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Key Takeaways Creating emotional experiences draws people to your booth far more effectively than traditional giveaways or promotions.
In an AI-driven marketing world, authentic human moments help brands stand out and build stronger connections.
Every year at major franchise conferences, the same conversation eventually happens among exhibitors.
Someone mentions how slow their booth traffic felt, another questions whether their booth location hurt them, and a third starts wondering whether trade shows are still worth the investment. And eventually someone says it.
“We just didn’t get enough people to our booth.”
Whenever I hear that complaint, I usually ask a simple question: What did you actually do to bring people there? Because the reality is that most booths follow the same predictable formula. A banner, a looping video on a monitor, a stack of brochures and maybe a small giveaway for anyone willing to scan their badge.
In a convention hall filled with hundreds of companies doing the same thing, everything starts to blur together. No one is walking across a crowded exhibition floor for a $10 gift card. At this year’s International Franchise Association (IFA) convention in Las Vegas, our team approached the booth with a different mindset. Instead of focusing on what materials we would display, we focused on what kind of moment we wanted people to experience when they walked by.
So we partnered with a local animal shelter and brought adoptable puppies to the booth.
It’s something we’ve done for three years now, and every time the reaction is immediate. People slow down when they notice them, someone stops to pet a puppy, and within minutes, a small crowd forms as conversations start naturally between strangers. This year, something even better happened.
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