From Trade Show Debut to Powerful Brand Awareness

Prior to partnering with SCORR, Lightship had never exhibited at a trade show. To increase brand awareness, SCORR built a comprehensive strategy to introduce Lightship and create buzz on the trade show floor. Over three years, we continually stayed true to our approach and continued to grow awareness and drive engagement.  

2022 — Crafting a Memorable Brand Introduction

During our first year of trade show strategy, it was imperative to make a memorable first impression.  

For SCOPE, Lightship’s first trade show, we created a LEGO theme. The booth included a live LEGO artist building a large LEGO Lightship to tie to their name and mission, as well as LEGO stress reliever and coffee mug giveaways. SCORR also sourced, designed, and produced their 10×20 booth for use at SCOPE and beyond, including blue LED lights around the perimeter and curved/smooth edges to tie to their branding.  

SCORR also managed Lightship’s strategy for DIA, this time focusing on a “light” theme. We brought one of Lightship’s mobile research units (MRUs) on the show floor and placed the 10×20 booth with light-up furniture directly across the aisle, providing a massive traffic draw. Giveaways included lightsabers and light-up pens, as well as a light-up sound bar for the booth draw.  

The initial SCOPE booth successfully drew attention, especially through the LEGO artist. 125 leads were gathered, and Lightship gained recognition for future trade shows as “the LEGO people from SCOPE.”  

At DIA, Lightship gathered over 450 leads and was thrilled with the results. The team commented, “The show was AMAZING and went so well.” 

2023 — Building Momentum

SCORR continued to manage trade shows for Lightship in 2023; we produced strategic solutions that continued to will help continue to amplify Lightship’s brand awareness. 

For 2023’s trade shows, Lightship implemented a “give back” in lieu of a larger booth giveaway, in line with their people-focused mission. This began with their SCOPE booth, where we supported the Alzheimer’s Association to tie to an Alzheimer’s study Lightship was supporting at the time. We set up an assembly line in-booth for visitors to put together cognitive care kits, including puzzle books, adult coloring books, colored pencils, playing cards, a brain teaser puzzle, and a handout explaining the benefit and impact of the kits. The booth draw was a monetary donation to a charity of the winner’s choosing, continuing in the theme of giving back.  

For DIA, SCORR created a booth that tied to the event location in Boston, as well as calling back to Lightship’s name and encouraging some friendly competition. Lightship’s “Regatta With a Reason” was a custom racing station for paper boats, featuring two lanes of water with a divider. SCORR preassembled and decorated waterproof origami boats that visitors could race against competitors with a handheld fan that doubled as a booth giveaway. Winners were entered into a drawing to win a donation to a charity of their choosing. SCORR also implemented custom enhancements to Lightship’s booth to tie to the theme, including a custom side panel graphic, a shelf to hold premade boats, a “Ready, Set, Row” graphic, a counter to serve as the boat-racing vessel, and flags hung high to capture attention.  

At SCOPE the event created positive buzz on social media. Lightship’s Cofounder, Samantha Eells, commented that this activity was “one of the most successful ones yet. … It was educational, personal, and meaningful for many attendees.”  

Lightship gathered 170 leads at DIA and continued to receive comments from people who remembered the MRU from 2022.  

2024 — Ensuring Continued Awareness

In 2024, we continued to ensure awareness of Lightship that aligns with and builds on previous strategy.

At SCOPE, we aligned Lightship’s booth with the show location of Orlando through a tropical theme. With Jimmy Buffet having passed away the previous year due to skin cancer, we incorporated his memory into the theme and the give-back activity. Lightship hosted a margarita happy hour with branded, light-up, palm tree stem margarita glasses, doubling as a giveaway. The booth featured an assembly line setup where visitors assembled 250 sun protection kits for donation to The Coalition for the Homeless of Central Florida. The kits featured sunscreen, hats, sunglasses, SPF Chapstick, and aloe vera. In lieu of a booth draw, Lightship made a monetary donation to the Skin Cancer Foundation.   

The booth’s margarita happy hour was a hit and reached its 100 servings per day limit on both days. The sun kit activity was also very well received, with multiple people commenting that they appreciated the opportunity to give back. Throughout the event, Lightship gathered approximately 170 leads.  

Over three years of collaborating with Lightship on trade show strategy, SCORR has delivered outstanding results. Visitors consistently remember Lightship from show to show, demonstrating an increase in brand awareness that continues to grow each year.

Are you ready to boost your brand awareness and create an engaging trade show strategy?  

Contact us to discuss our personalized approach