Apple of Your Eye
An apple a day keeps the doctor away, but who knew apples could also keep your brand on attendees' minds at a trade show? Plano Vertrieb GmbH used the inexpensive fruit as an in-booth giveaway and a simple hospitality offering at EuroShop in Dusseldorf, Germany. But typically, once one has consumed an apple, he or she is left with nothing but a core that is quickly discarded. So Plano affixed a leaf-shaped tag to the stem of each apple. The tag bore Plano's logo on one side and a Quick Response (QR) code on the other (which directed recipients to the company's website). Ultimately, the humble green fruit proved that keeping doctors away isn't the only function in its wheelhouse.

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Reinventing the Wheel
Even at a show as fun-loving as the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) Annual Conference & Exposition, selling yourself as a corporate trainer who puts the "fun" in fundamentals is a tough gig, particularly when you just have a few seconds to engage passersby. But Jeff Havens, the brain behind Big Pow Enterprises LLC and Levity University, made his fun style hard to ignore when he added slots for awards such as free hugs, online classes, and copies of his book on staff training to a prize wheel situated in his 10-by-10-foot exhibit. By showing rather than explaining his unique style, Havens scored big leads, big smiles, and a few hugs from SHRM attendees in the process.

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White Space
When it comes to exhibit design, sometimes less is more – especially at an eco-minded show such as Greenbuild International Conference and Expo in Philadelphia. That's why Azure Publishing Inc. kept it simple with an intriguing little exhibit comprising nothing but Molo. The lightweight, accordion-fold paper elements not only reduced shipping and drayage costs, but also decreased the amount of installation-and-dismantle time needed, a huge win for the Canadian company that sent just one staffer to the show. The innovative material, which was used to create a rounded counter and a sort of back wall bearing the Azure Magazine logo was both an homage to the company's design-driven content and a tactile conversation starter that had passersby engaging with the lone staffer.

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Jerked Around
As a pint-sized player in a big pond at the National Association of Convenience Stores show, which boasts more than 1,200 exhibitors, Perky Jerky, a maker of low-calorie jerky products for the health conscious, needed an eye-catching way to get its product in front of attendees. So rather than simply handing out samples from a box in its booth at the Georgia World Congress Center, it outfitted a staffer with a special jumpsuit and hat that had packages of jerky affixed to every square inch of it via hook-and-loop fasteners. The energetic booth worker hopped around in the aisle in front of the display, urging passersby to pull a sample off his outfit, while additional staffers waited nearby to offer product information and answer attendees' questions. By transforming sample distribution into a small-scale spectacle and novel in-booth activity, Perky Jerky generated awareness and put its product in the minds – and bellies – of jerky-loving attendees.

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Pixel Perfect
Video walls are a dime a dozen, and more often than not, they pull booth visitors' attention toward the multimedia magic – and away from your product displays. But at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. created a unique video wall that garnered attendees' attention and directed it toward the company's offerings. Comprising 512 Samsung Galaxy smartphones, the display featured content ranging from simple promotional messaging to footage from "Age of Ultron," the Avengers film from Marvel Entertainment LLC. With each phone's screen functioning like an individual pixel, the unique video wall captivated attendees while keeping Samsung's products center stage.

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Pipe Dream
Nothing screams utilitarian quite like galvanized pipe. That's why Cateye Co. Ltd. crafted a product display out of this very material to show off the company's highly utilitarian bike reflectors, headlights, and accessories inside its exhibit at the Las Vegas Convention Center for the Interbike International Bicycle Exposition. The pipes, which were painted white and assembled to form a sort of three-tiered display, were roughly the same diameter as the bike frames and handlebars to which Cateye's products are usually attached. Plus, against this stark white backdrop, the firm's colorful, reflective products stood out like a pair of headlights on a pitch-black country road.

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Model Behavior
Since bringing a pair of jumbo jets to its exhibit at the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) show wasn't a feasible option for Lufthansa Technik, the German plane manufacturer displayed meticulously detailed scale models instead. The models were mounted on an aisle-side wall and featured cutaways allowing NBAA attendees to see into the miniature masterpieces, which housed everything from well-equipped kitchens to gyms and whirlpools. The carefully appointed rooms contained furniture, appliances, linens, and even tiny pieces of flatware. Granted, the petite planes were no substitute for the real thing, but the models effectively illustrated the aircrafts' onboard amenities.