When people think about designing a trade show booth, they often start to think about what they can do to grab attention. While this isn’t necessarily the wrong approach, it is often the wrong perspective. Instead of the brand being the focus, gimmicks start to come into play. Cheap tricks to get people’s attention or get them to stop by. The perspective needs to always be from the point of view of the brand. How can we be engaging while on-brand? This is where developing an immersive in-booth experience can be the best of all worlds.
When I attended my first EXHIBITORLIVE show back in 2011, one of the courses I took was on “The Experience Economy,” a book authored by the course’s speaker Jim Gilmore. His course and the book helped me to understand the importance of the experience. I have referenced it before in this blog, and I go back to it in my head often. He referenced some iconic experiences like Disney World and the American Girl store, where no details are overlooked, and the brand becomes very immersive.
What does it mean for the brand to be immersive? It means that the experience of that brand is going to utilize all (or at least most of) the five senses. Often in booth design, our clients focus on look, maybe hearing, but what about taste, touch, and smell? The more senses that can be brought into a booth add to the overall experience of the attendee and give the exhibitor more ways to reinforce the brand. Once again, though, the brand has to be the driver. Serving sushi is a sensational experience for a Japanese company, but doesn’t make much sense for a software company in Raleigh.
To begin, the elements of the brand itself must be established and fully developed. Then, once understood, brainstorming can begin on how to reinforce those elements across the senses. How is the booth going to tell the story of the company exhibiting in it? Create ways for attendees to experience the brand in as full a way as possible. This gives them not only the understanding of what your company is selling, but the culture of the company, or the emphasis of a particular product or message.
The solution will not be one size fits all. We will have customers come to us and say something like, “we saw a booth that had a magician and it had a long line.” While that may have worked, if it isn’t consistent with your brand, it becomes a gimmick that doesn’t establish the brand in the attendee’s mind. It has to be something entirely unique to the exhibiting brand.
Of course, all of this isn’t an easy thing to do in all trade show booths. Especially the inline, quick-and-easy, one-sales-rep conferences. The more space you have, the easier it is to incorporate more sensory elements and more overall brand elements/messages that you’d like to stick with the attendee. For the smaller shows, still be creative in coming up with ways to deliver this experiential concept. Maybe play a video that has imagery and sounds that back the brand, and an on-brand giveaway that can be tactile for the attendee.
Activating a brand in a portable, quick-turn setting is much different than a website, retail store, packaging, etc. scenario. It is difficult to create an experience like this, but no less important. The best event marketers understand how to create these experiences in a repeatable, consistent way. Here, our tagline is “Strategically Applied Imagination” and we enjoy helping our clients apply their brand into the 3D world of trade shows and events. If you want to create an immersive, experiential trade show booth, feel free to reach out and draw on our experience.