Building a Unique Trade Show Booth
When you walk into an exhibit hall there are aisles upon aisles of booths. The majority follow a standard formula. Square or rectangle, tables and chairs. These are the boring modular exhibits that get passed over and over unless there’s something to really grab the eye. Whether it be bold branding, impressive tension fabric graphics, or most importantly a unique design, there is a huge importance of having creative trade show booth ideas and vision.
There are countless ways to come up with unique trade show booths that will ultimately stand out from the competition. We find most fall into two major categories; physical and experiential design. From a physical standpoint, strategies include booth elements that can be worked into an existing design to draw in traffic on a crowded show floor. From the experiential side, the underlining goal is to engage attendees and potential clients by getting them involved and, most importantly, giving them more time to explore the brand.
Part 1: Physical Standpoint
When it comes to the physical aspects we find there are many ways to boost the first impression value of your booth. Using unique angles and shapes like; curved walls, canopies and integrated signage will immediately draw eyes to the full exhibit structure.
Angles & Shape Characteristics:
Strategic lighting is another great technique to make people turn their heads. Accenting with LED exhibit lightboxes, arm lights and overhead spotlights are relatively affordable ways to not only coax from outside the booth but to really showcase important elements inside the booth as well.
Lighting Characteristics:
One last major physical creative trade show booth idea, how you use different materials like exhibit graphics to both accentuate your brand and translate what your business is all about. Whether it be the relaxed, crafty atmosphere of warm wood, edgy and artsy bright polished acrylics, or a raw strength associated metal textures; all can help instill your brand image to trade show attendees while simultaneously holding their attention for longer.
Material Characteristics
Part 2: Experiential Standpoint
The next major component of a truly unique trade show booth is how you engage attendees and customers. Capitalizing on the experiential aspect is truly a no-brainer tactic for your brand. Trade shows are after all – an experiential event in themselves. The main goal of conventions is to get a mass of like-minded people together in one place, socializing, interacting and experiencing what brought them there in the first place.
So what works? We consistently notice offering a photo opportunity with your products or branding is a great way to get people involved. When you couple this with social media, brand awareness and brand loyalty increase exponentially. We have a tendency to come up with very outside-the-box ideas with trade show photo booths and photo-ops in general. Case in point:
Interactive Elements
If bathroom stalls are any indication of a basic human need to express themselves then using interactive walls, message boards or touchscreens is another experiential way for people to leave their mark and feel truly welcomed by your brand. The SXSW Lite-Brite Wall we did for Cool Effect was such a hit, it was featured in Exhibitor Magazine.
Other creative trade show booth ideas for building a greater experience? Keep in mind; everyone loves free giveaways, there is an inner gamer in everyone, and live entertainment – good or just plain ridiculous – is always memorable.
Bringing It All Together
Designing truly unique trade show booths are one of the most important tools for building brand awareness. That being said, it can be a full-time job in and of itself. From the initial trade show booth ideas, sourcing materials, experience planning, and the build alone take tons of effort to implement successfully.
A major consideration for anyone planning for an upcoming trade show is hiring an exhibit house with all the tools and expertise to give you a stress-free experience. We like to offer a full-service event management approach to our clients. Taking out the guesswork, handling all design and logistics, and providing a smooth process from start to finish. Whether it’s your first rodeo and you want a team that can get your booth to hit the ground running; or if you’ve been around the block and you’re looking to take a new direction, we can deliver.
