High Gear
Overhead elements are a great way to brand your booth space, but they often do little more than communicate your company's name. So to get a little added bang for its buck, Harmonic Drive LLC turned its rigged, tension-fabric topper into a supersized recreation of its zero-backlash strain wave gear. More than a mere representation of its offerings, the internally lit element attracted attention and allowed staffers to easily point out the intricate details that make Harmonic Drive's gears superior to others on the market. A Shore Thing
Ace Designs Inc., a provider of retail-display products and services, is headquartered on the banks of the Delaware River overlooking New Jersey. But company marketers thought that was close enough to the Jersey Shore to warrant bringing a bit of boardwalk bonhomie to RetailX in Chicago. The custom island exhibit was made almost entirely from Ace's products and featured the company's newest capabilities via a series of vignettes. For example, a display that looked like a classic balloon-popping carnival stand highlighted Ace's new vacuum molds. Topping it all off was the "CMYKoaster," a faux roller coaster that reached neck-cranking heights and served as both social-media fodder and a wayfinding beacon visible from across the massive exhibit hall. Drive Time
At ConExpo-Con/Agg, US Fleet Tracking LLC aimed to lure attendees into its booth and promote how it helps businesses monitor their vehicle fleets in real time with GPS tracking solutions. Knowing the audience's affinity for NASCAR, marketers parked a branded replica racecar from Cordell Racing along the aisle of their exhibit and let visitors take it for a virtual spin. Guests completed a lead-generation survey with a staffer in a US Fleet pit-crew shirt before slipping into the stock car's cockpit, where they vied to post the fastest lap time around the iconic Bristol Motor Speedway racetrack thanks to a dashboard display. Leader-boards tracked the top times of the day, and the fastest finisher won a pair of NASCAR tickets. Metal of Honor
Expanded-metal and wire-mesh wares aren't typically characterized as "artistic," but Fratelli Mariani SPA turned its metal offerings into veritable works of art at EuroShop. The company framed small samples of its products and hung them from a wall in a gallery-like arrangement. Marketers also attached 8.5-by-11-inch samples to clipboards and positioned them inside an internally lit cutout within the same exhibit wall. The inventive display turned mere metals into objets d'art. What's more, the clipboard-sized samples allowed attendees to handle – not just ogle – the goods. Feeling Antsy
It's said that one attracts more flies with honey than vinegar, and savvy face-to-face marketers know that kinetic displays are far better at luring attendees than static graphics. That's why Sterling International Inc.'s Rescue brand of pest-control products added a playful moving element to its graphic header at the National Hardware Show in Las Vegas. One side of the aisle-facing tension-fabric topper featured a caravan of roughly 6-inch-long 2-D ants mounted to a line of monofilament that looped around the signage. A concealed motor at the base of the graphic pulled the nearly invisible filament along, making it seem as if an endless stream of ants was crawling down the sign. While ants may spoil a picnic, these insects made it easy for Rescue staffers to put product-info bugs in plenty of attendees' ears. Play on Words
Wordle is on the tip of everyone's tongue these days – or at least on the tip of their fingers. Material Handling Systems Inc. leaned into the global fad at Modex, a supply-chain expo, to draw attention to its full-picking solution. Using their mobile devices, attendees scanned a QR code that launched a custom Wordle-style app (ideated by EDE Corp. and created by Stamm Media Tech Inc.). Players had six chances to guess the industry-related word, such as "Modex" or "robot," which changed each day of the show. Participants that solved the puzzle entered the word on a nearby touchscreen and were prompted to select one of three giveaways. And to leave a memorable impression of MHS's offerings, an automated vehicle delivered the swag to a robotic arm that grabbed and deposited it on a conveyor belt, which in turn ferried it directly to the winner. Down to the Wire
Milan S.r.l. wanted to quickly convey the kind of chaos that can be wrought with inefficient wiring and juxtapose it with the comparable calm that can be achieved when clients use its Tasker-brand multifunctional cables. So the company commissioned a whimsical sculpture comprising its cables to sit atop a short pedestal just inside its exhibit at Integrated Systems Europe in Amsterdam. Taking the form of a headphone-adorned figure seated in a meditative position, the sculpture successfully illustrated how quickly a mishmash of cords and wires can place a stranglehold on users while also depicting the kind of Zen-like calm its clients have been enjoying since 1977. Curious enough to catch the attention of passersby while simultaneously photogenic enough to score more than a few impressions via Instagram, the tactic undoubtedly struck a chord with the company's target audience and prompted many conversations.