Creativity, Realism and Flexibility in Event Marketing

Creativity is not about coming up with the biggest, most impressive spectacle. It’s not about being the most ambitious exhibition stand at the event.  

Creativity is about working with what you have to create something that is eye-catching because it is unique, and clever and intentional.  

Which is good news, because it means that an event is about more than the budget you can throw at it, or the space you’re allotted.

The Importance of the Creative Process 

Creativity is the difference between a plain board with your name on, and an immersive, magnetic exhibition stand which tells your story, promotes your product, and hosts some fascinating conversations. 

Because of that, 'creativity' is not just some buzzword we throw around. It’s the heart of our work at Image, and something we really value in our collaborations with clients. 

The process looks like this: we’ll pool creative ideas from the get-go. We want to hear what you have to say, and how you want to say it. If money and time were no object, what would you do? A wide pool of uninhibited ideas is something we can work from. 

We then create some plans. During this process, we inflect the big pool of ideas with a bit of realism. Budget, spatial and logistical considerations, which we’ve learned lots about over the years.  

That’s not to say that the next stage of the creative process is to stamp on all your brilliant ideas. Instead, it’s to use those ideas to help us answer a series of questions which come up during the creation of every exhibition stand.  

A Coffee Machine is a great hospitality feature (Photo: Image Experiential)

Creative Solutions to Common Questions 

These questions come up during the event-planning process: 

1. Where is money really needed? Hone in on the aspects of your creative plans which are super unique, clear-cut, and communicative. These will become the focus of your exhibition stand. The things that best represent your brand will be most intriguing for your visitors to engage with. 

   
   

   If you want hospitality features, but can't afford a coffee machine, don't fret; the coffee machine represents hospitality, but it's not the heart of the concept. There are other ways of providing for visitors. Maybe your budget is better spent on a nibbles table, that speaks to your brand and offers something intentional. The same results, for a price that suits you.

2. How can we convey the brand succinctly, with reusable materials? - This helps a lot with brand storytelling, allowing you to really drill down into which colours, pictures, and products best represent your brand and your vision. Succinct messaging, recognisable across different platforms. 

   
   

3. How can we fill a big space? Or how can we make the most of a small space? - The answer, of course, is creatively.  We work to fit your ideas into the space that’s given to you.

   A big space can host an impressive, interactive structure, but it will also cost more money to fill.

   
   

   A smaller space will focus more on smaller, intentional offerings-live entertainment, a demonstration, or a product display. With the right creativity, any space can communicate your brand, and that initial pool of ideas will find a home in whatever space you’ve got. 

   
   

4. How do we create a marketing campaign around the event? - marketing doesn’t start or end on the big day. You need digital campaigns to encourage engagement with your event before and after.

   
   

   There are good, cost-effective ways to do this. For example, come up with parts of your stand that inspire User-Generated Content. A selfie-station here, a little game there. Putting money here means that your campaigns have a life of their own, and your brand space stands out in a crowd. These are creative ways of promoting engagement, and they are born of budgetary considerations.  

   
   

5. How can we keep up with competitor brands? - looking around the busy hall, you might see lots of competitors with big, brash stands. But, as we’ve said, it’s not the spectacle which sells. The creativity comes in finding small, clever ways of intentionally connecting with your customers. Your stand might not be the biggest, but it will be unique, bespoke, and set you apart from the others, based on that pool of ideas. 

   
   

All exhibition stands face the realism stage, where logistical concerns occur. Creative exhibition stands find unique ways of working with them, not against them. 

That is to say that realism is not there to dishearten you. In fact, when you’re faced with restrictions, you automatically have to hone in on your options, think them through, and increase your flexibility.

The result? A stand that works, not in spite of the restrictions, but because of them. 

Creative Problem-Solving: A Famous Example 

We’re going to show our nerdy side now, with a story that illustrates how the things that worry you when you start a project, can actually help your creativity in the long-run.

Who’s heard of Doctor Who? (Who hasn’t!) 

But did you know that, when the iconic TV show was created back in the 60s, the Doctor’s  TARDIS was going to be a lot more complicated than the design that is so famous today.  

The time machine was going to assimilate into its surroundings: it might be a car in London, or a barn in the countryside. It might be a spaceship on another planet, or a Pyramid in Ancient Egypt.  

Then, budgeting happened. Alas, it became clear that this shapeshifting space was too ambitious and unaffordable a design. 

“The makers of ‘Doctor Who’ came up with a strategy to give the time-travelling machine a suitable appearance—one that was inexpensive and had the potential to evolve.” 

• Fatemeh Mirjalili, Slashfilm.com  

  
  

The result: the space was toned down, from a vast spaceship, to the small rectangle of a Public Police Telephone Box. 

Photo: Nick Fewings, Unsplash

Police boxes were a very normal thing to see in the streets at the time. The new design was cheap and accessible.  

Then, the story developed around that design. 

Just like that, one of the most iconic designs in the world (who, after all, would not recognise the TARDIS if they came face-to-face with it?) was born.  

All that as a result of a small budget and some quick-thinking creatives.  

So, What Are You Waiting For?  

If you’ve been nosing around, thinking about hosting an exhibition, but you’re worried about budget and space, don’t let it put you off before you’ve even tried. 

It’s always worth having a chat with some experts. Collaboration is where creativity thrives, and your dream event might be more possible than you imagined.