HOW TO DECIDE YOUR STAND’S DESIGN
Stand design takes just four considerations! Sometimes it’s easy to over complicate things we do. A well thought out stand doesn’t mean a flashy, large expenditure stand. It only needs to have four considerations. It’s all about how it connects and correlates to the visitor. Sometimes we become so focussed on trying to include everything, that we don’t stop for a minute and think about the key objectives. We miss what is relatively simple, so this month I have brought it down to four easy steps. We use this in the Exhibit Success workshops as a tool to shape the stand’s look and engagement, then tie it back to
the goals.
The steps are:
1. Inviting/ Benefit/ Value – If a stand isn’t inviting, visitors will not be drawn to it. Factors that can affect this are barriers around the edge of your stand, staff and their appearance and behaviour, poor layout with no focus, poor lighting and just plain unfriendly looking design. The core message and display needs to focus around what benefits you have for them, stopping will help solve a need they have. Providing value, by having a pre-event mailed invitation linked to a reward can be of great help. We know from research that inviting someone to your stand then rewarding them pays big dividends.
2. Entertaining/Experience – Making something fun and engaging is a major differentiator between companies today. Think about your weekly dealings – how many can you really say bring a smile to your face – where you hang up or walk away with a feeling that lasts? Let’s be honest, not many if any, it’s a real grind today! So imagine the impact you can create by making your stand entertaining. Think about the five senses (or six if you have been to my workshop!), make it a personal interaction, find a way to involve customers.
3. Educational/Learning – According to various research over the years, presentations/learning is the most important reason people remember an exhibit after size and product interest. Visitors are there to discover what’s new and in most cases looking for solutions to solve problems they are having – and in B2B cases how they can make their job easier. They are looking to see where the trends are, everyone wants to be part of the new hot things that are emerging. Look at how you can incorporate demonstrations onto your stand and consider if there are opportunities to take part in stage/workshops/seminars programs that run as part of the overall show’s make up.
4. Memorable – We know the memorability factor from an exhibition is long reaching and very much in the visitor’s mind for up to nine months. It varies basically by the impact individual companies create through the first three points above. The major issue here is you want visitors to remember both your products and what they solve and your company name, and by doing so you will also be a ‘must see’ exhibitor no matter where you are on the floor. I’m sure you’ll agree four steps that can change your results that are not that hard to incorporate. So step back and consider the visitors – if you can tick off the four steps then I’m sure over a 12-month period you will see your results change for the better, see you on the floor.
