How to successfully write a creative brief for your exhibition requirements

Provide background information

First, think about why you are exhibiting at the show. For instance, are you launching a new product? Or offering hospitality? Second, it is really important to consider who are you targeting at the show. Are they customers, journalists, suppliers, shareholders? Each will have their own reasons for attending that you will need to address if you wish for the show to be a success for you. Sharing your understanding of your company and its customers helps to set the landscape in which the design is set. That said, ensure that you make it clear and concise. If you provide five pages of company background and only two sentences of stand requirements the balance is wrong and it will be difficult for your designers to provide the right stand for you.

Share some design direction

Design is subjective, so providing examples of what you like can help clarify the style, colour, graphics, and AV to work with. Don’t be afraid to share any ideas you may have. If you want something a certain way, be specific and note what has and hasn’t worked well in previous years. Take your time to choose adjectives that really describe your vision of the space; professional, elegant, modern and open are used far too often. What differentiates you?

Think about the specifics

Space planning and layout positioning are both key. You should ensure you have provided all your requirements. What is the space type? Where is the location? Is it double deck? Are there any impediments – such as columns close by? Is there a specific orientation you prefer? Does it consider traffic flow and visibility? Identifying and communicating all these points will help avoid any misunderstanding and mean you get the most from your space.

Supply detailed build requirements

Summarise what you want. If you’ve exhibited before, use this as a reference point so you can provide specifics. There is so much information you can provide here and it is all useful. Let’s sweep through the kind of things you can detail: How many meeting rooms will you have? How many people should the reception desk accommodate? How many exhibits (dimensions and specification sheets are good)? How much storage is required? Will you have a floral preference? What flooring is preferred? Where will you offer hospitality? What are the catering requirements? Pretty wide ranging, right? And there may well be more that are specific to you. So get your thinking cap on.

Offer more information

By now you are starting to get down a thorough creative brief, so now it is time to think about what you may have missed. Do you need air con? Does your CEO have a preferred light fitting that must be used? How many graphics do you want on display? Is there an area that requires a specific feature, finish, look and feel? If it is relevant to the exhibition, include it.