Brother USA: NRF 2023 Booth Design
How did Brother USA achieve record engagement at NRF in 2023? They went squatchin’.
Challenge
Attendees to the annual National Retail Federation (NRF) tradeshow in New York City come to be wow-ed. By the city, sure, but primarily by the larger-than-life exhibits from the biggest names in retail. Brother USA went into NRF 2023: Retail’s Big Show with the goal to make as big of a disruption as their larger competitors. They wanted to showcase how four of their unique printer divisions unite to form “one Brother”—a cohesive set of solutions that address the numerous pain points and challenges inherent in the retail space.
SERVICES
- Strategy & Planning
- Trade Show Design
- Experience Design
Solution
To demonstrate how the Brother USA line of printers, labelers, and sewing machines help move more inventory faster, we created a fake brand with real merchandise: Friendly Fanny Packs. Visitors to the booth could pick a pack and follow along as it hit every point in retail journey—from dock, to stock, to sell, and every point in between. At each step, Brother team members put their unique printing solutions to work, giving live product demos within the retail context.
Bonfire Effect provided a full-service approach that covered pre-and post-event initiatives, as well. These services included landing pages, emails, social media content, flyers, postcards, presentations, stickers, button pins, and event photography—ensuring a cohesive and impactful event presence.
About the Squatch…
We navigated around talent and diversity considerations by dressing up one of our own team members as the sasquatch. The gregarious, fun-loving mascot upped the energy and memorability of the exhibit. Attendees stopped for selfies to prove that sasquatch—and end-to-end printing solutions for any retail solution—does exist.
The Effect
Visitors raved. Representatives from major brands became believers in the seamless, unified set of solutions from Brother. And the booth was featured in the NRF 2023 recap video.
Brother experienced their highest-ever engagement at NRF. The “one Brother” retail store approach won several internal awards and re-set the bar for future collaborations between Brother business units.