Speaker 1: Here today at the ITSEC conference in Orlando, Florida. This is a technology conference that brings a lot of simulation companies, a lot of VR companies, a lot of computer manufacturers, a lot of great technology here at this show. But I'm not here to talk about technology today. I'm actually going to take a look at trade show booths. It's more of a marketing thing. I'm gonna go around and look at various different trade show booths and tell you what I think they do well or don't do well. Now as I talk about trade show exhibits and booths, I'm gonna give you five different tips that will help you in your next trade show. I fully realize that every conference and every trade show is a little bit unique. Your industry may be different but most of what I'm gonna say is universally applicable. I've attended hundreds of different shows over the course of my career. Over the last dozen years or so I've been an exhibitor about 75 times. I've designed a lot of banners and booths. I've done it as a manager and as a co-owner of my company. Over the last few years I've taken teams to exhibit in places such as South Africa and Singapore, throughout Europe and the United States. I'm gonna share with you what works and especially what doesn't work. You learn a lot from your mistakes. A company's name and logo are so important. It's got to be front and center. If you're creating a booth you've got to lead with that much like Unreal Engine does here. It's easily visible from everywhere you look. This is how it should be done. Also this exhibit I have a certain affinity for this company because I used to work for them a number of years ago. Kongsberg always leads with their name and emblem. Anytime you're designing a banner, building out a booth, creating an exhibit you want to make sure that company name is easily visible and it's the first thing that they will see both the name and the logo. As I mentioned most companies do at least a satisfactory job with this but you would be surprised. Some companies come they'll pay thousands of dollars for an exhibit space and they will completely miss on this. Take for example this 10 foot by 10 foot booth. Do you see a company name or logo? I don't. Their banner talks about experience, knowledge and connection but no visible name or logo unless you're looking very closely. Here's another smaller booth. They've got a unique name and some good visibility on their table curtain but no banner. You gotta have a banner. People will crowd out in front of your table curtain and passers-by will not be able to see your name and have any recognition as to who you are. What really amazes me is when a company goes out of its way to have a neat exhibit or demonstrate a product in this case a target shooting range and yet you cannot even see their company name unless you look extremely close. Or in this next example where a company brings literally hundreds of thousands of dollars of simulators and equipment to showcase at an expensive booth and yet I can't even tell what the company is or what they do. I pass by I see some neat equipment but again no name, no logo, only a small QR code. Simple Marketing 101. You've gotta have your name and logo out there and visible if you want to be recognized. You may not think lighting is that important but good lighting is more important than it's ever been. There are so many good and affordable LED options. You can now light up a banner very easily, do a backlit display. It's very affordable and doable for almost any size company. This next picture is of my own company's exhibit at this particular trade show. As you can see we have a 14-foot tall backlit tower. We've been using this tower for the last couple of years. When we went to order it, originally it was not backlit and then we decided at the last minute to pay a few hundred dollars more and go with the backlit option and it's made a huge difference. My entire team totally agrees that this captures a lot more attention. We jokingly refer to this as Ralphie's leg lamp from the movie Christmas Story because it lights up the entire area. It's been a great investment for us. Keep in mind, oftentimes an exhibit hall will not turn up the house lights all the way and some of these exhibit halls can be a bit dark. In fact, this particular booth, I remember walking by it, they've got this black background. It's supposed to look kind of chic and my iPhone kind of exaggerates the lighting here but it kind of had a darker feel to it and I don't think it came off really well. They'd have done better if they had an LED light display or even modified some of the colors. Lighting is more important than you think during these shows. Here's an example of a company that has a nice exhibit located on a main aisle with a lot of foot traffic but it's not lit very well. It's located right next to another exhibit that has a big bright display and this one just does not have good lighting. They have a good sign but it's not backlit. I think they would have been far better served of having a backlit display that would attract more attention. Might be a little bit hard to tell from this picture but their exhibit felt a little bit dark. Now this last one is an example of a small company that's done it right. This is just a 10 foot wide display but this company has a backlit banner that is bright that just really pops and captures a lot of attention. Now I don't necessarily love the design of the backdrop. I think they could have done a better job highlighting the name. The name should be a little bit bigger. But as far as attracting attention and having a well lit brightly colored display this is an excellent job. And the poor company situated next to them you feel bad for. They're almost invisible. It's totally happened to me before you go to a conference and your exhibit is outclassed by your next door neighbor. The next thing your exhibit needs is a short descriptive phrase that explains what your company does what you offer. Here's a perfect example. This company has a phrase right on their banner. They are the motion tracking experts. Immediately anybody who passes by their booth knows exactly what they offer and the conversation can start out on the right foot. If you don't have a short descriptive phrase you're going to get lurkers that slowly pass by your booth and then come up and ask you a million questions. What do you do? What do you offer? That may not seem like the worst thing in the world but it can waste a lot of time. Whereas a short descriptive phrase really helps the conversation go the right direction fast. Another good example here this company offers trackless moving targets. Anybody who passes by knows exactly what they're offering. This next example is a small company. They were located in the very back of the exhibit hall. They only had one little banner but I got to give them high marks. Their name is prominently displayed and they have that short descriptive phrase elevating the VR audio experience. That's perfect. Meanwhile here's a few quick not so great examples. This first one is a company they prominently display their name but no descriptive phrase I've got to go up and ask them what they do, what they offer. These guys are going to have to explain what they do to virtually everybody they meet. They might miss out on a few leads if people are just passing by and they don't want to approach them. Here's another example. This company at least tried but their descriptive phrase is just too generic. Advanced training through technology. I mean that could be a good thing. So if you're going to do a descriptive phrase at least make it descriptive. At least be unique and provide some insight into what you do, what you offer. Product demonstration is another important aspect to exhibiting at a trade show. If you're going to do a product demonstration at a trade show, you want to make sure that aspect to exhibiting at a trade show. If you sell any sort of tangible product, you really need to bring it to the show. Let people play around with it, demonstrate it, see it, touch it, feel it. You want people to establish an emotional connection to whatever product you're selling. Let them have a good experience. Now at an exhibit like this, that's easy to do. Everybody's got a cool new technology like this gunnery training system. This company had a mannequin set up on the floor and they were doing some sort of surgical procedure through virtual reality. It was pretty neat to see. Or this other company that had another virtual reality setup with these interactive gloves. It looked almost like something out of a movie and there was a good-sized crowd gathered around here most of the time. Now admittedly, it's easy to do a demonstration that attracts a crowd when you sell such cool technology. But what if you sell boring software or you're in the SaaS business? That's where you've got to get creative. This here is a good-looking booth, but there's no demonstration. There's nothing to see. At the very least, you need to have some sort of video screen set up where you can walk people through your software or you need to do something fun, a contest. Maybe give away some swag. Here's another example, a decent-looking booth, but nothing really to offer. Of course, if you don't have any ideas at all, you can always do what this next exhibit did. They just started giving away free drinks after 3 p.m. You'd be surprised how quickly a crowd can gather when there are free drinks. But there's no guarantee they're going to remember you or even come and ask any questions about your product or service. Designing a clean and simple look for your booth or exhibit is something you really need to focus on. I fully realize this is a bit subjective, but there is a temptation, especially if you're designing a booth or designing a banner to put a lot of information on it. I thought this exhibit did a good job of having a clean and simple look. They found the right balance of color and design. They've got a big, bright display and a little bit of information there, but not overcrowded, not overpopulated with words and content. Whereas this next company, they brought a 12-foot high LED video wall that looked amazing. But the problem is they were always showing a graphic which featured kind of a clash of colors. It really made it look crowded and cluttered. I give them high marks on the technology and on the demonstration they used, but they could have done a little better job making the booth look clean and simple. This next one is an example of a company that just tried to put too much on their banner. Your banner is not your brochure. You don't need screenshots. You don't need paragraphs of content. I think these guys would have been better served just having their logo and that's it. I will say, a banner is only going to get you so far. And one thing these guys did well is they interacted with virtually everybody that came to their booth. Their salesmanship was excellent. And I know this because our exhibit was close by and we watched these guys over the course of the week. It's another topic for another video, but if you know how to interact with people and present your company, that's going to go a long way to helping you, even if you have a media company. That's going to go a long way to helping you, even if you have a mediocre booth. Almost the exact polar opposite is this example. Now this exhibit looks fantastic. In fact, I would say it is one of the better looking exhibits in the entire show. Their name is lit up nicely. Their booth has some excellent colors. Very clean, very simple. Yet when I went up and talked to them, the person who I engaged with had a difficult time explaining what they did. They ended up giving me a brochure, but I walked away thinking that they lacked a little bit on the salesmanship. Perhaps I just spoke to the wrong person, or maybe they had a bad moment. But a great looking booth is not going to help you if you don't have professionalism and good communication skills. Let's do a lightning round. Now that I've given you my tips on what makes for a good trade show exhibit, I'm going to show you about 10 more examples and quickly explain to you what I like and don't like about each, and give each one a letter grade. This first example struggles a little bit in my opinion. It's not particularly well lit, but it does have a little bit of color to it. And it's not particularly well lit. Also, the banner itself is too busy, too much wording. Probably also needs to be ironed or at least smoothed out. It looks like there's a problem with it being crinkled up at the top there. There's nothing to demonstrate here as well. And also, nobody's at this booth. It's the middle of the show and it's empty. So that's an issue. Now the name is viewable, so they do get passing marks on that. Altogether, I'm going to give these guys a D plus grade. On this next one, the name is very viewable. They also tried to do a descriptive phrase, although it didn't work out too well. End-to-end solutions to your most difficult problems, that's too generic. And so I can't give them good marks on that. Lighting, not so great. And clean and simple, well, it's an okay job on that. Now, I think these guys maybe get a better grade because they do have a demonstration. You see that screen back there? And I did see people walk up and demonstrate their product. So they get higher marks on that. Altogether, I'm giving these guys a C minus. Next up, this company brought what looks like two simulators to exhibit at the show. So fantastic job on the demonstration. Unfortunately, they're kind of lacking on almost everything else. First of all, their booth might be too small for their simulators. Secondly, I can see their name, but it kind of blends into the background. There's no descriptive phrase. There is some lighting there, but it's not backlit. I also don't think this qualifies as a clean and simple looking trade show booth. I'm going to give these guys a C. This next exhibit works really well because it's in an open area. Rather than being in a 10-foot booth, they paid a little bit more and they're out in the open. They have more space to work with. Now, if all this were crowded inside a 10-foot booth, I don't think it would come off as well. As it is, their banner is good, not great. Lighting the same. It's good, not necessarily great. And they are doing some sort of demonstration on that display in the background. Altogether, I say pretty good. I would give these guys a B. This next one might not seem like much at first glance, but if you're on a very limited budget, pay close attention. This guy brought one banner, but the banner is pretty good. Shows his company name, has a descriptive phrase, and on his table, he's got a demonstration and a video playing, so you know exactly what you're getting here. Now, I'm not going to give this guy an A+, but I do think he deserves a medal for doing all this on such a limited budget. If you've got to show up to a conference and you've got very little to work with, follow this example. So, I'm going to give this guy a B+, but we'll put a little asterisk by it and also award this guy with the best budget booth. Next up is my own company's exhibit. I'm going to try to be a little bit unbiased here. I think we do a great job with lighting. There's that big, tall LED banner. We also have a fantastic demonstration. This simulator that I'm on right here really attracts some attention. Our name's out front and center as well. Where I think we could use some improvement is on that descriptive phrase. We don't even have one right now, so I'm going to give us a B+. Let me know if I'm right or wrong in the comments. I like this next one a lot. Small booth, but a very clean look with that airplane diagram. Visible name, well-lit, nice descriptive phrase, and they had a nice little iPad there that they were able to show people their software and demonstrate it. Even if it wasn't a tangible product, they still did a very good job here. I'm going to give them an A-. I think they could have had an LED backlit display, and it would have been an A+. Altogether, excellent, clean look for a small booth. This image might be a little bit grainy, but I really like this booth. Excellent job at being clean and simple. They've got some excellent graphics. They've got some seats so you can go and demonstrate their product. They've got a descriptive phrase. It's well-lit, not backlit, but a good job with the lighting. One thing they do interesting is that they lead with the fact that their product is more than just a simple display. One thing they do interesting is that they lead with the fact that their product is made in Germany, and that's very smart to do. If your product is made in Germany or Switzerland or Italy, maybe Japan, there's a handful of countries where it really adds to your brand equity if it's made there because of the excellent quality and the excellent engineering. So they did a good job with that as well. Altogether, I'm going to give these guys an A-. So this next company had what I thought to be the best smaller booth in the entire show. That's a 10-foot by 10-foot booth, and they made the most out of it. They've got two brightly backlit banners. They feature their company name at the top. They've got a descriptive phrase. They've even got the logo of a partner company that's more well-known, and so they have a little bit of instant credibility that they're building. Additionally, they have a headset and a demonstration that you can do. Altogether, these guys really punched above their weight. It's no surprise that this booth was constantly busy, people coming in and out well-deserving of an A-grade. Last up, my favorite exhibit at the entire show, even more so than some of the big companies like Boeing and Lockheed Martin. I thought this company did a superb job. They check all the boxes. They leave with their name. They've got a fantastic descriptive phrase. You know exactly what they're all about. They've got two huge backlit banners that can be seen from all around. They've got an open-air booth, and so it's an island that gives kind of the clean and simple and openness that's important. Lastly, they've got a fantastic simulator that you can demonstrate. There's a line of people waiting for it. Altogether, excellent job. I would say doing something like this cannot be done super cheap. It does take an investment and some time and effort, but overall, A-plus here for this company. Thanks for watching this video. I hope it's been helpful and that you can have some success designing and exhibiting at your next trade show. 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