Trade Show Stands: Physical or Virtual?

There are 8 key differences between physical tradeshows and virtual trade show stands. Differences that have already proven to enhance the overall experience, both internally in terms of planning, staffing, costs, ownership, brand development, reach and business ROIs, and externally in customer interactions and engagement with products.

Our chart below demonstrates the difference in audience, space, representatives, time, cost analytics, updates and the environment. We could be a little bias, but there does appear to be an obvious winner. What do you think?

	PHYSICAL	VIRTUAL
Audience	Limited to attendees	Unlimited – anyone, anywhere
Space	Limited footprint; and similar to competitors	Unlimited space; and fully bespoke environment
Reps	On-stand staff	Your best brand ambassadors
Time	Limited to event duration	Unlimited
Cost	High & ongoing for materials, travel and staff. Unpredictable ROI	Low and one-off. More predictable ROI
Analytics	Limited to event attendance report	Behavioural data, visitor tracking, feedback forms and CRM integration for personalised lead nurturing
Updates	Slow and costly	Quick and cheap. Always reflects latest and best of the brand.
Environment	Impact from travel and material waste	Close to carbon-neutral

What does a Virtual Trade Show Stand look like?

We recently completed a virtual trade show stand project. Read on for the full story:

With big international trade shows cancelled because of COVID-19, global craft brand Ellison decided to host their own virtual exhibition. We captured their physical stand using high-resolution 17K 360 photographs, and then used cutting edge techniques to seamlessly stitch-in video presenters, recreating the experience of visiting in real life.

We developed a custom UI with a reactive tab menu system, an interactive 3D map and animated 3D navigation spots. Then populated each scene with carousel and video hotspots to allow visitors to explore products and be inspired by the brand’s in-house designers. Finally analytics tracking ensured that visitor data could be captured and used to inform follow-on marketing campaigns.

You can see the final Virtual Tradeshow here.

---

If your organisation is look for ways to reshape your trade show experiences, or you work with clients who are looking for new ideas for a trade show stand – consider this virtual alternative.

And if you need more guidance on price, ideas and how it could look contact our team today for a free, friendly chat.

Call: +44 (0)20 3764 2794

Email: [email protected]