Who says flooring can’t be high fashion? Typical carpet swatches and display-board panels are, unfortunately, all too typical. But at the 2007 Hospitality Design Expo at the Sands Expo and Convention Center in Las Vegas, Clayton Miller Hospitality Carpets stitched up a carpet display that was more avant-garde than average. To snag attendees’ attention and lure them in for a closer look, the Dalton, GA-based flooring manufacturer used dressmaker forms as display tools and its carpet as gregarious garments. Fashioning vests out of its carpet and accessorizing them with tassels made from its carpet fibers, the company bestowed a haute-couture feel on its entire product line.
 At EuroShop 2008, M+A Publishers for Fairs, Exhibitions, and Conventions GmbH let its furniture do the talking — and let attendees do the gawking. The trade show- and event-industry publisher wanted attendees to immediately identify M+A as a publishing house offering magazines, reference works, and more. So it created a cushy bench that looked like stacks of publications but was actually a foam-padded structure wrapped in fabric printed to look like the company’s periodicals. Passing attendees couldn’t help but notice the fantastic furniture, which communicated the publisher’s offerings without uttering a word.
Elevation Exhibits has a unique history, for although the company began doing business less than three years ago, the combined experience of its principals totals more than 20 years. But how do you consolidate a company’s history and present it to attendees in a way that’s succinct, memorable, and entertaining? At TS², an exhibit-industry trade show, the exhibit-design and marketing company told its story using an unusual medium: It created three identical six-page pop-up books that used 3-D art to illustrate  the company’s history and offerings. Once attendees entered the company’s booth, staffers escorted them to one of the books, which were displayed on pedestals inside the 20-by-20-foot space. When visitors opened the book to the first two-page spread, a tree popped up. Staffers then explained that the roots of the tree represented the company’s deep-rooted history, and the trunk represented the company itself. They also pointed out that the leaves at the top of the tree bore the names of the company’s well-established clients. Another spread showed a model of a booth built by Elevation Exhibits, and the third spread featured images of hands performing tasks such as drawing to demonstrate services the company offers. Elevation Exhibits hopes the creative way it chose to tell its story means its name will “pop up” when prospects go looking for creative exhibit solutions.
Sometimes spelling out your company’s messages in plain text just isn’t enough. In its booth at the 2007 GreenBuild Show at McCormick Place in Chicago, Shaw Industries Group Inc. created 3-D visual metaphors to emphasize its key messages even further. In one section of the 50-by-50-foot exhibit space, a sign next to an oversized ball of twine explained that the flooring company recycles enough nylon fiber to wrap the earth 3,000 times. In another area of the booth, a sign near giant containers of faux French fries explained how the company’s trucks run on yellow grease (aka discarded cooking oil). Unlike flat and utterly forgettable text, the 3-D components piqued attendees’ interest and added an extra dimension to the company’s Green-themed messages.
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 Promotional items such as pens or T-shirts are fine, but if you want your giveaway to stand out, you’ll need something with a little more pop — and it wouldn’t hurt if that something was related to your product. At Semicon West 2008, Keithley Instruments Inc. created a giveaway that was clever and product-relevant. The manufacturer of high-tech measuring instruments created luggage tags made out of recycled computer motherboards. The green-and-silver tags featured the company’s name and Web site on one side and a plastic holder for a business card on the other. Unlike other exhibitors’ same-old swag, Keithley Instruments’ techie tags resonated with the company’s tech-minded audience and kept the Keithley
name on attendees’
minds — and bags —
long after the show.
Room drops are an effective way to generate awareness and booth traffic. But some of them receive little more than a single glance before they’re relegated to the nightstand. So for EXHIBITOR2008, exhibit- and event-marketing firm Czarnowski developed a room drop attendees couldn’t help but notice. When roughly 1,000 attendees returned to their hotel rooms after the first day of the show, each found a 36-inch red balloon branded with the company’s name on one side and “What Makes a Difference” on the other. A small postcard attached to the balloon’s string invited recipients to Czarnowski’s booth to participate in a philanthropic activity. While many attendees likely left
the balloons at their hotels after the show, the giant crimson orbs left a pretty powerful impression on attendees every time they entered or left their rooms.
There’s no denying that what you wear can tell others a lot about who you are — and even what you do. That’s why staffers for Happy Baby, an organic baby-food manufacturer, dressed up in adult-size footie pajamas at the 2007 All Things Organic show. Not only did the comfy booth uniforms elicit smiles from attendees, they communicated the company’s baby-centric theme in an unexpected way.
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 jvanvleet@exhibitormagazine.com.
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