We’ve been really paying attention to tradeshow booth marketing. Manufacturers spend so much money to exhibit at a show but often have no clue that something in the booth reflects poorly on them or isn’t providing the biggest bang for the marketing buck.
Everyone at EASTEC, it seemed, had a screen: big, small, high, low. Once we began paying attention, we quickly began to see what worked and what didn’t.
What follows are three of the better displays we viewed and what we liked about them.
Comco Microblasting Technology
Products: Microblasting Systems
Screen type: Standard iPad
Number of screens: Four
Display type: Video capabilities demonstration
Why we liked it: Each display featured the iPad set horizontally, with a sign above letting you know what the video was about. Each video was approximately a minute long, so you could watch it and start a conversation or move on. More important, the videos had captions. Because tradeshows are incredibly noisy, captioning your videos makes it easy for people to comprehend what they’re watching versus having to listen over the din.
Bonus: What we really liked, however, is that each iPad display was connected to a tray which held the parts featured in the video. You could pick up the parts and feel their smoothness (from being deburred) while watching the video.
Oasis Scientific
Product: Inspection Cameras, Microscopes, Borescopes, etc.
Screen Type: Large Display with Mount
Number of Screens: One
Display Type: Close up of watch gears moving
Why We Liked It: Although not a video, we were particularly struck with this display as it caught our attention. The sales guy had placed a watch under the inspection camera; you could then view the gears working via the large screen. According to the sales guy, the display was a great conversation starter because it succinctly demonstrated the company’s inspection camera capabilities.
Bonus: We like creative solutions. The fact that the sales guy put a working watch under the inspection camera is clever; who doesn’t become somewhat mesmerized watching intricate watch
gears move?
Visit the Oasis Scientific website
Lyndex-Nikken, Inc.
Products: Rotary Tables, Tools
Screen type: Samsung Tablet
Number of screens: One
Display type: Video capabilities demonstration
Why we liked it: This video display caught our attention because it was larger than a standard iPad, but not overwhelmingly huge. We also liked the clutter-free, wire-free setup. The
video included lots of information via captions – which helped showgoers understand what they were viewing.
Bonus: The captions give detailed information: tool holder type, machine RPM, etc. Too often, machining capability videos leave the onus on the viewer to understand what’s going on.
View the video (Hint: Turn down the sound if you share your workspace)
