Trade show creative that earns the walk-up, not just the space
Trade shows & events
Expo West, Sweets & Snacks, Fancy Food Show and the like. Booth to follow-up.
I have stood in a CPG booth at Expo West for a brand people already know, watching who walked past and who stopped. Trade show booth design and creative for a consumer brand is about that ten-foot moment: a buyer with a lanyard and forty booths to see decides from the aisle whether yours is worth the detour. The booth, the graphics, the sample in their hand and the follow-up email the next week all have to be the same brand, built to survive a convention floor.
Who this is for
Consumer packaged goods brands, food and beverage especially, and ecommerce brands making the move to retail, that exhibit at trade shows and need the booth, the graphics and the content done properly. From a first ten-by-ten at a regional show to a full build at Expo West.
What I do for a trade show
In the order a show actually comes together.
- Booth design and graphics: backdrops, counters, hanging signs, floor plans and print-ready files to the show's and the fabricator's specs.
- Displays and sampling: product shelves, shelf talkers, sample trays, tasting cards and the handout a buyer actually keeps.
- Sell sheets, line review decks and the leave-behind, so the conversation at the booth continues on the buyer's desk.
- A pre-show campaign: email and social to retailers and buyers, meeting invites and the landing page that books them.
- On-floor content: photo and short video of the booth, the product and the people, cut for social the same day.
- Post-show follow-up: the email sequence and the recap deck that turn a scanned badge into a meeting.
Why one person
Most booth builders stop at the build, and most design teams have not stood in one at eight in the morning on day one. I spent two years on the marketing side of a multinational food brand team, including the shows, so I have seen what the buyer sees, what the fabricator needs and what breaks. You get that from one person, from the brief to the floor, at a fixed price per show.
Services for this
From the journal
Carter Stoddard, Carterative
