Last week I had the opportunity to
walk a trade show. There were a number of things I noticed, and I had the
opportunity to talk with a number of clients and prospects while at the show.
It is painfully clear to me that
many people do not really care what kind of image their trade show exhibit presents.
In a future post, I will share the stories of two exhibitors, right across the
aisle from each other and their different experiences. I hope that maybe you
glean some insight into how important your actual trade show exhibit/display is
at a trade show.
Details matter people. The way your exhibit/booth looks represents your company, your brand, your staff and your product. Your brand is so much more than your logo and your color palette.
- A large light box set up upside down. The one side
upright had a HUGE hole and the cords ran down the side of the exhibit. If
it were an inline, it might not have mattered but this was an island,
right on the aisle for the world to see.
- Dinged up, dirty, bent aluminum frames.
- Dirty graphics.
- More wrinkled graphics and table throws than I could
even count. Come on people, it matters!
- Retractable banner stands. Yup, still a ton of them.
Mismatched banner stands. 10 x 30's done with retractable banner stands. I
know they are easy, I know they are convenient, but not a great look for a
company that is supposed to be an innovator.
- Tube stands with pillow case graphics. These have
become the new retractable banner stand. They are inexpensive, they are
easy and EVERYONE HAS THEM NOW! One of the major points of a trade show is
to stand out from your competitors and neighbors. When an item becomes
that popular, they become invisible unless you are very strategic in how
you do them.
- Internally/rear lit tube stands. This is just one
girl's opinion, they don't work. The shadows from the tubes really are not
a good look.
8.
This was actually my favorite. A
vinyl banner hanging from the pipe & drape with a pop-up frame on the aisle
(they were on an endcap) that had boards put on the cross pieces and had
product displayed on the boards.
- Lightboxes. Oh my, lots of light boxes. We love
light boxes and sell or rent a lot of them. We saw very few good
quality light boxes. Here are some of the things we saw.
·
Hot spots - light distribution was
not even and you see bright spots of lights behind the graphics
·
Shadows of lighting transformers,
frames and more
·
Actually seeing the light blanket
behind the graphic. Hundreds of circles of light visible through the
graphic. I didn't even see their graphics; all I saw were all the white circles
·
Graphics installed incorrectly
The other thing to notice is booth staff behavior. We have
talked about this before, but so so so so many people sitting in their chairs, heads
down, on their phone, not even watching the people walk right by their booth.
When you see a well done exhibit or a stunning booth, you know it and it feels like a breath of fresh air rather than a sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach.
I wish I could share photos, but I just didn't feel it was right to do that for those companies' sakes.
Watch for next weeks post about a tale of two exhibitors right across the aisle from each other.
I'll say it again, details matter people. The way your exhibit/booth looks represents your company, your brand, your staff and your product. Your brand is so much more than your logo and your color palette.
====================================================
Lori Hanken has been in sales and marketing for over 30 years. She is passionate about service and providing value to her vendors, prospects and clients. Lori is currently co-owner of Total Displays with her husband David. They help people look great at events, trade shows, in retail, museums and develop long partnerships with customers and suppliers. If you would like to learn more, email her at lori@totaldisplays.com. She is an open networker, connect with her on LinkedIn here.
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