Hi Tech Tools for your Trade Show Displays
As with most great and innovative business solutions, it’s always easy to wonder, after the fact, how we never thought of it before now. The tech trade show we experienced last weekend at the Los Angeles Convention Center gave us a brilliantly clear idea: trade shows are in our company’s future. (Yeah, I know, people have been doing it for years – but not us!)
The sheer variety of company trade show booths, all with representative banner stands and display stands employing the latest in information technology to unobtrusively inform the eager public, was breathtaking. There was a digital eyewear company that hailed all the way from the Netherlands, with this exceedingly-cool new computer technology that used your eyes as the mouse. The on-board retinal display, once configured, could tell where you were looking by tracking your eye movements and clicking on an icon when you blinked. It was right out of Star Trek; except we didn’t have to leave the planet to experience it. 
All this may not seem like something terrifically new; after all, companies and conventions have been gathering together for quite some time now. But, I assure you, never quite like this.
Many business banner stands had novel technology called QR Codes, which are three-dimensional analogs of the 2-D strip of “Tron”-text you’ve grown used to on a bar code in a retail store. More than once, we approached an empty booth where the company rep had stepped out for a moment, and used our mobile phones to scan the prominently-displayed QR-code. It’s like watching a movie! I mean, it gives you product information, company info – we were greeted by a video message from the company President – and adds you to a mailing list so that you can receive product updates and promotional activities.
Several companies were also utilizing LED name badges.
In addition to the sheer functionality of the convention hall, with all the readily-available information floating about in an organized manner on banner stands and billboard graphics, I was especially mesmerized by the look of the place. Because it was a very public affair, companies pretty much came out dressed-to-impress.
It was almost like there was a second competition going on in addition to vying for our business attention; the booths and trade show exhibits were as elaborate – in most cases – as any contemporary art show you might have been to recently. Impressive, digitally printed trade show graphics in crystal-clear resolution adorned display stands, and graced the cover of overhead banners. There’s little doubt that many companies owed at least some of their traffic to their spectacular look – which shouldn’t be surprising; we all gravitate towards beauty and form.
When my associate and I returned from the trade show to home base, we had to write separate reports on whether we felt our company should allocate some of its marketing budget to that venue, and why. Although I know we both felt the answer to this was an emphatic yes, I’m not sure exactly what my colleague wrote as to her favorite reasons. I couldn’t help but expound on conventions and their trade show displays as the vehicle of the future, because of the ability to bring in traffic and immediately inform them of the company’s objectives and products/services.
With mobile phones such an integral part of our everyday lives today, the ability to learn all you need to know about a service as soon as you encounter it is truly quite priceless. The key to marketing has always been about getting your traffic to stick around. These days, combining new tech tools with the other advantages offered by trade shows, we can combine a great product with an attractive and dynamic message, and then aim it at specific, interested prospects, which gives us all considerably better odds than a shot in the dark!
Check out our companion article for more information on how to integrate technology into your trade show booth.