As trade show attendees begin filling up convention halls once again, organizers can return their focus to creating a top-shelf attendee experience. One route brands continue to explore is trade show sustainability. According to the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry, 73% of event organizers prioritized sustainability before the pandemic. Now? That same number says their companies are taking the steps to continue making it an important initiative.

On a micro scale, the elimination of single-use plastics (straws, bottles, etc.), the reuse of recycled boxes and the embrace of urban gardens, locally sourced produce, and reduced carbon footprints represent tangible efforts toward greener practices. While these steps don’t necessarily pertain to trade show booth design, they’re indicators of a larger commitment by convention centers and trade shows to overall greener operations.

[Article links updated. Originally published on Feb 19, 2020]

Innovative technology solutions have emerged in a number of fields, boosting employee productivity and enhancing the customer experience. In the past 10-plus years of experiential marketing, technology's influence on customer engagement has evolved almost beyond recognition.

Technology now allows customers to experience and evaluate brands on their own terms. That's why experiential marketing is important for building relationships with your audience. 

What now?

That’s a question many brands and event organizers are asking themselves as the fallout of COVID-19 becomes less pronounced. But the answer to that question doesn’t require a lengthy search, especially for brands that hosted hybrid events during the peak of the pandemic.

Circumstances forced many organizers to forgo traditional in-person gatherings and weave virtual elements into those events. This approach helped keep in-person attendees safe and remote visitors engaged, even from the comfort of their own homes.

“Normal” is on an indefinite hiatus.

That’s a reality many people and businesses have had to accept during the coronavirus pandemic. In some ways, we’ve all been forced to redefine the routines and processes that were so essential to our lives as recently as this winter.

But just because the world and the way we operate might look a little different, that doesn’t mean there’s a need to abandon everything familiar. While their services might not completely align with what the public needs right now, forward-thinking businesses must look for gaps that their expertise can fill to stay both useful and relevant during this time.

It’s no surprise that experiential marketing’s popularity has grown. According to an Event Marketer/Mosaic study, 85 percent of consumers buy from a brand after attending one of its events or participating in one of its experiences. On top of that, the same study found that 91 percent of respondents said that positive brand experiences left them with positive feelings about that brand afterward.