GTT and Trade Show Presence: Best practices - Part I

L+B Design, was chosen by GTT a cloud hosting company based in Virginia to conceive and implement the company’s new identity across all its trade show experiences.

GTT provides multinationals with an expansive network reach and a diverse suite of cloud networking services, securely connecting them to services, applications and cloud service providers around the world.

L+B Design responded to the challenge by developing a visual structure that was consistent with the new brand but flexible and adaptive in order to accommodate for global and or local messaging and audiences.

 From London to Singapore or Chicago, a series of expandable structures were created with the focus of bringing and retaining visitors within the booth to engage them to learn more about GTT’s footprint and business expertise.

 Implementing your brand into tri-dimensional spaces requires a slightly different approach than any other medium. Here are some points we live by and should serve as a starting point, before you go off and break the rules.

1. Who are you?  No matter how big your brand is, the first thing you will want is to be found in the exhibit hall.  An effective way to accomplish this goal is by placing your logo and branding it at the maximum height, but also repeating it in several different locations throughout the layout. Why? Trade show attendees are in perpetual movement, walkingand talking at the same time. To capture their attention brand impression and repeat is of the essence.

2. What you do?  Once your prospect has found your booth there are  only a few seconds to capture their attention and make your brand stand out and leave a lasting impression on them.  Quickly understanding what your company does helps you stand out to the attendee too.   A tagline or headline demonstrating what you do should be near your logo so that the attendee can relate who you are to what you do.

3. How can you help them?  Now that we understand you’re the “Global Acme Company” and you deliver “The best product or services” in the world, it is key to demonstrate why this is important and how it will make a difference and provide return on investment.  Facts and numbers are a great way to capture attendees minds as a concrete demonstration of how your product is effective. The following is an example: “66% of the industry uses our platform”.  Combine this with bullet points, like copy structure and it is an effective way to share this message. Also remember less is more. An overload of copy will produce the opposite effect.  Attendees will walk away without remembering anything specific.

**In addition, consider the following items in your design:

4. Photos:  If you are going to use photos make sure they are High Resolution for super graphics. Often, marketing managers work from acquired stock images without realizing the limit of what they purchased. If you are planning on having a large show presence, invest in the largest images available. If your budget is limited or believe you could achieve more in a different way, a great alternate option is an illustration or the use of vector graphics.

5. Text:  Think billboards.  Keep editing.  Less text = more readable and quick.

6. Lighting: Every trade show has its own particularities when it comes to natural or artificial lighting. Exhibiting in Las Vegas?  Did you know halogens are banned at a few locations? Should you use spot lights to accent?  Or, maybe backlighting? Just like in your living room, lighting will set the tone & mood for your space.

7. Technology & Interactivity: There is nothing more appealing than sound and a moving image to draw attention to your space. The technology is there so embrace it as much as possible, not only it will provide a great background to the brand experience but will also help support your sales team messaging by dispensing keywords or visuals while they are busy selling on the floor. Don’t neglect the mobile aspect; integrating iPads and Tablets are also a great way to empower your team on site. From data collection to customized presentation as well as caricature drawing that can be emailed to friends and family (people love sending back virtual postcards to their loved ones), on the move they are great tools to complement your show experience. Last but not least, your show experience starts before and lasts after the show. Make sure to integrate a social media component to your strategy either by offering an incentive to stop by the booth and make your audience an integral part of the show and have them contribute one way or another.