What makes you different from your competitors? You could have very similar products or services, but it’s your brand story and value proposition that sticks out in the minds of consumers. Yet, this is often one of the most understood aspects of exhibiting at a trade show. Often, exhibitors want to shove a lot in a little space in their trade show exhibit. Instead of trying to figure out how to cram as much as possible into every bare wall, consider how you can tell your brand story and take customers on a journey to learn more about you:
Using Experiences to Tell Your Brand Story
Experiential marketing has become an incredibly popular aspect of exhibiting at a trade show. Why? Because it works. When you immerse consumers in your brand story, they have a stronger sense of who your company is and what it can offer them. In contrast, competitors without a clearly communicated brand story lose an opportunity for consumers to keep them in mind. Branded pens and stress balls aren’t going to jog a trade show attendee’s memory of your product or services. They’ll remember the exhibitors with the fun race track or the gamification of IT consultants’ speed. These connect with the exhibitor’s product or services and clearly tells a brand story that resonates with consumers. Do you want to be the exhibitor that people remember or the one that fades into a distant memory?
Digital Displays and Your Brand Story
What if you had enough space to have a series of digital displays that took consumers on a journey to understand your brand story? You don’t have to hit them with a wall of text explaining the origins of your company until today, but you can feature different product lines and their applications, or the company’s unique brand story as it relates to the industry. The possibilities are nearly endless. Similarly, exhibitors can feature LED monitors broadcasting commercials about the business that don’t just sound spammy but rather get to the heart of the company itself and its unique brand story. Consider how this could connect with a consumer wandering near the trade show booth who happens to hear a snippet of information that intrigues them.
Touch Screens to Take Consumers Through Your Brand Story
Touch screens are incredibly popular because they engage consumers in their tactile senses, offering a respite from the cacophony of sound and loud visuals. A touch screen can be a more intimate format to tell an exhibitor’s brand story. This is because you can take them on an adventure in different formats- exploring more about the company, the products or services, or even client testimonials. Consider how you can configure something that is more personalized in your touch screen devices- whether hung on the wall or mounted in your trade show exhibit.
Choose Your Images and Words Carefully
Every piece of your exhibit is communicating your brand story, whether you know it or not. Are you a fun company, an industry leader, a disruptor? All of this is communicated not only in the technology you include, but signage, construction, brand imagery and messaging. Your brand story is communicated through angles, waves, curves, towers, overhead signage, the inclusion of eco-friendly materials, and more. What are you communicating with your brand story? Do you know how your images connect to your messaging or do they compete with it? Do the towers, bridges, or waves communicate something special about your brand? Do they connect to your brand story in a subtle or overt manner? One client of ours wanted to communicate speed of their service, so our thoughtful design showed off what looked like racing lines in their open bridge. This connected nicely with an experience- the gamification of their services. These are the kinds of things an experienced exhibit design house partner takes into account in design meetings and can help advise you on to further tell your brand story.
When it comes to exhibiting, you don’t need to be the giant in the room to communicate a superior brand story. You also don’t need all the bells and whistles of expensive builds if you find your voice and articulate it through solid trade show booth design.
