about anywhere in the exhibit hall. Graphics above and throughout the booth read “Challenge Yourself on Our Rock Climbing Wall,” and during the three-day show, close to 100 brave souls answered the challenge. Anyone who successfully ascended the tower was entered into a daily drawing for a $500 REI gift certifi cate. While the traffic builder was simple and straightforward, it also was an appropriate — and memorable — link to the Ascent name.
Medis Technologies Ltd. used a bit of wordplay to get its message across at the 2009 International Consumer Electronics Show. The company makes the 24/7 Power Pack fuel cell, a small back-up battery pack that you squeeze to activate, allowing you to charge cell phones and other portable electronic devices when electricity isn’t available. When attendees approached the 10-by-10-foot Medis Technologies booth, staffers standing at a table covered with oranges sporting green juicers asked, “What do you squeeze to get juice?” While the obvious answer seemed to be an orange, staffers quickly segued into a pitch about the other kind of juice generated with the use of the squeezable 24/7 fuel cell.
 Shick USA Corp., which makes automated-ingredient handling systems, let attendees shop its wares at the 2008 Pack Expo. Dubbed the “Shick Process Marketplace,” the company’s 10-by-30-foot booth featured a back-wall mural that resembled shopping aisles in a market. Rather than filling the space with wordy graphics and technical specs, designers cut four shelving displays into the wall, where they displayed white jars, each bearing a label identifying one of Shick’s solutions. For example, the back of the jar labeled “Biscuit & Cracker,” contained all the talking points about Shick’s offerings for biscuit and cracker processing.
During the GreenBuild Conference & Expo at Chicago’s McCormick Place, carpet manufacturer Bentley Prince Street Inc. wanted to tell attendees about its ReEntry Carpet Reclamation project, a recycling program that keeps used carpeting out of landfills. So it added a 12-by-7-foot dumpster filled with roughly 15 used exhibit carpets to its booth. Bearing the company’s ad-campaign tagline, “Rethink, Reclaim, Reentry,” on its side, the couldn’t-miss trash can helped staffers open conversations about the benefits of the ReEntry program and Bentley Prince Street’s products. Now that’s some seriously effective trash talk.
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 What’s better than a memorable giveaway? A memorable giveaway attendees will likely refer to again and again. In its booth during EXHIBITOR2008, 3D Exhibits Inc. invited attending exhibit managers to input their best trade show tips and tricks into computer-equipped kiosks. After the show, 3D compiled the visitors’ tips into the “Little Red Book, 3D Exhibits’ Collection of Trade Show Tips & Tricks Gathered at EXHIBITOR2008” and sent one to each of the attendees who visited the company’s exhibit and scanned their badge. Far more useful than a typical branded pen or stress ball, 3D’s “Little Red Book” giveaway not only proved a handy reference, but it acted as a traffic builder as well, drawing 440 attendees to the booth to contribute their own tips and tricks.
When is a refrigerator magnet more than just a refrigerator magnet? When it does double duty as a product sample and a business card. To promote its VI Chip line of products at the 2008 Semicon West show at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, Vicor Corp. glued magnets to the backs of its small computer chips. By attaching magnets to the chips it produces, which just happen to feature the product name and Vicor Corp.’s logo, the company was able to create a giveaway that was simple, clever, relevant, and inexpensive. What’s more, the giveaway ensured the company’s product and name stuck with attendees.
 Bosch and Siemens Home Appliance Group USA wanted to make a splash when it introduced its MistCare dryers, which allow you to take a wrinkled or worn piece of clothing, put it in the dryer, and in 20 minutes, it’s wrinkleand odor-free, thanks to the appliance’s optional misting feature. To make sure attendees at the 2008 Kitchen/Bath Industry Show & Conference in Chicago thoroughly understood the misting concept, the company fitted its inbooth Bosch clothes-dryer display with an exterior misting system, similar those used at amusement parks to keep waiting riders cool and calm. The constant cloud of mist and the 6-foot sign behind the dryer reading “MistCare: The Fabric Spa” conveyed the product’s special feature in a glance — and offered a refreshing showfloor experience to boot.
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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