Trade show results through design consistency

Increase your trade show results through design consistency

Feet throbbing, calves aching, staring blankly at the ceiling as I lay on my back in my hotel room; glad this was the last day of the tradeshow. It’s amazing, the simple things a numb mind will focus on, like the fire sprinkler over my bed... Tradeshows — the three ringed circus of the corporate world.

Your booth needs to communicate everything in 3 to 5 seconds.

There is one last task before I can go to sleep, however. I have to figure out what I’m going to take home. We all know tradeshows are a cacophony of chaos and these bags of cheap swag and brochures next to my suitcase are proof. This is the process (you’ll want to pay attention here):

• Cheap pens, key fobs and other useless giveaways — trashed.
• T-shirts and neat toys my boys will like — set-aside.
• Letter openers, pocket knives and the likes — trash, airport security will make me toss ’em anyway.

So, here’s the question… how do you design in such a way as to keep your literature out of the hotel room trash can? The answer is simple but implementation is not.

In order to save your marketing materials from a recycle-bin fate, I need to see a rock solid image and branding campaign. It needs to carry across every aspect of your company’s marketing materials, from web site to tradeshow booth. Let's say your booth has a modern style— a bright white booth with sweeping red accent lines and dramatic black and white imagery. The literature you hand me, in stark contrast, is more earth-tone colored with stylized illustrations. Back in my hotel room, when I’m flipping through my mound of tradeshow junk, how do I connect you and your modern booth with the earth-toned literature in my hands? Most likely I wouldn’t. Trash.

Here's a real-world example that got it right. Retail Anywhere with the help of 20|20 Creative Group produced one of the best integrated campaigns I’ve ever seen. Then to top that off, the design of each piece clearly demonstrates their understanding of each medium used.

This booth is clean, bold and effectively communicates what they do. No guessing here.

At tradeshows you have 3 to 5 seconds to catch the attention of the show attendee. This is only done through big bold graphics that concisely convey what you do. I don’t know how many times I’ve said this and am amazed at how many times it’s ignored. Your booth needs to communicate everything in 3 to 5 seconds! Simply “Acme Company - We sell widgets.”

The colors, the imagery, the text. They all flow from the booth to the brochures, creating a visual tie that the trade show attendee will not soon forget.

The marketing materials match the booth. They delegated more detailed information to the brochures where it will be read, and away from a tradeshow poster where it will be ignored.

The literature you give out at the show is a great place to give more details about your company and product. This literature should look like the booth. The attendee will place your booth, the face of the person they talked with and the conversation they had with your staff in the same memory slot as the brochure.

The site carries the look of both the booth and literature.

Your company web site should also carry the theme of your marketing materials and tradeshow booth. This is the best place for very detailed information. Here an attendee can search and read to their hearts content. This is where you want people to go. The attendees can easily pass your information to the correct individual within their company. Best of all you can track what is being read and if your site is configured right you can track who is reading. Don't fill your tradeshow poster with information that really only belongs in your brochure or on your website.

So here’s the bottom line:

• Your booth should convey your message in 3 to 5 seconds.
• Your literature should repeat the same look and message of your booth. When people pick up your literature, it should have more detailed information and point them to your website.
• When they get there, your site should look like your booth and literature. It should be easy to navigate and you should track the activity of visitors.
• But, above all, make sure your entire marketing campaign is both informative and interesting. That's the best way, really the only way, to save your campaign from a recycle bin fate.

Written by Ken Pettit.