Trade show exhibits get around. Chicago one month, Orlando the next, and Las Vegas somewhere in between. They rack up more frequent flyer miles than some sales teams, meet thousands of people, and have probably visited Las Vegas more often than anyone on the marketing team.
Yet through all those miles, cities, and different audiences, the message on the exhibit graphics often stays exactly the same. Same company story, same product highlights, same carefully approved tagline, regardless of who's walking past.
Now, I'm all for getting plenty of mileage out of an exhibit. That's one of the reasons we design them to last. But why do companies spend months researching which trade shows will attract their ideal customers, only to arrive with graphics that say exactly the same thing they said to an entirely different audience three months earlier?
Same Sauce. Different Menus.
Let's have a little fun with this. Imagine you're a company that makes premium sauces. You've got a fantastic product, beautiful packaging, and a trade show calendar that takes you into three very different markets.
First stop, a specialty food show. You're surrounded by grocery buyers and retailers looking for products that deserve valuable shelf space. I'd want graphics that make those bottles look irresistible, with packaging front and center and a message that speaks to what makes the product worth stocking.
Next, we're heading to a restaurant industry show. Same sauces, but now we're talking to chefs and foodservice operators. Those beautiful bottles aren't necessarily the stars anymore. I want to see the sauce doing what it does best, drizzled over a perfectly plated dish or bringing something special to a menu. Suddenly, we're selling possibilities rather than shelf appeal.
Then it's off to a natural products expo, where buyers may be especially interested in ingredients, sourcing, and nutritional attributes. Assuming our sauces have a story worth telling in those areas, that's the story I'd bring forward. Fresh ingredients, compelling product details, and photography that speaks to what these buyers are looking for.
Same sauce. Different audiences. Three distinct messages.
That's what makes this interesting to me as a Creative Director. The same product can have completely different selling points depending on who's looking at it. The fun part is figuring out how to communicate those differences while keeping the exhibit's overall design consistent.
Plan for the Message to Change
Here's a conversation I'd love more exhibitors to have with their designers before the first graphic is ever produced: "We're attending three very different trade shows this year. Can we design the exhibit so we can tailor our message to each audience without replacing all the graphics?"
Now that's the kind of creative challenge I enjoy! When I know an exhibit needs to communicate with different audiences, I can identify the graphic areas that will attract the most attention and plan for them to be interchangeable. The surrounding design needs to complement each version, so the exhibit feels cohesive regardless of which message we're featuring.
Let's go back to our imaginary sauce company, Harbor Hill Sauces. Here's how I'd design one exhibit to work for all three shows, changing only the main backwall and counter graphics.
Same exhibit, same brand colors, same product being displayed, same meeting area. Only the backwall and counter graphics have changed, yet each version speaks to a different audience. That's the advantage of designing for flexibility from the beginning.
And there's a practical benefit, too. By updating a few key panels instead of replacing an entire set of exhibit graphics, you can reduce production costs and have fewer replacement graphics to transport and store between shows.
Whether you're planning a new exhibit or preparing for your next show with an existing one, take another look at your graphics. Think about who's attending, what matters to them, and whether your current message speaks to those priorities. Sometimes a few well-chosen graphic updates can make all the difference.
Have a show coming up? Let's talk about updating your exhibit graphics to make sure you're speaking to the right audience.
