reating an effective exhibit is definitely a science, but to really transport attendees out of the everyday and into your company’s extraordinary world, it sometimes takes something more akin to science fiction. So when Grundig Intermedia GmbH wanted to set itself light years apart from other high-tech exhibitors at the European consumer-electronics show IFA in Berlin, the Nurnberg, Germany-based maker of video and audio equipment, and D’Art Design Gruppe of Neuss, Germany, conceived a booth that looked like Superman’s arctic Fortress of Solitude after it was invaded by denizens of the deep blue sea.

Visitors to the 23,330-square-foot exhibit navigated to its 15 product stations not by humdrum signage, but by clusters of 600 truss-mounted halogens that shined on the stations with the intensity of laser beams. To reach the various areas, such as the one promoting Grundig’s new MP3 player, attendees maneuvered around reed-like beds of 1,700 frost-hued foam rods that ranged from 3 to 13 feet in height, all of which were mounted on a floor that was whiter than a lunar landscape.

For the MP3 area, Grundig constructed five “tentacles” made of fake leather the color of mimosas. While the 26-foot-tall feelers played tunes from speakers embedded in their bases, visitors also tested the music players mounted on nearby tables. Once they had an earful, guests wound their way to the “Sound Revolutions” sound cubes. Up to four people at a time could enter the square, white cocoons and relax on ice-blue leather seats to watch video presentations of Grundig’s latest audio innovations.

Attendees closed out their visit at the 360-degree-sound speakers station. Here Grundig mounted several speakers on the floor in a display that resembled an extraterrestrial garden complete with alien sunflowers. In the end, with Grundig reporting a record number of visitors and show-related sales, the booth’s impact, much like its aesthetic, was out of this world.e