Jerry Firbank, Chief Creative Officer of Pico Concept in the UK, was recently interviewed by Exhibitor Magazine. He has been an active inventor and exhibit designer since the 1960s, and has designed everything from exhibits, pavilions, and retail spaces to public and private events. His work has received awards from EXHIBITOR magazine as well as the UK Queen’s Award for Industry. He shared his thoughts on the shape of the exhibit design industry in general and the RFP process in particular.
If you had a catch phrase about exhibit design to share with exhibitors, what would it be?
“It's not what it is - it's what it does.” It's not enough for an exhibit to look nice or be appealing. It has to perform. Good design should be a given, however, ingenuity with customer engagement isn't a given and is often sadly missing. Make an impression on attendees with your exhibit, with a prominent brand statement, modern, appealing architecture, lights, color, movement, and style.
Obviously, making an impression on attendees at a trade show is priority numero uno for most exhibitors. Do you have any advice on how to increase engagement?
Engagement with attendees is won or lost in the first few seconds. People want new information, things that they don't already know, to hold their attention. Build an innovative initiative to provide information in a way that is new, exciting, and memorable.
What do you wish exhibit managers knew (or did) to better facilitate the exhibit-design process?
Corporate selection committees typically don't have the time or resources to fully understand, quantify, and assess the large numbers of bids that they request through RFPs. While it seems like a good idea to get designs and responses from a lot of exhibit houses, it can really distort the outcome. The reality is that the best companies in our industry are the ones that ask the toughest questions upon receiving the RFP, and are the ones least likely to bid. The real exhibit-industry experts add true value to a company's exhibit program because they'll take the time to learn about the company's challenges and objectives.
