Trade Show Technology
Face-Off
With so many options to choose from in the
ever-evolving tech toolbox, it’s enough to make
a trade show marketer’s head spin!
From interactive product demos to innovative
mobile apps and beyond, there’s a surplus of
technologies that can be used to:
•
Reinforce brand messaging and convey your
company’s value
•
Generate onsite buzz and draw attendees to your
booth
•
Increase leads, sales, and overall engagement on
the bustling trade show floor
But how can you identify whether
these tech tools will work for you?
Live Marketing has put
some of the hottest trade
show technologies
head-to-head for the
ultimate
technology face-off.
Use this guide to spark
inspiration, help you
manage your
decision-making process…and choose
which reigns supreme!
Let’s get started!
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Augmented Reality
Projection Mapping
• Brings brand and in-booth experience to life
• Highly interactive for maximum attendee participation
• Cost effective and easy to implement with emerging DIY apps such as Layar, Aurasma, and Augment
• Draws attention and generates buzz for a major booth “wow” factor • Creates memorability for attendees • Allows for incredible flexibility—can
easily display many different visuals on any surface or structure
ROUND ONE:
Although projection mapping brings the “WOW” to create a
breathtakingly memorable trade show experience,
augmented
reality inches past for the win with its interactivity, flexible DIY
capability, and lower-cost nature.
Trade Show Technology
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• Supporting technology is still evolving • Steep learning curve
• This technology should match your booth program’s objectives and needs to be more than a gimmick!
• Can be expensive
• Needs a strategy to make it pay off • Requires a dark or dimly-lit setting in
order to see the visual masterpiece— may not be ideal for certain shows
PROS
Seemingly transforms objects or environments by overlaying an image on an object’s surface with light. Projection mapping’s effective use of
shadows and highlighting, combined with artfully taking advantage of the object being transformed makes for the most dynamic use of the
technology.
CONS
FRONT-
RUNNER
A way of viewing digital information which has been superimposed—or augmented—onto a live view of the physical, real-world environment around you. Many industries employ augmented reality technology to enhance their own trade show booth programs by creating compelling interactive experiences.
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RFID
NFC
• Easy to use, especially on trade show floor • Durable—can function in harsh environments • Tags available in different shapes and sizes • Direct physical contact between the tags
and reader is not required
• Very intuitive—interactions require no more than a simple touch
• Attendee-controlled activity
• Versatile—appropriate for a broad range of industries
• Flexible—can be embedded into a badge, signage, and more
ROUND TWO:
• High cost! (depending on size of company and size of integration)
• Security risks—losing an NFC-enabled device could mean loss of confidential info
• Has the shortest range among radio frequency technologies
More and more smartphones are becoming available with NFC already
built in, which will completely eliminate the need for RFID tags!
NFC is
quickly emerging as a faster and more far-reaching counterpart to
RFID.
PROS
Long touted as the "next big thing", NFC, or near field communication, might finally be coming into its own. NFC has many of its roots in RFID, enabling mobile devices to send or exchange data immediately when in close proximity and allowing attendees to trigger their own
experiences.
Trade Show Technology
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CONS
• High cost!
• Low security—need to encrypt sensitive data for the trade show floor (which is costly) • Negative perception among attendees that
the technology is too invasive
• Tags can only be read within a specified range—interference issues on the show floor
RFID, or radio-frequency identification, is a tracking system similar to bar code identification using a small chip that provides a unique identifier for an object. More and more marketers are now using RFID to recognize and track attendees, as well as trigger personalized experiences on the go.
FRONT-
RUNNER
Share the Face-OffVine
• Extremely simple interface • Looping video
• Faster load time for the show floor • Embedding capability for leveraging Vine
onsite to online
ROUND THREE:
• No editing capability
• No stabilization mode for shaky videos
• Time constraint—only 6 seconds of footage allowed
• Smaller user base
While the animated GIF-like appeal of Vine is perfect for capturing
quick and easy snapshots,
Instagram proves the victor with its
already well-established presence in the social media world and its
dual ability to support both photo and video components.
PROS
Originally coined the “Instagram for video”, micro-video service Vine has gained incredible popularity since it launched at the start of 2013. Another way to capture a snapshot of trade show experiences, this hot video-sharing app allows users to create six-second looping videos—
currently the most shared video links on Twitter.
CONS
Trade Show Technology
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• Low sharing behavior outside of Instagram platform
• No looping video capability
• 15 second videos result in occasional lag in load time—potential issue on the show floor According to Simply Measured, 67% of top brands are now using Instagram, reaching more than 100 million active monthly users—a 500% increase in users since last year alone! Instagram allows users to capture beautiful moments in life via photo and video, and stylize them with an assortment of filters, bringing a trade show experience to life.
FRONT-
RUNNER
• Both photo and video capability (up to 15 seconds of event footage) with custom filters for each
• Cinema Mode to help stabilize shaky video (iPhone only)
• Embedding capability for leveraging photo and video online
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OLED
Digital Signage
Thanks to their much lighter profiles, brightness, and power efficiency, OLED, which stands for organic light-emitting diode, is a new, cutting edge display technology that promises to deliver a thin, power-efficient, and crisp appearance.
• High quality
• Bendable and lightweight
• Produces its own light—much better viewing angles for large crowds
• Versatile and can serve a variety of
purposes (video screen, light source, large or small format, etc.)
• Interactive, effective booth attract • High capacity for content-rich enhanced
experiences
• Opportunity for attendee segmentation • Eco-friendly (if LED-based, offers nearly
completely recyclable product/50% reuse of materials and reduced power consumption)
ROUND FOUR:
• Technology needs an attendee engagement strategy behind it • High-maintenance
• Complex to implement—not for the time-sensitive booth program
• No power in your booth, no display!
While OLEDs are the wave of the future,
digital signage allows for
complex layers of content that can up-level your program strategy
and maximize your technology investment.
PROS
Interactive, moving digital signage often involves using multiple screens to deliver targeted messages in an exciting and
unexpected way. When used thoughtfully, this modern-day visual data display can leave a lasting impression on the trade show floor.
• Very expensive cost of production • Sensitive to water—even the slightest
contact can permanently damage the display!
• Traditional OLEDs usually only a lifespan of 5,000 hours (that’s 10,000 hours lower than LCDs!)
Trade Show Technology
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CONS
FRONT-
RUNNER
Share the Face-OffGoogle Glass
InteraXon’s MUSE
• Very high-tech • A lot of buzz • Memorable
• Opportunity for more activity because it’s hands-free
ROUND FIVE:
• It’s not a mind reader—it measures mental states such as calmness or attention
• Technology is in its pre-infancy— prototype has been developed and tested, but it won’t be available until late-2013
It’s a tie! Both technologies are still in the testing and refining
process, but between a hyper-interactive pair of glasses and a sleek,
mind-controlling headband, the future possibilities for innovative
programs in the trade show industry seem endless!
PROS
Measuring your brainwaves in real-time, Muse has been touted as a piece of headgear that translates your brainwaves into instructions to interact with digital content. It also shows how well your brain is performing, allowing you to “control games, reduce stress, improve memory and concentration, and eventually control devices directly with your mind.”
• Information overload—could get distracting
• Expensive—cost upwards toward $1600 • Technology in its infancy (developer
versions have been released, but won’t officially launch until early 2014)—have a plan B!
Trade Show Technology
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There’s been a lot of buzz around this little pair of glasses that provide hands-free interactions
alongside smartphone-like features. Early previews help trade show marketers imagine the possibilities for Google Glass to greatly enhance user
experiences with the promise to put wearers in the center of the action, delivering extremely targeted audio and visual info.
CONS
• Extremely high-tech • Ultra cool factor
• Easy to tie into medical messaging • Cost is relatively low at $199.99
FRONT-
RUNNER
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Want even more ideas on how to
tech it
to the top
with your next trade show
program?
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