Making Ricoh the belle of the drupa ball

The challenge

Every 4 years, everyone who’s anyone in the print industry heads to the Olympics of printing, drupa. The exhibition showcases the latest and greatest tech and thinking to a huge audience of industry professionals. 

With a footprint 30% smaller than previous years, Ricoh needed to wow audiences with a standout presence that showed off their industry-leading tech and innovative portfolio of products.  

To create truly purposeful connections that drove sales and generated leads, we had to do much more than just facilitate a flashy demo opportunity. We needed to share Ricoh’s powerful philosophy of ‘HENKAKU’ (transformational innovation) with attendees.  

Our solution

We took the HENKAKU philosophy and created an entire world for attendees to explore: the HENKAKUVERSE. Through experiential strategy, concept, stand design, event production, graphic design, 3D animation, film, content strategy, and execution the HENKAKUVERSE seamlessly blended the virtual and physical worlds. 

 With print, software and services technology represented by spirit animal avatars that represent their characteristics – the Jaguars, Dragon, Owl and Harpy Eagle – we had a rich creative canvas informed by Ricoh’s Japanese heritage that we could tap into. 

Using game design engine Unreal, we placed 3D renders of our booth within a virtual jungle populated by Ricoh’s spirit animals, to create imagery and footage for a standout integrated marketing campaign – including direct mail, social media assets, and an enigmatic teaser film. 

At the show, visitors were mesmerized by a 1,300msq structure shrouded in floating dragon-scale walls, entering through a towering eight-metre-high portal. At its heart stood The House of HENKAKU, home to a breathtaking 7-minute live performance that brought Ricoh’s magic and ‘Co-innovation’ to life. A cinematic opening set the stage before a live performer – our sorceress – conjured dazzling magic on a enormous forced-perspective screen, seamlessly blending reality and illusion.

Surrounding the house, a renowned Japanese artist created murals depicting a manga interpretation of the show within – a stunning display and selfie moment.  

Visitors could book a performance, attend as part of a tour, or slide into the show that produced stand-filling applause on the half-hour, every half-hour. This dramatic engine of engagement drove flow and dwell time, the theatre audience (4,000+ over 11 days) inspired and excited to learn how the magic of Ricoh could help their business. 

On the stand, visitors could also:

• Explore the Co-innovation Hub inspired by Japanese Zen gardens
• Browse extensive printed samples at the Applications Bar
• Discover the latest print technology with stunningly wrapped printers
• Attend small group product demonstrations, augmented by key messaging, bespoke films and eye-catching content totems
• Engage with innovative interactive displays for Software, Professional Services, and Sustainability – where Ricoh’s key solutions and Co-innovation case studies were presented, helping staff communicate client benefits effectively
• Explore Inkjet Innovations, including 3D printing and sustainable testing solutions
• Have important conversations in a VIP hospitality area overlooking the stand

Sustainability at the heart

Informed by Emota’s EnviroPlan approach, we used fully recyclable Xanita Structural Cardboard to build 60% of the components from our dragon-scale ‘walls’ to welcome desks. Today, much of the stand has a home at Ricoh’s European offices, with planned reuse for future congresses already in progress. 

The value created

With no physical show since 2016, this year’s Drupa was THE time for Ricoh to reassert themselves.

• Smashed attendance targets by 49%, with 7,465 unique visitors over 11 days despite lower drupa attendance overall
• 97% of visitors returned to the stand
• Attendees visited the stand an average of 4 times, spending 1hr17 on the stand across their visits
• 3,092 leads were collected, more than double the target
• Achieved 210% of target sales

Fantastic job, extremely proud and great teamwork.

Eef de Ridder, VP Ricoh Graphic Communications,

What an amazing and fascinating stand concept, combining Ricoh’s technology core competence with great Japanese aesthetics. An outstanding performance in every sense.

Sabine Geldermann, The Director of drupa