Trade fairs are an important instrument in the marketing mix of companies. The advantages are numerous: interacting, acquiring new customers, selling products and services as well as positioning the brand. In order to capture the attention of the target group and achieve your set marketing goals, unusual ideas and surprising trade fair appearances are necessary. Our team helps you realise your trade fair experience of tomorrow with innovation, functionality and vision. Together, we create experiences that will amaze your visitors and enable them to experience a hybrid journey.
The trade fair landscape is in a state of upheaval. New ideas and concepts are the order of the day. As builders of experiences, we help you create a trade fair presentation that your visitors will remember for a long time. We combine functionality and extraordinary ideas to capture the attention of your potential customers, and offer them an experience that appeals to all their senses.
On this page you can learn more about the following topics:
Benefit from our know-how as experience and live communication experts. Together we will develop a trade fair presentation that will captivate your target audience and stimulate your sales. We’d be happy to offer you personalised advice.
The trade fair has always been a place of change and exchange. In the Middle Ages, trade fairs were among the most important centres for transactions; in the 18th century, a slump began with the institutionalisation of banks and stock exchanges, only to be followed by an upswing again in the first decade of the 21st century. Today, the trade fair landscape is still subject to market-based changes. Online trade has reduced the importance of trade fairs as a pure sales channel. Exhibitors are questioning existing models, setting other priorities. The consequence: Some well-known trade fairs had to close their doors.
Long live the experience!
As experience designers, we are convinced that the trade fair is still an important instrument for many companies to make their services and products accessible to a larger (professional) audience, position their brand, conduct market research and analysis, and build and maintain customer relationships. The fair has two decisive advantages:
These two arguments mean that with a well thought-out trade fair presence, companies can not only win over existing and potential customers but can also drive brand loyalty.
Experience with all senses and feel the personal interaction.
In the past two years, some trade fairs have been organised purely digitally. In contrast to physical trade fairs, these have the advantage of eliminating travel for exhibitors and visitors. However, anyone who participates in a digital trade fair will find that interaction and personal exchange can only be replaced to a limited extent. This is also reflected in a survey conducted by the Association of the German Trade Fair Industry AUMA. Only 21% of companies in the survey see purely digital trade fairs as an alternative – also because digital participation is less interesting economically, since fewer leads and sales could be generated. On the other hand, 48% see them as a good complement.
We also see digital trade fairs as a good complement to the physical experience. Especially for large trade fairs, the digital image can serve in advance as an orientation aid for visitors. It also gets interesting when a virtual twin of the physical trade fair stand is created, and displayed on the company website. In general, the fusion of digital elements with the real trade fair presence on site opens up new attractive possibilities to offer your target group a hybrid Journey and a 360° experience.
How do I use my trade fair budget profitably? This question is probably asked by every marketing and event manager. For us, the functionality of the trade fair presentation, and the experience, are always the key elements. At the same time, we always focus on the needs of the exhibitor. It is important to specifically address the target group and define the presentation. Is it a one-off appearance or is it crucial that the stand can be set up and dismantled in a few easy steps or even reused as a roadshow? We always focus on sustainable and multifunctional use. A trade fair appearance should be a place for the following elements:
Once these points have been defined, the most important thing follows: Creating an experience. This must surprise and captivate the trade fair visitors. They need to be able to experience the brand, the product with all their senses. Who doesn’t remember the artificial cloud at Expo.02? As experts in live communication, we skilfully use dramaturgy and staging to make your target group sit up and take notice.
To provide a lasting experience, digital elements can be used as a complement. You can give your visitors a hybrid journey: They can take a look at your production using Augmented Reality (AR), or have a hologram of the founder explain the history of the company. Another add-on could be an on-site studio setup from which you can stream speeches or product presentations, and thus digitally expand your audience. Designing a digital twin of your exhibition stand is also an option here. Thanks to the CAD plans of the physical stand, a digital twin can be prepared with little effort. You can integrate this into your website, and continue the communication experience after the trade fair has finished.
You want to present your products to a specific target group? A trade fair appearance is not always the solution. A variety of alternatives exist. Here are three of the most interesting:
Roadshow
At a roadshow, you take your products and services to your customers. You can address them in a targeted way, without wastage. We recently had the pleasure of implementing two roadshows for Coop – Harry Potter & Pro Montagna. This has increased footfall in the shopping centres. Another example of a successful roadshow is the multipurpose mobile unit at the UBS Kids Cup.
Pop-up store
With a pop-up store, you create a temporary world of experience for your target group. The limited-time offer creates exclusivity. It is also a good idea to open a pop-up store for a new product, to generate attention.
Visitor centre
An individual world of experience lets you invite people to look behind the scenes and take them on an emotional journey into the heart of your company. Projects that we were allowed to implement for Georg Fischer or Meiko show this impressively. With a creative concept – on-site and digital – we ensure that your visitor centre can become part of your communication strategy.
Learn more about visitor centres
Idea & conceptWhether it’s a trade fair appearance or an alternative – our creation team will work with you to develop memorable experiences for your target group. The focus is on your marketing and communication goals.
Branding & emotionsAs experts in live communication, the dramaturgy of appearances and the staging of brands are our pet projects. We create emotional associations and give your brand a face.
Functionality & innovationOur focus lies on the multifunctional use of our structures. A trade fair appearance or a roadshow is an investment – we ensure that they fulfil several functions. We also have our finger on the pulse, chasing trends in order to offer you tomorrow’s product today.
Design & constructionOur experts merge functionality with design. In doing so, they rely on sustainable materials that underline the content-related concept and bring the experience to life.
Experience & expertiseWe have many years of experience in the conception, project management and implementation of trade fair and event constructions, as well as visitor centres. This allows us to respond to your individual needs.
