The Cat's Meow
Grumpy Cat Ltd. showed that photo booths aren't the sole purview of tween-age girls killing a day traipsing about the mall. At the Licensing Expo in Las Vegas, plenty of post-teen attendees lined up to slip into the Grumpy Cat-branded photo op to get their portraits taken with the world's most unimpressed feline. Inside the photo booth, users selected from a variety of "frames" featuring Grumpy Cat in various poses (but only one expression) and chose whether they wanted one 6-by-4-inch photo, a pair of 3-by-4-inch pictures, a quartet of 3-by-2-inch portraits, or two classic strips of eight small photos, all of which were dispensed within seconds. The waiting line gave staffers all the time they needed to engage attendees about how they could become new merchandising partners, leaving everyone with smiles – well, everyone except the cat. Warm Reception
Wanting to get passersby to stop cold in their tracks, Deceuninck North America LLC placed a small tub of ice at one corner of its 10-by-10 at Greenbuild. Into the tub, the company stabbed several foot-long sticks of its eco-friendly Innergy Rigid Thermal Reinforcements, which help insulate homes and offices due to their low thermal conductivity. With inviting graphics on the tub that read "Grab a hold of the thermal difference," the inserts drew hands like magnets. Visitors were fascinated that the exposed portions of the sticks remained as warm as the show hall despite being bathed in ice. As soon as an attendee took hold, a nearby staffer talked up the product's minimal thermal transference before pivoting the conversation to how Deceuninck could benefit building projects. Now that's what we call a hot take on product demos! Farm to Table
Too often 10-by-10 exhibitors struggle to express the ethos of their brands in such a cramped space. Not so for 88 Acres Foods Inc., a producer of wholesome butters and granola bars that feature a variety of seeds. As the company name suggests, 88 Acres' mission is closely tied to the farmers that produce the bars' healthy ingredients. So at the Sweets and Snacks Expo in Chicago, a rustic welcome desk made of knotty wood and a series of weathered apple crates stacked on their sides (to hold 88 Acres' offerings) were all that was needed to show attendees that the company's natural ingredients don't have to travel far from the farm before winding up in the family pantry.
Boxing Champ
Hoping to fill its booth with visitors at Pack Expo Las Vegas, Smurfit Kappa Group, a paper-based packaging company, was hard at work brainstorming a couldn't-miss attraction.However, since cardboard containers aren't exactly the sexiest of products, the company's marketers needed to literally think outside the box in order to capture attendees' interest long enough to share product information and convey its sustainability practices. So inside its eco-friendly booth from ExhibitTrader.com, the exhibitor attracted eyeballs by erecting a 13-foot-tall Box Man. Comprising around 130 cardboard boxes of various shapes and sizes threaded over internal metal rods, the 300-pound traffic builder in the shape of a robot also served as a creative product display. And based on the truckloads of prospects that stopped by to ogle the cardboard creature and snap photos (which gave staffers ample time to share Smurfit Kappa's Green messaging), Box Man was the total package in more ways than one. Tree Dimensional
Hanwha Q Cells Co. Ltd. (dba Q Cells), a solar panel manufacturer, wanted to capture people's imaginations at the Solar Power International Show in Anaheim, CA. So with the help of Astound Group Inc., it created a pair of circular displays, each comprising a trio of 20-foot-tall LED pillars, on the front half of its 50-by-50-foot island. Each pillar looped forest and nature imagery that flowed up to where the columns met mirrored ceiling panels. The reflective elements created the illusion of standing in a digital forest of 40-foot-tall trees – or among the soaring clouds, depending on the video imagery – and reinforced Q Cell's ability to harness nature's limitless energy. Curious visitors that wandered in to gaze at the canopies soon looked down to find themselves squarely among the company's solar offerings displayed around the perimeter of the digital "groves." A Good Word
Soraa Inc. marketers devised a memorable way to share customer testimonials – a proven tactic for building trust with trade show prospects – at Lightfair International. On the exterior walls of Soraa's enclosed exhibit, designers embedded Plexiglas display cases. Lit from within, the rectangular structures housed what appeared to be various precious artifacts. These objects, however, represented environments where the lighting firm's products had been installed. For example, one case featured two silver bowls filled with colorful spices. Beneath the display, a glowing testimonial attributed to a happy restaurant client appeared via vinyl graphics. Pairing the words of satisfied customers with objets d'art, the strategy communicated Soraa's strengths in an unforgettable manner. Project Management
How do you demo interactive outdoor projectors when all you have is 100 square feet of indoor exhibit space? Lumitrix s.r.o did it at Integrated Systems Europe by tricking its booth out with its own projection technology, a mirrored ceiling, and a few back-wall graphics. The hand-sketched images came to life as projectors mounted to the exhibit's ceiling and a support pole painted them with imagery and special effects, many of which were triggered by attendees using a touch-sensitive control device. Their creations were instantly projected onto the related icons, showing prospects how the company's outdoor projectors can turn almost any canvas into an artistic, interactive installation.