CELEBRATING
A MILESTONE
IN A BIG WAY
It was a big deal for a company that manufactures some of the biggest and best trucks on the road: the 100th anniversary of Kenworth. It’s only fitting that a milestone of this proportion should be celebrated in a big way. The team at Kenworth tapped the mobile design and build expertise of EEI Global to help them create an exhibit to go on the road. Housed inside a special 53-foot trailer, the Kenworth 100th Anniversary Tour and Exhibit would travel far and wide to tell the compelling Kenworth story. EEI was integral to helping them tell it.
SERVICES PROVIDED
- Brand Strategy | Planning | Identity
- Exhibit Fabrication | Engineering | Rental
- Event Marketing | Tours & Road Shows | Trade Shows
- Immersive Digital | Content Development | Film & Motion
- Business Theatre | Meetings | Media Launches
- Graphic Production | Tension Fabric | Digital Printing
JOURNEY THROUGH TIME
The 53-foot trailer Kenworth chose to use for its 100th Anniversary tour had its own history. The trailer had previously served the same function for Kenworth’s 75th birthday celebration tour. This project was initially conceived of as a refresh, but it was soon clear to the EEI team that with 25 years having passed, more was needed to get the trailer and its contents ready for the new mission.
The end goal was for visitors of the exhibit to emerge from the trailer enthralled by the rich history of Kenworth, and to understand how the innovative spirit that began with partners Harry Kent and E.K. Worthington in Seattle in the early 1920’s can be traced to the company’s technology leadership today. The new exhibit takes visitors on a journey through a timeline that flows down one side of the trailer, then loops back around on the other. Throughout, red is used as the highlight color, in a nod to the Kenworth brand. Text is in a crisp white against glossy black. Visitors follow a reader rail to track company milestones. Above the reader rail, collages of vintage photos and fascinating artifacts fill out the story. Chapters in time are marked with angled vertical dividers that reach to the ceiling and create a dramatic cascading effect when you look down the aisle. At the halfway point, a video screen tells the forward-looking aspect of the Kenworth story, with content focused on 2023 and beyond.
Though unseen by visitors, certain functional touches devised by the EEI team were key to the success of the project. For example, a vintage Kenworth truck would be used as an attractor outside the trailer on show days. To make it possible for the truck to ride safely inside the trailer during transport, the EEI team ensured that the chapter dividers could fold in to accommodate the width of the truck. They are easily folded back out for show set up.
With a bold outside wrap that teases what visitors will encounter inside, the Kenworth 100th Anniversary Tour trailer took to the road in March 2023, hauled by the equally impressive Kenworth T680 Signature Edition anniversary truck. With the help of EEI, the folks at Kenworth are thrilled to celebrate their 100th anniversary across many miles.