January 2011

ammunition

Selling attendees on your brand is always tricky. But when you're the U.S. Army and our country is at war, the sell can be even tougher. At the Chicago Auto Show, the military branch was up to the mission, setting up a series of activities designed to challenge attendees to be all they could be by participating in fun, competitive drills inspired by Army life. Along one edge of the 30-by-40-foot booth, attendees performed boot-camp activities in a competition-like setting, while drill sergeants stood watch as groups of potential recruits tried to impress with their push-up and sit-up abilities. Another exercise featured a 20-foot climbing wall where attendees could strap on safety gear for a challenging climb to the peak. Meanwhile, for attendees who'd rather get their hands on some cool military equipment than break a sweat, the Army set up a mock Apache helicopter where participants could "fly" on virtual missions thanks to a video-game-style training program. In the end, attendees got a basic taste of life in uniform, and the recruiters in the booth could take time to answer questions about joining up. Now that's getting their "Attention!" In the middle of a show floor filled with tractor-trailers, asphalt spreaders, and cement-floor finishers at ConExpo-Con/Agg in Las Vegas, the National Ready Mixed Concrete Association (NRMCA) turned its 20-by-30-foot space into a verdant town park of sorts. It filled its booth with a central fountain, plants, retaining walls, and literature discretely placed on park benches. Plus, many of the park structures were built of recycled concrete - the eponymous building material promoted by the organization. The resulting oasis effect was a low-key approach that attracted tired attendees like butterflies to blooming flowers. Overdue, a Minneapolis-based company, makes greeting cards out of old library index cards - you know, the note cards in card catalogues that tell you where you can find each book on the shelves - as well as other found objects such as books, postcards, and the like. Since the vast majority of libraries are transitioning their research tools from traditional card catalogues to computer-software programs, the old cards are generally free - or relatively inexpensive to purchase - and have a rustic quality that customers find charming. So to continue its theme of reuse at the National Stationery Show at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York, Overdue created a back-wall logo out of discarded items found at a local junkyard. Clever, eye-catching, and incredibly brand appropriate, the discarded letters branded Overdue's booth and provided a perfect icebreaker for staffers, who quickly launched into a dialogue about the value and intrinsic beauty of the discarded items used in its products. For most exhibitors, flooring does little more than hide the convention-center concrete. But at the 2009 Healthcare Convention & Exhibitors Association Annual Meeting, DisplayWorks turned its flooring into a message-laden aesthetic element. Headquartered in Irving, CA, the exhibit- and event-marketing firm covered the floor of its exhibit with black carpet. But DisplayWorks didn't stop there. It topped the black carpeting with a vinyl graphic that flowed from the aisle to the back of the 10-by-10-foot space, and then up the back wall of the booth. The vinyl featured words in various shades of black, white, and grey. However, near the aisle, the words all dealt with exhibiting challenges, and were jumbled together, one on top of each other. Additionally, the words and phrases shifted from exhibit-marketing challenges to the various products and services DisplayWorks offers its clients. As the words continued across the floor and up the wall - which displayed the company's name and two monitors showing a looping presentation of the company's marketing solutions - the space between them increased, making them easier to read. As curious attendees stopped to stare, staffers were quick to explain that while exhibitors deal with myriad challenges, DisplayWorks helps them eliminate the clutter, identify clear goals, and meet their goals with its innovative solutions. That's a floor plan any exhibitor can use.		Want to double your booth staffers' ability to spread your marketing messages far and wide? Then don't simply ask them to talk about your company's key messages, ask them to wear them as well. At the 2010 Surfaces show at the Sands Expo and Convention Center in Las Vegas, Modern Carpet Tools Ltd. wanted to communicate that the company's carpet-seam tape helps prevent carpet seams from peaking. In other words, the tape makes seams invisible, preventing seams from "peaking" at you. So it embroidered the back of staffers' shirts with the words "No peaking" along with an illustrated image of a puckering carpet seam. Even while engaged in conversations with attendees, staffers communicated the product's key benefit without uttering a single word. Don't store what you don't need, says Candy Adams, CTSM, president of Trade Show Consulting. Rather, hold an annual clean-out day to jettison unnecessary collateral literature, booth graphics, and giveaways that are taking up room in your exhibit-storage space. Adding this annual task to your to-do list will not only help you keep an accurate inventory of your exhibit materials and properties, but it will also help keep your storage space - and storage costs - to the bare minimum. Pexagon Technology Inc. wanted to tell the media that it was going paperless at EXHIBITOR2009. So instead of a traditional paper press kit, media reps received a small muslin bag with the words "Pexagon's Paperless Press Kit" stamped on it in green ink. Inside, a business card-sized USB bore the words "Be Green with ENVi Booth #1571." The drive contained photos, success stories, and press releases, including one featuring Pexagon's new software, ENVi. The humble little bag grabbed journalists' attention, while the info on the USB answered all their questions. What's The Big Idea? Do you have a clever exhibit-related tip? Did your last exhibit have an über-cool traffic builder? Contact Travis Stanton at tstanton@exhibitormagazine.com.