The Notorious B.I.G. famously rapped about the ironic plight of mounting problems resulting from increased success. While its experiences aren't exactly the same as those the late hip-hop legend warned against – after all, more money is always good business – Huber Engineered Woods LLC could agree with Biggie in that new challenges may arise from prosperity.

The Charlotte-based building-products manufacturer experienced its own growing pains as it added more brands, each of which came with additional portfolios. Through experience the company found that the more brands it brings to a show floor, the more difficult it is to highlight them in a congruous manner. Things didn't get any easier in 2022, when it brought on its third brand in the run-up to the 2022 International Builders' Show (IBS), one of the most significant trade shows in the construction industry.

For the first time, Huber would be exhibiting three brands under one roof: AdvanTech subfloor assembly, Zip System building enclosures, and Exacor magnesium (MgO) panels – the newest addition to the company. To ensure the new member of the household moved in smoothly, Huber turned to Illinois-based exhibit house 3D Exhibits Inc., a Sparks Marketing company, to help it develop a booth showcasing the three brands in a way that came together rather than fell apart. In addition, the manufacturer wanted to generate at least 4,000 in-booth interactions and prompt 250 leads to request post-show follow-up appointments, a key indicator that they are likely to make a purchase.

Laying the Foundation
But bringing those goals to fruition would require the right combination of interactive demos, engaging presentations, and alluring displays. "Huber is the parent company to one big brand, but many people don't know this," says Kelly Collins, 3D Exhibits' vice president of strategic accounts. "Most people will see the green Zip panels and go, 'I know that product' or recognize the brand's AdvanTech logo because it's been around forever." Since the brands all have their own logos and color schemes, 3D Exhibits and Huber risked developing a disjointed booth if they didn't blend the disparate elements tastefully. To strike the right balance, the two teams first considered that each brand generally targets a different type of customer, then sought to design a booth that both looked good and reached a broader audience comprising all of the brand-specific subgroups. This process led them to develop a sort of panel "art gallery" incorporating the different sheathing and subfloor offerings from all three brands. Each panel would make sense on its own, but when displayed alongside the others would tell a cohesive story.
The gallery would feature five panels – two each for AdvanTech and Zip System and one for Exacor, illustrating a particular strength of that product. But mere panels and logos would do little to win over the hearts and minds of IBS attendees. So 3D Exhibits went further, creating interactive demos to address another challenge Huber has identified at past trade shows and events: Its target audience is typically uneasy when it comes to trying and buying new products. "That is one of the primary reasons that product demos are so important for us specifically," says Stephanie Ruppert, marketing program manager for events and sales enablement at Huber. "We are dealing with a lot of folks that are like, 'Meh, I've been doing it a different way for 25 years. Why do I want to try your newer technology?'"

Construction Zone
After a great deal of hard work and collaboration, IBS 2022 was open for business and Huber had people to impress. Visitors first saw the panel gallery (which nearly spanned the width of the exhibit) when they entered the booth, and that was no accident. In the end, Huber's expertise is in panel manufacturing, so the company led with its strength. The placement also instantly got the message across to visitors that Huber has an expansive portfolio of products, and that there was something for everyone, no matter their needs or expertise.

The gallery highlighted the utility of each system. For example, AdvanTech panels featured waterfalls running over them, demonstrating its products' ability to protect against water. A faux ice display highlighted Zip System's ability to withstand frigid temperatures. And faux flames illustrated Exacor's fire resistance. All the panels sat atop a fake pond underscoring that its products are built for the elements. On the exterior of the large display, Huber arranged accessories related to each product, while the backside featured small handheld assemblies giving builders the chance to see the products in application.

Deeper inside the exhibit, visitors found a series of interactive experiences connected to each separate brand. The largest space, devoted to AdvanTech, featured a stage – appropriately built out of the brand's subflooring – that showcased the product and hosted educational presentations and influencer events throughout the show. On one corner of the stage, a platform allowed visitors to experience how AdvanTech's adhesive adds rigidity to its system. Attendees could step across three sections of subfloor. The first slab was simply laid in place with no fasteners, and it bowed when people stepped on it – an experience Collins likens to stepping on a piano keyboard. The second panel featured Huber's product, but fastened with screws, which was a bit more rigid but still not ideal. Huber secured the third section using its adhesive making it firm and inflexible, as intended. Unsurprisingly, the Goldilocks experience left attendees feeling like the proper application of the AdvanTech system was (as the story goes) "just right."

Next to the stage, the area devoted to Exacor highlighted the MgO panels' fire-resistant and sound-dampening properties. On one side of the space, visitors used an interactive monitor to trigger videos showing off the product's fire-resistance. The other end featured a 2-foot-wide plastic dome, dubbed the Sound Dome, which created a soundscape demonstrating that the system effectively dampens outside noise – a vital consideration for those building properties such as apartment complexes. Finally, the area devoted to Zip System featured a sloped roof clad in the brand's new Peel and Stick Underlayment on the roof. Water continuously flowed down the roof, illustrating its waterproofing and making it both a kinetic and acoustic attention-getter.

To tie everything togeth-er, Huber placed large LED screens at the top of each brand's area that showed B-roll and branded footage of the products, jobsite photos, and related logos. "We've found that kind of silent branding is really attention-grabbing when it's 20 feet in the air and someone can see it as they're walking all the way down the hall," says Ruppert, "so it was a really good way for us to grab attention and pull people in from afar."

If You Build It
Throughout the three-day event, Huber attracted swarms of attendees to its booth. They studied the displays, listened to educational presentations,and reaped the rewards of engaging product demos. "The booth was full of people, with even more in the surrounding aisles," says Collins. "Especially for all the presentations."

But the in-booth water-falls, faux flames, and improvised ice did more than attract and entertain IBS attendees. Collectively, they enabled Huber to successfully showcase its variety of products, while simultaneously demonstrating its superiority, proving its product claims, and strategically winning over attendees who are typically reluctant to embrace new offerings to the market.

Huber provided post-show mailers of product samples to attendees who were interested in trialing a particular product or products. Huber did this, Ruppert says, because its research suggests product trials are one of the best ways to turn someone into a repeat product user.

The 4,000-plus booth interactions Huber had with IBS attendees makes it obvious the company had further cemented its brand as a power-player in the industry. Plus, the follow-up requests it received from those booth visitors gave Huber more reason to be excited. The company's goal was to convince 250 attendees to request post-show communications from its sales team. Instead, Huber blew past that number with 425 unique requests, 70 percent above its original target. And the only problem that presented was keeping the company's sales reps busy for weeks after the show. E