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Expo Editorial:
In Defense of America
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As many of you know, my senior writer Charles Pappas and I recently returned from a visit to Shanghai, China, for the 2010 World Expo. Leading up to our trip, we read several reports vilifying the organizers of the U.S. pavilion. We even posted one story on our microsite, originally published prior to the Opening Ceremony of Expo 2010. The article, by Foreign Policy writer Adam Minter, called the pavilion “a sorry spectacle,” and outlined how the United States “blew it” at the Shanghai Expo. So on the day we were scheduled to tour the pavilion, we were prepared for the worst. I had all but packed a Canadian flag in my briefcase, expecting to be horrified by our home-country pavilion which — according to reports — was both uninspired and over-corporatized.
We began our visit with a brief overview of the pavilion, courtesy of Greg Lombardo and David Jonke of BRC Imagination Arts. We toured the VIP area, event space, and Green roof on the pavilion’s second floor. Our tour then continued inside the pre-show area, an interior lobby-like space where visitors file in and wait to enter the main theater. The people sat and stood in the holding area while American student ambassadors greeted them in fluent Chinese, introducing themselves, cracking jokes, and whatnot. Before long, a brief film called “Overture” was displayed on three large screens. The video is a slightly self-deprecating documentary-like compilation of clips that show American’s trying to welcome visitors to the USA Pavilion in Mandarin.
But it wasn’t the video itself that indicated our visit to the American pavilion was going to defy my initially low expectations — the visitors smiled, laughed, and applauded. Now let me put this into perspective: Charles and I had seen some stunning high-tech presentations featuring 3-D projection, 4-D effects, and all the bells and whistles of a Hollywood blockbuster. But no other video presentation captured the Chinese the way this humble little film did. Audiences in other pavilions stream in and out as if their main goal is to find the next pavilion and get in line as quickly as possible. Here, people stopped, watched, and listened. I was blown away.
The audience remained attentive and engaged throughout the pavilion’s two main presentations: One features American children discussing their dreams for a better world alongside representatives from U.S. businesses outlining what they’re doing to make those dreams a reality. The second tells the story of a young girl who sets out to turn a blighted residential area into a Green space. Without a single word of dialogue, it showcases how her infectious determination brings her community together to realize her goal. Despite the sugary-sweet, Disney-fied message, when the lights came up I was grinning like a teenage girl at a Justin Bieber concert. And I wasn’t alone.
Before leaving the pavilion, attendees streamed through the final area. I had seen photos of this portion of the pavilion, and thought it looked like a sloppy goodnight kiss to all the corporations who sponsored the structure. This was the part I was most prepared to detest. But what I saw were countless attendees lining up to take pictures in front of the various vignettes, interacting with the brands’ displays, and spending time lingering in the space. I couldn’t quite figure out what it was, but the pavilion had somehow hit on something special that resonated with visitors.
So why was the U.S. pavilion successful? It took me a while to ponder this question, but I think it boils down to a few key elements that exhibit and event professionals — the good ones, at least — have been incorporating into their programs for years.
First, just as any good exhibitor takes a look at a show’s demographics before planning his or her strategy, the organizers of the U.S. pavilion identified their expected audience and designed an experience for them. Ninety-five percent of Expo visitors are Chinese, so the fact that Americans were uninspired by the pavilion wasn’t particularly important. Similarly, your exhibit experience must be designed to satisfy and appeal to your target audience, not your company’s CEO or salespeople.
Second, the pavilion’s organizers focused on the attendee experience inside the pavilion as opposed to putting all their eggs in one exterior-design basket. We’re told not to judge a book by its cover, but many Americans judged the U.S. pavilion by its exterior — which, in its defense, is likely among the Greenest structures at Expo 2010. Not every exhibit is designed with the goal of winning an Exhibit Design Award, and Expo pavilions are more than their exterior facades. I’ve visited many beautiful exhibits over the years — exhibits whose exteriors pull me in like tractor beams. But when I get inside, there’s often no experience, no narrative. What the U.S. pavilion arguably lacked in exterior aesthetics, it more than made up for with personality.
The third reason I believe the U.S. pavilion was successful is that its organizers have created an outreach program that is going into Chinese schools, introducing the pavilion’s presentations to a much wider audience, and using that as an opportunity to start a dialogue on the core themes of the pavilion: sustainability, community, innovation, and imagination. Similarly, successful exhibit managers know that in order to truly maximize their companies’ investments at trade shows, they need to reach beyond the registered attendees. Whether through virtual events, show-specific microsites, media and public-relations efforts, or full-fledged road shows, marketers are (or at least should be) considering how to extend the messages and experiences inside their exhibits to clients and prospects that aren’t in attendance.
Finally, and perhaps most brilliantly, unlike many Expo 2010 pavilions, which are staffed almost exclusively by Chinese, the American pavilion is staffed by “student ambassadors.” One of the highlights of attendees’ visits through the pavilion is these young Americans who greet them in fluent Chinese, tell jokes, and put an approachable, charismatic face on our country. Again, this is something smart marketers already know. While there’s certainly a time and place for outsourced talent — including plenty of roles to which professional staffers may be better suited than internal representatives — your staffers are the face of your company. They should personify the values and attributes that make your brand great. When attendees leave your exhibit, you don’t want them just remembering your beautifully designed structure. You want them to remember the people they interacted with, the conversations they had — and you want them to want to do business with you.
As it turns out, I wasn’t the only convert who went into the USA Pavilion a skeptic and left eating a little crow. Adam Minter, the writer who called the pavilion “a sorry spectacle” later visited Expo 2010 and wrote a blog post about how the Chinese audience was transfixed by the American student ambassadors’ linguistic and cultural fluidity. “As I left the pavilion,” wrote Minter, “I raved to my companion about how the young Americans I’d just seen are precisely who and how I would want the USA to represent itself at Expo 2010. Entrepreneurial. Optimistic. Well-educated. Young. Open to China and other cultures. Sense of Humor. Sense of integrity.”
I applaud Minter for coming around — at least in part — to the USA Pavilion, and for having his own integrity to post a favorable review. I hope other journalists who ragged on U.S. organizers had the opportunity to actually visit the pavilion and see that while it might not be the most stunning structure at Expo 2010, and it might not display the most cutting-edge technology or over-the-top conceptual vignettes, it’s extremely successful in its own right. It resonates with its target audience, it communicates a cohesive and appropriate message, and as corny as it might sound, it made this slightly jaded journalist pretty proud to be an American.
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Inside a lobby-like pre-show area, visitors file in and wait to enter the main theater. As they wait, a brief film called “Overture” is displayed on three large screens. This video is a slightly self-deprecating documentary-like compilation of clips that show American’s trying to welcome visitors to the USA Pavilion in Mandarin. |
The second presentation, which includes messages from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and President Barack Obama, features American children discussing their dreams for a better world alongside representatives from U.S. businesses outlining what they’re doing to make those dreams a reality. |
The third presentation inside the USA Pavilion is a 4-D film that tells the story of a young girl who sets out to turn a blighted residential area into a park-like space. Without a single word of dialogue, it showcases how her infectious determination brings her community together to realize her goal. |
This video is a brief interview with Greg Lombardo of BRC Imagination Arts, one of the design firms behind the USA Pavilion. In the video, Lombardo discusses the pavilion’s outreach program and why he thinks the project was so criticized by the American press. |
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Editor’s Note: After this editorial was posted to ExhibitorOnline.com, my editor in chief received a response from Adam Minter. In his e-mail, Minter explained that while impressed by the ambassadors staffing the USA Pavilion, he remains critical of the pavilion in general. In fairness, I agreed to post Minter’s response to our site.
Click here to read his e-mail, along with the response I sent him on November 18, 2010. |
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