MG Design Associates has received a prestigious Sizzle Award in EXHIBITOR Magazine’s 18th Annual Sizzle Awards competition, which honors excellence in trade show promotions.
MG was recognized for its integrated marketing theme “What a Great Experience and exhibit that became known as the “MuG” which premiered at EXHIBITORLIVE 2015 in Las Vegas, March 1-5, 2015. MG and The MuG also won Best of Show, Large Booth, at EXHIBITORLIVE 2015 out of 280 participating exhibitors
Established in 1998, the Sizzle Awards competition is judged by marketing experts in a variety of disciplines. Winners are featured in the October issue of EXHIBITOR magazine and are honored at EXHIBITORLIVE, the national conference and exhibition for exhibit and event marketers.
Sizzle’s Integrated Program award highlights a promotional marketing program incorporating the same theme or message in multiple promotion components, such as direct mail, giveaways, presentations, exhibit space, social media, traffic builders, advertising, etc.
“Our exhibit this year wasn’t just any experience,” said Ben Olson, MG’s VP of Marketing, , “We put yo[u] in the center of MG and created The MuG booth, a double-deck functional coffee shop to invite EXHIBITORLIVE attendees in for a great conversation, a great cup of coffee and a great experience. To build the best possible experience meant we needed a powerful integrated marketing campaign to communicate our theme to attendees. It means so much to the entire MG team to be recognized for the sizzle we created for this and every project we create for our clients.”
The MuG featured the kind of clever details that MG is known for. Details such as an MG designer/musician masterfully providing acoustic guitar and vocals (including a custom MG jingle), to the beautiful oversized coffee table books filled with exhibit glamour shots that adorned the tables set among comfy seating and an “exhibit for rent” price tag hanging from the stair’s hand rail.
Authentic coffeehouse elements were incorporated down to the last detail with the creation of a tongue-in-cheek community board where MG’s creative staff designed witty MG-centric takes on traditional bulletin board flyers. Additionally, MG featured a selection of branded items from wearables to home décor items showcased in a retail swag section.
All the elements were and are available online at the MG Design Online Store; www.cafepress.com/mgdesignassoc. And in a new twist on client references, MG invited three current clients to attend EXHIBITORLIVE and spend a day in the MG exhibit to answer any questions that visitors might have from a real-life client perspective. From every aspect, MG brought their message “MG: What a Great Experience!” to life.
MG appealed to all of the senses to draw attendees to The MuG. Most importantly, was smell and taste with the overwhelming aroma of premium coffee coming from the barista stand in the exhibit. The award-winning baristas serving a variety of menu items were from Lemonjellos in Holland, Michigan.
Owners Matt and Lindsay Scott are active in the U.S. Barista Championships and they know their coffee. Matt is both a competitor and an instructor for the Specialty Coffee Association of America. Lindsey is a head judge for the U.S. Barista Championships. They served MG’s guests espresso, café latte, cappuccino, americano, mocha, chai tea, and hot chocolate and were ready for custom coffee orders as well as to talk coffee with any attendee and create that unique coffee experience.
MG served up some of its own advice with a comprehensive contact strategy encompassing pre-show, at-show and post-show communications that resulted in meeting and surpassing their strategic goals, including qualified leads which increased 24 percent from the previous year.
