When they were in their early stages, Facebook famously paid a well-known graffiti artist in stock options to paint their lobby.  That lobby décor ended up costing Mr. Zuckerberg  $200 million or so. You can have a high impact lobby for far less.

Consider this: What is your lobby telling your customers?  Companies put a lot of thought into their trade show booth, their logo and their website. But very often, a client walks into the main lobby of a business and the overall impression is bland at best, or confusing and detrimental to your brand at worst. If a new prospect or a new hire candidate walked into your main lobby today, how would they feel about your company? Once you take a hard look, the answer may not be what you want.

Some ideas to make a high impact impression:

1.       Consider your audiences

It is critical to remember who is walking into your lobby and what message you want to deliver to them. For example, what do you want a new hire to see? What do you want your Board of Directors to see? Audiences range from students on a tour to key investors and you want to wow them all in the first 10-15 seconds. Ideas for creating impact include a large logo mounted on the wall, paint colors reflecting the brand palate and a custom-built reception desk that stands apart from the check-in desk.

Murphy Oil Corporation is a worldwide oil and gas exploration and production company with refining and marketing operations as well as retail gas stations.

2.       Remember the tour

The corporate office tour should not consist of the receptionist simply walking someone to the conference room and answering a question or two on the way. Who is giving the tour of your facility? Is your lobby area going to have a visual presentation or an audio presentation or BOTH? Do you have a tour route? Do you have an employee-wide universal script for the right way to conduct a tour? Formalize your scripting and the route of the tour, and train the tour givers to be consistent. Build in stopping points with meaningful company artifacts along the way. A timeline or history wall can tell a great story quickly.

A timeline of Adler Display, proudly displayed at our headquarters in Baltimore, Maryland!

3.       Match the lobby to the work

If you are a high tech firm, your lobby should say so in look, furnishings and the words or items on the walls. An old line law firm will look different than an advertising agency or high tech start up. Don’t confuse the visitor with a lobby look that is outdated or so generic that a stranger wouldn’t be able to define what you do while waiting for an appointment. Work in a monitor or digital signage with a fresh series of rotating messages if possible, and get away from the magazines and brochures on the table look.

Murphy Oil Corporation: The exhibits included a visual travel through the 100-year history of the company, its involvement in the community, its worldwide oil explorations, as well as Murphy Oil retail operations.

If you would like to learn more about Successful Lobby Displays, or if you would like to know what Adler Display can do for you, please contact us by calling 410-281-1200 or visit AdlerDisplay.com.

About Adler Display:

Adler Display is a nationally recognized innovative leader in visual communications through trade show displays, custom display environments, presentation graphics and signage. Headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland since 1939, Adler Display provides custom display environments and trade show displays nationally.

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