By: Barry Siskind

Within five years trade shows will be completely paperless is a prediction I heard at a recent conference. When I passed this idea along to some of my clients, they balked, saying,

“How will we get our information to our customers if we don’t have literature at the trade show booth?”

“Visitors want to take away literature.”

” What impression am I making by not having literature to hand-out?”

If this is starting to sound familiar then perhaps its time to re-think the purpose of your exhibition and look at a different strategy for execution.

Firstly, an exhibit at a trade show is not simply a means to disseminate literature. A trade show display is a physical environment where you, your customers and prospective customers get together to find solutions.

As your customer base gets younger (Gen X’s), the need to talk about the features of your products and services at the booth decreases. This audience is comfortable receiving their information on-line. They belong to social groups where they discuss products and services. They have likely already seen your information when they visited your web-site and most likely saved, bookmarked or downloaded what they need.  It is futile to give out further printed information at your trade show booth.

Secondly, there is the cost consideration of excess literature at your booth. This can be measured two ways: the fiscal cost to create and print the piece and the space it takes for storage.

The fiscal cost can be a major investment ranging from a few cents to many dollars. In order to get the maximum R.O.I. on your literature investment you need readership. Yet, studies have proven that nearly ninety-five percent of all literature taken from a trade show booth goes unread. This lack of readership makes the investment incredibly difficult to justify. I am not implying there is no need for literature, but the savvy marketer needs to find other methods of distribution that guarantees the most number of readers, and a trade show booth isn’t it.

To address the cost of storage, try this experiment. Calculate the total cost of your exhibit and divide that number by the number of square feet or meters you have secured. What you quickly realize is that using precious exhibit space to store literature is very costly. When you equate this cost into your investment in creating the piece you see how difficult it becomes to justify the investment.

One last consideration is the cost to the environment. Studies have proven that people are more prone to do business with companies who have taken positive steps towards environmental stewardship. Excess paper in your booth sends the wrong message.

The solution is to rethink your strategy for presenting information. In a world where nearly 70% of the population in developed countries is wired, electronic dissemination makes sense. At a trade show, reminding your visitors of the URL where they can get information rather than a hardcopy brochure makes a lot of sense.  You can accomplish this by using a promotional product such as a pen, key-chain or memory stick. Now your booth staff can give visitors a gift which accomplishes two goals: it’s a positive reminder of their visit and a reinforcement of the value of the information that waits.

Will trade shows become completely paperless in five years? I hope so. There are so many advantages to all of us if they do.

Answer: When exhibit goes into direct show site there is a target time that it has to be delivered. That only means the freight company has to sign in by that time and be there it does not mean it will be at your booth space. Sometime it can take all day to get your booth to your space. Best suggestion is always try to ship to advanced warehouse. That usually guarantee’s your exhibit will be at your booth space the first AM of the set up.

If you shipped it to advanced and it’s missing: Then find out first if the decorator has documentation that it did indeed arrive. If so then you should walk the show floor. Sometimes the exhibit is misplaced in another booth space. Sometimes the wrong booth number is on the label. If the decorator says they never received it then you need to go back to your trucking company and get the POD from then along with hopefully the trailer they unloaded it in.

At the advanced warehouse all the trade show exhibits are stored in trailers most of the time. So they are assigned a trailer number. Also sometimes they assigned your trade show booth to be in one trailer but it actually was put on another one so it is temporarily lost but will be found once they unload all of the trailers. Best thing to do is stay calm and have your paperwork available to aid in the process. To view our show management offerings – click here!

By: Barry Siskind

A dilemma many exhibitors face is how much information to include in their trade show display. For small exhibitors with one or two product offerings the answer can be difficult. For larger exhibitors with a multitude of products and services which might also include several departments, the answer can become a nightmare. There is often so much to tell and the exhibitor wants to make sure the visitors get the right message. The solution starts by taking a step back and looking at the trade show display from the visitor’s perspective.

Show visitors begin with the best of intentions. They have walked the show and seen dozens of exhibitors displaying a myriad of products. If there is a technical program at the conference or event, they will have also sat through a number of seminars and workshops. These visitors are only human. There is only so much information the human mind can absorb. So, the lesson to be learned is that creating a trade show display that tells too much is self-defeating. The last thing these attendees want is more information.

Another consideration is that in many cases, visitors already know the details about your product or service. They learned about it on the internet. They visited your web-site, read reviews in trade magazines and heard from their community through social media. Once again a trade show display that attempts to tell people what they already know is futile.

The solution is to ensure that the attraction efficiency is maximized when you are creating your trade show display. This means that a good trade show display will grab your visitor’s interest quickly without adding to the confusion they may already be experiencing.

This simple lesson may be easier stated than implemented. The trick is to look at the world of marketing.  We are inundated with marketing messages everywhere: billboards, radio, television, newspapers, magazines, the back of ticket stubs, across the outside (and sometimes inside) of subways and buses, elevator doors, the computer you are using at this very moment, sidewalks, movie theatres, you name it. It seems that there isn’t a blank space that hasn’t been touched by a marketer. Your visitors have experienced the same. Marketing clutter is unavoidable.

So, the most productive method of creating an attractive display is through simplicity. It’s not a matter of what more you can say, but how you can say it with less. This starts with a clear focus for your trade show display and two crucial criteria – what is the message and who is it designed for?

What is the message?

If I were to ask you to identify your brand message in one or two sentences and you hesitated, that should be a clear clue that homework is needed. Trade show industry guru Bob Dallmeyer says, “If you can’t write your idea on the back of a business card, it’s not an idea.” How true this statement is.

What about those exhibitors with multiple products or those who share the costs of the trade show display with their departments. How do you handle the conflicts in messaging? The answer highlights the need to create one overall message rather than trying to broadcast many. Then once you have the attendee’s attention, you can direct them to specific areas in your trade show display where their needs will be met.

Who is the message designed for?

Assuming that everyone who is attending the event is interested in your message or will buy your product is a fallacy. Albeit there may be some situations in well targeted regional shows where you are looking to reach a very specific market. But in most cases trying to reach the entire audience may not be productive. The solution is to ask, which candidate will respond most favorable to my message (or product offering)? Create a profile ahead of time of who this person is then when you are designing your display keep the profile in mind.

Next time you are developing a trade show display let simplicity guide your decisions. You will find you results significantly better.

Do I have to use show labor to set up my exhibit?

Answer: No, you do not. Sometimes they make it sound really difficult to use an outside company but you can. You need to fill out the EAC form that is supplied in your show packet and send it in on time. You also need to send a copy of the EAC form filled out to your I&D company and they will send in their certificate of insurance and that is all. There are a few convention centers that only allow an outside company or the customer to supervise and there are also some convention centers that will allow you to set your exhibit up as long as you do not have to use tools or a ladder. Read the show packet or ask us to do! Click here for more information on our show services offers.

Can you take a client’s brochure and blow it up for an exhibit graphic?

Answer: Maybe, but there are a few things to consider. First depending on the final size of the exhibit graphics, the images might not be large enough resolution and that needs to be checked. Secondly, the design and layout of the brochure is very different from the exhibit graphics and there are many things to consider. With exhibit graphics the design needs to be more visual with limited text, also the important images and information can not be below a person’s eye level in order to be visible. View our GRAPHICS page and download our Guide for more information.

By: Barry Siskind

I recently read a news article about Debrahlee Lorenzo, an attractive woman who worked at Citibank. The story stated that she was dismissed because the clothes she wore were too provocative and not appropriate to the financial industry image. She fired back with a gender-discrimination suit saying she couldn’t help the way she looks. The case will probably go on for years.

The issue that this raises is what is the appropriate dress for people who work on the front line engaged in face-to-face marketing and selling to customers?

Years ago the answer was simple. People who met customers should look professional; men in ties and women in dresses. One need look no further than the popular television show Mad Men to see how people dressed in the 60’s. But all that has changed. The definition of professional dress has changed. In the 80’s and 90’s the CEO’s of dot com companies in the Silicon Valley, went barefoot, in jeans and tee shirts . Then someone invented dress-down Fridays where regardless of the industry people took one day each work week to look like dot-com executives.

Now when I attend a face-to-face marketing event I never know what I will see.

Some people are over dressed and don’t seem to fit into the industry they represent while others opt for personal comfort in their choice of wardrobe.

In the 60’s psychologist Albert Mehrabrian wrote an interesting thesis titled Communication without Words. Mehrabrian studied thousands of workers and found that 55% of their customers’ perception of these people – whether they liked them or trusted them – was passed on through their non-verbal; the way they looked, their body language and how they dressed. Mehrabrian’s work is just as relevant today as it was a half century ago.

The dilemma companies face at face-to-face marketing events is a definition of what is professional and therefore appropriate for their staff to wear. I think there are two answers to this:

1. Dress professionally which means wearing what would be considered appropriate to wear to a client meeting from Monday to Thursday.

2. Everyone dresses the same which gives the company and its representatives an opportunity to stand out at the event they are participating in.

If they choose the latter then there are some considerations in the selection of theme clothing:

a) Look at the wide variety of theme clothing available to expand your choices beyond tee-shirts and sweat shirts. This can include jackets, arm bands, neck ties, hats, scarves etc.

b) Choose a color and theme that complements your display. This gives the appearance that your choice of clothes has been intentional and that your staff are part of the display.

c) Don’t print logos and messages that are so small someone has to be literally standing in front of you to read it. Whether in the display or walking around your staff now becomes a walking billboard.

d) Choose clothes that are gender and physique neutral; you don’t want to make people uncomfortable with your choices.

e) Make it mandatory that all front line staff look the same.

f) Choose good quality.

g) Adjust your choices to the culture and country where you are exhibiting. In some areas of the world a more formal dress code may be the norm.

h) Let your staff keep the clothes after the event. If they take the clothes home and wear them on the weekend, it displays a sense of personal pride in their company.

Now the choice is yours. You can define professionalism measured against what you would normally wear to attend a client meeting or create a look that compliments your display and marketing message.

Applying a new surface covering provides an alternative way to change the color and the texture of your trade show display. This self adhesive covering will coat over your existing trade show display structure. It is an easy and effective way to revitalize your custom trade show exhibit.

The benefits include:

1. Low cost solution
2. Available stock for fast delivery
3. Variety of colors to choose
4. Textured surfaces available
5. Easy to apply
6. Environmentally friendly

In this example, the client changed their booth space and their trade show exhibit no longer matched their requirement. They did not want to purchase an entirely new trade show display because they were primarily displaying their product. So they chose to resurface a portion of their booth structure to match a series of rented tables that were used to place their product on and they added more color to their space with a series of new banners stands. The estimated cost to resurface this portion of their trade show display was slightly over $1,800; compared to an over $9,000 price tag to recreate their entire custom exhibit with a new color laminate. This is a huge cost savings initiative that provided a unique and creative new exhibit design for this show.

What is the process? A determination needs to be made to see if your trade show display is a viable option for this type of solution. The booth needs to be set-up and totally cleaned before any new surface can be applied. The area that is being changed needs to be sanded down and the key is to be able to apply the new coating in smaller sections so that you do not create many bubbles in the process. This way of changing your color is designed to help clients get through one additional budget year. This is not considered a long term solution. But if your situation is presented to our company, we will work with you to find the best solution. Our staff is equipped with the tools and products to make this surface change a reality. Contact us for additional details at 877-730-5300 or visit our website at http://www.thetradeshownetwork.com