Stealing The Show On the Convention Floor
Sometimes we just take for granted that things are just built. Take exhibition displays at a trade show or convention for example. When we look at a exhibition display, we gasp at how professional and flashy they look, but never think about how they had to be expertly constructed. A display is all about trying to make a product standout without taking the emphasis off the product. You could spend $20 million on a display with lights, fireworks and dancing animatronic bears, but unless customers remember the product, it was all for naught.
The thing about conventions is that the company in charge of promoting the product might not actually be the one who designed and put together the exhibition displays. If you think about it, coming up with a good display is an art. While some advertising firms and companies may have in house display makers, others track down professional companies to make their convention space truly stand out. There are companies out there that specialize in convention and trade show displays. These companies vary from ones that make stands and basic fold out displays, to ones that will brainstorm, design and put together elaborate areas that can cover up to half a football field. It all depends on your ambition and how much you are willing to spend.
Exhibition displays have three jobs on a trade show floor: 1) draw the customers attention; 2) bring the customer into your display area; and 3) keep the customer there so that they can learn about your product. Because of this three part need a display can’t just be all flash, it has to actually inform the customer about what they can get from the product. Customers at trade shows are taking in a lot of information throughout the day and they don’t want to spend a lot of time at each area. So you have to not only make your product memorable but also really resonate with the consumer so that at the end of the day yours stands out above the others.
Most of all, you want your exhibition display to match the personality of your product. Be sure to work with designers to make something that will steal the show on the floor.
