Plant the Seed
Prior to the pandemic, gamification was all the rage with in-person exhibits. But few exhibitors carried over the concept to digital experiences. Deere & Company, however, is an outstanding exception. Via its microsite for the 2021 International Consumer Electronics Show, the John Deere brand offered up a challenging and entertaining game called Test Your Precision, which assessed visitors' corn-planting capabilities. Within the experience, visitors selected seed spacing, seed depth, and planting speed of the machinery. After their first planting attempt, they received an on-screen score along with tips to help improve it. On their next try, the game introduced a variable: a forecast for heavy rain the week after planting. Following a second attempt, the game suggested that participants "stop guessing" and see how the firm's technology eliminates human error and returns above-average yields almost every time. Leveraging our love of skills tests, John Deere's game not only provided visitors with a memorable and entertaining activity but also educated them about its technology and kept them engaged in the brand for the game's duration. Pajama Party
Exhibit managers often clad staffers in banal, branded polos. Not so for Kanga LLC, which was marketing its Kase Mate, a "koozie for a case of beer," at Surf Expo in Orlando, FL. Instead of spending a lot of money on sleek exhibitry for its 10-by-10, the company turned heads and referenced its cartoonish logo by cladding staffers in campy kangaroo onesies, each of which featured a pouch and a hood with ears. Passersby couldn't help but stop and admire the humorous uniforms, giving brand ambassadors the opportunity to laud the merits of the beer pouches. It goes to show that even exhibitors with shoestring budgets can churn out booths that hop with activity. Design Star
At the International Home + Housewares Show, Homz (a Home Products Inter-national brand), partnered with Exhibit Concepts Inc. to raise the roof on exhibit design. Three separate 12-foot-tall exterior walls gave way to approximately 13-by-10-foot panels of pillowcase-fabric canopies rigged to look like a house's sloped roof. An additional trio of perpendicular interior walls featured tops angled along the same 30-degree slope, enhancing the illusion of a vaulted ceiling. The eye-catching design reinforced the hearth-warming function of the company's home-organization products for the modern family that were arranged in vignettes and displays throughout the exhibit. You could say this exhibit's design was angled for success. Best Foot Forward
Sometimes, the simplest ideas can meet objectives and attract attention. Such was the case for IHSE GmbH, a provider of advanced keyboard, video, and mouse devices. To call attention to its augmented-reality experience at Integrated Systems Europe, an audiovisual and systems integration show in Amsterdam, IHSE attached two footprint-shaped vinyl graphics to its elevated flooring system. Bearing the corporate orange and black hues and the words "extend reality," the footprints immediately intrigued passersby while also inherently communicating that IHSE was offering a unique AR experience. Quick Mix
Amid looming COVID-19 concerns surrounding food handling and open food sources at ConExpo-Con/Agg in Las Vegas during March 2020, many exhibitors scrapped food and beverage offerings and opted to dole out other swag such as T-shirts, bags, etc., leaving visitors hungry for hospitality. Not so for LafargeHolcim Ltd., a company that offers cement, aggregates, and concrete solutions. The firm partnered with Ignition DG, an experiential marketing agency, and found a nourishing solution that kept its visitors both safe and sated while neatly elevating one of the company's marketing themes. At a central hospitality station, booth reps offered prepackaged branded bags of trail mix that included fruits, nuts, and sweets. A glowing sign behind the counter featured the question "What's in your mix?" that cleverly wed the sweet and savory treat with one of the LH's key aggregate-related themes. Even better, the activation positioned LH as a company that is as concerned about its clients' and prospects' overall well-being as it is about its products. And that's a healthy exhibiting mix. Raining Supreme
At the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), Alienware Corp. wanted to highlight how its latest gaming computers literally stay cool under pressure using its liquid-cooling Cryo-Tech technology. To make a splash with Alienware's messaging and draw boatloads of attendees into the booth, Pinnacle Exhibits Inc. created a show-stopping waterfall in the center of the exhibit that stood out among the sea of LED content in surrounding booths. The 20-foot-tall computer-controlled installation translated vector graphics into "water pixels" to create cascading logos, product-specific shapes, and campaign taglines. Plus, the kinetic element incorporated adaptive lighting and multicolor effects so graphics dropped in the company's corporate hues, allowing it to seamlessly integrate with the rest of the exhibit. The dramatic display helped Alienware "rain" supreme at E3. Bump It Up
Financial software firm Intuit Inc. asked ProExhibits to help elevate its brand awareness at the Grace Hopper Celebration, a conference dedicated to women in computing. The partners decided to leverage Intuit's viral social-media video campaign that told the story of a female inventor who creates a giant robot to help a small-business owner manage his finances. To carry on the storytelling component, the company turned its 20-by-20-foot exhibit into a show-floor version of the inventor's workshop. A back-wall graphic featured the giant robot kneeling to give a fist bump – a key moment in the video – via a protruding arm. Attendees flocked to the booth for the chance to take photos of themselves glad-handing the robot and to learn more about the company from nearby reps. The story-extending photo op helped Intuit more than double its recruiting leads compared to the previous year.