wenty-three brands inside one parent company's booth can feel a little like too many cooks in the kitchen. That's what Philips Lighting, a division of Dutch tech giant Koninklijke Philips N.V., concluded after Lightfair International (LFI) 2012. So for LFI 2013, the company shifted its exhibit-marketing objective from being individual-brand focused to promoting its new "One Philips" initiative. Thus, with the help of Global Experience Specialists Inc., Philips created a sort of illuminated metropolis.

The 60-by-170-foot exhibit was divided into five scenes, from restaurant and health-care to office environments, each outfitted with Philips products, be it discreet track lighting or elegant hanging luminaries. It was a design that judges touted as "dramatic" and "well executed."

Attendees entered Philips' pseudo city beneath a 50-foot-long, 6-foot-wide stretched fabric panel, lit from above with color-changing LEDs. Staffers then led attendees on a city tour. The first stop was the office, which featured three cubicles lit with soft overhead lighting. Then, the tour moved into a rustic retail space adorned with 14 rough-hewn wood beams and apparel on display amid ropes, bridles, and buckles accentuated by 14 sets of track lighting.

Next, attendees entered a hospital setting, where lighting elements shone in delineated acute and long-term care units. The health-care scene transitioned into an outdoor park, featuring live junipers and luminary poles reaching 8 to 14 feet in height. The tour ended in a hospitality space fashioned after a Parisian pâtisserie, where attendees talked about their lighting needs while enjoying frothy cappuccinos and croissants beneath eight frosted pendant lights.

By erecting a suitable context for its products and taking customers on an experiential journey, Philips proved its exhibit could rival even Paris for the title "City of Lights."