International Showtime.

• Author: KRONEMYER, BOB
• Position: Industry Overview - Statistical Data Included

Tips for overseas trade shows

"The No. 1 challenge is to communicate a globally consistent brand message in a way that is relevant and sensitive to the locale," says Mick Parrott, president at ICON International in Fort Wayne, which has designed international exhibits for companies in the aerospace defense industry and for automotive suppliers.

Last year, ICON International created a large multi-deck exhibit for client Johnson Controls that was exhibited at the Hannover Fair in Germany. "This is the largest trade show in the world," Parrott notes. The display illustrated the process of making plastic products using large equipment. "It was dramatic. There were moving parts and a lot of graphic elements."

But success at overseas shows requires attention to seemingly minor details as well as dramatic elements. "You need to be very sensitive to language issues," he says. "Even though English is the universal language, you shouldn't use English graphic panels exclusively. You try to use some local language as a courtesy."

Parrott cites the unfortunate example of a company that employed the words "Chevy Nova" in a Spanish exhibit. "No va means 'doesn't go' in Spanish," Parrott explains. Sometimes a literal translation doesn't work. "You need to sit down with a skilled translator and attempt to convey the true meaning. You simply don't translate word for word."

Show rules should be thoroughly reviewed, according to Jane Thompson an exhibit consultant at Thompson/Kerr Displays in Fishers. "You should not assume that everything here will be there," she says. For instance, booth size, height limitation and electrical requirements can vary greatly. In most cases, "electricity will not translate without some adapter or rewiring."

Every culture also has customs, "so you don't want to offend," Thompson says. "In Japan, extending one's hand to shake might be considered an offense." And in some cultures, "a business card is considered to be an extension of the person," unlike in the United States, where a business card is often passed out with hardly an acknowledgment from the recipient.

"Quite honestly, what I've seen displayed in Europe is pretty bland and generic, including the use of square corners," says Karl Richter president at Exhibiteam Inc. in Elkhart. Generally, "if you've seen one, you've seen them all." In contrast, "we have a tendency to put a lot of color and life, and free-flow and pizzazz into booths here in the United States."

Several...