A 360° Approach to Trade Show Design and Marketing

Crux Creative is a 360° creative and marketing agency with over 35 years of award-winning trade show design and marketing experience. However, we are not an exhibit house. Typically, an exhibit is only a portion of a company’s overall marketing budget. For smaller companies, exhibit budgets can be tight, and resources may be scarce. We understand and care about this dilemma. There is so much more to a trade show exhibit than just a fantastic design.  Yes, design is fundamental, and we are great at designing exhibits. Still, what good is the coolest-looking exhibit if it doesn’t meet your marketing or functioning needs or, worse yet, you can’t afford it?  This is what drives Crux Creative.

We developed the Crux Marketing Trifecta to enhance our 360° Marketing approach specifically for our trade show clients. Why? We care about your company, your budget, and your results. Caring about and understanding a client’s business beyond the immediate project positions us to understand your needs best. This eliminates as many risks as possible while being sensitive to your budget and ensuring we help you bring in trackable results for your company. We apply our Marketing Trifecta to tailor our trade show solutions to your overall marketing needs by focusing on any trade show exhibit’s three most important aspects: Branding, Branded Architecture, and Digital Marketing. All three of these essential components are vital to having a successful trade show experience, and Crux does it all in one place. Combining these three components is crucial to your brand’s overall success and consistency on the trade show floor. Let’s look at how these three equally important areas can work together to make your next trade show your most successful.

So, what exactly is Branding?

Simply put, it’s when a corporate company works on promoting its brand image rather than its products or services. No matter what you do, it should be all about your brand. Sure, your target audience wants to know what you do or what you sell and even how you do it. But more importantly, they want to know why you do what you do.  This last component is crucial to your brand story. As your marketing partner, Crux will come up alongside you, wherever you are in this process, to fully understand and, if necessary, even help you answer these vital questions. Once we have your “why,” we will establish and promote your brand positioning through strategy, content development, and graphic design to create demand for your product. Before, after, and on the trade show floor, this is accomplished using branding and the next two components of the Crux Marketing Trifecta.

Branded Architecture

“Champagne Taste on a Beer Budget” is our motto for trade show exhibits. As we mentioned before, we understand that the actual exhibit is typically only a portion of a company’s overall marketing budget. This can challenge smaller companies that would benefit from having or increasing their trade show presence. It can be difficult to find a quality executed balance between creative design and functionality that correctly positions your brand to your target audience. Crux takes the time to fully understand all aspects of your trade show needs and goals to create the perfect solution for a successful trade show program. Crux finds just the right combination of excellent 3D design, functionality, strategic messaging, and well-executed graphic design to position your brand image while respecting your budget properly.

Digital Marketing

Once we have established your brand position and created the space with a consistent look, feel, and message, we continue our work to let the world know where to find you and why they need to be there. Through pre-show, during, and post-show digital marketing, we build the buzz, anticipation, and experience surrounding your presence at the next trade show. It’s one thing to have a news/events tab on your website that lists all of the tradeshows you be attending and when. But how do potential new clients find you, and why do they need to show up?  What do you have that they need? We may start with a social media campaign that will give potential attendees who are curious about your company information that will lead them to your website and a specifically developed landing page. With branded landing pages built into your website for specific trade show announcements, we have informed potential attendees (customers). When adequately tied into an automated marketing program, it supplies us with their contact information and fine-tunes the experience for your visitors.

We will focus on keeping your target audience engaged as the show date approaches and arrives after the show. We can also help with planning and preparing your staff, which is a critical element of the success of our strategy. Crux will create a complete and well-executed approach based on your goals and clients’ needs. Utilizing the Crux Marketing Trifecta allows us to maintain consistency continually so your brand works harder for you. While this introduction focuses on trade shows, the Crux Marketing Trifecta isn’t limited to this application. Crux specializes in museums, corporate interiors, permanent exhibits, product displays, history, and donor walls.  We approach all these projects with the same approach: Brand development first, building and branding the space accordingly, and inviting others to enjoy it. 360° marketing… evaluate – repeat.

Don’t hesitate to contact Crux to learn how we can apply our approach to your marketing goals and trade show.