hether it’s designing on a dime, house flipping, or pimping your ride, makeover madness is ravaging reality television. But 3D Exhibits Inc., a Chicago-based exhibit house, brought the popular makeover concept from the small screen to its 20-by-30-foot booth at EXHIBITOR2007, an educational conference and expo for exhibit and event professionals.

With the help of multimedia marketing and event company Culture22 Communications Group, 3D created a Bling My Booth competition to engage attendees and educate them about its services. The extreme makeover-style competition allowed exhibit managers to submit images and descriptions of their existing exhibits in hopes of winning a $50,000 booth makeover.

But the promotion wasn’t solely inspired by recent reality-TV fads. It also grew out of an industry-wide trend. According to 3D marketing director Nicole Genarella, “Budgetary constraints are forcing many clients to consider to the use of custom rentals or refurbs of their existing properties so that they can create a new experience without the overall expenditure of a new property.”

The promotional competition allowed 3D to capitalize on both trends, riding the wave of the popular redesign TV shows, while educating attendees on exhibit refurbishment. Furthermore, 3D hoped the promotion would create pre-show and at-show buzz, generating 150 sales leads and a 20-percent recall rate for its pre-show direct-mail campaign.

Let’s Get it Started

3D divided its contest into two primary phases: entry and voting. To solicit contest entries, the company sent out a flashy pre-show mailer to 365 clients and prospective customers. The square-shaped mailer played on the company’s signature red color with a metallic red envelope. Inside, recipients found red metallic ink inviting them to “Enter,” “Vote,” and “Win,” along with information on application deadlines for the contest. 3D also added Bling My Booth information to its advertisements in various trade publications and directed readers to its Web site for details.

Companies had between Jan. 5 and Feb. 15 to download, fill out, and submit an application from 3D’s Web site. The application asked for a short summary of the company, a description of its current exhibit, an overview of the company’s target market, and an explanation of why the property should be chosen for a makeover. More than a dozen entrants filled out 3D’s application, told their companies’ stories, submitted images of their current exhibits, and tried their luck for a sparkling new look. Once all the entries were in, 3D selected three finalists and created new booth designs for each of the three properties.

“Most of the entrants’ exhibits were very cluttered with product, hindering their ability to highlight offerings and to move within the space. 3D evaluated the designs, examined the goals, and determined how to help each finalist individually,” says Malinda Weaver, Culture22’s general manager.

On March 3, roughly three weeks before the show, 3D unveiled its finalists and opened online voting on its Bling My Booth site.

For each of the finalists, 3D posted before photos of the booth along with the after views of 3D’s exhibit renderings. Site visitors could also browse descriptions of each of the three companies, along with explanations of how 3D’s facelift updated the finalists’ exhibits. A link on the site titled, “How Can I Bling My Booth?” directed voters to contact 3D to make over their own exhibits.

Voting was open to everyone, so 3D observed finalists developing their own grassroots efforts to get as many votes as possible. “We found that people started to root for the design they wanted to win the makeover, and they came back to vote numerous times,” Genarella says. Since the voting site linked directly to 3D’s Web site, each voter could explore the company’s services and learn more about its offerings before even setting foot on the trade show floor.

Bringing the Bling

With the start of EXHIBITOR2007 on March 26, 3D brought its voting into the booth. The company set up three voting kiosks and posted up-to-the-minute tallies on plasma screens in its exhibit so attendees could rally support for their favorite contestant.

Inside the booth, visitors saw how 3D brought the bling to its own exhibit. To up its refurb cred with attendees and to practice what it preaches, 3D used several of the same structures from its 2006 exhibit but updated them to fit this year’s bling theme.

“We decided the best way to show our clients how to refurb an exhibit was to do it for ourselves, so we took our booth from EXHIBITOR2006, and we gave it a facelift,” Genarella says.

In addition to repurposed Plexiglas, 3D used a platform from last year but changed the floor coloring from red to silver. Three touchscreens from last year’s booth became voting kiosks this year, and the company used the same counters from last year, but built one more. Then it added a sign with sheer scrim fabric and metallic beads along with red furniture, carpet, and a carpeted wall to create a bling-bling feel.

According to Weaver, the 2007 exhibit “definitely communicated the message of bringing something to the next level, showed a successful refurb, and pulled off the whole bling look.”

Sophisticated Swag

3D created more buzz with first-class giveaways. “We wanted a giveaway that was blingy and fit our theme without giving away some major gold chains with someone’s insignia on them,” Genarella says.

The company decided on Bling H2O, a high-end bottled water with Swarovski crystals adhered to the bottles that spell out the word “bling.” But these weren’t giveaways for just anybody. 3D staffers selected recipients for the stylish water by giving away cards which read, “You’ve been blinged. Go to the 3D booth to pick up your prize,” to people they saw walking in the halls, in seminars, or in the booth who were decked out in bling, like Gucci sunglasses, purses, and flashy jewelry. Ranging from $20 to $40 apiece, the trendy — and spendy — bejeweled giveaways helped 3D create an exclusive image at the show and drew inquiries from attendees looking for a way to get their own bottled bling.

All booth visitors who had their badges swiped and filled out surveys were entered to win one of two watches given away in a daily drawing at the show. Covered in crystals, the watches put some sparkle in 3D’s bling theme. And everyone walked away with a little swag: 3D distributed “Bling My Ringtone” gift cards, which allowed booth visitors to download free ringtones to their cell phones.

And the Winner Is …

After two full days of at-show voting, and a total of 40,974 votes, 3D revealed its winner at a VIP party at the exclusive, blinged-out Crib Suite at the Palms Hotel and Casino.

Fifty of the company’s top prospects and clients, including the contest finalists, were chauffeured from the show venue to the suite, where they listened to live DJs spin tunes, viewed custom videos hyping 3D’s services, and sampled from a sushi bar. The party-goers then toasted Aquarius Water Co., which was announced as the winner of the Bling My Booth competition.

After the show, 3D sent VIP-party attendees a high-end red metallic pen to put some bling in their messages and spark their memory of 3D.

Finally, the company sent a post-show mailer matching the size and red metallic ink of the pre-show piece to all attendees who had their badges swiped by 3D’s staffers. The mailers thanked them for visiting the booth, and included a booklet summarizing 3D’s services and how it designs and refurbs booths on a daily basis.

Sparkling Success

Unlike gimmicky exhibit promotions that don’t directly relate to the company’s key messages and offerings, 3D’s interactive contest capitalized on pop-culture trends while communicating its key message in a fun, memorable way that allowed the company to discuss its capabilities.

“We had a lot of people say that they heard about the contest, wanted to know who was winning, and thought it was a fabulous idea. That segued us into why we did the contest and the idea behind a refurb. Plus, we got to tell them a little bit more about 3D. It was a great working environment,” Genarella says.

When the show came to a close, 3D’s Bling My Booth promotion resulted in 240 new leads, 60 percent more than its goal, and in-booth surveys reported a 40-percent recall rate on the pre-show mailer, 20 percent above the company’s expectations. Furthermore, the promotion led to 15 press mentions, creating additional brand exposure after the Bling My Booth winner was announced and the show ended, proving that, for 3D, bling is definitely king. e