How do you successfully transfer the trade show experience into the digital space? This was the question the gogglesoc team around the brand's founders Andy Taylor, Josh Green and Rich Adrian Smith asked themselves when developing a digital trade show booth for ISPO Munich Online.
Andy Taylor, co-founder of eyewear accessories manufacturer gogglesoc, explains, “When it became clear to us that trade shows this winter would not be happening, we asked ourselves - what is a trade show? A trade show allows someone to speak to and learn about a brand, their story and the brand’s product offering.”
Once the requirements were defined, the gogglesoc team set out to find digital solutions. The goal was to develop an interactive booth that combined videos, images, text and links in an innovative and creative way. "We used state-of-the-art interactive video technology. This allowed us to create a trade show experience that was equally suitable for each of our global B2B customers," explains Josh Gray. Andy Taylor adds, "In a face-to-face meeting, people can direct the conversation - asking questions and getting all the information they want. Our video does all of that."
Static websites have been presenting products to customers for years, but they are no substitute for the trade show experience. Video, on the other hand, can be more engaging and visually stimulating, and can be used to showcase a brand's values or explain a product and product line. Still, lengthy explanatory video content isn't for everyone: perhaps some information is already known, while new information may be hidden later in the recording. Plus, static product videos don't offer opportunities for interaction.
It's the latter that makes trade shows so important. Human interaction is a big part of what makes a trade show successful. It's a big challenge to replicate this online. Innovative technology use has to digitally replicate human contact and make a brand tangible even through the screen.
Welcome to the world of the interactive digital trade show. Want to go straight to ordering? Sure. In a hurry? No problem. Never heard of the brand before and want to learn about the entire product portfolio instead? A wealth of further information is provided for this purpose.
"We wanted to create an engaging brand experience, only without the ability to actually experience the product in real life," says Josh Gray.
The digital booth provides video insights into the company and its history and origins in Whistler, Canada, as well as insights into the different product categories of gogglesoc, showing new designs and explaining the different product lines. In addition to the gogglesoc, an innovative protection for the lenses of ski goggles, the brand offers other sustainable and innovative products to protect outdoor sports glasses. The manufacturer of sports eyewear accessories relies on microfiber stretch material made from recycled PET. In addition to information on the brand and the products, there will be a presentation of the merchandising offers for stationary sports retailers, which are also produced sustainably and are free of charge. Likewise, current catalogs are provided for ordering.
Their solution means gogglesoc’s customers can truly direct what they need from the experience – either sit back and allow the team to present the full six-and-a-half-minutes, or skip to what they want to see: interactively discover products individually, get informed about their sustainability story or even skip straight to the order. The customer is back to feeling like they’re actively taking part in an interaction. The presentation can be repeated as often as desired, parts can be skipped or more in-depth information can be accessed by clicking on further information.
The presentation video of gogglesoc is technically versatile. For example, it could also be embedded and made available on the homepage of a local distributor. Whether mobile or desktop, it runs on multiple devices and can be sent as a single link and shared with the team. This is hugely convenient meaning no more clunky dropbox folders or PDFs.
The only aspects missing is an option to kick back and socialize over a beer once business has been concluded, and to actually touch the gear - “we’re good, but not that good,” laughs Andy. Yes, there’s no denying that this is Plan B, but with solutions like those developed by gogglesoc, perhaps Plan B isn't so bad after all.
Follow the link for gogglesoc’s digital tradeshow experience:
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