by Douglas Smolens Douglas Smolens

Case Study: Innovation Line

innovation line case study rendering

Innovation Line - Achieving growth through preparation!!!

Innovation Line has been a supplier in the Advertising Specialty/Promotional Products industry for more than 30 years.  They offer a unique, diverse and well priced product line where “Low Prices, High Standards” are paramount.   Their customer service and sales groups are informed and empowered to make decisions on the spot and act quickly to customer needs in order to give the best service possible. The PPAI Show, largest in their industry, is the perfect place to put that power to work and so the decision was made to invest in a larger booth space.

2017 New Exhibit Design Requirements :

  • Increased booth space from 10 x 20 to 20 x 20 for the 2017 PPAI show. 
  • Display many promotional products in an organized fashion,
  • Keeping the design open and inviting to maximize floor space and product display.   
  • Seating areas to create a more comfortable feeling. 
  • Counters, writing surfaces and display shelves needed to be positioned in such a way to create more floor space.   
  • How to best use vertical space for graphics
  • Decide whether to purchase vs. rent. 

We had listened to what Innovation Line’s issues were and produced several CAD drawings and quotes in a collaborative process that enabled everyone to develop the most.   It was a process of elimination and keeping what we needed through the rounds of renderings and re designs.    Through it all, the team at Innovation Line was communicative about changes until the design met their team’s expectations. 

Image Design came up with an exhibit layout that provided a great deal of shelving along one side of the exhibit and towers at the other two corners that took advantage of otherwise unusable space. This also left the center portion of the booth space open for casual meeting space along with counters to write orders. As a result Innovative Line increased their booth size to 20×30 for the 2018 PPAI show. 

Innovation Line’s booth location on the show floor was also a factor in the final design. The wall on one side had product shelving facing in and a seamless mural graphic facing the rest of the show floor.

Image Design’s Turnkey Rental Program ended up being the right solution for Innovation Line. Their busy staff did not have time to Manage Show Services, shipping, storage, labor as well as place the number of products they showed in the exhibit. Given those factors, purchasing an exhibit for a once a year show was not practical. In the end, the ability to have a reasonably priced exhibit rental at a fixed cost. After their initial investment in graphics, a good deal of them were stored by Image Design for the following year.

The convenience of walking onto the show floor with everything set up and ready to receive Innovation Line’s products paid off! Once set up, sales staff began the show refreshed and ready to greet customers new and old.

Solution:  This was a collaborative effort between both companies.   Innovation Line streamlined product offering to given space within the exhibit and Image designed a 20 x 20 space which utilized a 10 x 20 back wall for display, along with two towers directly on the other side for a cohesive look.  Storage would be counters under back wall with two counters in center.

Results:

  • Keeping the design open and inviting to maximize floor space and product display.   
  • The use of shelving strategically placed within the exhibit was planned out and worked well especially larger items and where lighting was the brightest. 
  • The seating areas were bistro tables with high back chairs to create a more comfortable feeling. 
  • Roomy counters served as both display area and much needed storage
  • Towers were at a 90 degree angle in the front in order to allow it to double for storage or display while the back of the tower was squared with no graphics to close off the exhibit.   
  • Graphics were large format high-resolution images of the Innovation Line awards facing the aisle and logo graphics on each end of the exhibit.
  • Image design worked with Innovation Line on their show forms to make sure they were completed and filed on time for the early bird show discounts. 
  • In 2018, Image Line expanded to 20 x 30 and made minor alterations to the exhibit such as moving the furniture around to accommodate a larger  20 x 30 space.   
  • Rebranding the graphics was easy and seamless
  • We already have notes on the 2019 show that builds on the success.

Before:

After:

Client Feedback

“Thank you so much! Our booth this year again was a complete success…we will most definitely go with this again in 2019.”