Conducting a trade show program can be very labor intensive. With Hale! Marketing’s experience in all aspects of trade show coordination and booth design and procurement, clients have the option to simply define the parameters then show up on the opening day to enjoy a successful exhibit!
Greenlight Power Technologies, now part of Hydrogenics Corporation, is a leading global supplier of testing and diagnostic equipment to the fuel cell industry. Greenlight wished to keep costs down while exhibiting at multiple trade shows in both North America and Europe, and engaged Hale! Marketing to design a trade show booth that would fit their budget and accommodate floor plans of varying sizes and configurations on both continents. The project needed to be completed within a strict budget and a tight, 6 week time frame from concept to first set-up at a European trade show.
Typically, it is extremely difficult to manage an international exhibition program on a small budget. Shipping and logistics costs alone are prohibitive. Smaller companies usually scale back their plans and rent small exhibit booths or “shells” which may not adequately represent them or create the right impression.
Our first decision was to design a show booth for Greenlight that was modular, so that it could be reconfigured to fit the various floor layouts of the trade shows they planned to attend. We also decided to design the booth using as many custom components as possible so that the overall impression would be memorable and unique. To keep transportation costs down, we used light fabric walls and banners that were also easy for Greenlight staff to set up themselves, and also had the advantage that they could be rapidly and inexpensively replaced if it was necessary to change the messaging. The structural elements of the booth were standard truss sections that are commonly available. These were economical to rent in each exhibit location.
Maintaining clear and consistent messaging to support the Greenlight brand and products was also key. We took elements of the visual design already in place and developed them into compelling graphics that supported the messages we developed as part of the project.
Working with a team of vendors and suppliers in Europe and the USA, Hale! Marketing sourced and manufactured the interchangeable wall, truss, and banner components that could be configured from a 4m x 5m space to a 10ft x 20ft space.
We then worked with one of our North American booth suppliers to produce the fabric envelope, which could be economically shipped to the first show in Amsterdam. As there was no time to view the booth before delivery and actual set-up, we created full 3D visualizations of the booth and a configuration guide.
The result was an innovative and flexible trade show booth that successfully displayed a clear Greenlight brand and product message, and met both time and budget requirements.
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