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 Pig races are a big deal at county fairs, what with all the squealing and cheering and fast-paced piggy action. That's why Azuma Leasing, an Austin, TX-based appliance-leasing company, brought the fun of pig racing to its exhibit at the National Apartment Association show in Las Vegas. But rather than real porkers, Azuma used stuffed mechanical piggies instead. One corner of the company's 10-by-20-foot booth featured a wooden "race track" with five numbered slots measuring roughly 5 feet long. At one end of the track, staffers arranged five different mechanical piglets in daring shades of pink, purple, red, and blue. Every 10 minutes, staffers gathered five contestants from the aisles, luring them in with the chance to win a giant stuffed frog wearing an Azuma-branded T-shirt. Contestants each selected a pig, and after staffers simultaneously switched them on, the race began. As contestants cheered, the pigs plodded their way to the other end - pausing frequently to "oink" along the way. The aisle-side attention getter stopped passersby in their tracks and gave staffers several minutes before and after the activity to explain Azuma's offerings.
 
Attendees who saw the Westone Music Products booth at the International Consumer Electronics Show must have thought they'd happened upon a new kind of air-band competition, complete with two guitarists and a drummer silently wailing away on their instruments. Westone wanted attendees to experience the sound quality of its in-ear monitors, typically worn by on-stage musicians. So it hired three musicians to play in the booth, but did not hook up speakers or amps. Thus, the musicians could hear the music through their monitors, but all attendees heard were sticks tapping on the drum pads and fingers plucking guitar strings. A table in the booth held several pairs of Westone's monitors and a sign that read, "Experience In-Ear Music." When attendees placed the monitors in their ears, they were transported to their very own rock concert, proving that sometimes hearing - not seeing - is believing.
 To attract attention at the Licensing International Expo - while putting the spotlight on its various products - Mattel Inc. built 3-D logos representing its most popular brands using the toys that comprise each respective line. For example, a matte silver Fisher Price logo was built over the top of more than 800 of the colorful, stackable plastic rings that brand is known for, while the Hot Wheels logo incorporated more than 1,000 of the small die-cast toy cars sold by Mattel under the Hot Wheels name. Not only did the textural
appeal of the logos attract attention, but the unexpected inclusion of the actual products that make up each line also had excited attendees whipping out their smartphones, snapping photos, and uploading them to Twitter, Facebook, and Flickr.
 
Turning heads on the trade show floor is one thing, but captivating attendees enough to make them crane their necks is quite another. To bring its "Unlearn" tagline to life at the 2012 International Society for Technology in Education show, PolyVision Corp., a manufacturer of high-tech classroom equipment and interactive white boards, installed its main attraction on the ceiling. A fleet of nine old-fashioned school desks were affixed to truss 18 feet above the company's 40-by-50-foot booth, designed by 3D Exhibits Inc. Ethereal lighting components added a little drama and helped to draw attendees' eyes to the skies. The unusual installation was such a strong visual that the company was able to keep its right-side-up exhibit simple and cost effective. So while the company's vivid display tactics were up in the air, its overall strategy was firmly planted on terra firma.
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At the 2012 Food Marketing Institute show in Dallas, Gatekeeper Systems Inc. staffers donned one-of-a-kind neckties they crafted out of lime-green artificial turf. Made using leftover flooring from an aisle-side display, the peculiar turf ties had little to do with the company's products. But they captured attendees' attention - giving booth staffers the window of opportunity they needed to open a conversation.
Standing out amid the stacks in the press room is among a company's first steps into the publications represented by media reps at a show. So to stand out at EuroShop 2011 while eschewing the hassle of paper press kits, Befair, a student organization representing Fachhochscule Dusseldorf pbsa, placed a stamp and an inkpad in the press room. The stamp contained the Befair logo and a URL, which directed people to photos, videos, blogs, press releases, and more. The clever solution was as whimsical as it was effective, drawing curious media reps who first inspected the stamp, then used it, and surely visited the Befair site to learn more.
 At the Car Care World Expo, Ecolab Inc. did more than just invite attendees to visit its booth - it asked them to give the company a piece of their mind. When people approached the exhibit, they encountered a vibrant overhead banner that read, "If I could make a suggestion," and explained that they could win a free iPad for sharing their thoughts. Interested visitors stepped up to a touchscreen monitor to take a brief attitudinal survey. Ecolab's survey objectives were three-fold: build a database of customers interested in participating in future focus groups, obtain customer feedback to guide product development, and diversify the value of its trade show program by demonstrating that exhibits aren't just about sales leads - they're also a great place to gather data. Ecolab's survey strategy delivered on all three objectives, while reminding clients and prospects that their voice matters.
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