Long term client of Expo Centric, Mercury Marine, were exhibitors at 4 exhibitions in 2019. These 4 installs all had different floor plans and required unique configurations.
- Perth Boat Show 16 x 19
- Brisbane Boat Show 16 x 15
- SIBS 21 x 26
- Melbourne Boat Show 16 x 19
Exhibiting at multiple shows can be taxing on a company’s marketing budget. It can also be time consuming, requiring numerous resources in order to have a unique stand designed and built for each individual show.
This case study looks into the exhibiting design strategy Mercury Marine have employed to help reduce costs, time and waste in their exhibiting attendance.
Modular Exhibition Design
The emerging trend in Australian exhibiting is modular design. This fast-growing movement is making the exhibition and events industry stop and take notice.
Modular design is allowing companies to reduce their environmental footprint by having the ability to reuse and reconfigure their exhibition stands, which in the past was unthinkable.
Expo Centric has been a front runner in this trend development in Australia. We use a modular framing system sourced directly from Europe called Aluvision. All of our stands are designed and built using the Aluvision modular framing system.
The use of Aluvision framing allowed Mercury Marine to exhibit at 4 shows throughout the year, while not redesigning and rebuilding a completely new stand for each exhibition.
They were able to reuse multiple stand elements and reconfigure each component for different shows.
Reusable elements:
- Flooring
- Rigged perimeter bulkhead
- Storage room
- Meeting room
- Touch screen kiosks
Perimeter Bulkhead
Suspended signage allows a brand to have maximum impact and optimum visibility. Rigged banners are ideal for creating a stunning focal point that attracts visitors from afar and portrays a professional image for your business. Hanging exhibition bulk heads also allow brands to free up valuable floor space whilst still having a strong brand presence.
The main feature of all 4 exhibition stands for Mercury Marine in 2019 was dominate perimeter bulkhead. It acted as a hanging crown for the Mercury Marine brand.
The modular frames used to build the perimeter bulkhead meant that the bulkhead could be slightly modified in size to suit each of the individual shows.
The Mercury Marine bulkhead was carefully positioned for each show to face the anticipated entry point of the exhibition attendees . This allowed Mercury marine to angle their branding to greet new visitors.
Touchscreen Kiosks
Many exhibitors spend a significant portion of their exhibition budget on printed collateral. With print, the lifespan is relatively short, and you cannot change the content without an extensive outlay in cost and time. Digital media can be easily modified.
Every Mercury Marine exhibition stand included Touch Screen Kiosks. This inclusion was a logical decision and brought many benefits to the Mercury Marine exhibition strategy.
Mercury Marine’s digital content was displayed on these Touch Screen Kiosks, this allowed the content to be changed and updated to suit the audience at the individual shows.
This saved Mercury Marine the costs involved with printing brochures and product specifications. It also reduced the need for extra logistics to ensure printed materials arrived at each exhibition location on time and in pristine condition.
Products on Display
The probability of creating a connection between a product or brand is increased when a customer has seen, touched or experienced the brand products or services.
The Mercury Marine stands were focused on the display of and attendee’s interaction with the brands boats, motors and parts. Attendees were encouraged to touch and feel the brand products with the stand providing step platforms to view inside their feature boats.
This provided the exhibition attendees interactive elements that are more than the visitor simply listening to the sales pitch, immersing them in the Mercury Marine brand.
This simple engagement between the brand and attendees provided an experience to drive connection and brand loyalty.
Open Plan Exhibition Design
Open plan exhibition stands make an impact.
The main benefit of an open plan exhibition stand is the ease of access for exhibition attendees. This ease of access makes a stand more attractive to the attendees. Visitors are able to freely walk through this display and look at products at their own pace.
The floor plan selection is crucial in the effectiveness of an open plan exhibition stand. The Mercury Marine exhibitions stands were in prominent positions on the show floor plans. Having a prestige position at an exhibition show sparks the curiosity of attendees and portrays your brand as a dominate player in the market.
Critics argue that companies that employ an open stand design risk losing connection with potential customers due to the free-flowing traffic in and out of the stand.
Mercury Marine combatted this risk by having multiple interactive displays that engaged the attendees. This had a two-pronged benefit:
- The attendees were engaged with the products and activities, keeping them on stand for an extended period of time and providing them with brand messaging
- Encouraging attendees to stay on the stand longer gave the Mercury Marine staff more time to greet each person who visited the stand and meet their needs
Modular exhibition stands technology is rapidly growing and proving to be the way forward in the exhibiting and events industry.
Show
SIBS | Darling Harbour, Sydney | 1-5 August 2019
The Sydney International Boat Show (SIBS) has been the Southern Hemispheres premier boat show since 1968. Held in Sydney at International Convention Centre, Sydney and the adjoining purpose-built marina on Cockle Bay, Darling Harbour, the show attracts over 63,000 people each year.
SIBS has approximately 300 exhibitors set over 32,600sqm of undercover exhibit space and additional exhibitors and boats on display in the Cockle Bay Marina.
Whether you’re boating and fishing on Australia’s inland waterways or prefer the open waters off the coast, the Sydney International Boat Show promises everything for the avid boatie, fisherman or sailor, with new vessels, new tackle and loads of technology designed to make your adventure on the water even more enjoyable.
Company
Mercury Marine | https://www.mercurymarine.com.au/
Mercury Marine’s primary business is outboard motors. They make a reliable, powerful, and efficient line-up of outboard motors. Backed by decades of innovation and leadership, Mercury outboards are built to go the distance, delivering legendary performance driven by forward-thinking technology.