When you’re pitching high-tech products, it’s often better demonstrate their capabilities than talk about them. That’s why LifeSize Communications Inc., a provider of high-definition video-conferencing products, devised a one-off wine-and-cheese tasting experience in its exhibit at Interop 2006. While attendees were seated at cocktail tables in the booth’s wine-tasting area, sommeliers located at Grape Vine Market in Austin, TX, led the event via LifeSize’s HD video-conferencing product. The 25 experiential demonstrations held throughout the show generated 1,050 leads, 50 more than the company’s goal, and earned more than a dozen articles, giving LifeSize good reason to lift a glass.
 
Sweetriot Inc., a New York manufacturer of chocolate-covered cacao pieces — or “peaces,” as it calls them — stayed true to its name at the 2008 Specialty Coffee Association of America show. Booth staffers paired their casual booth uniforms (branded T-shirts) with simple cardboard picket signs containing playful messages such as “More cacao for everyone,” and “Cacao is for lovers.” The picket-line hubbub drew crowds of attendees, and as they paused to ponder, staffers offered them free samples of the chocolate-covered cacao nibs and shared information about the company and its mission. The inexpensive tactic gave the confectioner a sweet but simple edge over the dozens of booths simply handing out free samples; plus it generated a riotous show-floor buzz in the process.
 Building brand awareness takes time, but that recognition can be helped along with a clever campaign. Backstage Library Works jumped into the library cataloguing and digitalizing business less than two years ago, so to help jump-start the brand-building process, the company played off the theatrical tone of its name at its last three trade shows. Backstage crafteda mini box office in its booth, featuring a marquee with blinking lights, a director’s chair, and a table made from a film reel. Six familiar-looking movie posters scattered around the booth enhanced the theater feel, but upon closer inspection, those posters actually addressed issues facing librarians. For example, what looked like a “Gone with the Wind” poster addressed the issue of “On-Site Services.” To extend its presence after the show, the company gave visitors a set of six postcards featuring the same images and text, along with the company’s contact information. Since the debut of the movie-themed exhibit, Backstage’s qualified leads have jumped nearly 30 percent and its Web-site traffic is up 25 percent.
Now that’s a box-office hit.
To highlight its products during GreenBuild 2007, Steelcase Inc. produced a press kit designed to make media reps fall in love with its eco-friendly furniture. The square paperback book titled “Hug Responsibly: A hugger’s guide to friendly furniture,” began by establishing the criteria for huggable furniture (i.e. furniture that is Cradle-to-Cradle Certified). Then, the illustrated how-to guide explained the two steps for happier hugging and the fundamentals for hugging items such as a lamp, chair, and cubicle. The tongue-in-cheek tome included a product catalogue CD and a piece of paper imbedded with flower seeds that featured a list of Steelcase’s
eco-friendly products.
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Why display your booth literature in routine racks when you can transform it into a design element? The U.S. Green Building Council rolled out a new environmental reference guide at the NeoCon World’s Trade Fair in Chicago, and planned to hand out copious copies. But instead of placing them in literature stands, USGBC turned stacks of the guides into artistic columns as well as the legs of its reception desk. The stacks offered a whimsical way to focus visitors’ attention on the guides while creating a unique in-booth aesthetic.
There’s nothing like a live product demo to snag attendees’ attention, especially if it involves audience interaction. At the 2008 International Consumer Electronics Show, VenMill Industries Inc., which makes equipment that repairs scratched and damaged CDs, asked attendees to get destructive in its booth. Booth staffers scattered CDs on the floor of the 10-by-20-foot space and invited visitors to walk all over them. Attendees who wanted to see a demonstration of VenMill’s machine simply picked up a scratched CD from the floor and handed it to a staffer, who used VenMill’s equipment to fix it right before their eyes.
To increase leads at the 2008 American Chemical Society show in New Orleans, Cem Corp. did a good deed. It sent 3,000 attendees a pre-show mailer explaining how it had improved the quality of life for various people through its research, technologies, and education. The mailer also invited recipients to stop by the Cem Corp. booth, explaining that if they did, the company would donate $5 to the New Orleans Area Habitat for Humanity. When attendees came to the booth, staffers gave them a set of Mardi-Gras style beads with a medallion proclaiming, “I helped rebuild New Orleans,” and told them that Cem Corp.’s CEO pledged to donate $5,000 to NOAHH. Booth staffers gave away 572 sets of beads, generating 400 qualified leads, more than double the previous year’s 175. So as it turned out, Cem Corp. helped rebuild New Orleans while building its own customer base.
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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