In December, Exhibitus began a three-part webinar series entitled, Pivot & Thrive. The first webinar focused on RESILIENCE, and what that means to individuals, the exhibit industry and to the many trade show booth design companies. As discussed, exhibitors as well as exhibit companies are all looking for ways to manage through the current economic conditions and come out stronger on the other side as the pandemic subsides.
Over the next several weeks we will share answers from the experts to questions we received from attendees with the goal of providing additional industry insight into the topic of resilience.
Our first insight series installment begins with Matt Beck, Exhibitus’ Creative Director, as he responds to a question about how Exhibitus is working with clients to support their brands given the lack of access to a traditional trade show experience.
Q: Can you give us an instance where you’ve helped a client reinvent the way they promote their brand during this pandemic?
MATT: There are a number of clients who have done just that, but one stands out in my mind. We have a highly motivated client/partner who always is pushing forward to connect with their audience. This is a company whose DNA is about getting face-to-face, shaking hands and looking their customers in the eye.
We learned that their next “show” was going to be held virtually. Thus, as a creative group we were challenged to think about a virtual platform that would help them feel connected to attendees despite the distance. We determined we needed to look for moments in the entire experience where they could have what felt like a “personal” touch.
We created avatars based on actual recordings of staff who would have been in the booth. These avatars showed up much as they would in a live booth, demonstrating the products with which they personally demonstrated and/or sold. With a click, attendees could have a live chat with the person behind the digital avatar.
They also had an integrated game with a leaderboard where you could see who was playing and who was winning.
To pull on the heart strings a bit, we created a digital Mosaic engagement that was activated with the virtual show. Attendees and our client’s staff exchanged stories and testimonials, in real time. Through this experience, you could see where people were located and enjoy a real-time connection. This “around the world” experience proved to be a silver lining of the COVID world.
All of this creativity speaks to the “forced innovation” we currently are up against, but ultimately it allowed this company to explore different technologies and to show features of not only their new product offerings, but also leverage the value of the face-to-face connection they are customed to receiving, reinforcing their resilience.
Stay tuned for upcoming insights from the experts, and be on the lookout for part two of the Pivot & Thrive webinar series focusing on moving forward UNDETERRED!