Sober Decision-Making
Giving away free alcohol at a hospitality bar is a sure-fire way to draw crowds into a booth. The problem is that exhibitors rarely gain anything meaningful from the traffic builder other than, well, traffic. At the 2023 Enterprise Connect, RingCentral Inc., a provider of cloudbased communication and collaboration services, avoided that problem with the creative help of MSM Inc. by using a very simple requirement that helped them understand why attendees were at the show and how well they knew RingCentral's solutions. A beautiful bar offered afternoon cocktails with themed names such as Good Call and Central Mules. Before attendees could get a drink, they had to use their phones to scan a QR code to provide contact info and complete a brief survey. Once done, they collected a drink of their choice, complete with glowing ice cubes that added a unique aesthetic. The activation resulted in 547 completed surveys in the 15 total hours the booth was open. We'll raise a glass to RingCentral for making a creative and sober marketing decision. Weird Science
Digital typesetting and typeface design company Monotype Imaging Holdings Inc. used 2022 Adobe MAX to collect leads by recreating its own scientific study about people's emotional responses to fonts. Designers and marketers entered a small laboratory, sat in front of a monitor, and donned an EEG-reading wireless headset. After entering their lead-capture information, the monitor displayed the subject's name in various fonts while recording their emotional responses via the EEG headset. At the end, attendees reviewed all their responses — from excitement to relaxation — and then chose one to print out and take home. A Tree Grows in Vegas
At Fabuwood Cabinetry Corp's. stand at the 2023 Kitchen and Bath Industry Show (KBIS), visitors encountered a 43-foot-long tree that looked as if it had just been felled by Paul Bunyan. Made of white oak and weighing roughly 1,000 pounds, the tree was intricately carved with the company's logo, paint cans tinted to promote its latest palette of colors, and even tiny cabinets with carved-wood handles, replicas of the company's product line. Just one of several well-crafted vignettes — including a museum-like display of hand-tooled paintbrushes next to Fabuwood's latest color schemes — the tree was accompanied by a captivating time-lapse video depicting the artisan who sculpted it. Light Literature
Trade show attendees are loath to weigh themselves down with big catalogues detailing the entire lineup of a company's products and services. But people seem willing to snap up postcards. At least that was what design firm Grup Idea bet on at EuroShop 2023. On the bottom half of an exterior wall were four thin shelves that held a series of oversized postcards with photos of its design projects ranging from clothing retail shops to fitness centers. When interested attendees flipped a card over, they found a brief summary of the project, including its location and the services Grup Idea provided — from project management to engineering. Instead of toting around a catalogue, visitors could slip the postcards into their notebooks. Now that's an idea to write home about. Black Box Theater
In 2021, Lucid Motors wanted to build anticipation and excitement for the launch of its Lucid Air EV and its initial public offering (IPO). So under the cover of night, Lucid and its creative partner MC2 built three glass-enclosed boxes at three of the busiest New York city locales — the Vessel in Hudson Yards, the Oculus, and Madison Square Park. The shipping-container sized boxes, which seemed to magically appear in the morning, were covered in an opaque black wrap with the tagline Dream Ahead and a QR code to scan to find out more. Social media lit up with theories about what was underneath. The boxes sat covered for three days, building intrigue, and on the fourth day passersby found the black wrap was removed to reveal the new Lucid Air. People flocked for a look at the new car and raced to get pictures up on social media. Visitors across the board agreed it was an electrifying reveal. Treasure Hunt
Passport programs and prize wheels are mainstays on just about any show floor. OwnBackup, a data protection and recovery service, combined the two at Dreamforce 2022, where it looked to “own” the conference with multiple footprints (with Freeman providing creative and production help). Attendees picked up a “treasure map” brochure and collected stickers by visiting its informal Backyard booth, the more formal informational booth, and — in a move rarely seen — one of the company's keynote or breakout sessions. On the final day of the event, the treasure hunters returned to the outdoor Backyard space to spin a prize wheel for a chance to win premium prizes that included a Peloton Bike, Big Green Egg Smoker, and a Yeti cooler. While everyone won something, OwnBackup found the biggest treasure of them all by generating more than 250 stage-one opportunities. Remaining Neutral
Philips USA, which boasts being carbon neutral since 2020, ensured climate responsibility was a key part of its presence at RSNA (Radiological Society of North America) by making it a focal point at the booth's entrance. Visitors approaching the 190-by-80-foot exhibit encountered a question in bold lettering: “Did you know healthcare systems account for 4.4% of global CO2 emissions?” Attendees punched their Yes or No answer using two buttons beside a vertical monitor that showed a live response graph. Next, staffers asked attendees to place a ball into a bin indicating how they rated their own radiology department's progress. Finally, attendees were asked to share their own thoughts about decarbonizing the industry. After taking about six minutes to learn about and reflect on climate change before even setting foot in Philips' booth, attendees knew that sustainability is a key component of the company's mission.