Dräger North America

A town built for firefighters

We wanted to create a place that stood out from the hustle and bustle of the convention room floor. Not just a trade show booth, but a community where people work hard so firefighters can breathe easy.

CATEGORY: Experiential Design

CLIENT: Dräger North America

AGENCY: Pennebaker

ROLE: Creative Director, Designer

CREDITS: Shelby Burns, Robert Campbell, Carrie Cash, Michael Cheek, Wolf German, Sophia Lerch, Jeffrey McKay

Dräger manufactures high-quality and innovative safety products with a focus on respiration.

Dräger is known internationally in the mining and medical space. However, their fire segment in the United States lacked the brand awareness and sales the other industries had.

At the end of 2019, Dräger only occupied 6% of the SCBA space in the fire market. So it was definitely a David vs Goliath situation.

The goal was to get firefighters to have an experience with the Dräger brand. We decided the best place to do this was at FDIC. Every April upwards of 75K firefighters, channel partners, and decision-makers descend on Indianapolis for a three-day tradeshow.

This experience was designed to make the attendees feel something, hopefully connecting them to Dräger emotionally. In order to achieve this, we secured a huge spot on the tradeshow floor and threw conventional tradeshow principles out the window. In fact, we changed our mindset altogether. Instead of designing a tradeshow, we created a town. A town built for firefighters.

Countless hours were spent researching small towns across the country while inventing the personality of Drägertown. The town had to be easy-going, safe, and above all comfortable.

Giveaways

Main Street

Drägertown became more of a state of mind than a geographically defined location.

It was a place to take a breather after a long journey. A place that didn’t stand still long enough to be pinned to a map. A place where history never stopped being made and innovations happened daily.

MAGAZINE SPREAD WITH A MAP OF MAIN STREET SHOPS

Drägertown’s focus was on Main Street where you could find shops selling specific Dräger Fire safety products. Light poles with SCBAs lined the esplanade. There was an alley displaying Dräger’s extensive history in safety and breathing. And on the far end of town, a Texas-inspired icehouse complete with a giant windmill that encouraged visitors to “Breathe In and Chill Out”.

Dräger’s Gas Station

Gas detection technology was sold and demoed at Dräger’s Gas Station.

APR Barber Shop

Light respiration products were available to try on alongside a shave and a haircut at the APR Barber Shop.

Dräger Training Gallery

The art gallery featured an exclusive Fire Traning Systems exhibition and some of the classics with a firefighting twist.

Texas icehouse hospitality area

The visitors had a full sensory experience. We created a radio station that played throughout the town, with a barbershop quartet and shop advertisements.

The gas station handed out air fresheners so that you could take the smell of Drägertown with you. The general store handed out old-fashioned candy sure to turn your tongue Dräger blue.

There were t-shirts, a custom deck of playing cards, and lots and lots of hot sauce.