A Beginner's Guide

We have spent the last two and half years researching, testing and running events to understand every aspect of the problems we are trying to solve, so you can imagine that finally launching our smart products into the industry is both exciting and nerve-racking.

We had the huge pleasure of launching and exhibiting at The National Restaurant Pub and Bar Show.  We wanted to share what we learnt from our first go!

What was worth the money and what wasn’t?

The stand: 

We opted for a 2x2m stand due to budget restrictions.  We were concerned that this might not be big enough but actually it was fine and I don’t believe it made any difference to the kind of reception we got from people.  We planned our stand really carefully and taped out the area at our base and tried out several different ideas to make the space work.  I would definitely recommend doing this as what we had in our heads to begin with was completely different to what we settled on in the end.

Rather than using the exhibition’s stand designers we ordered panels to fit our stand from our local print and design company.  This was a big saving and worth the small amount of extra work.  I kept the design of the panels really simple and with minimal information, so the stand didn’t look too busy but also so the panels can be used again next year.  On a small stand less is more!

Brochures/flyers:  

We opted to print a small quantity of A5 brochures.  Definitely the right decision but you don’t need as many as you would think.  We printed 50 and didn’t get through them all.  We also had a QR code option which people really liked and it was nice to know that if we had ran out we could still provide the same information.

Business cards:

A must have.  The scanner app provided by the exhibition worked really well but most people still like to take a card.

Goodie Bags:

We made up 25 goodie bags to hand out and although a nice touch they were not necessary.  If you don’t have the budget I wouldn’t worry too much about these unless you have something specific you want people to take away with them.

Events and challenges:

We entered into the Innovation Challenge and we found it to be an incredible opportunity that was well worth the extra investment. We had the opportunity to pitch to some of the biggest players in our industry, this then led to many of the judges visiting our stand.  This is something I believe was unlikely to have happened if we hadn’t entered. Generally I would say it’s good to get stuck in to anything that is going on, as you will always meet more people and have more opportunities.

Marketing Consultancy:

We have been working with Holleigh from Holleigh Stevenson Creative Marketing for the last few month on the activation and launch of our company.  It has been worth every penny. Her guidance with how best to approach different aspects of the industry, building bespoke presentations and advice on which trade shows would best suit us has been so valuable to our business. We had a very successful launch at the show and it wouldn’t have happened without her.

Branding:

Branding is something that seems to cost the earth.  It won’t work for everyone but no one knows your company better than you do, so sometimes maybe you are the one to do it?  For us, we started with the goal to create a fun and approachable brand that would stand out from the crowd.  I went on the Farrow and Ball website and experimented with bright, happy colours I loved and it grew from there.  We used a professional for the logo and then did the rest ourselves.  We were thrilled to have so many positive comments from visitors at the show about the look and feel of our brand.  It might be something that we invest more in, in the future but for now we will use this approach.  One important thing to always bear in mind is consistency.  Website, brochure, business cards, they all need to feel they belong to the same family.

What we wish we knew before:

The get ins and get outs never seem to go to plan.  From speaking to other exhibitors it sounds like it's something that always has issues across the board.  Using an external courier company was quite stressful.  Next time we will definitely be doing the deliveries ourselves. If possible I would suggest using a vehicle that is within the height restrictions of the available car parks.  This will massively reduce your waiting times and mean you can be more in control. 

We ordered 5mm panels to fit in the frame of our stand; it would have been better if we had opted for poster like panels that can be rolled up.  It would have been much easier to transport and take up less room to store.

Don’t be afraid to ask!

We asked some friendly companies that we knew to gift us some kegs to pour through our drinks delivery systems so we could demo the product with something more interesting than water.  We were surprised by how generous people were and also how many people wanted us to use their products.  It’s worth remembering that partnering up with complimentary companies can save you money but also provide them with exposure they otherwise wouldn’t have had.  It was a win-win!

What surprised us:

We were delighted at the calibre of people we were able to speak to face-to-face.

We were surprised how supportive everyone was of each other.  There was a lovely atmosphere and you can see how the relationships you build with other exhibitors over the years will both be a lovely thing but also end up being of huge benefit to your company. 

If you think this might help anyone who is about to launch, please do share it!