Rob Murdoch, Forge Special Projects (Forge SP) reflects on how data was used for Imagination.
Working in partnership, Imagination and Forge Special Projects have shown how a more forensic approach can produce remarkably powerful analytics from exhibitions. This information on visitor numbers, movements and dwell times can provide invaluable insights for marketing teams, even generating real-time snapshots that can inform changes to stand layouts and even messaging during events. Forge’s on event measurement tool, Exposure Analytics, was used at this year’s Geneva Motor Show, where an iconic automotive brand wanted to assess the relative success of various sections of its exhibition area.
The brief to Imagination was to assess how many visitors overlapped and engaged with one, two or all three areas of the car brand’s exhibition stand. Exposure Analytics used over a dozen sensors around the three areas of the stand. Forge SP provided Imagination with detailed information about the movement of visitors, the numbers who passed by and the percentage who engaged. Exposure Analytics captured the average dwell time of those who did stop on the stand.
This data was analysed alongside other sources to provide details on each stand area, contributing insights into which aspect of the brand attracted the most interest during the show. The on-stand sensors were much easier to set up than cameras and provided data in real time as part of the Imagination dashboard, giving the client invaluable information on stand metrics on a granular level.
Imagination was able to provide the automotive brand with tangible recommendations for their ongoing exhibition programme. This included placement of vehicles on the display and also the design of subsequent exhibitions, that considered visitor flow and the tangible ‘customer journey’.
