How to Attract Attention from Clients at an Exhibition

Dress to Impress

I have been talking to exhibitors and visiting shows across the UK and Europe for years, and there is always one recurring factor that absolutely baffles me whenever I attend. It is becoming clearer that companies are booking an exhibition space, but are not giving any thought to the best way to dress the stand once they are there.

The main reason for this is complacency. Most of these companies who seem to struggle attracting people to their booth have booked shell scheme stands. The exhibition organisers give them some walls and some furniture, and as far as they are concerned, that is job done. Many companies spend their entire allocated budget on acquiring the stand space, and leave nothing to spend on the dressing of their space.

It is the equivalent of paying to get into a nightclub, and then sitting in the corner on your own in plain clothes until the club shuts. It is the well dressed, attractive person who will garner the most attention, and this is the same for exhibition stands. You could have the greatest product or service that the world has ever seen, but no one will be interested in hearing about it if your exhibition space is drab, boring and with very little effort put into it. People will walk straight past, and a potential business opportunity could slip away.

It shocks me how little effort is put into an exhibition once a company arrives. Attending exhibitions is costly, and for most companies it is a financial gamble, as potential leads and future business is not guaranteed. When you are at the show, you have to give yourself the best possible chance of the gamble paying off; you have to swing the odds in your favour by showing your company in the best light. If you walk into an exhibition an hour before the show starts, throw a couple of posters on the wall and place some business cards on the supplied poseur table, you are not showing off your company to its maximum potential.

Dressing your space properly is the key to a successful show. When prospective clients are walking up the aisle of an exhibition hall, it is your job to draw them in. It is the stand that attracts the client, and it is the sales people that keep them there. If you do not have the initial attraction, even the most experienced sales person will have difficulty keeping them interested. If your space looks like there has been no effort put into it, this will reflect directly onto your entire business.

Let’s look at some examples of successful marketing displays. Harrods and Selfridges spent thousands of pounds and hours of time dressing their shop window displays.

Harrods' Christmas Window Display

Selfridges 100th Birthday Window Display

Why do they do this?

They do it because it is this that will entice the customers inside, and it is only when the customers are in the store, that they can start to sell to them. An exhibition is no different. Your stand space is your shop window, and if you don’t believe your company is worth showing off, then neither will the clients.

So how do you draw the most attention to your stand at an exhibition? How do you make it stand out and make your business look superior to those around it?

Here are the key elements of a successful exhibition stand:

  

1.  Cover as much of the boring white shell scheme stand as possible

Searcys Shell Clad

                     By covering the shell scheme, you cover the entire framework. This shows clients                      that your company are professional and well presented.

 2. Use big images- a picture says a thousand words

Alfa Romeo Versaform Build

Words are useful, but save them for the sales people. Using large, high-resolution images will catch the client’s eye and inspire their curiosity, meaning they will be more interested in asking about the company.

  3. Make sure your company logo is visible everywhere

Guardian Display Versaform Flex

A company is recognised by most people as a logo. You see McDonalds as the “The golden arches”, you see Apple as the half eaten apple, and so on. You need to display this logo on everything; business cards, graphic panels, banners, pop-ups, on TV screens etc. This is how people will remember you, and you need to make sure they see it. Your logo should be the centrepiece of your graphics.

4. Presentable Sales Staff

Your sales staff are also vital to your stand, without them, you won’t sell a thing. Like your stand, your sales staff must display the company logo with pride; they must be presentable and exhibit the professionalism of your company. They must reflect what your business is all about. Branded shirts or polos will always provide the image of competence and expertise.

   4. Involve Interactive Elements

Lang O'Rourke Versaform Build

No matter how advanced we become as a society, we will always be fascinated by technology. Involve iPads, Laptops, TV Screens and other audio-visual equipment in your exhibition stand, and allow clients to interact with it. Not only will it put them as ease and garner their interest, it is a fantastic ice-breaker and will allow sales staff to sell your product with extreme confidence.

5.  Make sure your graphics are in line and looking seamless

Geniemobile Versaform Flex

Now imagine you have done everything you need to do to make your stand look fantastic, but the graphic panels are out of place and not placed together seamlessly. The entire image is ruined. Spend time ensuring that all panels are correctly aligned, that there are no gaps, no matter how small, and that everything (graphics, brands, displays and panels) are all lined up perfectly. Symmetry is attractive.

6. Graphics are the beauty, the text is the brains

Aston Martin Fabric Display

Use your images and your words to their full potential by using them sparingly. Only have a very small amount of text accompanying an image of a graphic. The reason for the graphics is to attract people, so let the sales people talk about the substance once the graphics have done their job.

If you use these tips effectively at your next exhibition, then you will see a rise in the amount of people visiting your stand. You may even have a queue of people waiting to speak to your staff because the display has fueled such curiosity. Show your company off in the best possible light, put the effort in and you will reap the rewards. To find out how Guardian Display can help you make the most out of your exhibition space, visit www.guardiandisplay.co.uk or give us a call on 01702 662111.

-Thank you for reading!

A Scandinavian Set Up

It was about six months ago that The IET decided they needed a change. They had been appointed to organise the CIRED 2013 event at the Kistamassen venue in Sweden. After a lot of collaboration and discussion, they decided that innovation was going to be the key to their success. The company approached us to design, produce, set-up and break down their new stand. They told us that they wanted a stand that really showed off their new corporate identity, and showcased the IET’s key sectors. 

           

            We used our Versaform Build custom modular system for the framework of the stand, and we utilised high pressure water CNC machines to cut the IET logos into the aluminium gantries. We then added our shelving system to the back of one tower, which allowed the client to display their publications. Finally, we brought their piece to life using LED lights and acrylic standoffs.

The Guardian fitting team travelled across road and water, on one of the longest bridges in the world to safely transport the stand to the venue. Then, on June 10^th, members of the electricity distribution community from all over the world descended on the small town of Kisa, Sweden for CIRED 2013. CIRED covers the entire field of electricity distribution systems, dispersed and embedded generation issues, and associated services.

There was no doubt about it, this was a huge show in order to raise IET’s profile, and they needed to make an impact.

            We are proud to say that we helped the IET make that impact. After some great feedback and a successful show, we broke down the stand and brought everything safely back to our storage area in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex. Now, instead of spending thousands of pounds every year on a new custom build stand, The IET can call on Guardian Display to re-shape, re-configure and re-use their existing stand, without having to worry about the enormous repeat building fees.

            The IET have already discovered the cost saving benefits of the Versaform Build system, and are now reaping the benefits, despite only being in their second year of business with us. If you would like more information on how Guardian Display can do the same for your company, then give us a call.

Thank you for reading!

Launch of the new Versaform website

The Guardian display web team have been working tirelessly over the past few weeks, to launch the brand new Versaform website, and we're all quite proud of it..

The Versaform family contains, Flex, Build and Titanium.

 "Adapt to your Enviroment" is the adopted strapline and this could never be more true.

Being modular exhibition systems, Versaform systems give you an almost unlimited potential to expand and contract your brand messages at will.

Ultimate versatility in any space as you decide what size and shape your display becomes when you find yourself in a tight spot - literally.

With many add-ons and integrated accessories; tables, podiums, shelving and screen mounts, you can build a unified and seamless media show or point of sale attraction.

Rest assured of the quality too as all our hardware is designed and manufactured in the UK and comes with a lifetime guarantee.

Please click on this link to view the new website.

If you would like more information on the Versaform range of stands, please contact us

Exhibition Stand Design

We have a saying at Guardian Display, "Our success is measured by how successful our clients are". Basically this means that if we design and produce an engaging and imaginative exhibition stand, this will then give our client a worthy return on their investment.

We provide a FREE, no obligation exhibition stand design service, we provide black and white detailed line drawings along with full 3D rendered visuals, allowing you to see exactly how your finished stand will look. All our modular systems provide outstanding value for money and our creativity adds real value that generates that all important ROI.




Added Value



Our designers have many years experience in designing modular exhibition stands and we are experts in maximising space. We will establish a design that reflects your corporate image, looking closely at your requirements, we will guarantee an intelligent, flexible design that can be adapted for various spaces and help you stand out from your competitors. Modular doesn't have to be boring either, we understand that at an exhibition you only get a few seconds to attract the attention of your audience, so we often add great ways to engage with your customers too

We are passionate about design and space planning, we have done this successfully for many leading brands and every time our clients are impressed with the finished result.

To create your perfect exhibition stand environment it's imperative that we understand your brand history and your ideas, thus enabling us to design and construct the perfect area for you to interact and build new relationships with potential customers.

Contact us today for a FREE no obligation design for your next exhibition.

BNC Show - Productive Networking

After a furious 2 days of networking and being bashed in the face (on our iPad game...not in real life) there were some tired feet and weary legs..

The show was as busy as it could be with barely a moment to take in fluids or food.

Our iPad game went down a storm amusing everyone who visited our stand.

Our eventual winners of the 2 bottles of Cristal champagne we were giving away were -

Lauren Smith - Breast Cancer Care
Rebekah Dent - The FT

We were very pleased to present Lauren (seen below) with her fantastic prize...

BNC Global Event Show

We are very pleased to say we are attending this year’s BNC Global event show at The Brewery. On February 20^th & 21^st the cream of top UK and international suppliers and buyers will be brought together for a 2 day event of high brow networking.

The idea of the BNC show is to bring together the BNC members and buyers who purchase corporate event services. Some of the invited buyers who are attending the BNC event are leading companies in fields of insurance, banking, accountancy, telecoms and financial.

The show puts on full hospitality for everyone invited to attend the event, the show makes a big point that there is no admission for the general public or students.!!

We have forged a great partnership with the BNC since becoming members earlier this year. We were pleased to help with various  branded materials for the show, along with helping many of the exhibitors with stands for their spaces.

We will be on stand 101 and we look forward to a fast and furious 2 days of networking and contact making.

For further information on this fantastic event go to -

The BNC Global Event show

We help launch the new Sahara Force India F1 car

We were asked by our client The Sahara Force India F1 team, to help put a splash of colour into a very grey, drab conference room at the brand new wing at the Silverstone race track.

Force India were using the room to hold a media conference launching their new VJM06 race car. The team wanted to brighten up the room by producing giant prints carrying images of the Force India car. We were presented with task of coming up with a solution that was both quick to erect, seamless, re-useable and cost effective.

Upon surveying the room we deduced that the bi-folding doors used to separate the room  would be a perfect place to hang some large scale Fabric prints. Silverstone have recently spent millions of pounds developing a fantastic new media and conference centre and the bi-folding doors in question were extremely expensive bespoke Italian made room dividers, whatever we used to hang the fabrics could not in any way damage the huge grey doors.

After weeks of sourcing and testing various adhesives we came up with a solution that would stick to the surface of the doors and then come down without leaving any residue or marks. Our fitting team went along the afternoon before the launch to hang the giant 3.5 x 3m prints and to everyone relief the prints stuck perfectly to the surface and after the event the client was able to remove the fabrics with little fuss and no damage whatsoever to the Italian crafted doors.

We wish the Sahara Force India the best of luck for the forthcoming season and we thank them for their kind testimonial below –

"Many thanks to all the Guardian Display team for your help, the event was a great success and the fabric banners were a superb feature to the room!"