Trade Show equipment is secondary, value creation is primary!

There are plenty of skilled trade show booth builders. Creative people, skilled printers, experienced craftsmen, all great at meeting deadlines. The marketing staff is equally skilled. But if we go from considering the trade fair booths’ aesthetics to considering it as 'value-creating', the picture looks very different.

A few years ago, trade show equipment and graphics were essential which is still the case. And rightly so because it's important. But now, most important of all is value creation - both for the exhibitors and for their customers.

The trade fair opens, and the performance begins

If you make an analogy to a play, you can see the trade show booth as the scenography. It sets the right mood and gives the actors the props and decorations they need to be able to play their roles.

In the same way, the trade show stand design must support the tasks that the employees have at the fair. And their task is to play their roles as planned to achieve the objectives set for trade fair participation. They need to use the stage to perform and convey the right messages, to the right customers, in the right way and at the right time.

If a script and a list of roles have not been created prior to the fair, the trade show staff will at best be present at the booth and do as they usually do. And at worst, they will feel out of place, insecure, and work for arbitrary goals. And value creation risks becoming non-existent or at least random and undocumented.

Screenplay and script

When value creation is the focal point of trade show participation, it no longer just becomes a question of whether the trade show booth is nice, whether the printed handouts are on the right shelves, whether there is coffee on the table or whether the carpet is vacuumed. Now it is more important than to get all the trade fair activities to co-exist and create a unique performance: The communication at the booth must be customer-oriented so that the messages speak to the guests' needs, the activities at the booth must also support the message or messages and the flow and tours of the trade show booth, must be relevant. And most importantly: the marketing staff, the sales staff, and other important stakeholders must be aligned and work towards the common goal set for the trade fair participation.

4 tips that will make your trade show booth design value-creating

1. Make sure your communication is visitor-oriented - do not tell what you are able to do, but how you can contribute to value creation for the customer.
2. Make sure that you create more entrances that guide visitors towards your message or messages at the trade show booth - create the opportunity to tell your message or messages from the angle that interests the customer.
3. Train your staff to use the trade show “stage” and make sure that your staff knows how to use the booth optimally.
4. Commit your staff to the objectives set for the trade fair.

Make no mistake - the trade show stand should still look good!

When we claim that trade show equipment and graphics are secondary, it must be understood in that way that these two areas are not the only goal themselves. The goal is to get trade show equipment, graphics AND activities, employees, customers, etc. to align so that needs, and services “come together”, and value is created for every stakeholder involved. The “play” must be enjoyable to watch, and the scenography must be in place so that the actors can act and step into character and get their messages to reach their potential customers.