3. EXHIBITS AND DISPLAYS
1. When to use exhibits and displays
Exhibitions are not a simple “mass” medium. They are a time consuming, costly, labour intensive way of reaching specific limited audiences. Consider using exhibits and displays:
- if your product or service is best shown or demonstrated
- if a show or event is targeted at the people you want to reach
- if you want face-to-face contact to explain your product or service
- if you want direct feedback from customers
- if you have something new, unique or different that will stand out in a crowd
- if your competitors are going to be there
2. Decide on your objective
Be precise about what your expect to achieve
- Direct sales? If so, what is your sales target?
- Meet new prospects for follow-up?
- Educate and pass out information?
- A combination of the above?
Setting your objective will help you develop your design and theme, select the right people for staffing the exhibit and valuate the effectiveness of your effort.
Find out from the exhibition the type of people who will be attending – Management? Sales? Technical? Lay Public? This will help you design an approach that will be successful.
3. If you have decided to exhibit – get in early
Location is the key. The early bird gets the higher traffic locations.
Try to obtain space:
- near the entrance
- on main corridors
- close to main activity areas, i.e. restaurants
Avoid:
- remote corners
- narrow side aisles
4. Before calling in an exhibit designer, ask yourself these basic questions:
- Will the exhibit be staffed or not? By how many?
- Will I be distributing literature? Do I need racks? Storage space?
- Would the exhibit be helped by audio-visual components?
- Do I have an attention-getter or crowd-drawer? Remember, you will be in direct competition for people’s attention with perhaps hundreds of other exhibitors.
- How much space do I really need to do these things?
- What shape exhibit would be ideal?
- Is the exhibit a one-shot or do I need to plan for storage, shipping and repeated use?
- What are my competitors likely to do based on: past experience, current intelligence?
Make sure that you have detailed information from the exhibition management so that you understand clearly in advance such things as:
- size and shape of spaces available
- height limitations
- availability of electric outlets, water, telephone, internet
- set up time and dismantling time
- Probable attendance both by gross numbers and types of people.
5. Prepare a preliminary budget
Make an early estimate of costs. Be sure you include all the major elements:
- exhibit space
- design and construction
- shipping
- erection
- dismantling
- storage
- personnel
- Ancillary costs (promotion, literature, etc.)
How do these estimated costs check out with the results you hope to achieve from the show?
6. Hiring your designer/contractor
- Get competitive quotes
- Make sure the designer understands your requirements
- Make sure he know the exhibition’s requirements and limitations
- Make sure he understands your budget
- Before hiring a contractor, check his previous record
- Check especially his record for meeting deadlines. With exhibitions, being late is disaster
- Be sure you are satisfied with the design. Does it do all of the things you want to do? Is it bold and clear even from a distance? Is it durable enough? Does it meet your budget requirements
7. Staffing the Booths
Exhibitions afford the opportunity for face-to-face contact with the public. But, you have to provide the personnel.
Based on the objectives you have set; determine what kind of people you need to staff your exhibit:
- Senior management?
- Sales personnel?
- Technical personnel?
- Personable people to hand out literature?
Beyond this, you will have to consider:
- How many people do you need per shift? One? Two? More?
- How many altogether? Remember, people cannot work 12- our shifts six days a week.
- Do you have staff people available for staffing? If so, do they require any special training or expertise?
- Will you need to hire outside personnel? If so, what special background and training is required?
Before the show starts, make a detailed shift-by-shift plan for the staffing of the exhibition and stick to it. And, put someone in charge. A hundred and one things can go wrong on an exhibition site. At all time, one person at your booth should be in control.
Never leave your exhibit unattended. It looks sloppy and can frustrate and annoy prospective customers. It can also encourage pilferage or destruction.
8. Promote yourself
If you are coming to the party, let people know.
- Write to customers and prospects ahead of time and invite them to drop around
- develop special literature
- Use your existing advertising to announce that you will be there
- Use the exhibition’s literature and promotion.
- Try to develop traffic stoppers or traffic promoters, such as: contests, audio visuals, celebrity visits, demonstrations, be sure the times are clearly shown on your booth and elsewhere.
- Use the local media – eg with celebrities, use your salesmen to get prospects there.
- Use signs and display elsewhere at the exhibition
Consider giveaways:
EITHER something that will make your presence more visible at the show (shopping bags, buttons, hats)
OR something that can be taken away and used over a period of time (pens, rulers, etc.)
The ideal giveaway is something with a direct tie-in to your products or service.
9. Make use of the exhibition’s facilities
Find out what facilities and services are provided by the exhibition and use them.
- Is there an official program? Make sure you are listed.
Consider advertising in it.
- Are there free tickets allotted to exhibitors? Get them and use them.
- Are there notice boards or display boards? Use them.
- Is there a press room? Be sure your material and/or personnel are on hand.
- Is there a VIP entertainment lounge. Find out and make use of it.
10. Evaluate your performance
Use the criteria and goals that you have set for yourself as the basis for your evaluation.
This can include:
- direct sales and orders received
- number of sales prospects
- gross number of visitors to the booth
- quantity of literature distributed
- number of enquiries answered
- or any combination of these