Cat Scan
Hill's Pet Nutrition Inc. wanted an engaging way to educate attendees at the Veterinary Meeting & Expo (VMX) about both its Hill's to Home food-delivery program and the urinary-health benefits of its stress-reducing cat food. So it tasked 3D Exhibits Inc., a Sparks company, with developing a whimsical Mario Kart-style video game that incorporated its key messaging. Four players at a time stepped up to a station to race through a cat's central nervous system. First, each competitor selected an adorable on-screen cat that hopped into a branded boxcar. The race kicked off with a 30-second cartoon that promoted the Hill's to Home program before transporting players to the starting line inside a cat's brain. Using Microsoft Xbox steering columns, competitors slalomed along Brain Drive, down Spinal Cord Way, and through Bladder Pass, collecting bits of kibble along the way while a nearby staffer wove in educational tidbits about the company's offerings. Drive-By Exhibiting
If your booth space is a 10-by-10 and your business is primarily conducted out of a conversion van fully wrapped in custom graphics, then why spend money on exhibitry? That's why marketers at Assemblers Inc., a company that offers commercial and residential delivery, assembly, and repair services, simply drove one of their vans into the National Hardware Show exhibit hall, slid open the doors, put out a pair of cornhole games, and called it good. The branded vehicle not only stood out amid its pipe-and-drape neighbors but also quickly relayed the company's name, logo, contact info, and a list of its services. Dumpster Dive
Most WasteExpo stands emphasize in-booth hospitality over clever exhibiting, but Hedstrom Environmental, a maker of plastic waste receptacles, raised the bar – rather than tended it – via its giveaway strategy. One of the company's large garbage bins, which was placed along the aisle, was filled with waste bags crammed with crumpled sheets of paper. Attendees rooted around in the dumpster, grabbed a wad of refuse, and then opened it to see what swag they won. Participants walked away with a memorable experience – and perhaps a deeper appreciation of their local garbage collectors. Easy Does It
When your company is a multibillion-dollar global brand, you might feel pressure to bring all the bells and whistles to the show floor. But Ebay Inc.'s presence at RetailX (now known as the Retail Innovation Conference & Expo) demonstrated that effective exhibit design is all about one's objectives. Since the online auction platform's main goal was to hold prescheduled meetings with prospects and clients, Ebay marketers didn't feel the need to dazzle with a gargantuan footprint laden with digital delights. Rather, the company's modest island comprised little more than a simple branded header and an enclosed conference room made from semitransparent fabric panels hanging from overhead truss. A reception desk and small aisle-side seating area completed the scene. The elegantly restrained design met all of Ebay's needs while racking up a pittance of a buyer's premium, i.e., shipping and drayage fees. Wheels of Fortune
With an average income twice the national median, BMW owners are as different from the ordinary car buyer as a Tesla is from a Yugo. So rather than hosting a traditional, pixelated showroom at the all-virtual International Consumer Electronics Show, BMW of North America LLC devised an experience reminiscent of an upscale lifestyle magazine. The exhibit was divided into chapters including Home, Automotive Life, Design, and Innovation, with each section providing engaging articles that read like a hybrid of "National Geographic" and "Town and Country." Topics included Iceland road trips, hacks for electric cars, where to go urban kayaking, and luxury parking garages. These were interspersed with company-centric pieces such as the history of the BMW brand and a quirky six-part web series about building the visionary supercar of the future. BMW's magazine-like approach took visitors on a kind of road trip measured not by mile markers, but by moments. Helping Hands
Instead of hanging its branded giveaway bags on utilitarian pegs at the National Restaurant Show, the food-delivery service Postmates Inc. created a three-by-three grid of white, mannequin-like, outstretched hands on one wall of its booth. Staffers looped the bags' handles onto the fingers of the upturned palms, producing a creative display that implicitly communicated its human delivery service. Now that deserves a hand. Kicks Stand
Having recently launched a build kit of the Adidas Originals Superstar shoe, Lego A/S hoped to get its foot in the door with the crowd at ComplexCon, an event that highlights the latest trends in pop culture. So the company created buzz around the biggest sneaker drop of 2021 (literally) with a pair of 13-foot-long shoes built by Jack Morton Worldwide Inc. using 150,000 bricks. And to overcome the audience's notorious skepticism of marketing gimmicks, Lego brought in Lego Master contestants and certified sneakerheads Syreeta Gates and Randall Wilson (a.k.a. Most Incredible) to customize the gigantic pair of kicks with unique Lego designs such as vinyl records and door knocker earrings. The too-cool-for-school community took notice, and Lego earned plenty of street cred.