How to use Branded Bars for Impact at Trade Shows and Exhibitions
What are Trade Shows and Exhibitions?
Trade shows and Exhibitions are a great way to showcase your company and products. They are often themed around certain subjects or areas of interest, such as Food and Drink, Technology or Travel. Trade shows and exhibitions are often more focused at a corporate or B2B (Business to Business) audience, whilst Consumer shows are often attended by the public.
Why are Trade Shows and Exhibitions important?
Trade shows and exhibitions are a great way to showcase your company and its products or services within a particular field. The audience, by its very attendance, is naturally interested in the subject matter, so they are often warm leads.
Where do Trade Shows and Exhibitions take place?
Trade shows and exhibitions are hosted by venues large and small. Large shows often take place in huge venues such as ExCeL London and the NEC in Birmingham. But smaller shows might also be hosted by venues such as Town Halls or Hotels.
How do you exhibit at a show?
Trade show and exhibition organisers sell space for exhibition stands to companies that want to exhibit. Costs are generally based on square footage or prominence within a given floorplan. The larger the stand, or more prominent its location, the more it costs to exhibit. Stands are often either ‘Space Only’ or ‘Shell Scheme’.
What is a Space Only exhibition stand?
A Space Only exhibition stand is simply a defined area within the show floorplan (e.g. a 5m x 5m space). With a Space Only exhibition stand the company hiring the space generally needs to design, install and uninstall the stand. The exhibition organiser and venue will often provide basic services for an additional fee (e.g. Electrics, lighting, carpet). The rest of the stand needs to be built by the exhibitor or their suppliers.
What is a Shell Scheme exhibition stand?
A Shell Scheme is a standardised trade show system providing a basic stand structure which can then be dressed (e.g. a 3m x 2m corner space with 2 open sides). Due to its standardised nature it can be easier and cheaper to build and dress a stand within this kind of space, especially if attending several shows with reusable branding and furniture. Again the venue will often offer basics such as electrics, lighting and carpets.
How to Build a High Impact Stand at a Trade Show or Exhibition?
Exhibiting companies will often employ the services of a marketing agency or specialist exhibition stand building company to bring their space to life. But many smaller companies and start ups will do it themselves, or at least partially. Either way, some key considerations and areas of focus are:
Look and Feel of trade show and exhibition stands
Your stand is a reflection of your brand. As such, it needs to convey key messages and brand values in a simple, high impact way. Considerations such as colours, branding and messaging are important. Enticing attendees to engage with your stand and staff, by making your stand look attractive and inviting, has got to be a core objective when planning your space.
Design & Layout of trade show and exhibition stands
The layout of your stand is important, and may be dictated by the anticipated dwell time of show attendees at your stand or the nature of the interactions. Do you need a discreet sit down space for more private conversations? Or is a chat across a branded bar more appropriate for casual conversations and product sampling?
Staff Engagement at trade shows and exhibitions
The personal interactions that take place and relationships that are built across a branded bar at trade shows and exhibitions are extremely important. Having engaged, friendly staff that know your products and services well is key.
Logistics at trade show and exhibitions
Trade shows and exhibitions often have quite restrictive time windows for building and dismantling stands, due to the volume of people requiring access at the same time. Being highly organised with kit, transport, paperwork and suppliers is vital. Having a branded bar on wheels as part of your stand can make getting in and out of the venue even easier.
Stock at trade show and exhibitions
If you are selling or sampling products at your show you need to consider how to get stock to your stand and if you have sufficient space to store it for the duration of the show. Sometimes stock (especially if on pallets) can be delivered directly to the venue’s loading bay for onward delivery to the stand. Incorporating a branded bar into your stand can help by providing an attractive space for stock storage.
How to make your Trade Show or Exhibition Stand ‘Pop’?
Trade shows and exhibitions can be in vast spaces with hundreds of stands, so standing out from the crowd can be challenging. Whether your budget is large or small, keeping the stand simple and having a focal point is important. A good way of achieving this is using a branded bar which can be visually impactful and highly functional.
Why use a Branded Bar at Trade Shows and Exhibitions?
A branded bar is a high impact way of creating a focal point within an exhibition stand.
Bars that can be branded reinforce your key messaging and brand identity.
Branded bars are a relatively low cost way of creating a talking point.
Interactions with customers across a branded bar puts everyone at ease, as it feels more like a conversation at the pub.
A branded bar can be highly functional too, providing a discreet space for stock and equipment.
How do you hire a Branded Bar for Trade Shows and Exhibitions?
Visit wwww.quirky-group.co.uk/bars and take a look at our selection of branded bars available to hire and buy
Select a bar that meets your requirements
Contact us to check availability and for a quote based on delivery and collection dates / times, and branding requirements.
Pay for your branded bar.
Provide artwork to us at least 10 days before your event starts.
Finalise logistics such as trade show or exhibition venue registration and delivery slots.
Enjoy making a splash with a high impact branded bar on your trade show or exhibition stand!
What type of Branded Bars are best for Trade Shows and Exhibitions?
There are a multitude of factors that dictate the best branded bar for an exhibition stand. These are some of the key considerations:
Space Available for branded bars
Clearly a large branded bar like an Airstream Bar will require much more floor space than a smaller branded bar such as a Tricycle Bar. Height is also also a consideration, particularly in Shell Scheme stands which sometimes have structural horizontal supports at around 2.3 metres. This may limit the height available for some branded bars or elevated parasols.
Budget for branded bars
Larger bars generally cost more, as do the larger trade show and exhibition stands required to house them. Whatever space you have though, it is definitely worth investing in a key focal point for your trade show or exhibition stand.
Generating Impact with branded bars
Trade shows and exhibitions are extremely busy environments so choosing a branded bar that will make your space stand out is important. Fun, unique and heavily branded bars are often a great choice for impact and for creating a lasting impression on attendees.
Brand Fit and Messaging using branded bars
Different branded bars create different associations. Some of our branded bars are more playful, intriguing or functional. Choosing a bar that has a good fit with your brand or current messaging is important and will help to amplify your impact. Some branded bars, by their very nature or size, also have more or less space for bespoke branding which may also be a selection factor.
Logistics with branded bars
Getting specific bars into and out of trade shows and exhibition venues can affect the selection of branded bar. For example some vehicles may need to be ‘de-fuelled’ before entering a venue to comply with health and safety regulations. Or venues that aren’t on the ground floor may make such a choice of branded bar impractical. Most of our bars and all of our tricycles are on wheels making getting them in and out of venues straightforward.
Which are your most popular Branded Bars for Trade Shows and Exhibitions?
The choice of bar may depend on many of the factors listed above but some of our most popular bars are featured below:
Branded Tricycles and Bars
Branded Promotional Tricycles are a really fun way of bringing your company, product or service to life. They are aesthetically pleasing with great opportunities to add your branding to the Trike itself. Branded tricycles provide a high impact talking point as part of a trade show and exhibition stand, and they can help make interactions between staff and customers more engaging. They are also functional, providing space for stock or promotional material and can even help with getting kit in and out of the show.
Fully Branded Bars
Our small Fully Branded Bars and Six Foot Fully Branded Bars are a great way of generating maximum brand exposure as part of a trade show or exhibition stand. These bars have several branding panels including elevated branding which is important in busy environments. They are a great way of interacting with customers and provide highly functional spaces with shelving, storage and space for stock behind the bar. They are also on wheels making trade show and exhibition logistics more straightforward.
Tiki Bars
Our range of branded Tiki Bars are very popular at trade shows and exhibitions. Tiki Bars by their very nature feel fun and exotic, and remind us of happy times on tropical holidays. They also look great and are highly impactful on stands with good opportunities for branding. This sense of joy and escapism can immediately inject a stand, and customer interactions within it, with a wow factor.
Quirky Group is an event and production agency that regularly helps brands by providing branded bars for trade shows and exhibitions. Take a look at our branded bars and contact us if you need some help.