Benefits of Modular Trade Show Exhibits


When it comes to marketing a product or service, a trade show display is an invaluable asset. With a well–designed and dynamic show display, your brand is far likelier to make impressions and draw foot traffic at trade shows, consumer fairs and other sales events. For every event at which you operate a display, your business could see immeasurable growth in terms of brand recognition, industry contacts, new customers and email, newsletter or catalog subscribers.

For all the benefits that come with trade show displays, traditional models can be cost–prohibitive for a lot of smaller businesses that operate on tight budgets. Fortunately, the options available for today’s vendors don’t end with old–fashioned standard displays, the kinds that have to be crated and transported in one big piece. The alternative is modular displays, which consist of various components that can be manually assembled and disassembled for easy transport from one event to another, all at just a fraction of what it normally costs to haul traditional displays.

Two of the primary advantages to using a modular display are the flexibility and versatility afforded by the lightweight, easy–to–assemble components that come in a typical kit. In a sense, modular displays are like Lego sets in that the components can be assembled in a variety of ways for numerous purposes.

Flexibility

flexible Modular Trade Show Exhibits

One of the greatest benefits that comes from using a modular trade show display is flexibility. For most vendors, the size and scope of each event will be different from other stops along the sales circuit. For instance, you could be given a great deal of space to set up your display at a major event where the floor is wide and the ceiling is high. At some other event just days or hours later, you might have to cope with a smaller display space. Trouble is, a display that’s optimized for large areas won’t likely fit into smaller spaces. Therefore, it’s crucial to have a display that will allow you to do the following things:

  • Assemble the display with every single component in the kit when you set up in large spaces. This will give your display the dynamic that it needs to be visually competitive at grand events.
  • Reduce the display size to its key components when setting up in small spaces. This ability allows you to share your brand within the confines of events where space is at a premium.
  • Use different components of your display at different times; whether an event demands that your display be high, wide, large or small.
  • Alternate between differently sized pieces at different events. If one event provides room for the 20 x 20 sign, use that; if the next event will only allow for a 20 x 10 display, use the smaller one instead.

With a modular trade show display, you can adjust the overall setup plan to suit the situation. The hassle that comes with hauling all the same pieces to each location, regardless of how much space will be available, is no longer an issue. When you replace that traditional, inflexible display with the products offered by APG Exhibits, you’ll be harnessing the flexibility afforded by modular display technology.

Versatility

versatility in design

An additional quality that makes modular trade show displays the most preferable option on the event circuit is the versatility offered in their design. Depending on the logistics of a given event, you might want to show as many facets of a given product or service as possible. For example, if you’re plugging a line of skincare products, you might wish to have each product displayed on its own shelf for show attendees to see and sample. If the event in question is being held at a smaller location, however, you might opt instead to set up a small display with no actual products; just a simple counter with cards, pamphlets and perhaps a monitor that shows videos of how the products can be applied.

One of the most convenient things about modular displays is that they allow you to set products up in a variety of configurations, such as the following:

  • Attach multiple shelves for all of the various products, books, pamphlets or paraphernalia that you wish to share with trade show attendees.
  • Use tabletops as part of the display, providing another useful means for displaying individual products, pamphlets, card holders or even a computer monitor that shows a product video.
  • Include lighting within the display. This can be done in a variety of setups, whether you want light from above, behind or beaming up from the bottom at a given event.

Modular displays can also be broken into parts for individual use as miniature displays. For instance, if you’re setting up at an event where you’ll only need a wall–sign or tabletop, those components can easily be brought along without the excess baggage of all the other pieces that come in a modular display kit. Alternately, the complete kit can be brought along on a sales tour. Select components would be used at smaller events, and the entire display assembled at large shows. In locales where several people from the same team or company are each displaying at separate locations, one kit can be divided into smaller displays so that each salesperson can carry their component to a different room or building.

Affordability/Portability

When it comes to operating any type of business, overhead costs are of utmost concern. The amount of money that goes into operating a business inevitably cuts into the annual net profit, making it crucial to keep overhead costs as low as possible. In all fairness, the costs associated with procuring products are what keep a business going. Anyone who doesn’t want to pay the factory shouldn’t complain if items don’t move off the shelves. What isn’t acceptable in terms of overhead are extraneous costs associated with transportation, especially when said costs can easily be avoided.

With modular trade show displays, the costs of moving a display from one location to another are greatly reduced, because the whole operation requires less time and manpower. Thanks to the lightweight material that is used in modular components, the pieces in a kit are easier to carry in and out of vehicles at each stop on the sales route. Depending on the capacity of your own transportation and the number of components that you intend to use, you might be able to cut drayage costs from the list of expenses.

Essentially, the savings that come with modular displays add up in the following ways:

  • Labor costs can be reduced or eliminated altogether, because display parts are lightweight and easy to carry and set up.
  • Transportation costs are greatly reduced, because only the parts that are necessary for an event will need to be hauled to and from said location.
  • Time is saved with modular displays, because components can be assembled and disassembled with speed and ease. And as they say, time is money.
  • A kit can be utilized partially or in whole, and therefore used at a full range of events. This spares vendors from needing to invest in two or more displays of contrasting size or style for different types of events.

For vendors who would otherwise find it cost–prohibitive to even take part in trade shows, modular displays make it possible to work these events into the overall budget. This can be a boon for business, because trade shows and other sales events are vital for building brand recognition, gaining customers and developing industry contacts.

Customizability

In sales and marketing, things are in a constant state of flux. What might have sold last year may be obsolete today; and what might do well in one market may be a bust in other regions. Products can also update and change names or packaging designs, which renders the advertising for prior versions useless for subsequent campaigns. While all of these changes are just natural developments for any business, such change is costly in terms of marketing across various mediums, including the look and design of trade show displays.

modular displays brands

At trade shows and other sales events, modular displays allow brands to present themselves with the use of logos, images and colors, all of which are printed onto skins; pillowcase–like pieces that wrap around the frames and panels of the various components in a modular–display kit. Skins can be replaced or altered at little costs, while the components of a given kit can be retained throughout each incarnation in a brand’s evolution. With skins, you can do any of the following:

  • Change displays on a seasonal or annual basis. Rather than invest in a costly new trade show display kit for each new product overhaul, simply change the skins and apply them to the same components.
  • Alter displays from show to show. Perhaps you wish to focus exclusively on one product before a select audience, but promote your entire line at larger scale events? Skins allow you to switch from one approach to the other, all with the same trade show display.
  • Modify displays to suit different markets. If you wish to convey a different branding message in the Deep South than you would in the Northeast or along the Pacific Northwest, different sets of skins allow you to adjust the components on a region–by–region basis.
  • Enhance displays for special events or promotions. Whenever your business runs a limited–time offer or other unique deal, you could have a skin created to promote the deal or sale, and wrap that skin around one or more of the most prominent components in the modular display.

Thanks to the interchangeability of skins, modular display kits can last for the full life–cycle of any business. If for whatever reason you retire from trade shows or fairs, the same modular display could be used again if you ever decide to return to the circuit. This holds true even if it’s 10 or 15 years down the line with a different product, brand name or target market.

Universality

universality of displays

Out of all the benefits of modular trade show displays, perhaps the greatest quality of all is their universality. On the trade show and consumer fair circuits, budding vendors will sometimes ask “would a modular display be suitable for my business.” Whether you sell products or services, or operate as a contractor or sole proprietor, the answer is yes.

A modular trade show display can be customized to promote any type of product, from auto parts, snow gear and software programs to jewelry, organic skin lotions and photography services. Depending on the trade show, a display could feature any of the following:

  • Vendors for national or international companies, such as those that sell cosmetics or skincare products. A display might feature a booth with cards or brochures, shelves that display each product and a mounted screen that shows video tutorials of the product line.
  • Representatives of multinational corporations, including manufacturers of automobiles, furniture, appliances and home electronics. Displays such as these are likeliest to be big–budgeted and grand, with huge overhead signs, one or more large screens and wall–sized brand imagery.
  • Proprietors of small businesses that sell products or services, either through the mail or at one or more local–area storefronts. The products in question could range from hand–made items to locally produced goods. If the display is operated by only one or two people, it might consist of just a few lightweight components that deliver the message in the clearest manner possible.

If you operate a startup business and are looking to establish industry contacts or make new customers, both can be gained with designed–to–impress modular displays — the kind that manage to stand out amongst others on the floor at trade shows and consumer fairs. The same applies for old companies large and small, both local and regional. Simply put, anyone can use a modular display and reap the great benefits of brand exposure with minimal setup time or transportation costs.

Modular Trade Show Displays from APG Exhibits

dynamic displays

In order for a brand to make a serious impact at any trade show or consumer fair, it must be presented with a powerful, dynamic display. The brand name and/or imagery should be bold and recognizable, and all relevant products and/or materials should be laid out in an organized, easy–to–access manner. There are plenty of display types that can be used to accomplish these objectives, but the most flexible, versatile, customizable, portable and overall cost–efficient display sets available today are of the modular variety.

APG Exhibits sells a range of modular displays that are suitable for vendors and companies of all scopes and sizes. Whether you need something thin or wide, 10 x 10 or 20 x 20, our kits are designed for a range of setups. From the complex Corvus to the compact Mars, APG’s Modular Truss Exhibits can be configured for an elaborate display and then converted to something simpler with just a few minor adjustments. Click over to our modular trade show displays to see just how well one could suit your business at upcoming trade shows.


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5 Responses

  1. Love the orbital truss exhibit we purchased from APG last year. Would like to have a laminated “cheat sheet” of alternate configurations to make it easy to hand off to our set-up team.

  2. John Willson says:

    I agree completely about this, trade show displays are really an invaluable asset. Good article!

  3. Image.... says:

    Good Article! Thanks for sharing this with us through your article!

  4. trade show exhibits says:

    Thanks a lot for sharing this blog . This is really an awesome content for modular trade show exhibits.

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