Experiential Graphics: Building a Better Experience

It’s all about the experience. At least, that’s what a lot of brands are finding as they seek to capture the hearts and attention spans of social media-addicted consumers. Increasingly, it’s not enough to just have a great product or event — you have to give people a way to engage and participate.

And that’s where experiential graphics come into play.

Gary Schellerer, vice president and partner at ER2 Image Group, a PRINTING United Alliance member based in Hanover Park, Illinois, perhaps puts it best, noting, “In the wide-format print world, experiential graphics refer to a large-scale environments used to convey information with an immersive experience for the viewer.” Experiential environments, he says, “offer numerous benefits to advertisers, specifically that they are often shared on social platforms and create hype that has a lasting impact.” He says it is also easy to track and monitor their impact; advertisers can poll visitors immediately to gauge it.

But how can a print service provider (PSP) create the experiential space? What’s involved? How does a provider take graphics and turn them into an experience to remember?

The Right Experiential Elements

It all starts with choosing the right elements for the event, retail space, or pop-up in question. There are several ways to interpret “experiential,” but there are some elements that stand out more than others.

“Games (both physical and digital) and photo-moments [are the most popular elements],” says Marty McGinnis, president of Chesterton, Indiana-based Trinity Displays. “I believe these are the two most requested items because the brands are hopeful their engagement strategy is strong enough for consumers to share photos and videos on social media — not because they were asked to, but because they want to.”

Hotels are another great example of ways to use graphics to create memorable experiences. Everything from branded rooms that evoke a powerful statement to other concepts, such as team hotels for sporting events — like the Super Bowl — the graphic elements all come together to create a singular, unique experience that people will want to talk about and share.

Using a hotel as an analogy, R.J. Orr, executive vice president and partner of Phoenix, Arizona's bluemedia — which also a PRINTING United Alliance member — says, “That’s a fantastic one because you’ve got a team that comes off the bus and they walk in and they go into this hotel, whether it’s a football match, or a soccer match, or baseball, whatever. It’s different than a normal game, right? In the regular season, they’re just going from hotel to hotel, there’s no pomp and circumstance. But when they finally get to the pinnacle of their sport, these leagues are starting to raise the bar of how they introduce these teams to their destination when they get there.”

That said, experiential work doesn’t have to be a huge dimensional selfie station or a hotel room completely re-done with a brand’s colors and imagery, to make an impact. Sometimes something as simple as the right backdrop in the right location with a few added elements, can make all the difference, notes Carmen Rad, president, CR&A Custom Printing, Los Angeles, California, She says, “Clients have asked for prints that look dimensional or props that can be used with a backdrop. One of the most basic prints are step and repeats with some type of fun dimensional element like flower cutouts, real flowers, and even paper flowers.”

“Experiential clients like wrapping everything,” Schellerer notes. “Walls, ceilings, structures, and floors are all asks we expect to get. For the Bud Light Hotels, we branded everything and converted numerous elements to the Bud Light blue. We applied asphalt graphics to the street in front of the hotel’s entryway. With "The Mitchells vs. the Machines" experience, we wrapped up two gas stations. This included gas pumps, walls, asphalt, and we even created a fabric cover that zipped around the 76 Gas Station sphere sign.”

Experience From the Ground Up

A successful experiential graphics installation doesn’t start with the end result, though. In reality, it starts quite a bit sooner.

“Every project is different,” McGinnis says. “We prefer to be involved from the early, conceptual stages. There are questions that surface based on size/scale, level of modularity, setup/strike time allowed, etc. All those questions really dictate the best materials to use from a fabrication standpoint, which then affects the graphic materials used. With that said, our industry is very last minute. Once we understand the use-case and budget, we can determine the most practical graphic material solution.”

“Typically, you’re talking about two weeks or two months out from an event, and you’re starting to really kind of get into what needs to get done,” Orr says. “Obviously, some of them have a little bit longer gestation period, depending on the size of them, but the typical [event] that all of us in this industry would probably be involved in, you’re probably getting about a two-month heads up.”

Rad agrees with that time frame, noting, “Depending on the project, involvement can be anywhere from a few weeks to two months in preparation,” Rad says. “Our sales, creative and production team play a role in these types of projects, so everyone is on the same page as the client. We play the role of a print solutions provider with the client. These types of projects are definitely ‘measure twice, print and cut once.’ They are super tight time frames at times.”

“We like to get involved as soon as possible, even during the planning stage,” Schellerer says. “Sometimes, it is better to direct the client sooner rather than later. It is common for these creative minds to develop ideas that are often difficult or even impossible to achieve within their budgets.”

Logistics also plays a major role. While these questions are always a consideration for wide-format graphics, they become even more critical when building an experience, especially one tied to a specific time and place that can't be missed or moved.

“The logistics can be very different in experiential graphics because the more imaginative the design, the more unique support systems may have to be built,” Rad notes. “There are also locations that can be unique, like a historic building which will require confirming testing on surfaces. [They tend to have] much faster turn times and usually require labor and coordination with other trades. Delivery dates are absolute and are NOT subject to change.”

“Logistics indeed presents hurdles for this kind of work,” says Schellerer. “A notable project I recall is an activation we orchestrated for ‘The Mitchells vs. the Machines.’ The client made a distinct request to host both experiences at different locations on opposite coasts — one in L.A. and the other in New York. We deployed two crews to travel to each site and worked overnight to revamp the spaces. Coordinating two crews on the same night was challenging, especially given the pressure of an 8 a.m. launch. One mistake can mean a late start.”

That said, all four experts featured here note that by getting involved early and executing amazing projects that bring a creative team’s visions to life, they have found the relationships with those customers becomes much deeper, built on trust and respect. This carries through even into other, non-experiential projects.

McGinnis notes, “Our client partners know if they’re coming to us with a project — even sometimes a 24-hour-or-less rush project — if we say we’re going to do it, we do it. Failure is not an option. This has helped strengthen the relationship with our clients. We’ve even won some clients because of 24-hour turn-around.” He says all new leads and prospects have partners they work with.

“Sometimes you need to be OK with playing second fiddle until a hurdle or obstacle falls in the lead or prospects lap, and we can help solve that problem for them. That’s how long-lasting client friendships are created.”

“A lot of them are looking for some guidance,” Orr notes. “They’re looking for what is new and cool and what are other people doing, what could separate them from other events that are in their space. That’s the relationship building. You’re just not taking an order — you’re really assisting the client in putting together something that could be memorable, and something that could be built upon for the next event.”

Getting Started with Experiential

While the average wide-format PSP might not be quite ready to tackle something like the Super Bowl, or take on Budweiser or Taco Bell as a client, that doesn’t mean there aren’t opportunities for experiential graphics in every town and city. From art festivals to county fairs, flea markets to anniversary events and more, there are almost always events going on somewhere. And when you add in possibilities like local high school sports events and tournaments, the list gets even bigger. So, how can PSPs capture that market and introduce those customers to more than just putting up a few banners or signs?

“Find partners if you don’t have the space or resources,” Rad advises. “There are lots of apples on these trees, and one can build good teams as long as the companies share the same values. Be ready to work around the clock, and don’t take the job unless you are 100% sure you can deliver.”

That is something Orr agrees with, noting, “We’re as good as our people, and we’re as good as the staff, and we’re as good as our relationships. We do have a lot of it in house here at bluemedia, but there are still a lot of things that we subcontract out, and we’ve got good relationships with others.”

Orr's biggest advice for those who don't have full-time staff but are looking to grow: Understand the marketplace and partner with companies who can offer interactive experiences or elements you don't have in-house. That's how bluemedia got its start in the space, and eventually, it was able to bring full services in house.

“Getting your company involved in experiential isn’t about graphics — it’s about moments,” Schellerer stresses. “It’s a rewarding feeling when someone steps into a space and suddenly feels part of something bigger. It’s the wide-eyed reaction of a child seeing a Radio Flyer pop-up for the first time, or the energy that buzzes through a crowd as they walk into a hotel-turned-Bud Light experience. Those reactions — the emotion, the connection, the memory — that’s the magic.”