Step 5: Home is Where the Booth Is
In step two, we explored the process of coming up with a realistic budget for a new tradeshow booth. Let’s now turn to the various elements that make your new booth attractive, creative, and (most important) functional.
BRAND
Let’s start with the brand. Your booth should convey, at a glance, the look and feel of your brand. When a visitor sees your booth at the show, it should evoke a visceral reaction at first glance, based on the branding, materials, colors, and products on display. So how is that accomplished?
Let’s explore booth branding on a midsize scale with Wally, our head of business
development at Pharaoh. After six years presiding over a 20' x 20' booth that was bursting at the seams, the company decided to commit to a new, larger booth. According to Wally, the boss didn’t like the way the space grew, but the old booth didn’t look right in the larger space.
“We found that even though we had a larger space, the overall look and feel of the booth was becoming disjointed,” said
Wally.
“What options did you look at for the larger space?”
“The first option was to go back to our original designer and explore the idea of making adjustments to the old booth by adding new pieces. It quickly became clear that we’d spend a good chunk of money, but still have most of the old booth and a few new
pieces.
“So the second option was to design a new booth from the ground up. It was clear early on that this was a much more attractive prospect, even though the cost was more,” said Wally. “So we got to work with our longtime exhibit company. They had a new designer who, even though he was new to us, was very familiar with our brand.”
“I’d agree,” I said.
“Generally, it takes a good designer who understands your company. Even if a designer doesn’t know anything about your company, he or she’ll want to spend time steeping him/-/herself in the company’s advertising, products, branding, and interaction on various social media outlets.”
“When we sat down with the new designer, to his credit, he asked a lot of good questions,” explained Wally. “He asked if we could
provide a one-page description that discussed look, feel, function, potential building materials, colors, meeting space requirements, storage, and even what products we thought we’d be promoting. Pretty easy for us to do, but I like the depth of detail he requested.”
“Kind of like putting together an RFP [request for proposal] even though you’d already chosen a designer and exhibit fabricator, correct?” I
asked.
“Exactly. When we did our first island booth several years ago, that’s exactly what we did. We assembled an RFP and asked five companies to respond. From there, our current company offered the best response.”
How do you accomplish the creation of a tradeshow booth that represents your brand to a
tee?
For some, that’s a natural wood look. For others, it means a high-tech look straight out of Star Trek. That doesn’t mean that a rootsy, earth mama brand couldn’t host an aluminum structure with fabric graphics. Those decisions are typically made through detailed conversations with a three-dimensional (3-D) booth designer, the company’s marketing team, and an exhibit fabricator. Still, the goal
should be that when a visitor sees the booth and the company’s name, it evokes a feeling that is in congruence with what the company wants the visitor to feel. If it does not, somebody messed up.
An exhibit designer may be an accomplished 3-D designer, but not necessarily someone who is good at graphic design. Good graphic designers, meanwhile, don’t necessarily have the skills to design a 3-D booth,
which must take into consideration height, depth, traffic flow, shipping, setup and dismantle considerations, and more. And a good 3-D exhibit designer doesn’t necessarily have the skills to design your booth graphics. These are two specialized skills, and you’ll be better off working with separate designers for each.
Let’s showcase an actual exhibitor, Rooibee Red Tea, to show how the process might work.
Creative director Zachary Anderson was kind enough to discuss the company’s approach to tradeshow marketing and share details of its approach.
For Rooibee Red Tea, showcasing the extensive heritage of the product was critical. At Expo West, they tea-bag dyed their foam floor, which was white. The tea dye was in the shape of the continent of Africa, which is where their tea is grown.
As Anderson explained, even though the tea is grown in Africa, it’s brewed and packaged in Kentucky. The image on the floor is meant to show that “this is something exotic. We want to have some of those rustic roots come through.”
In their 10' x 10' booth, the impact comes not so much from the booth, but from what they do in the booth. “We ask
ourselves,” Anderson relates, “‘How can I make a bigger impact with the booth that I have?’ Is everything being utilized to its full potential? What are you doing that is going to display your story to its fullest?”
For an independent brand, a tradeshow is a significant and important investment and, as Anderson says, “Knowing how to make the biggest impact in the space is very important.”
GRAPHICS
Most people don’t think of their tradeshow graphics as being tasked with specific functions, but that’s what is going on.
Imagine you’re a tradeshow visitor. You have a couple of hours to walk the floor, and you’re on the lookout
for products to stock in your store or offer to your customers. You’re walking at a decent pace, which means that each booth gets anywhere from three to seven seconds of your attention at best.
Three to seven seconds—at best. It’s probably more like one to three seconds.
From an exhibitor’s standpoint, this can be a big pain. If you don’t clearly
and quickly convey your company and product’s messaging, you lose any chance to capture the attention of attendees.
The solution? Your graphics messaging must clearly communicate several items at a glance. The graphics are the most visually important part of your booth. Yes, you might have an attractive booth, but if the messaging is unclear, that attractiveness doesn’t count for much.
Now that you know how important it is for your messaging to be clear, let’s look at exactly what that means.
The messaging should do the following:
1. Attract attention.
2. Create intrigue or curiosity.
3.
Qualify and/or disqualify visitors quickly.
Your graphic messaging should be planned. That means creating a graphics hierarchy that forces a natural progression of eye contact from higher to lower and left to right.
People will normally see something large, colorful, and high first, and then move on to the next lower and smaller item. A good designer will design
your graphics accordingly.
If the graphics are doing their job, attendees will quickly and clearly see the intended message, which will either attract them because it’s a potential match or repel them if it’s not a match.
This means the hierarchy works like this:
1. Company Name or Logo (large and at the
top)
2. Positioning Statement or Bold Challenge (smaller and second from the top)
3. Supporting Statement (smallest and at or below eye level)
However, if your company is not well known, this typical hierarchy might change a bit:
1. Bold Statement
or Challenging Question
2. Company Name or Logo
3. Supporting Statement
On rare occasions, the company name might drop all the way to third place, that is, if it’s an unknown company or if the company name is really insignificant:
1. Bold Statement or Challenging
Question
2. Supporting Statement
3. Company Name or Logo
If your product or brand is more important or more recognizable than the company name, the hierarchy might look like this:
1. Brand
2. Tag Line or Positioning
Statement
3. Supporting Statement
No one-size-fits-all approach for graphics on tradeshow booths covers all companies or situations. Instead, your goals, products, and objectives should determine how the graphic hierarchy is displayed. The main thing to remember is that visitors pass booths quickly, and they all become a blur. Imagine your booth is a freeway
billboard and you have just a few quick seconds to catch someone’s attention.
Let’s return to the idea of qualifying and/or disqualifying a visitor from stopping at the booth with a simple message.
If your message is too generic, you’ll attract people who don’t fully understand your business. For instance, if the key
message says “We Solve Business Problems,” a visitor will think it’s too bland and won’t enter; they may misunderstand the problem you are solving.
On the other hand, “We Solve Large Shipping Problems with Instant Consultation” is clear. Your visitors will know what you do, and they will know right away if they are potential customers. Remember, people hate to be sold to, but they love to buy. If your
positioning statement grabs attendees with a pointed and pertinent statement or bold question, they will slow down and consider stopping at the booth.
If the attendee is a shipping manager with daily shipping challenges, he or she will feel compelled to enter the booth to learn more. If attendees have nothing to do with shipping at their company, they will keep on moving.
By creating a specific selling statement, you’ve steered traffic either to or away from you. Once an attendee is self-selected, he or she will be easier to start a conversation with, by asking something like “Do you handle shipping for your company?”
BOOTH FUNCTION
When transitioning from a 10’ x 10' exhibit to a larger island, function must be carefully determined. Show goals and objectives, the number of booth staff, and how you want to interact with visitors will determine function.
For example, if you’re conducting product demonstrations, you’ll need a booth big enough to accommodate the presenter or demonstrator and a
small audience. If you’re sampling edibles, on the other hand, perhaps all you’ll need is an easy-to-reach sampling table.
Every booth is different, every show is different, and every company’s goals and objectives are different. Other questions to settle are as follow:
• Do you have enough storage?
• How many meeting areas do you need?
• Should the meeting areas be completely private or only semiprivate?
• What products and/or services are you promoting at this show?
• Do you need video monitors or an iPad kiosk to help
visitors interact?
Those needs can be determined by the experience you’ve had at past shows as well as conversations with your exhibit staff.
And no matter which functions you detail and prepare for in your booth, chances are good that once you’ve lived in the booth for a few days, you’ll notice things that need to be
changed for the next time. For example, a company had a 20' x 30' booth built that included a meeting space for its clients. One end of the booth, about an 8' x 20' space, initially was a covered meeting area, inaccessible to the casual visitor. After exhibiting in the booth just twice, it became apparent that client meetings weren’t happening as often as anticipated. However, booth staffers did find it to be a quick and easy place to rest for a few moments. Those few moments soon turned into
many minutes. Eventually, the covered meeting area was removed, and the space became better utilized for product display and visitor interaction.
Booth function also includes storage, meeting areas, and traffic flow. When planning a booth, you’ll want to take these issues into account. That’s not to say that they’re often—or ever—overlooked, but it’s not out of the ordinary for their costs to be
miscalculated.
Storage: At minimum, you’ll have to provide storage for personal items such as coats, purses, briefcases, laptops, and more. You may also need storage space for product display and more depending on your company’s goals. Do you have enough space? Make sure you have enough, but don’t overdo it! Space is at a premium at tradeshows, and every cubic inch needs to be considered.
Traffic flow: Do visitors have easy access to the inside of the booth? Or alternatively, do you even want them to have easy access? Some companies design booths so that only desired visitors are allowed inside, limiting access to the casual attendees. Others want any and all visitors to step across the line.
Meeting areas: How many staffers will
be meeting with clients or media at the booth? How often? How many meetings are already scheduled in advance? How many do you anticipate to happen randomly?
Truthfully, it’s quite possible that the needs of any given show will shift slightly from previous shows. The best approach is to pay attention to how the booth is used and make adjustments as budgets and goals shift.
LOGISTICS, SETUP, AND DISMANTLE
One new client insisted that its display had to ship in a case small enough to go by UPS or FedEx. Large 4' x 4' x 8' wooden crates were a big no-no, it insisted. Every display discussed from that point forward had to meet that objective.
To this client, setup meant having a couple of booth staffers arrive a day or two early, setting up the booth with minimum fuss and tools. This would avoid the double-whammy costs of show labor and preshow staging and advance arrival at the warehouse.
For other companies, it’s more important to show audiences a great booth that can accommodate a larger product display or demonstration
area along with several meeting areas. That may mean a booth 40' x 40' or bigger requiring a day to set up, even with hired help, and that takes multiple crates to ship.
Any good exhibit company works with you to determine the best and most cost-effective solution.
Step Five Challenge
Below are questions to answer, ponder, and discuss when considering a new booth or upgrades to current property:
1. What is the size of your booth for your biggest show(s) each year?
2. How old is the booth?
3. Approximately how many times a year do you exhibit with this
booth?
4. Do you have another booth or exhibit for smaller shows?
5. What is the best thing about your booth? The worst thing?
6. Does it truly and fully represent your brand? In other words, when people see it, do they think immediately of your product or company?
7. Does it have all of the
functional needs that you desire?
8. What have you added or subtracted since you first used the booth? In other words, what have you tried to improve?
9. When do you think you will seriously consider either upgrading to a new booth or doing a major overhaul of your current booth? What’s holding you back from doing it now?
10. What are the main functions of your booth?
a. Product sampling
b. Product demos
c. Client meetings
d. Branding
e. Other
11. What is your lead-generation system?
a. Electronic
b. Paper
c. Other
12. Do you have other electronic interactivity in your booth?
a. iPad
b. Games
c. Other
13. How well do your graphics convey your
message?
14. Who designs your tradeshow graphics?
15. Are you satisfied with your tradeshow graphics design?
16. If you’re not satisfied, how can they be improved?
Product or Service Demonstrations/Presentations
1. How do
you show off your product?
2. Do you do product demonstrations in your booth?
3. Does your product or service lend itself well to in-booth demonstrations?
4. If so, do you hire professional presenters?
a. If so, how well did that work for you?
b.
If not, have you considered hiring outside professional
presenters?
![Tim Patterson [Tradeshowguy]](https://hostedimages-cdn.aweber-static.com/MjI3ODY3/thumbnail/8ec640fe6a21421289759fb37e99c179.jpeg)