Posted in Tradeshow Technology, Tradeshows Bookmark the permalink. What do you think?

TRADE SHOWS ARE BACK. ARE YOU READY TO ENGAGE YOUR AUDIENCE?

July 15, 2021 at 10:10

We create interactive immersive experiences that connect with your customers and drive new business.

There is a lot of good news out there for the overall health of the economy. Each day, we’re seeing statistics about businesses, manufacturers and the travel industry all showing signs of a strong rapid recovery. This activity is driving a resurgence in our industry – the event and experiential marketing sector. It’s great to see crowds at sporting events and the concert business is ramping up quickly. The next area of rapid growth will be trade shows.

Trade shows are an $11 billion industry, and since 2020 was a lost year for trade shows, there is a significant push to get shows up and running again. Right now, there are literally hundreds of articles about how the trade show business will return and what things will look like in the second half of 2021 and into 2022. After reviewing an extensive amount of information from top publications and industry professionals, there are some common themes that many people seem to agree on. To help save you time, here is a summary of three top trade show predictions for 2021:

Everyone Sees The Importance Of In-Person Attendance At Trade Shows. Without question, virtual meetings, seminars and conferences have been a success for many people and companies over the past year, and everyone will agree this “virtual meeting universe” is now a staple of the new norm. However, there is no denying that live interaction cannot be replaced, and these benefits will bring trade shows roaring back to life.

One recent article outlined three ways live participation at trade shows drive sales:

Continued sales to existing customers (relationships matter).
Sales to new buyers dissatisfied with their current providers.
Buyers attracted to a new offering.

(Read the whole article in Forbes here: https://www.forbes.com/sites/billconerly/2021/03/01/trade-shows-will-regain-importance-after-the-covid-pandemic/?sh=6a989353792e)

Augmented Reality (AR) Mirror

How Trade Shows Look in 2021 Will Be A Mixed Bag of Styles, Sizes and Activities. One of the top industry news sources is The Trade Show News Network. After conducting interviews with several top companies and executives over the past few months, they are making some predictions on how trade shows will look in 2021. Here are 5 key takeaways:

Some Events Won’t Change Much. Industries that rely on tactile experiences and are designed to produce bulk orders will look like past shows.
Exhibitors Need To Move Outside the Box. Many experts see companies expanding their messaging and activities outside of the trade show booth.
Creating A Better Experience Will and Should Be A Key Element. Cookie cutter shows and activities will not be effective anymore. Brands will need be more intentional engaging with their audience.
Crowds Will Be Smaller, But Maybe Better. Travel costs and time will limit some attendee numbers, but those that do go will be more engaged and more likely to sign deals.
Shows Will Regionalize. There could be a shift to smaller regionalized events and not one huge national event. This approach could improve participation for more companies and make networking more effective.

(Here is a link to the full article: https://www.tsnn.com/index.php/news/future-trade-shows-part-i)

This non-touch motion game was a hit with attendees.

Technology will play a bigger roll moving forward. Interactive content and technology have been growing in trade show booths for several years, but most experts expect this trend to accelerate in 2021. Show attendees will have a deeper and more memorable experience with increased use of motion-based displays, augmented reality (AR) elements and immersive virtual reality (VR) content. (Here is a link to a good article about technology at trade shows: https://www.artanddisplay.com/trade-shows-trends-in-2021/)

One thing everyone agrees on is there will be an abundance of trade show activity in the next 12-18 months. Regardless of the size of the show or a brand’s budget, Elation Digital has a proven track record of helping exhibit builders and brands create interactive experiences that engage attendees, increase leads and make lasting memories. Email us at Team@elationdigital to discuss your upcoming event.

Posted in Custom Branded Games, Data Capture, Events, Experiential, Gamification, Interactive Brand Experiences, kiosks, Lead Generation, mobile marketing tours, Multi-Touch, ROI, Strategy, Tradeshow Technology, Uncategorized Bookmark the permalink. What do you think?

Educating Audiences with Infotainment

February 17, 2016 at 09:56

by Chris Rogne

The main goal of many of our clients is education. They want the audience to learn something—this is particularly true for our tradeshow clients but many others as well. Infotainment works well to achieve those goals. What is infotainment? Info from information combined with tainment from entertainment. In essence, it’s a great way to teach information in a unique way.

The most effective way to teach something to someone is to make it fun. Many companies realize this too, which is why gamification is gaining popularity in the work place too, for on-boarding new employees and for ongoing training programs. While we enjoy adding gamification to infotainment experiences, and we do it often, it’s not the right solution for everyone. Some brands like to keep it interesting and interactive but simply want the information to be accessible and engaging. (We do that too!)

By making it interactive, the participant becomes more engaged in the experience. People fall into different types of learners: visual, auditory, reading & writing and kinesthetic (hands-on). Our infotainment solutions can be created to reach all of these different styles and all of the ones we develop will benefit both the visual and the kinesthetic learners. For those that are reading & writing learners, our trivia app adds the question and answer element that those learners crave.

We developed a cool interactive catalog experience to teach attendees about Oil and Gas. Check out our project video.

Learn more about our infotainment and gamification solutions.

We would love to develop a solution that meets your needs. Contact us today.

Elation Digital develops a wide variety of experiential interactive brand experiences and event technologies to draw crowds for tradeshows, events and mobile marketing tours including photo & video activations, custom branded games, social media, data capture, tracking and reporting. Their solutions are perfect for all budget levels from simple solutions to complete integrated campaigns.

Posted in Data Capture, Events, Experiential, Interactive Brand Experiences, Lead Generation, Tradeshow Technology, Uncategorized Bookmark the permalink. What do you think?

Controlling Long Lines at Events

October 15, 2015 at 11:00

by Chris Rogne

Do people wait in line to see your booth attraction? Does it get chaotic and difficult for your brand ambassadors to keep track of who’s next?

There is a solution.

Queue Management—We’ve developed a proprietary app that takes the guesswork out of managing long lines at events and also, additionally, aids in the registration and lead generation process.

The most popular choice is QR codes. Participants enter their information on a branded information screen. Once the data is captured, the QR code is scanned and recorded onto the card.

The participant checks-in for the attraction they are interested in and the brand manager scans the card into the queue system and that person is assigned a place in the order. Easy!

We like to use big screens so the participant can see their place from a distance. We also offer text and email notification. No need to stand around and wait. This increases their enjoyment factor because they can keep track of their place and allows the user to look around your booth! They are not tied down. It increases brand engagement and offers a much better user experience!

We also have to ability to integrate your brand’s videos and images onto the screens. This creates visual interest and engages the audience. Our Queue management system integrates with all of Elation’s other solutions including games, infotainment experiences, contests and more and can track activity of your attendees.

Aside from QR codes, we offer RFID, scanners and other options, as well.

Let us help you control your queue!

Elation Digital develops a wide variety of interactive brand experiences and event technologies to draw crowds for tradeshows, events and mobile marketing tours including photo & video activations, custom branded games, infotainment, social media, data capture, tracking and reporting. Their solutions are perfect for all budget levels from simple solutions to complete integrated campaigns.

Posted in Custom Branded Games, Data Capture, Events, Experiential, kiosks, Lead Generation, mobile marketing tours, Technology, Tradeshow Technology Bookmark the permalink. What do you think?

Which Experiential Technology is Right for You?

September 23, 2015 at 12:02

by Chris Rogne

There are many options when looking to add an interactive experiential technology to your event. Where should you start? How do you choose? Start with your objectives. Ask yourself, “What am trying to accomplish? What are my campaign goals?”

Looking for leads? Sure, that’s top of everyone’s list. How can you accomplish this? Add a technology that people love to do such as a photo or video activation. Choose from animated gifs, slow motion video or simple branded photo solutions. People love getting their picture taken and this is a proven lead generation solution.

Teach something? Have a new product, new enhancements or simply want people to learn about your company? Infotainment solutions might be for you. We offer trivia, surveys, interactive product screens and puzzles to name a few. We can create something exciting that will teach the information you want your audience to learn.

Get people engaged? You want people excited at your event. Custom games generate engagement and create an emotional connection to your brand. People love to compete which elevates the fun and makes it more memorable.

Brand recognition? You want people to know your brand and remember it. Sharing on social media gets your brand attention well beyond the event. All of our solutions are social media ready. Just ask. Many people choose to offer prizes branded with their company logo to help extend the brand after the event. Our spin wheel solution with built-in inventory management helps manage the give-away process.

Another key to experiential success is seamless integration. Our gamification, photo & video, data capture, infotainment, prize management and more are all integrated for our clients. This makes it easier for them to manage only one experiential company and the overall customer experience is much improved. The participant can move from one activation to another with zero effort. Reporting is integrated as well, which makes developing an ROI for your event, even easier.

Elation Digital develops high impact, crowd generating interactive brand experiences and event technologies to draw crowds for tradeshows, events and mobile marketing tours. These solutions include: photo & video activations, custom branded games, infotainment, data capture, tracking and reporting that can easily be shared socially for maximum impact of your brand. Their solutions are perfect for all budget levels from simple activations to complete integrated campaigns.

Posted in Custom Branded Games, Events, Experiential, Interactive Brand Experiences, Tradeshow Technology, Tradeshows, Uncategorized Bookmark the permalink. What do you think?

Prize Management Drives Lead Generation

May 27, 2015 at 08:29

by Chris Rogne

Elation Digital recently finished up another successful event. For this trade show, we worked with Capgemini at Sapphire Now, the SAP conference in Orlando that took place earlier this month. Their goal was to generate leads and collect information from interested attendees in a fun and engaging way. We developed an integrated software solution that scanned the badges of attendees and offered the opportunity to play a spin wheel game for a chance to win a prize. We also incorporated a trivia game to educate visitors about Capgemini. This concept made learning about their company more interesting and gave the salespeople an opportunity to engage with the prospects.

Here’s how it worked:

ATTRACT: An attendee approaches the booth and is enticed to learn more about Capgemini (and possibly win a prize–this always a great booth attractor).

COLLECT: The brand ambassador scanned the badges to collect the lead.

QUALIFY: The addition of a quick survey captures additional important information about the lead.

EDUCATE: As the trivia game gets played, the attendee learns about Capgemini. The brand ambassador is also nearby to share any pertinent information tailored for the visitor based on information gathered during the survey.

ENTERTAIN: Spin to Win! Our prize management system allows booth personnel to add the prizes, quantity, and expected booth traffic times, so that the prizes are inventoried and evenly distributed throughout the show in real time.

WINNER: The attendee finds out what they won!

The Capgemini booth was well received by attendees. Lead generation and product education are two of the main goals most companies have for events and tradeshows. Some marketers fear that giving away prizes do not generate qualified leads. If the interaction between the brand ambassador and the lead is genuine and informative, as it was in this case, it works. We are pleased our integrated interactive solution met the needs of our client.

Posted in Advergames, Custom Branded Games, Data Capture, Events, Experiential, Interactive Brand Experiences, Lead Generation, mobile marketing tours, Multi-Touch, Strategy, Technology, Tradeshow Technology, Uncategorized Bookmark the permalink.

Why Experiential Marketing Works

April 30, 2015 at 12:44

by Chris Rogne

Experiential Marketing is on the rise and we’ve been busy, so it must be true. Marketers are dedicating larger budgets toward incorporating these initiatives into their marketing mix. According to Event Marketer’s Event Track 2014, it’s an increase of 5% and is expected to be higher throughout 2015. It also says that marketers saw an ROI of 5 to 1–that’s 7% higher than the previous year.

But what is it about experiential marketing that makes it so successful? According to Quartz, it’s “an alternative to hard-hitting selling tactics, experiential marketing is fuzzy and abstract—prioritizing delight, touch, wonder, play, and encounter.” This is a great description and these attributes touch upon emotions and emotions are what drive sales!

Experiential marketing can be incorporated into the marketing mix in many ways and with that comes flexibility to develop a successful program. With so many choices, marketers select the solution(s) that best fits their brand and (prospective) customer. As new technologies continue to emerge, the number of options grows: gamification, RFID, custom apps, beacons, wearable technology, infotainment, interactive and immersion experiences—the list goes on.

Marketers are learning that active participation between the customer and these programs is increasing. It’s driving engagement and it’s deepening the emotional connection to the brand through these new and innovative experiential solutions.

Want more information on adding experiential solutions to your next marketing event? Learn more!

Posted in Events, Experiential, Interactive Brand Experiences, Multi-Touch, Tradeshow Technology, Uncategorized Bookmark the permalink.

How Adding Interactive Solutions Can Drive Engagement for Your Next Event

February 17, 2015 at 10:24

by Chris Rogne

Entertaining and engaging an audience with interactive solutions can drive brand awareness, aid in teaching your message and meet your campaign goals. You have a strategy–what is the best way to get the information to your audience? Digital Interactive Solutions.

Here are some examples of how getting your audience involved generates buzz and knowledge about a brand.

Food Bank of NY

The Food Bank of NY put together a program to educate teens so they could learn to make better food choices for their health. Their campaign was #changeonething. The strategy was to teach teens that if they learn to change one thing rather than their entire lifestyle completely, that change would help them make better choices over time. Two games were created for this campaign to help instill these better choices. One was a trivia game where the teens had to answer questions about making food choices. The other was a multi-touch game where food images appeared on screen and users had to choose only the healthy options by touching the correct ones and ignoring the unhealthy choices. This was a great way to disseminate information in a fun and engaging way.

Ministry of Health–Argentina

The Ministry of Health in Argentina wanted to share tips to staying healthy during summer. We developed interactive solutions to engage audiences on the beaches in Buenos Aires. Running in place against a friend, choosing healthy food options and jumping in place to get your heart pumping helped spread their message and were all very successful. These games created excitement and the participants learned while they played. Players also had the opportunity to have their pictures taken and could share these photos socially. Data capture was used so the Ministry of Health could collect email addresses to send news and information to help participants stay healthy.

Twingo

When Renault released Twingo, they wanted to do something special for the launch. We created a Kinect motion game where audiences or individuals could control a Twingo car and maneuver it by the movement of the player’s arms and body–move your arms to the left and the car will move to the left, move arms to the right and the car moves to the right–as it drove through a virtual city collecting points. The game was premiered at Kineopolis Cinema and there, the audience worked together to move the car. Getting the entire audience to move their arms simultaneously to control the car created an exciting experience to launch Twingo.

Deciding to offer solutions for your audience to engage and interact with your brand will leave a more lasting impression than the typical event experience of simply talking about it.

Elation Digital develops a wide variety of interactive brand experiences and event technologies to draw crowds for mobile marketing tours, tradeshows, and events including photo & video activations, custom branded games, social media, data capture, tracking and reporting.

Posted in Events, Experiential, Interactive Brand Experiences, Technology, Tradeshow Technology, Uncategorized Bookmark the permalink.

Why You Should Have Photo Activation At Your Next Event

February 5, 2015 at 11:24

by Chris Rogne

People love capturing memories and photos are one of the best ways to do that. Truth is, people love getting their picture taken. A branded photo opportunity gives attendees a memorable way to keep the experience alive. People of all ages love to share photos whether via email or on their favorite social site: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest and more.

What Photo Activation Can Do For You

• It’s an attraction draw to your booth.
• Participants generate branded user content for you!
• It’s socially viral and your brand will gain even more visibility
• Photos will live on even after the event is over.

What to consider:

• Give them a reason to stop–Make it fun and memorable
• Brand it properly–Use interesting backgrounds, filters, overlays or frames showing off your brand!
• Offer social sharing options¬–Make it easy and they will share!
• On-site print options–Some people just love getting things and your brand looks good in print.

It’s good for your ROI!

Posted in Events, Experiential, Interactive Brand Experiences, Technology, Tradeshow Technology, Tradeshows Bookmark the permalink.

When Tech Trends Don’t Matter

January 27, 2015 at 10:15

by Chris Rogne

There are many exciting technology trends for 2015. We’ve even written about Google Cardboard and Samsung’s 3D Project Beyond. We’ve used Kinect technology to create motion games that generate huge crowds at events and tradeshows for launching new products. But when do these trends not matter? When they don’t meet the goals you’ve set for your campaign.

Be sure when choosing a tech trend for your event, tradeshow or mobile tour, that it meets the specific needs of your goals and brand – not for the sake of being trendy.

Ask Yourself:

What is your audience looking for?
Is it relevant to them?
Is it delivering the content you want your audience to know?
Will it reinforce and amplify your brand?

New tech trends might capture audience attention and be engaging but what will they walk away remembering? Will it be the technology or your message?

Posted in Advergames, Events, Experiential, Interactive Brand Experiences, Multi-Touch, Tradeshow Technology, Uncategorized Bookmark the permalink.

Custom Branded Games

November 11, 2014 at 09:39

by Chris Rogne

Engaging potential customers in a fun interactive way is a great way to generate brand awareness. Elation Digital has developed a repertoire of games with various technologies: touch, motion, interactive, driving, puzzle, and trivia which are fully customizable based on the event, the target market and specific brand campaign goals.

For the launch of LG’s new G-Flex phone, we created a custom branded interactive game that could be deployed to storefronts or inside retail locations. Passers by were attracted by a customized attraction loop that invited them to play an immersive type game using just their body motion

We’ve also developed games for PGA Woman’s Tour, Puma, the Food Bank of NY, AT&T World Cup and more. View our videos and learn how Elation Digital can help you reach your 2015 goals.