Challenge
Cornerstone Building Brands is North America’s largest manufacturer of exterior building products, serving commercial and residential customers across new construction and the repair and remodel markets. International Builders’ Show (IBS) 2023 was the first year the company exhibited as Cornerstone Building Brands following a merger. Cornerstone partnered with Hamilton to create an experience showcasing them as the premier building products manufacturer, encouraging attendees to build the future together. The objective was to authentically share the Cornerstone story by featuring customer solutions, displaying their wide range of brands and products, and creating an environment effective for engaging interactions between Cornerstone staff and attendees. Cornerstone needed to showcase their commitment to being the partner of choice and a progressive force in the industry.
Approach
Deviating from the traditional house-style exhibits on the IBS show floor, Cornerstone’s innovative exhibit design created an incredibly atmospheric and experiential environment. The perimeter highlighted Cornerstone branding, drawing attendees in to interact one-on-one with products and solutions. Digital mediums supported the product displays for each product category, creating an immersive and engaging attendee experience. Highly tailored lighting emphasized Cornerstone products and branding. Hamilton worked with Cornerstone to seamlessly integrate their products into the exhibit, ensuring the product remained the focal point of each area. Cornerstone’s brand and product-focused experience delivered high-level messaging through enticing animated motion graphics and digital messaging. The digital messaging and media were kept simple to feature Cornerstone’s brands, products, and messaging, daily activations within the exhibit, and Cornerstone’s Home for Good project that focuses on giving back to communities. Cornerstone’s in-exhibit activations included a meet-n-greet with HGTV celebrities and the ambassadors for Cornerstone’s siding group, Mastic ™ Siding & Accessories, Dave and Jenny Marrs. They also hosted a happy hour for the show’s last hour, including fully catered wine and beer bars and live performances from country music’s rising stars, Kylie Morgan and Caylee Hammack. Each display, message, and activation within the Cornerstone exhibit helped highlight their products and solutions.
Results
Hamilton worked with Cornerstone to reach their goals by helping them complete current customer and prospect meetings, develop a strong show floor presence, create an easy-to-navigate space, and gather positive brand impressions from the in-exhibit activations. Cornerstone’s attendance at IBS 2023 increased by over 50% from 2022. The exhibit captivated and compelled attendees, helping them garner over 200 significant leads for potential future sales opportunities. For our work with Cornerstone Building Brands, Hamilton received a Gold Hermes Creative Award in the Electronic Media, Social Media, and Interactive Media and Video category for our work on their corporate brand LED walls.
