Background

Royal Caribbean Cruises is a global leader in maritime travel and hospitality, known for delivering innovative vacation experiences across international cruise destinations. To maintain a strong brand presence in a competitive industry, the marketing team regularly participates in major commercial events, including annual travel trade show exhibitions. An engaging booth environment is essential to capture the attention of travel agents, corporate partners, and prospective holidaymakers.

In connection with a recent high-profile event, the event organisers wanted a main visual installation which would reflect the brand’s playful yet premium character. The aim of the project was to have a large central feature that would attract a lot of foot traffic through the wide exhibition halls without causing great difficulty in terms of logistics. Standard rigid sculptures and heavy timber displays involve considerable problems concerning freight costs, storage, and the time taken to set them up during busy trade show periods.

In order to deal with these operational limitations while at the same time achieving a strong visual effect, Royal Carribean entered into a partnership with Giant Inflatables. The design team from Giant Inflatables was given the job of creating a lightweight, custom-made inflatable version of the golden duck mascot. The product intended for delivery had to combine technical portability with high-end surface finishes, so as to provide the client with a ready-to-use solution that could be easily deployed at a number of different event locations.

Design and Fabrication

To create the custom inflatable replica it was necessary to carry out precise engineering in order to guarantee both structural integrity and a high standard of visual appearance. The design team started off by studying the 3D modelling data so as to match exactly the brand character’s proportions. Instead of employing ordinary outdoor PVC or nylon materials, the fabrication team chose an airtight, sealed-unit structure which maintains the internal air pressure without the need for a constant power supply or an inflation blower. This method of approach greatly cut down the level of operational noise in the indoor exhibition hall.

In order to give the inflatable model a strong and eye-catching appearance under the lighting in the venue, it was covered with a special type of gold-coloured, stretchable material that resembles leather. The team chose this flexible composite material because of its high degree of surface reflectivity and its smooth, metallic appearance, at the same time keeping the elasticity required for it to inflate without any problems. The panels were carefully cut and shaped to make sure that the metallic fabric stretched uniformly over all the contours and thus avoided any unwanted creases or surface distortion.

The designers on the giant inflatable team included detailed character accessories such as oversized black sunglasses, a sculpted gold crown, and a custom gold chain featuring the anchor logo of Royal Caribbean Cruises. They made sure that each and every detail conformed to the exact corporate brand guidelines and colour specifications.

For the last deployment, the finished giant inflatable replica was placed on a special digital plinth together with dynamic LED screen animations. The combination of the animated digital media underneath the shiny metallic inflatable produced a multi-layered display which made it stand out as a focal point throughout the trade show floor.

Result

The inflatable model proved to be a success from both a commercial and promotional point of view for Royal Caribbean Cruises. It was placed in a prominent position on the animated digital plinth and attracted a great deal of attention, acting as a main photo opportunity for the trade show visitors during the event. Because of its sealed-air construction, the booth was easier for the event staff to manage since there was no need for an electrical blower and the level of operational noise was reduced. The marketing team complimented the way the installation had been carried out, stating that the bright gold display had greatly improved brand visibility and had established a new benchmark for interactive trade show exhibits.