Trade Show Exhibit Themes: Orbit Into Another World

Trade show exhibitors often create magical environments to take you out of the ordinaryand sweep you away to another world. They can be filled with music (The House of Blues found at the Exhibitor Show in Las Vegas), or animals (live African blackfooted penguins at the Magnussen Home Furnishings booth at International Home Furnishings Markets biannual trade show in April ), adventure or just plain fun. Trade show exhibitors often ask why they should create a distinctive theme for their trade show display booth. There are at least three good reasons. Themes set you apart from your competition, stimulate excitement and momentum for your staff, and dramatically increase traffic to your trade show display. Heres a good example: The International Home Furnishing Markets biannual trade show (April ) was spread over million square feet in different buildings with over , attendees. Magnussen Home Furnishing was exhibiting at this giant trade show and their theme was Jazz Age opulence featuring Irving Berlins Puttin on the Ritz with high hats, narrow collars, white spats and lots of dollars. They used pear shaped penguins that looked like sophisticated men in tuxedos as a whimsical tie-in to their trade show theme of elegance. A way to grab attention at this vast exhibit space was to have real penquins (intimately identified with the Magnussen exhibit) seen by thousands of visitors over four days in the by foot eye- level special habitat built in the trade show exhibit lobby. Magnussen enhanced their penguin theme by having their male staff wear tuxedos while their female staff wore white blouses and either black skirts or black slacks. They also hired teenagers dressed as penguins to roam the spacious trade show floor to attract attendees to their trade show display. The fact that there was a Jazz age band playing with glamorous ballroom dancers showing off the ritz also pleased and thrilled attendees at the dramatic , square foot Magnussen exhibit booth. Their jazzy results: a -percent increase in show visitors over the year before. In October , Magnussen tabbed their trade show display theme the Magic of Magnussen. Two magicians in the lobby acted like pied pipers drawing attendees to their trade show booth while performing riveting magic tricks. Magnussen staff handed out decks of playing cards and they had a stuffed bunny popping out of a black hat as a giveaway. Their magical results: about a -percent increase in attendance over the previous year. Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) chose the theme, Break Free at the National Association of Broadcasters show. It hit the right cord for the market that wants to do things differently and think beyond restraints. AMD had five hip actors dressed in business suits wearing -D glasses spread the message of AMD on the trade show floor, the lobby and the trade show displays of their partners. The cool actors gave out entry cards and D glasses to visitors who got to enter a contest to win an AMD processor-powered laptop each day of the show. Result: exceeded their original goal of visitors by %. Remember that by having a theme for your company at your trade show display, you create excitement, focus, and sales. Your trade show themed message becomes a mantra and a hypnotic magnet.