How to design your booth as a brand medium

Consistent booth design keeps buyers from getting lost. I

As a brand delivery medium, the trade show booth is the medium at the most contact point where customers encounter the brand. Trade shows are the most analog marketing media because they appeal to emotional means of seeing, hearing, touching, and experiencing corporate brands, not digital. Booth design is an essential symbolic expression that allows you to experience the brand as a whole offline. Decide on the booth concept according to the purpose of participation in the trade show. If one of the most dramatic means of expressing a brand is booth design in a trade show, the decision is entirely related to the purpose of participating in the show. Regardless of the booth type you plan, the first thing to consider is setting a clear goal for why you go to the trade show. When the goal is set, the size or shape of the booth is naturally determined. Let's look at the table below.

(1) Finding potential buyers: Configuring open space

If participation aims to find potential customers, the booth should be open. The product or wall should not cover the access road because it should be easy for visitors to enter. This is the same whether it is a standard booth type provided by the organizer or a booth type produced by the exhibitors. Open booths usually have exhibits placed inside the booth. The aisle stimulates curiosity with graphics and events that interest visitors. Exhibitors that aim to find potential customers should be exposed to more people than anything else to raise corporate awareness or deliver the utility of their products as much as possible. Set the booth design with the keyword 'Easy to move in-out' and organize the details.

Intel booth, CES

(2) Sales (contract): Securing meeting spaces If participating is to sell or sign a contract, you should be able to have a deep-dive conversation with the buyer. The trade show hall is boisterous. No matter how quietly you want to talk, going outside is relatively quiet if you have an event at the next booth. Still, you can't say anything because the trade show is originally a channel for promotion. In this case, a separate meeting room or counseling space should be set up within the booth to lead the meeting with the buyer for the contract successfully. If there is room for budget, it is adequate to set up a booth on two floors to promote the product on the first floor and to provide space for consultation with buyers and signing contracts on the second floor.

A two-story booth

Even if you participate as a standard booth, a consultation table is provided as the basis, so the space for specific negotiations with buyers is pleasing. However, since only one counseling table is provided per standard booth, it is recommended to have additional space for tables or meetings to increase sales counseling.

(3) Product Demonstration: Configuring Demonstration spaces If it is a booth that introduces new technologies or products, securing a demonstration space is essential. Stage, video equipment, and audience seats may be needed for product demonstration. In addition, since visitors have to stay relatively long, free space should be secured. One-on-one demonstration with face-to-face contact is efficient for simple or small products in about 2-3 minutes. Even one booth is possible, but if there are more demonstrations, problems such as staff recruitment and time allocation should be considered. Small-group demonstrations are helpful when targeted buyer groups or fixed visitors such as dealers and distribution networks exist. Since it is a group unit, preparing a demonstration according to the purpose is possible, and consultation with the target is achievable. Still, it is necessary to coordinate in advance because it needs to secure a particular space. Stage demonstrations are usually used when you want to make a substantial impact by adding a new product launch or dramatic production. It has a strong sense of immersion because it is done in a concentrated atmosphere for various visitors. Since efforts should be made to prepare for the demonstration and relatively cost, stage, and space for the audience to sit should be secured, it should be reviewed from the preliminary booth design stage.

Booth design for demonstration

(4) Managing Current Customers: Creating a network area If customers currently use our products, participating companies must turn them into loyal customers through trade shows. At least the customer who wants to invite you to the show must be an essential VIP. The primary consumers, buyers, etc., are also the ones who understand the purpose of brand delivery the most, such as corporate value and vision. For these customers, it is more important to feel the message that the brand is trying to convey comfortably than product sales or demonstrations. The photo below shows the booth design of a company with the concept of "silence in noise." Every 20 minutes, a square cloth descends from the ceiling and wraps around the four sides of the booth. And on four sides, it delivers the company's brand image with visual effects and sound. At that moment, the external noise of the trade show hall is not heard, but only meditation music and mysterious visual effects cover the whole body. It conveys the moment of immersion in which customers and brands become one. Brands don't sell products in showrooms.

Booth design as brand delivery

Consistent booth design keeps buyers from getting lost. The most important thing in designing a booth is consistent brand identity. The buyer wonders if our company will participate this year following last year. However, you may get lost in the trade show hall if the booth design is inconsistent. Booth design is an essential medium for expressing and delivering Brand Identity. Therefore, consistent branding to customers should also be applied to trade show marketing.

Let's rearrange what we talked about earlier. For companies to design booths without wasting their budgets, they must decide on the purpose of participation above all else. Once the goal is set, the most crucial booth design keyword is generated. On top of that, let's run a consistent booth design every year based on the message the brand wants to convey.

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