BRANDING BUILT ON QUALITY
Designing an Environment That Defines a Brand and Fosters Relationships

Franklin & Seidelmann Subspecialty Radiology doesn't sell heavy equipment and can't rely on the demonstrations of software applications to communicate value. The company deals in something decidedly more difficult to communicate: Quality.

F&S is a national full-service teleradiology provider of subspecialty and nighttime/ED interpretations serving healthcare providers with 24x7 final reports coverage. The company includes a team of 100+ U.S.-based and trained radiologists, 100 non-physician employees and more than 250 clients comprised of hospitals, imaging centers, physician practices, radiology groups, and mobile X-Ray providers. Electronic communication has allowed businesses like teleradiology to thrive. But this remote communication can also make communicating trust more difficult since face-to-face time is limited.

To connect with clients and prospects in person, F&S relies on tradeshows to build brand loyalty and to establish the company as a major player in the growing medical services industry.

The signature tradeshow for the radiological industry is the RSNA (Radiological Society of North America) conference, one of the largest shows in North America. For the 2008 show, F&S invested in a major overhaul of its presence at the show by first doubling its booth space to 800 square feet and by having a radically new exhibit designed for them. This redesign took into consideration the need for dramatic branding, to be seen far and wide within the show hall coupled with an inviting environment.

"On the show floor, you're competing with some very big names – if not directly in the market, then for the overall attention of attendees," says Michele Leoni, Marketing Manager for F&S. "We wanted a booth that would both help us attract new sales leads and also define our brand more broadly."

Branding Near & Far
In order to completely redesign its booth space, F&S partnered with The Rogers Company, a Mentor, Ohio-based designer and fabricator of branded environments for tradeshows and permanent installations. The goal was to create an exhibit that was both welcoming and dynamically branded while being modular in design so that F&S could use it in various configurations at shows large and small.

Franklin & Seidelmann had several primary objectives at the show: obtain new sales leads, recruit radiologists, promote their services and brand and foster existing client relationships. "We have built our business on delivering the highest quality radiology services to the healthcare community in order to improve the level of patient care," says Leoni. "Our team of medical professionals is highly qualified and specialized according to our clients' needs. We also maintain very high standards in report quality. And these elements differentiate our brand. We want to make sure that we're reflecting that integrity when we meet our customers and prospects in person."

Leoni also points out that simply gaining attention for F&S was another goal:
"Attending a tradeshow is a major investment. We need to be seen on the floor, up close and from a distance."

To accommodate this, F&S worked with Rogers to design a booth that would grab attendees’ attention and promote the brand from the show floor, while providing a warm and friendly meeting space inside the booth - ideal for engaging both clients, prospects and radiologists.

"We're not the largest company on the show floor so it’s easy to get lost even if you have a decent sized booth," says Leoni. "We wanted the design to get us noticed as well as reflect our brand."

The Design
Like most exhibitors, Mrs. Leoni was familiar with the potential costs of exhibiting in a big space at a signature show such as RSNA, so her biggest concern going into the project was staying within budget.

Rogers took F&S’s concerns to heart and designed the exhibit using a lightweight aluminum framework and tension fabric to create a unique structure that dispenses with many of the bulky walls and traditional structures common in many booth designs.

The booth uses height but not bulk to create sweeping angles that extend high above the tradeshow floor, which allows F&S to get noticed from afar. The inside of the booth has a light airy feel with a comfortable living-room-like seating area for connecting with prospects and clients.

"I think many companies are trying to mimic regular brick and mortar structures," says Leoni. "Since that's not the focus of our business model, we're more free to bring a structure like this to the floor."

Because of the use of fabric, images and text can be easily changed as the company evolves. In addition, the system saves on shipping and storage costs. Many companies have incorporated fabric systems, but few use it as the dominant structural element in their booth design.

The Process
Creating a branded space to be used for a series of tradeshows can be a difficult process. It requires knowing the client, their industry, and their shows. It requires understanding all the variables associated with show-site services such as coordinating logistics and I&D labor, along with the artistry of design and the business needs of marketing and branding.

For Leoni, a smooth process was almost as important as the end result:

"The process was really important for us. Rogers definitely came up with some good ideas, but also didn't stand in our way when we felt we knew the market best. It was very collaborative and we didn't have to scrap anything at an impasse which is a very comfortable, productive way to work."

Rogers also brought in an entire team to the project from the account executive to the project manager, to the designer, to the president of the company. In the end, Rogers was able to deliver the design, exhibit fabrication and show-site installation for under its original budget.

“We established a working budget up-front. Even though we made tweaks along the way, there were no big budget surprises that were thrown in. This was a very large investment for our company," says Leoni. "The fact that Rogers was able to deliver it under budget and on time really shored up our confidence in them and allowed us to move forward to the show with confidence."

Full Service
Designing a great tradeshow booth is one thing, but handling the complex array of logistics to get it to the show and assembled is another. F&S works with Rogers on a fully turnkey basis for tradeshows. Rogers handles the paper work and labor to get the booth to the show on time and assembled.

"I literally showed up to the show with a bowl of candy and the literature," says Leoni. "They took care of everything else from coordinating delivery, to the final set up of the booth and tweaking all the details. This allowed me to focus on the main reason for being at the show.”
F&S works with Rogers under a similar agreement for all of its tradeshows. By storing the booth elements between shows and by providing them with a turnkey service, F&S is able to focus its marketing efforts on what’s really important.

Results
When the new F&S booth premiered at the RSNA show the reception was overwhelmingly positive. The dramatic design utilizing fabric stretched over frames with its soft angles and powerful branding provided F&S with a fresh, unique face for the company at the show. F&S will continue to use the booth design in other tradeshows throughout the year. Its modular design allows the company to easily scale it up and down with minimal time and money.

"The booth defined us as a major player not only in our field but at the show in general,” says Leoni. "We were able to communicate that we have a fresh outlook on a traditional business within medicine. That is central to our branding and being able to communicate that in a three dimensional space is powerful."