Let's Spoon
The Sweets & Snacks Expo is a marathon of product sampling and giveaways that has marketers grappling to find novel ways to dole out their treats. Barry Callebaut USA LLC, a maker of myriad confections, came up with a tasty – and memorable – tactic that let attendees serve themselves. A double-sided sampling station near the aisle featured dozens of spoons, the handles of which were bent in a way that allowed them to be securely screwed to a roughly 3-by-3-foot vertical substrate. The bowl of each piece of tableware held a bite-size treat that passersby were free to grab, and staffers were able to quickly and easily restock the display throughout each day of the show. Graphic Detail
Data sharing is a compelling form of storytelling if done well. Take Rubbermaid Commercial Products, a Newell Brands Inc. company, which was promoting a wide range of offerings at ISSA Show North America, a cleaning-industry expo. Rather than fill their exhibit with massive imagery, marketers used straightforward infographics to tell their story. Each product zone featured a freestanding hard-panel "wall" with a tightly edited assortment of charts, stats, and facts explaining how Rubbermaid's wares address industry and user pain points. For example, the graphic element shown here conveyed how effective the company's three-stream waste bins are at improving landfill-diversion rates. Van-tastic Voyage
Shipping and labor costs are negligible when your exhibit already has four wheels, can get itself to the venue, and doesn't require an install crew. Such was the approach taken by SPJ Lighting Inc., a company specializing in architectural-landscape and outdoor-lighting solutions, which rolled onto the LightFair show floor in a Dodge Ram ProMaster van that it uses as a mobile office. Reps simply slid open the branded vehicle's side door and invited visitors inside the wood-trimmed interior where they could check out case studies of the company's work on a mounted monitor. Candy Crush
Marketing experts argue that humor is an underutilized strategy for making experiences and activations memorable. Perhaps that's why this charming product demo from Weldon Machine Tool Inc. (dba Weldon Solutions) at the International Manufacturing Technology Show (IMTS) was so popular. To highlight its custom automation services, the company employed Milton the Candy Bot, a pick-and-place robot programmed with a serious funny bone. After using a touchscreen to select one of four types of chocolate bars, attendees watched as Milton surveyed the candy-laden conveyor belt in front of him. Sometimes delighting onlookers by appearing to select the wrong bar, Milton eventually picked up the right one and playfully vacillated between dropping it down one of two dispensing chutes. As attendees collected their candy, Milton held up a sign saying "Enjoy the Show!" before resetting himself for the next guest. Visitors left with a treat, a laugh, and a clear idea of Weldon's capabilities. X-Ray Vision
It can be tricky to convey your product's key differentiators on the trade show floor, especially if many of them are invisible to the naked eye. Such was the challenge faced by Mercedes-Benz USA LLC at the 2019 International Consumer Electronics Show. The company was educating attendees on the internal components that make its EQC autos superior to competitors' makes and models. So to provide booth visitors with literal insight into its newest battery-powered electric vehicle, Mercedes-Benz positioned a pair of kinetic monitors in front of a white EQC displayed inside its booth. The screens, which slid along floor-mounted tracks, gave guests an X-ray view of the auto's internal elements as on-screen content – a little multimedia magic – caught the attention of passersby and underscored key features that otherwise may have been lost on attendees. Off the Chain
When it comes to branded headers, "subtle" and "refined" rarely enter the vocabulary. But perhaps that's precisely why this rigged element from D&B Audiotechnik GmbH & Co. KG turned heads at Integrated Systems Europe. Hundreds of strands of thin silver chain softly reflected the light coming from overhead LEDs. Meanwhile, precisely placed black links outlined the shapes in D&B's geometric logo. Frame of Mind
SEG Systems LLC, a maker of lightboxes, frames, merchandise displays, and other retail wares, turned more than a few heads with its inspired product display at RetailX (now known as the Retail Innovation Conference & Expo). Both side walls of SEG's rectangular stand were essentially massive open frames that contained samples of the company's aluminum extrusions. But these were no stale showcases. Rather, the extrusions were mounted to all four sides of the side-wall frames at various angles, resulting in an arresting composition that nodded to M.C. Escher's angular illusions. Hanging in the middle of each assemblage was a rotating 3-D cube that glowed with an even, hypnotic intensity and further reinforced SEG's design and fabrication capabilities.