August 2012

ammunition

When exhibit house MG Design Associates Corp. revamped its website, it was so jazzed about its virtual makeover that the company carried its enthusiasm into EXHIBITOR2012 by settling on a "refresh" theme with the following tagline: "Refresh Your Palate. Refresh Your Palette. Refresh Your Pallet." To connect with attendees about its newfound online image, MG Design served a tasty in-booth treat that directly related to its theme. Booth staffers scooped up three different sorbets, each of which was intended to cleanse attendees' creative palates as they entered the exhibit, much like sorbets are used as palate cleansers during multicourse meals. The delicious delicacies kept attendees coming back for more, as many wanted to try all the flavors (and staffers invited them back to do so). As attendees enjoyed the icy treats, staffers made small talk and mentioned the refresh theme, the new website, and how MG Design could help them take a different approach with their exhibit program. Construction equipment is subjected to the elements on a daily basis, so durability is important. At the 2012 World of Concrete show, Vertex Standard LMR Inc. proved that its VX-450 Series Two-Way Portable Radios are up to the challenge by displaying a pair of the devices inside a branded aquarium. The radios remained fully functional throughout the show. Staffers allowed attendees to pluck the radios from their watery display and test them out to make sure they still worked. The hands-on display/demo hybrid proved Vertex Standard's waterproof claims, illustrating that the units would survive everything from being dropped in a puddle to being drenched in a stormy deluge. To maximize booth traffic and display its food-service storage equipment in the most appropriate light, Storage Products Group LLC chose an ideal exhibit theme - a restaurant complete with an industrial kitchen. With the help of exhibit-design firm LKH&S Inc., the company fashioned an American diner replica inside its 30-by-70-foot booth space at the 2011 North American Association of Food Equipment Manufacturers show. Bedecked with black-and-white-checkered floors, a plush red-leather booth, high-top bar stools, and glowing signs reading "SPG Grill: Expect More," the exhibit attracted attendees like ants to a spilled can of soda. Impressed to see the equipment in a realistic kitchen setting, attendees chatted with sales reps about how SPG could fulfill their storage needs. Reliant Energy Retail Holdings LLC wanted booth visitors at the 2012 International Consumer Electronics Show to recognize the value of electricity in everyday life while also promoting its home-energy services and generating money for two charities. To achieve its goals, Reliant created a "human energy backyard" - a 30-by-25-foot space featuring stationary bikes and an 8-foot-diameter wheel in which attendees could walk. When in operation, the bikes and the wheel tracked watts of electricity generated by participants, and for each minute an attendee produced electrical power, Reliant donated a dollar each to The Boys and Girls Club and Rebuilding Together. In the end, Reliant donated $20,000 ($10,000 to each charity), thereby proving it's possible to generate warm philanthropic fuzzies while powering positive brand buzz.		Wools of New Zealand asked visitors at the 2012 Surfaces show to participate in an unusual in-booth activity: stuffing plush-toy sheep. Attendees were encouraged to grab one of the pint-sized fleecy beasties and take it to a stuffing station, where they filled the toy animal with Romney wool imported from New Zealand. Signage instructed attendees that when making their sheep, they needed to give it a heart and a name. A thumbnail-sized red heart, then, was placed inside the belly of each sheep before visitors sealed them shut by pulling and tying a drawstring. Participants then completed lead forms with their contact information and details about the retail outlets they represented, including whether or not they sold wool products. Attendees were also requested to name their freshly stuffed sheep by noting its moniker on the form. At the end of the three-day show, one lead form was drawn with the winner (who stuffed a sheep named "Shearlie") receiving a life-size sheep sculpture valued at $225 to display at her retail outlet, Cathedral City, CA-based Flooring Innovations. Just about all exhibitors want to "get out of Dodge" as fast as possible after a show. And sometimes that fast exit can mean one less hotel night - including per-diem fees and hotel-room costs - for your staff. So to make sure its staffers don't have to wait for their empty exhibit containers to be returned, ISD Corp. turns its empties into booth furniture. The Fort Meyers, FL-based provider of secure payment-management software and solutions covers its cases with shrouds that match its corporate color scheme. Not only do the shrouded empties make for handy tables, but the minute the show breaks, staffers can pack up and make a break for the door. When your company makes small, thumb-sized flash drives, the challenge is how to call attention to the petite product in a big way. Pexagon Technology Inc., a custom-flash-drive manufacturer, pulled this off with a simple game at the International Society for Technology in Education Show. The company corralled attendees into its 10-by-10-foot booth, where staffers promised them a game that every player was guaranteed to win. The game itself was easy: Attendees snagged a USB from a bowl filled with the devices, then walked down a red carpet to the opposite end of the booth to plug their USB into a computer, which announced what prize the attendee won. There were two cash prizes of $500, and others won dollar-value swag like pens and phone cases. The game doubled as a product demo, putting Pexagon's drives into potential prospects' hands, and requiring them to "play" by trying out the device themselves. As a direct result of the strategy, Pexagon won 1,463 new leads.
		What's The Big Idea? Do you have a clever exhibit-related tip? Did your last exhibit have an über-cool traffic builder? Contact Kelli Billstein at kbillstein@exhibitormagazine.com.