How do you imbue a trade show exhibit with the simple, natural goodness of soup? If you're the Campbell Soup Co., you throw out all the bells and whistles and focus on those two core descriptors: simple and natural. Thanks to designers at Maverick Exhibits, that's exactly what the 150-year-old firm did to serve up its award-winning booth for the Gourmet Food and Wine Show. Campbell hoped to promote its Everyday Gourmet brand via a product-sampling experience. Thus, designers whipped up a deliciously satisfying stand that not only demonstrated the brand's slogan, "Elevate Your Everyday," but also presented an image that was as bold and portable as a container of Campbell's Thai Tomato Coconut blend.

Hailed by one Exhibit Design Awards judge as "the perfect embodiment of the Campbell's tagline," the exhibit paired a cafeteria-style sampling counter on one end and an enclosed food-prep and storage area on the other. But it was the aromatic detail that provided the booth's irresistible allure: hundreds of live basil plants covering the front wall and the area behind the service counter. "Attendees caught the booth's aroma aisles away and were lured to the counter," said Michael Costello, principal at Maverick Exhibits.

Staffers at the counter dished out samples of Tomato Basil Bisque, Thai Tomato Coconut, and Golden Butternut Squash, each variety of which was also featured in the wall-based displays. Designers integrated sample boxes within the basil plants and branded the product showcases with the Everyday Gourmet logo and slogan. In addition, the soup-sampling options were listed on a menu board positioned at one side of the 15-foot-long service counter. Perfectly seasoned with a dash of white subway tiles and topped with a decorative pergola ceiling, the Campbell's booth was both simple and savory. E