Inside Small Business | Small Business & Home Business Marketing

Choosing the Right Tradeshow Exhibit

Jim Berkman, US Exhibits

One of the most frequent questions I hear from companies that are beginning to attend trade shows is “What is the best kind of exhibit?” While this is a valid question, the answer, depends on the needs and goals of your organization.

There are three main categories of exhibit construction – Portable, Modular and Custom. While you will often find both purchase and rental options for each of these, a distinct fourth category has become popular over the last few years that I will call Custom Rental. When considering the options, it is important to realize that each category has unique strengths and weaknesses, so when choosing between them you will want to carefully examine the tradeoffs you will be making.

Before getting into more details, here are some things to think about:

• How many trade shows or events are you planning in the next 18 – 24 months? Are any of them overlapping or within a few weeks of each other?

• What is the size of the events you will be attending? Are they local, regional or national?

• What are the most effective ways to convey the value proposition of your company’s products or services? Are there any tools that you will need such as computers, video monitors, or extra space to display the product?

• Are your competitors at these shows and if so, what are they doing?

Portable Exhibits

As the name implies, these exhibits are designed to be easily handled, shipped and setup by one person. They are generally used in 10’ and 20’ inline booth spaces, and are what many companies start with because of their lower price point. While there are many different options available in this category, the primary ones are Banner Stands and Popup Exhibits.

Banner Stands are freestanding displays that stretch a graphic banner vertically. These units are usually about 7’ tall and range from 24” to 48” wide. These are ideal for events where you want to quickly and easily display your message, but are also very limited in time, space or budget. Depending on the size, brand and features, these typically cost between $350 and $1,200 each.

A Popup Exhibit is a portable backwall that is built with an expanding frame that locks similar to an umbrella. This is the most common exhibit used in 10’ and 20’ inline spaces. This gives you a professional looking backdrop with space for messaging, however because it is only creating the appearance of a solid wall, it does not provide much structural support for hanging or attaching anything to it. Depending on the size, brand and features, a 10’ Popup will typically cost $3,000 to $5,000 with fabric panels and $5,000 to $7,000 with full mural graphics.

Modular Exhibits:Modular Exhibits are heavier and more solid than Popup Exhibits, but lighter and easier to ship than Custom displays. Because of this, Modular exhibits allow more complex designs and generally have a more customized look than portables. They are also more structural, so additions such as shelves, backlit graphics and counters are common.

However, Modular Exhibits are still designed to be lightweight and lack the stability that Custom Exhibits offer. A common example of this limitation is that a wall built from Modular panels would not be able to support most flat panel monitors without some sort of monitor stand.

Depending on the size, brand and features, a linear 10’ Modular Exhibit will typically cost between $6,000 and $12,000, while a 20’ linear would be $15,000 to $25,000.

Custom Exhibits:Custom exhibits are constructed using larger wall panels (4’ x 8’ typical) which are more solid and structural than modular panels. They can be finished in a wide variety of laminates, and the components are individually built, so the look they provide is very individualized and unique. This also allows a custom exhibit to have excellent functionality for your needs, since you are not limited to stock-sized pieces. Because a custom exhibit is individually designed, it will usually offer good flexibility for doing different sizes and configurations.

Typically, a custom exhibit will ship in large wooden crates, which means that you can’t use a package carrier, such as UPS or FedEx, but instead will need to use a trucking company, like a Van Line or Common Freight Carrier. Also, because these are generally complicated to assemble, you will need to hire an outside labor company to setup and dismantle the exhibit.

Depending on the complexity of the design, the request materials, and the region of the country that your Exhibit Builder is in, the price of a Custom Exhibit can range from $100 to $300 per square foot. For example, a 20’ x 20’ exhibit space has 400 square feet, so an exhibit that is $150/square foot would cost $60,000. Additional expenses that you will want to factor in include storage, warehouse handling and touchup work to repair minor damage after each show.

Custom Rentals
Because of the high cost of Custom Exhibits, the category of Custom Rentals has become very popular in the last several years. Today, many Exhibit Houses offer full Custom Exhibits that can be rented for one or a package of several shows. This offers you many of the advantages of a purchased Custom Exhibit, but without the full commitment required. This is often an ideal solution for companies that have one trade show a year that is larger, or for when a company needs the flexibility to change directions more often then the 36 to 60 months that a purchased exhibit would be amortized over.

While Custom Rentals offer many of the advantages of purchasing a Custom Exhibit, it is limited by what your Exhibit House has in inventory, so without creativity, it might look more generic than a purchased Custom Exhibit. Also, if you have more than 3 or 4 shows per year, the rental costs will exceed what you would pay for purchasing the same exhibit. Depending on the required elements, the amount of custom graphics and how custom of a design you are looking for, Custom Rentals can cost between $30 and $120 per square foot. So a 20’ x 20’ exhibit space with 400 square feet would run between $12,000 and $48,000. If you are doing multiple shows per year, you should be able to get a multi-show package that will save 5 to 20%.

It’s important to remember that as a marketer, you have very few opportunities where you get to personally engage your target customer when they are in the planning or purchasing mode. Because of this, trade show exhibiting should be an important part of your integrated marketing strategy. Your presence at a show can create strong impressions in the mind of your customer. Selecting the right exhibit for your needs is the first step in making sure that impression is a good one.

Author

Jim Berkman has over 15 years experience designing and producing Integrated Marketing Programs in the Trade Show and Event industry, and is currently Sales Manager for US Exhibits, Inc. in Sunnyvale, CA. Some past and current customers include GTE, Pfizer, Lucent, Dial, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Charles Schwab, OmniSky, Pearson Publishing, VIA Technologies, and Symbian. Prior to joining US Exhibits in 2004, he was with Contempo Design, MC2, and Exhibitgroup/Giltspur. Jim has also served on the Board of Directors of the San Francisco American Marketing Association, and is an Alumni of Arizona State University.

Posted on Wednesday, May 9th, 2007 at 4:45 pm and is filed under Marketing, Sales, Small Business. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.