Simply having your business name at the event immediately puts your toe in the water. However, having your business brand remembered through exceptional marketing leaves a lasting mark of influence. Whether you’re a small business or large corporation, it’s critical in this post-pandemic stage to understand modern exhibit trends.
Modernizing Your Tradeshow Exhibit
After two years of the pandemic hitting the brakes on the tradeshow industry, it’s time to punch the gas and get your company back in the competition. Despite technological advances in the past 10 years that promote businesses to market virtually, it’s clear trade shows still play a large role in business revenue. Several months out of each year, clients prep extensively for these trade shows, but why? Why spend the time and money on an exhibit when digital marketing is at its highest? Chad Otar writes in a Forbes article, “Trade shows put you and your team down on the ground, face to face with your market in a way that few other events or marketing channels can.” Tradeshows provide the opportunity to showcase product on a personal level to hundreds of people at once while allowing you to taste exactly what your competitors are serving.
SIMPLICITY
When it comes to exhibits, the saying “less is more” is your best friend. When visitors walk through the exhibit hall, their senses are overwhelmed by every company trying to out-size and out-bold their counterparts. While size and color do play a significant role, cleanliness and interactivity are key to inviting prospects. When we say “clean” as designers, we are focusing on the overall feel of your space based on juxtaposition. Let’s pick apart four aspects of the 20’x20’ UL exhibit and the 50’ x 60’ Mitsubishi Electric Trane AHR exhibit we designed and built.
1. Material
You’ll notice three consistent material components of the UL exhibit: matte slate gray, glossy red, and semi-gloss wood. The METUS AHR exhibit gears towards their branding color-scheme with two-tone matte and gloss combinations. The balance of texture prevents the material from competing. It’s best to limit the number of materials used to keep viewers focused on your brand and product. If your exhibit incorporates plenty of visual graphics, it’s important those graphics remain consistent in style and color.
2. Lighting
One of the best tools to accomplish a memorable exhibit is to incorporate dynamic lighting. Light positioning is one of the most impactful ways to catch exhibitor’s attention from across the hall in the midst of overwhelming marketing. It’s used to create focal points of your product and brand, navigating the viewer throughout your booth. Unless you’re a lighting company, our #1 rule is bright LEDs. Our Mitsubishi Electric Trane AHR exhibit is a perfect example, combing a variety of different lighting techniques in an appealing way. When the entire expo is focused on HVAC development, their product needs to stand out from the rest. From up-lit product bases, back-lit graphics, and LCD screens, viewers are drawn to what METUS has to offer. Their ceiling cassette unit is suspended in the air, spinning above a modern LED spotlight base. The consistency of lighting unifies the individual kiosks while the vertical wall lights on either side of the booth encompasses the space.
3. Layout
Like telling a story, the positioning of your components allows you to strategically direct your visitor’s navigation so they can easily walk through the space, learn your product, and ask questions. Keeping an allocated space open promotes room for your sales team on the ground to engage with potential clients. Clearly structured stations can also let viewers digest information easier and your team to specialize in specific areas. Regardless of the exhibit size, there should always be an evident “expert” station where visitors can seek out a company employee for further discussion.
4. Interactivity
The lighting, color scheme, and layout will invite a customer to your exhibit, but now you want to keep them there. The goal is creating an experience that other’s want to share. As technology advances, it provides new tactics to present your content. Tools like VR, AR, and LCD screens might cost more, but increase unique experiences. When there’s a crowd invested in an engaging activity, others will want to join.
These 4 key components are a great start to modernizing your booth. At Dimensional Design we focus on your brand’s mission to create a lasting impression in the exhibit hall. Regardless of the size of your booth, we invest the time to research your product, competitors, and design trends to create a visually strategic custom trade show booth. Our portfolio showcases a variety of booths we’ve created over the years, providing a useful tool to envision the possibilities.
Maybe you’re wanting your name to make a statement in the next tradeshows, but budget is tight. Our rental program is a perfect solution. Our extensive inventory is all designed for customization to your brand without having to start from scratch. Contact Dimensional Design for more info.
