Before designing any exhibit experience, it’s critical to understand how physicians view and experience conventions.
- With most drug information already available on the web, why do physicians still visit exhibits at conventions?
- How do physicians prefer to experience an exhibit booth and why will they spend more time at some exhibits than others?
- What booth activities, information and technology do they prefer?
Its answers to questions like these that has inspired Impact XM to run focus groups with physicians for more than 10 years. Our collective body of insights from the HCP research has been used to understand physician attitudes toward conventions and commercial exhibit experiences, including exhibit environments, exhibit staff and interactive technologies.
Recently, our research has uncovered new insights about what drives attendee satisfaction amidst the explosion of digital and technology tools and gadgets for the over-scheduled and attention-challenged physician.
Three key takeaways from the research:
- For physicians, the size of your exhibit does matter – to a point. Physicians feel that large exhibits make a statement that the company is a leader and is committed to the association and disease category. If you can’t get a large space, make sure your exhibit is bold, dynamic and architecturally significant. HCPs will appreciate the effort (both consciously and subconsciously) and your company or product will have a better chance at being remembered after the convention is over.
- Physicians are most interested in tactile experiences – an experience they can’t get on the web or anywhere else. For medical device companies, this is good news. Your devices are naturally attracting for aisle traffic. For pharmaceutical companies, we need to create compelling tactile experiences that deliver information on the drug, patient or disease.
- Physicians would rather browse first, engage second. Like a retail experience, physicians would rather browse your exhibit and interact with information BEFORE being approached by a sales rep. Clear and simple information is extremely important so that attendees can quickly understand what you do. Position interactive experiences so that they are easily accessible from the aisle. Don’t let sales people congregate in groups and don’t position them as sentries on the edge of the booth – unless you want to keep your attendee away.
For more information or a presentation on our healthcare attendee research, please contact Impact XM.
