sually, nobody wants cooties. But hundreds of attendees happily picked them up in EWI Worldwide's booth at EXHIBITOR2007. That's because the Livonia, MI, exhibit house used the origami-like children's toys known as cootie catchers as part of a rebranding strategy it dubbed "The UnBooth." The concept behind the unbooth was as simple as the popular toy: Stand apart from the other exhibits clanging with bells and shrilling with whistles by creating a space as serene as a desert spa, where the selling was softer than a cashmere sweater.

To introduce attendees to its delicate approach, EWI suspended a chandelier made of nearly 80 cootie catchers over its open 30-by-40-foot exhibit. Drawn by the eye-catching light fixture - as well as the wave-like, 30-foot-long paper streamers suspended over the space - visitors entered the booth through a garden-like hedge of 4-foot-tall "dandelions"- metal stalks with acrylic "flowers" containing photos from EWI's portfolio. Inside, tension-fabric panels imprinted with pictures of dandelions that had gone to seed absorbed the show's surrounding racket, while wheat-colored carpet, copper cauldrons, mahogany water tables, and soft, round ottomans the color of adobe and sand created the illusion of an elite retreat.

Staffers dressed in clothes matching the booth's Mother Earth palette steered visitors to wooden bowls filled with the cootie catchers, then directed them to select one and complete a short activity. Afterward, attendees moved into a small meeting room shielded from the show-floor ruckus by 7-foot-high bamboo poles, where they sank into cushy leather seats and brainstormed marketing strategies with EWI.

While EWI's strategy featured a soft sell, its results were rock solid. The company ended up with 13 RFPs, 30 percent above goal, proving that hard work has a softer side after all. e

Client: EWI Worldwide
Design/Fabrication: EWI Worldwide, Livonia, MI
Size: 30-by-40 feet (1,200 square feet)
Estimated Cost: $145,000
Estimated Cost/Square Foot: $121