Exhibition Engagement Tools: The Power of Branded Games

Exhibition floors can be overwhelming. How do you make your brand the most memorable moment in a visitor’s day?

A study by the CEIR found that gamification can boost lead generation by up to 40% at trade shows.

Custom-branded exhibition games, if done correctly, can cut through the noise by creating a fun, irresistible interactive engagement. They are a highly effective, low-pressure tool for gathering data, educating prospects, and creating connections.

Human Desire

Games leverage human psychology, our desire for competition, reward, and simple fun. This is why interactive engagement is so powerful at an exhibition stand.

• Emotional Connection: Games instantly lower a visitor's defence mechanism. When people are having fun, they form a positive emotional association with your brand.

  
  

• The Transaction of Attention: You stop asking for a prospect's time; you reward their time with an enjoyable experience.

  
  

• Irresistible Engagement: Interactive exhibits are 52% more likely to make people stop and engage than static booth displays (Source: CEIR).

They are a highly effective, low-pressure tool for gathering data, educating prospects, and creating connections.

The Game's Primary Purpose

Before designing a single pixel, determine the game’s primary goal. A successful exhibition game must deliver genuine value. The "why" dictates the "how."

Ask yourself: What is the central purpose of this experience?

In our previous post, planning immersive experiences for your exhibition booth, we identified the four foundations of a powerful interactive experience: MEMORABLE, COMMUNICATE, COLLECT, and REACH. A successful game design must address at least one of these areas to deliver genuine value.

To summarise:

• MEMORABLE & REACH: The goal is high-volume foot traffic and brand awareness. The game needs to be quick, loud, and visually compelling to maximise your reach.

  
  

• COMMUNICATE & COLLECT: The goal is deep-dive communication and lead collection. The experience should subtly educate visitors while capturing high-quality user insights.

The Blueprint for High Engagement: Keep it Simple

The biggest mistake we see on the exhibition floor is overcomplicating the experience. This causes low engagement rates because busy attendees won't stick around to read a manual. Simple always wins.

• Don't Reinvent the Wheel: Forget creating the next evolution in gaming or being overly clever. Leverage existing mechanics or known classic games. If users can pick the game up instantly because they recognise the elements, you win the crucial battle for their limited time.

  
  

• Time to Play & Complexity: Keep the time to play very short and ensure it's quick to learn. If you are targeting a very focused, highly qualified small group, you can afford a slight increase in complexity, but always be cautious.

Focus	Design Principle	Goal
Speed	30-60 seconds play maximum	Maximise audience flow and reach.
Familiarity	Use classic game mechanics (e.g., matching, stacking, spin-the-wheel)	Instant pickup and low barrier to entry.
Branding	Integrate visual elements and messaging subtly	Maintain brand presence without sacrificing gameplay simplicity.

Integrating Branding & Data Collection

A branded game should feel like a natural extension of your brand. It’s easy to focus completely on brand messaging and lose sight of playability; remember, people don't want to hang around for long.

• Subtle Integration: Integrate branded elements into the messaging, gameplay, and visual elements. Instead of a generic quiz, transform questions into a challenge related to an industry problem your product solves.

  
  

• Data by Design: The very act of playing should feed your data pipeline. A compelling interactive quiz on industry knowledge can reveal a prospect's pain points. An instant win/loss game can capture their contact details in exchange for a prize. This changes the tedious "lead form" into a fun interaction.

  
  

• Targeted vs. Broad Reach: If your goal is broad reach, keep the game universally accessible. If you seek a targeted experience, design the scenario to appeal specifically to that small group, allowing for a slight increase in personalisation and complexity.

Location: Exhibition Booth Design for Play

The games physical position is essential to its success.

1. Drawing the Crowd: Often, you want a game to draw people onto your exhibition booth. Positioning it on the edge or visible from the aisle helps attract the passive audience, encouraging them to switch to active engagement.

   
   

2. Managing the Flow: Ensure you have adequate space for queues and for people to watch. A bottleneck will quickly kill your engagement rate.

   
   

3. The Supporting Cast: Use supporting graphics and structural elements around the game area to communicate additional brand messages or clearly detail the next action for users once the game is finished.

The Human Element

Have one or two people dedicated to manning the game. Their role is to engage, draw people in, and maintain excitement. This person guides new users, answers quick questions, and manages the flow to keep queues moving.

Crucially, they are also responsible for distributing prizes and ensuring that any data collected is seamlessly managed and handed off for follow-up. This person turns a fleeting moment of play into a valuable business interaction.

By focusing on clear objectives, simple mechanics, integrated design, and smart deployment, a custom-branded game becomes your hardest-working salesperson on the exhibition floor.

Author

Sam Allen

Founder

Sam has 19 years of experience in marketing and agency leadership, having founded two agencies and sold one to a Berkshire Hathaway company. He has worked across events and digital marketing, publishing numerous thought leadership articles on platforms such as www.exhibitionnews.uk and www.eventindustrynews.com.