Eat with your eyes--how snack brands are standing out at events.

C-store + snack brands know better than anyone that people eat with their eyes, so the floor is sure to be flooded with glitz, glam, and samples. Brainstorming ways to stand out on the snack shelf is our specialty, especially when the shelf is the size of a convention hall.

How are you going to be highlighting your products on the floor? Are you trading samples of goodies for lead information? Gamifying your brand to get people engaged? Getting someone to grab a bag of chips when they’re hungry is a different beast than trying to engage a chain buyer when they’re overwhelmed with information.

With marketing to customers, there is an understanding that they’re already looking for your product. At a Trade Show, you have to sell yourself and your brand to ensure that you become the product people look for.?

Easy ways to make this happen include bright and big displays, LEDs to use motion to your advantage, and highlight larger than life promotions and ideas. Add to the impact of your packaging by making a life sized version on a banner, or allow people to dive inside the bag with an interactive media kit to explore the ingredients. Use games to trade lead data for samples, allowing your team to follow up on clients who are now super excited about your product.

I can’t wait to see what innovations exhibitors are bringing to the floor at the NACS this October–as the office’s resident snack queen, I’m planning on taste testing my way through–but only if their display is dynamic enough ;)