It has been a long time since I last attended Expo in Vegas. Back then I was a Supplier stuck in a booth scanning badges. Now attending as a Service Provider that put on live content from the show floor, I had more liberty to walk around and check things out. And I am so glad I did because seeing all the creativity has helped refill my marketing cup.
Below are three ways I was able to pull inspiration from the industry’s largest in person show.
Booth Design
Knowing the cuts so many Suppliers had to make over the past three years, it was amazing to see how eye-catching the booths still were! From grand booths that towered in the background to light up archways to creative product displays in a 10x20, everywhere I looked there was something to catch my eye.
How does this now transfer into 2-D marketing? Inspiration! The colors, shapes, textures that I saw have become inspiration for schemes, backgrounds, layouts, etc for flyers, graphics, catalogs, and more. Check out my 2020 article, How To Find Inspiration, for other ways you can turn what you see into marketing.
Team Apparel
This may not seem like much but the graduation of left chest imprints (nothing wrong with that) to full front imprints on brightly colored apparel to unify a company really made my day. I love color and creative use of space, so seeing Suppliers pull from retail designs to brand their promotional company was wonderful. It also makes it a lot easier to identify someone walking down the hall instead of awkwardly staring down at their badge to see what company they’re with.
How does this now transfer into 2-D marketing? Unification! Making your designs across flyers, social media, emails, etc unified will help customers easily recognize your brand.
Content Panels
As a first time Education Session attendee, I enjoyed hearing from others on the more creative side. Kirby Hasseman’s Online Marketing Master Class covered various platforms the panelists use to help them grow their personal and company brands.
PromoCorner held a panel in their booth (and was live streamed) that discussed How To Create Content & Build Your Brand. The four contributors shared how they decided on the type of content they wanted to create, whether or not consistency is king, advice for those starting out with creating content, how to get interactions, and how content has helped build their personal brands. If you missed this, I highly recommend you check it out.
I look forward to seeing the continued evolution of our industry's marketing.