Exhibitions are an incredibly important tool for B2B marketing in Japan. Bigbeat provides booth support for a variety of companies at exhibitions from design to construction and more. In order to support our clients at the many B2B exhibitions in Japan, Bigbeat is partnered with several construction companies.
In this article we will introduce several construction methods in Japan.
The two most common methods Japan are wood construction and system construction.
The merit of building your booth out of wood, is that because the wood has no set shape or design, you can design a very original booth. But as the originality increases so does the cost.
Take a look here to see a wooded booth Bigbeat supported the constuction and design of.
On the other hand, the merit of system construction is because you are using prepared parts that are put together like puzzles pieces, it is much cheaper to construct than when using wood. But your ability to create a truly original booth is heavily limited by the nature of this construction method.
↑A booth constucted with system parts
Also, with wooden booths in Japan, there is another very important point to remember. That is wallpaper pasting. In Japan, with wooden booths, most companies have designs printed onto wallpaper, and then it is skillfully and cleanly applied to the walls of the booth. In order to make sure the wallpaper looks clean and is perfectly applied, companies hire a professional specifically trained in applying wallpaper. It is not something an amateur can do.
It is also very popular to hire these professionals to paste posters and panels, which are often used overseas, onto the walls.
There is of also the option of combining the creative freedom of wood and the cheapness of system construction to build your booth. If you are going for creative then wood is the best option, but with a good design it is possible to get an original booth combining the two methods.
There is also the possibility of using tension fabric, which is a fabric with printed designs that can be inserted in the place of walls. By using tension, the fabric is stretched so that it is smooth and shows off the design cleanly.
By using this option, you cut down on the amount of wood needed, cutting down on costs. Tension fabric’s popularity has been steadily rising recently. It is also a good option to consider when decorating conferences and seminars and not only exhibitions.
↑The upper visual has been done with tension fabric in this booth
Although the cheapest option is the Octanorm booth. These booths are made from standard panels are often directly next to each other at exhibitions and sold as package booths. While they are cheap, they add the least amount of customization. Exhibitors apply posters, monitors, and use flags to brand their booths. They are also very common at conferences with smaller exhibitions. While they are not the most customizable, with careful planning they can be effective booths for getting your company's name out there.
↑ Examples of Octanorm booths
The latest information on booth construction in Japan
Japan is currently facing a rapidly aging population and a negative birthrate. It is becoming such a problem that the government is not only considering raising the age of retirement but also getting rid of the age of retirement completely because of foreseen labor shortages in the future.
This is the same in the exhibition booth construction industry as well. Experienced and professional builders are getting older. There are of course young people being trained, but there aren’t enough to completely replace the aging professionals and constructing a booth, no matter the design or method, requires a lot of labor.
Especially in Japan, where appointments are kept to the dot, the booth will be constructed according to the agreed upon schedule. Because of this, in order to ensure that the booth is built in time for the exhibition, a lot of builders are necessary.
In Japan, when building things, things that can be, are prebuilt or built to near completion in the factory and are then delivered to the exhibition site. From there the pieces are put together to quickly build your booth. By doing this, the construction companies are able to cut down on labor hours at the venue and follow the very tight and strict schedule.
Because of this, construction companies require that your booth design be fixed two weeks in advance of the exhibition. You can also feel safe knowing your booth will be ready in time for the exhibition.
In Japanese B2B marketing, you cannot skip exhibitions. While we have described some of the features of booth construction in Japan, there are a lot of details that need to be taken into account when designing and constructing your booth.
If you are planning on or considering participating in an exhibition in Japan, but are unsure or overwhelmed, do not hesitate to contact Bigbeat for advice. We are highly experienced in booth design and construction.
For this article we received the cooperation of: SHOEI BIJUSTU Co., Ltd. Photos taken at SHOEI Bay-Studio
SHOEI BIJUSTU was established in 1979 and is our partner who helps us with construction and exhibitions and other events. They have been supporting us for many years with countless exhibitions and events.
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