EXHIBITORLIVE is coming up this weekend! While I won’t be in attendance this year at what we call the “trade show for trade shows” (we’re fortunately too busy for us to do so), I wanted to point out a trend I see developing for trade shows. That is a vastly expanded use of digital (web based and apps) accessories specifically to benefit trade show exhibitors.
EXHIBITORLIVE puts out their “New Product Showcase” which allows companies to highlight their latest and greatest. Scrolling through this, it jumped out to me that most of the new solutions aren’t physical products, but many digital aides and other various technologies. Our friends at Exhibitforce , who have long provided the software for our asset management system and are truly the leaders in this space, have a variety of new applications to benefit exhibitors. For instance, their “Metrics” program provides digital tools to help measure all aspects of an event and determine success.
Additional digital functions beyond asset management and metrics are geared toward lead retrieval, content delivery, in-booth engagement, logistics and a handful of options to enhance hybrid and virtual events. These will allow our clients to use their phones and ipads in place of shirts, giveaways, brochures and computers. It will help exhibitors with organization and cut down on some of their time demands and frustrations.
We’re all for lessening the burdens of the back-end of events to allow clients to focus on their trade shows instead. That made Tive’s 5g tracking device for freight jump out to us. “…unlike competitors that only track location and temperature, Tive trackers’ shock sensor can immediately alert shippers if packages are opened, dropped, or mishandled, and allow users to pinpoint when in the crate’s journey the damage occurred.” Wow! Anyone who has dealt with freight issues knows how great this product is.
New technologies typically steal the show at EXHIBITORLIVE. Outside of what has been mentioned above there are advancements in virtual and augmented realities, and other technologies that help to offer ways to highlight products that cannot be shown in-person.
A final non-digital trend to keep an eye on is new mobile marketing options. Trailers, shipping containers and other portable ways to create pop-up shops and outdoor executions that go well beyond the built-out trailers of old. Now the designs provide a more polished, permanent look, but maintain the portability. Take a look at CGS’ new Architecture Series Drop Trailer in the video below:
This along with the beMatrix pop-in, Gorillacube among others are starting to bring a new space to life. The post-pandemic world will likely demand more engagements of this nature, so certainly a trend to monitor.
Sorry, I won’t be attending EXHIBITORLIVE this year, but excited about the new trends. Are you going? If so, let me know what caught your eye!