How to prepare a briefing for a stand
The briefing is the star document in any organization plan: it is the way to put down on paper the largest amount of necessary information, in this case, to build the best stand for the fair we want to be part of. This way, the briefing works as the most effective communication tool when establishing a dialogue between a company hiring the stand and its suppliers, those who design, build, and assemble the stand.
Consequently, a good briefing will have objectives, style lines, corporate identity, target public and all concerning the exhibitor and its reflection in the fair results. How can we prepare a good briefing for a stand?
Why develop a briefing for a stand?
We must understand its functionality upon the definition of the concept: the briefing should not be confused with the trade fair marketing plan. The purpose of a good briefing is not to have all costs planned down to a T and know the steps to be taken or projected objectives as much as it is to offer the creative team and stand designers all relevant information so they can understand and convey the message to be delivered.
This way, with a stand briefing, the designer will be able to know the customer to perfection, as well as the target audience, and everything concerning the company. This is vital to achieve not only stands with groundbreaking and striking design, but also stands capable of telling stories, expressing feelings and emotions experienced through the brand.
This is why this element is of utmost importance to Contemporanea Eventi: we have been designing spectacular stands for more than 15 years. However, what we are prouder of is not only aesthetics or functionality, something we can guarantee 100% with or without a briefing, though, but of being capable of projecting brand image, philosophy, and culture. Once a visitor arrives at one of our stands, they immerse in the company’s ecosystem, being able to remember it.
What should a good briefing for a stand include?
Although a briefing for a stand can emerge from a conversation and come about without a sample or pattern, the information should be gathered from the following points:
- Company Values and Principles: its main mission and the vision to achieve it.
- Company history: strengths, vulnerabilities, past mistakes and achievements to neutralize the former and enhance the latter.
- Campaign target audience: the stand must feel like a home to your visitors, make them feel comfortable, embraced by the company. Therefore, their priorities and preferences must be understood.
- Current market situation: the objective of a stand can be to praise the success of the company or on the other hand, to show what’s hidden and might be of interest to the potential customer. Thus, the current situation of the company must be known thoroughly, as well as what is needed to design the strategy.
- Product and/or service details: what should be attracting the potential ticket buyer from far and from what is to be exhibited, and what should be assimilated once immerse in the stand.
- Information on competitors: the foundation for a good competition is to know what to offer in order to stand out from our competitors. Thus, it should not be pushed aside from our objectives and needs to be conveyed.
- Distribution channels: a technology company is different from a traditional company, in the same way one selling online is from another one with a traditional store, even at the same fair. In the case of the latter, for instance, the stand should offer extra comfort for an unrushed taste of products.
Elements that add up in your trade fair participation
A briefing, although not compulsory, is highly desirable and a symbol of distinction between a company committed to the project and one that simply performs the job like any other.
We have already learned how important it is not to leave a well-planned trade fair participation to chance, so a proper guide summarizing all a stand needs to communicate at a fair will deliver further guarantee for the success of the participation, which will be added to the already obtained by the trade fair marketing plan and other certainties such as being able to visualize your stand in 3D.
This does not necessarily mean that a fair participation will require an endless number of previous documents detailing what needs to be done step by step. A briefing can be informal and in the form of a conversation in which the builder collects information while showing the due interest for what the company embodies.
What should be clearly understood is that those in charge of building the stand do comprehend the magnitude of the project, how important it is to the customer and therefore, they throw themselves into the project in order to deliver exactly what the customer wants and needs, something that could be easily presented as a 3D design and not mandatorily in a paper document.
For this reason, the key to the success of the construction of the perfect stand is to count on a professional team, one that will comprehend the history behind the exhibitor, and at the same time, will think about more than just your corporate colors and focus on the cause and the motivation for your company to want to reach out to its customers. Trust your stand to those who truly engage in conversation, pampering and being part of the campaign; trust the professionals at Contemporanea Eventi with your stand.
