Exhibitions provide one of the business world's most competitive environments; this is the third dimension, where brands must become live environments that consumers can walk in, and around.
Surrounded by hundreds of rivals vying for attention, brands can't just turn up and expect a share of the limelight. Standing out is essential, and there are a number of ways to make a stand a star of the show.
Association of Exhibition Organisers (AEO) group chief executive Trevor Foley is chairing a conference session at this month's International Confex show (February 24 to 26) to focus on how brands can maximise their presence at exhibitions. He believes that the majority of companies fail to put enough thought and planning into exhibiting.
"They have to realise that their stand is a shop window," he says. "They have to think about what they are trying to achieve, as that dictates how they should perform."
Indeed, Exposure Communications director Simon Burton argues that companies that don't put in the effort are missing out on a huge opportunity. "The repercussions of poor exhibiting are clients that think exhibitions don't work, rather than recognising that they didn't exhibit properly," he says.
Burton is launching The Exhibiting Show later this year to educate companies about how to exhibit more effectively. "It involves working out how to get people on the stand, what the stand should look like, how it does what you need it to do, and how you follow up after the event," he says.
Brand experience
BT uses exhibitions to communicate its brand values to consumers and build relationships with them. BT Group head of corporate campaigns Peter O'Donohoe says: "Every exhibition provides an opportunity to explain what our brand is about in a three-dimensional experience and that is very important for us. However beautiful you make an ad, it's not the same as being able to see and touch products and speak to BT people face-to-face."
BT has worked with agency Imagination on a number of exhibitions over the past 20 years, inclu-ding the Talk Zone at the Millennium Dome, electronics consumer event LIVE, and consumer exhibition The Daily Mail Ideal Home Show.
At LIVE '95, BT designed its stand features to attract the youth market.
"It wasn't a huge investment on BT's part and we were competing with brands that had big budgets, so we tried to make the stand interactive, practical and welcoming," says Imagination senior account director Sue Winckler.
Features included phones that visitors could use to broadcast conversations to the audience on the stand, games and a DJ. "It was all about entertainment and we drew in a lot of people that way," says Winckler.
Incentives and prize draws can also draw attention to a brand's presence.
For its stand at this year's Confex, designed by Alan Barton Associates, event management and marketing company Outsourced Events is running a competition to pull in the crowds. Visitors enter a phone box that has an air blower in its base and are given 30 seconds to grab as many tokens as they can. A league table of participants will be drawn up and prizes handed out to the top scorers at 3pm each day; everyone who takes part will receive a pink piggy bank.
"Our company can save clients money, so we wanted to display that theme on the stand. It's also good fun," says Outsourced Events director Alexandra Jones.
The company intends to paint the 36sqm stand in its corporate colour - bright pink - and it will have a pink carpet and neon lights in the belief that its bold use of colour will get it noticed.
"A brash stand with giveaways and competitions combines to help a brand maximise its presence at an exhibition," insists Jones.
However, BT Retail head of direct marketing Sue Hunt argues that achieving impact cannot always be achieved in the same way at different exhibitions.
One factor to consider is where a stand is positioned on the show floor - and not everyone is convinced that being at the front offers an advantage over rivals. "We tend not to go to the front because people walk straight past you," says Hunt.
At last year's Ideal Home Show, BT took over a large space in the corner of the exhibition hall.This meant there was no visitor traffic behind the stand, so BT and Imagination had to design a stand and incorporate features that would create an impact and draw visitors in.
According to Hunt, BT's objective at the event was to showcase a range of broadband products that people didn't necessarily associate with BT.
The idea was to explain to consumers how BT products could make an impact on their lives, so the 18m x 25m stand was designed to resemble areas within a home.
"We needed to engage people, so rather than have product demonstrations, we performed live 'playlets' that showed real-life situations, such as someone working remotely in the garden," explains Hunt.
To maximise impact, the stand lighting was lowered and redirected on to the scenes while the vignettes were being performed. The stand was also built high to ensure it stood out. "We always try to make sure the stands have height so that people can find us easily," says Hunt.
Stand graphics were kept to a minimum to convey a clear and simple message.
The AEO's Foley points out that it is a common mistake for exhibitors to overdo the graphic information on stands to the point where it can be confusing. "You just don't need it," he says.
Overcoming distractions
Winckler adds that clarity of message is particularly important for a technology brand. But what's right for one company might not necessarily be the best route for another, and Barry Lycett, head of marketing communications at NTL Broadcast, believes that strong use of graphics can be key to maximising impact at a busy exhibition.
"We often use large-scale graphics with dynamic images and punchy, simple and direct copy," says Lycett. "Visitors have lots of distractions at a show, so the very least we need them to take away is the core brand and product messages."
This was NTL's approach at the International Broadcasters Convention (IBC) in Amsterdam last year. The company's objectives were to boost contact with its main customers, showcase products to potential clients, and get feedback on application developments.
The graphics set out the main product portfolio; a demonstration section drew people onto the stand; and seating areas, meeting rooms, a cafe bar and reception made it feel open and welcoming.
According to Dan Stubbs, project director at 2heads, the agency behind the stand, the lighting also drew attention to the stand. "IBC's lighting levels are always low. On ground level, two 3m x 3m double-sided light boxes lit up the main entrance and highlighted NTL's presence," he says.
At BAPCO (British Association of Pubic Safety Communications) 2003, however, the brand wanted a different approach. The exhibition was attended by public safety organisations, such as the police force and coastguards, which needed to learn about the transition from analogue to digital communication systems, and how they could integrate the communications technology and update their operations networks.
"Our goal was to present NTL as their partner of choice for an independent systems integrator, so we deliberately avoided graphic design based on product technology and designed a calm, non-techie environment," explains Lycett.
For some brands, a traditional stand at a show does not provide them with the desired amount of exposure, and they have responded by creating mini-exhibitions of their own to gain maximum interest (see box above).
Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) wanted to create a three-dimensional environment that would enable consumers to have a fully interactive experience with its PlayStation brand and would act as a launch platform for its 'Fun, anyone?' campaign.
Designed by Mice International, The PlayStation Experience was an 8000sqm exhibition that comprised enough PlayStation hardware and software to occupy 400 gamers at any one time, as well as live stage acts, head-to-head competitions and spectator activities. Consumers and publishers were also able to try out a selection of games not yet on sale.
"On entry, this dynamic, theatrical and highly charged atmosphere was designed to transport the visitor inside the socially interactive and entertaining PlayStation world," says Mice International sales director Nigel Engeham.
The four-day experience was held at the same time as video game industry trade show ECTS at Earls Court in August 2003 and, according to Engeham, this helped SCEE achieve maximum impact by emphasising its strong industry presence.
While a recognised industry brand is certainly likely to generate some interest at an exhibition, in itself it is by no means a guarantee that its stand presence will be effective.
Nor is it the case that the brands with the biggest budgets will automatically produce the most successful and eye-catching stands.
"Effective exhibiting is not just about having the biggest, most elaborate, or expensive stand at the show," argues the AEO's Foley. "It's largely about people and about getting that face-to-face communication right."
And it is for brands to ensure they work with their agencies to develop an innovative and practical exhibiting strategy that will help companies achieve their objectives, yield return on investment, and provide them with a show-stopping presence visitors cannot afford to miss.
MINI TRANSLATES ITS ADVENTUROUS PERSONALITY ONTO A LIVE STAGE
Mini UK previewed its revamped Mini model at the 2000 British International Motor Show (BIMS), ten months before its launch. The stand was designed by an architect in Germany and was managed by UK marketing agency The Russell Organisation (TRO).
According to TRO client services director Michael Wyrley Birch, this was a "traditional stand in the absence of Mini's new brand position" to build awareness. As such, "it represented the Mini brand, but didn't bring it to life".
Following its launch in July 2001, TRO was asked to work on the brand's presence at BIMS 2002 and bring Mini to life in an innovative way.
Mini UK knew it could make a huge impact by translating its 'adventurous' personality into a three-dimensional environment.
Ysabel Vazquez, marketing manager at Mini UK, says: "We want to ensure that Mini's unique personality shines through in everything we do, so we had to find a way of making our presence do that."
The result was the Mini Adventure Live, a 2220sqm arena where visitors could watch choreographed driving displays featuring three Minis performing to an upbeat soundtrack and light display. The blacked-out and soundproofed area was accessed via a ramp where queues of visitors (who waited for up to 45 minutes to enter) helped raise curiosity and interest in the exhibit. Six Minis were on display on a stand at the entrance, and there was a 'lifestyle boutique' where consumers could buy Mini memorabilia.
"It's about creating a presence that no visitor would want to miss," says Vazquez. "If you achieve this, visitors will find you wherever you are positioned and you won't need to incentivise them."
Post-event evaluation showed that 80,000 people visited the Mini exhibit, which generated the seventh-highest amount of TV coverage at the exhibition.
TRO's Wyrley Birch says: "The exhibit was innovative and generated its own publicity. We weren't even launching a product and we still stole the show."
INTERNATIONAL CONFEX
Venue: Earls Court, London
Date: February 24-25, 10am-6pm; February 26, 10am-4pm
Organiser: CMP Information
Web site: www.international-confex.com
Hotline: 0870 429 4544
Visitor profile: Organisers looking for products, services, information and ideas to help them plan events both in the UK and abroad, including conference and exhibition organisers, corporate hospitality, meeting and party planners. About 8000 visitors attended the 2003 event, 6% of whom were from overseas.
Exhibitor profile: Exhibitors at International Confex are companies that provide services and support for event organisers around the globe.
For ease of navigation, the exhibition is being split into four colour-coded sector areas: UK venues and destinations (blue); overseas venues, destinations and incentive travel (yellow); corporate hospitality, parties and events (red); and exhibition, conference and support services (green).
The show's exhibiting firms will include exhibition, conference and corporate hospitality venues, event service suppliers such as audio-visual firms, production companies, event and destination management firms, incentive travel companies, convention and conference bureaus, hotels and tourist boards.
Conference summary: The latest Confex Conference format takes the theme of 'Ideas to inspire' and comprises six half-day sessions covering topics such as 'The first step: choosing a destination and venue', 'Realising the vision: running a memorable event', and 'The inside track: what every organiser needs to know'.
The sessions will be chaired by industry experts - such as organiser and trade association personnel - and each will feature presentations from experienced figures from the conference and incentive travel, exhibition and event sectors. According to event manager Jessica Blue, the revamped format offers visitors more comprehensive workshops that cover issues in greater depth and features case studies. There are also three free keynote sessions.
New features: Following a review of last year's Confex, a number of feature areas have been introduced for the 2004 show. These include the Centre Stage, where visitors will be able to watch live entertainment acts; and Confex TV, which will feature interviews with exhibitors, news updates and Centre Stage acts. Activities will be broadcast around the exhibition in the refreshment areas.
Other areas designed for networking include the restaurant, which offers light meals and refreshment; and the 45m bar in the exhibition and conference support services area.
Visitors will also be able to obtain help and advice from the independent consultants working in the new Event Advice Clinic.
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