Storytelling at the trade fair stand

A multitude of open books as a sign of the importance of storytelling

Today in our blog article we tell a little story. Namely about the storytelling itself and about how you can stage your brand values at your trade fair stand in the future. So now a big round of applause, flap – the first and curtain up for the basics of storytelling at the trade fair stand!

What is storytelling?

Simply put, storytelling is the telling of stories. But the practice behind it is not quite so simple: a good story must inspire, captivate and carry away. Like a play on stage or a movie on TV, businesses can tell their story and convey information more easily. By combining factual content with the emotions of the story, facts – beautifully packaged – are directly anchored and stored in the brain. A vividly told story grabs the attention of trade show attendees and can communicate more easily than a logical presentation of information. In this way, sometimes complicated issues can be loosened up and remain in the memory for a long time. So storytelling generates memories and promotes learning, which is ideal for showcasing your brand values at trade shows. But how does that work? How can a good story be created from corporate values?

A good story

The foundations for storytelling at the trade fair stand are already in your hands. With the brand values and the information you want to tell, you form the basis for the story. Based on the rules of story writing, an exciting story can be spun around the brand. All that is needed is a character who gets into a predicament and is freed from it. The heroes can be the trade fair visitors themselves or the company that has undergone a special development. Focused on a storytelling goal, a dramaturgy can now be built that, like a good book, culminates in a conflict and concludes with an inspiring resolution.

Effect of storytelling at the trade fair stand

A good story not only attracts attention and sends the trade fair visitors, after visiting your stand, enthusiastic and inspired into the crowded exhibition hall. Storytelling also serves a strategic marketing purpose. According to experiments at Stanford University, stories are remembered 22 times better and also sell, on average, twice to five times as much as pure facts. Based on human evolution, stories are simply easier and better processed than factual listings. After all, this used to be the only way to spread news or pass on traditions to the next generation. It’s not for nothing that stories are the stuff that dreams are made of. From bedtime stories as a child, to the excitement we find in books and movies, to the tales our grandparents pass down to us, they stay with us throughout our lives.

Staging of the brand story at the trade fair stand

Telling a little story is easy:

Once upon a time there was a brand that wanted to present itself at a large, important trade fair. But the small brand didn’t quite know how to dress itself up to compete with the many other big companies. After many sleepless nights with smoking heads, with united strength, a trade fair stand could be created that could set the scene and illustrate the long journey of the small brand in an inspiring way. All the people who visited the stand were inspired by the brand values and innovation and left deeply touched.

But how can this story be brought to life?

What is the staging?

Staging is as old as theatre and refers to a process of creation. The display and appearance of a work. It is therefore the effective combination of individual partial aspects, such as materials, signs, symbols and actions, in order to bring a story to life. All partial aspects finally result in an overall picture that conveys a certain feeling and thus tells the story.

The trade fair stand as a stage

Just as every word in a book or every piece on the set of a movie is designed to fulfill a function, every square foot at the booth is planned and designed to fulfill the function, the brand staging. A well thought out colour scheme, the use of graphics, lighting and scents help to evoke emotions and tell the story. From the first captivated view of the booth from afar, to the moment visitors enter the story, to the moment they are seen off again into the noisy exhibition hall, all the walls and elements at the booth must collectively represent this one story.

If you are now inspired to find your own story for your business, but still need assistance with it, just contact us. In cooperation with the storytelling expert Michael Kremnitzer, we at SYMA can not only write good stories, but also draw on the necessary know-how and extensive experience in staging brand stories.

CONTINUATION to follow… in the next part of our blog series about storytelling at the trade fair stand!