Archive

Archive for December, 2008

Trade Show Booth Design Colors

December 30th, 2008

Recently I came across an interesting article from Classic Exhibits. In this article they talk about the importance of color and the psychology behind it. Color scheme is very important when designing trade show graphics for an exhibit booth.

Setting A Mood With Color

The color scheme you select for your booth is critical. Color affects our perceptions of a space, so when planning your booth choose your colors carefully. If you have hired an exhibit designer, he or she can help determine the most appropriate color scheme for your booth.

A great deal of research has been conducted surrounding the psychology of color. A recent study published in the journal, Nature, analyzed the effect of uniform color on athletes, such as soccer players, boxers, and wrestlers. The study concluded that the athletes wearing red won more than sixty percent of the time. The scientists who conducted the study were convinced that the red uniforms gave the winning team a psychological edge. You might want to consider red clothing for your booth staff.

Colors are often associated with temperature or with certain emotions. These are culturally derived meanings and they can have a very real effect on people. Colors such as red, orange, and yellow are considered warm colors and can have a stimulating effect. The New York Times recently published an article concerning color schemes for schools, and found that reds, yellows, and oranges were often used in hallways to speed up children in halls and gyms.

Blues and greens are considered cool colors and can have a calming effect, especially when combined with trade show lights. Blues and grays are also associated with ice, snow, or winter. If your company sold skis for example you might want to consider using these colors.

Gray and beige, are more neutral colors, and have associations also. Gray or silver can take on a futuristic, gee-whiz connotation. Beiges and browns can be used to suggest a nostalgic, retro feel in a booth. White can be used to create a more expansive feel in a space, while black creates a more confined feel.

Factor in your company’s home base or the location of the show when considering color schemes. If your company is based in the Southwest, browns and tans might work for you. Or, if the tradeshow you are presenting at is located near the coast, consider blues or greens. You should consider color selection to be one more item in your arsenal as you compete for the customers attention at a busy tradeshow.

Uncategorized , , , ,

Adding Marketing Kiosks

December 30th, 2008

Mobile marketing kiosks are excellent tools for interacting with your target audience. Take your show on the road and promote your product or service in retail environments, public spaces, special events or the exhibition floor. Portable trade show and retail kiosks enable marketers to blend strong branding, interchangeable graphics, product display and lockable storage into a unique solution. Messaging can be dynamically changed through digital content or new graphics and functionality can be added or adjusted with trade show accessories such as shelving and lighting. Because they are constructed of modular components, our portable kiosks can also be reconfigured to suit different demands.

Built to withstand multiple instances of installation, dismantling, and shipping, our marketing kiosks are extremely durable.. They are designed to be set-up by lay people ­so no skilled carpenters are required. Many of our standard retail kiosk designs can be packed and shipped in just one or two FlatPack Cases weighing less than 150 lbs.

Choose from one of our pre-engineered designs or let us build a custom unit to meet your exact specifications. http://www.ignitionexhibits.com/portable-kiosks-c-82.html

Uncategorized , ,

Advantages of the exhibitline display system

December 17th, 2008

I have a lot of clients ask me what other options that are available for a 10×10 booth space. Most of the time they are talking about options other than your basic pop up display booth. Usually I give them the same answer, exhibitline displays! For most people that have exhibited it the past, the pop up display is what they know and usually don’t want to break from. However, I have yet to find one unhappy customer that has purchase an exhibit line display over a traditional pop up display. Here are the reasons I believe the exhibitline display is superior to your typical pop up display system.

  1. The Exhibit Line Dispay will provide a unique look that will not be seen very often on the trade show floor.
  2. The Exhibit Line Display is going to weigh 15 lbs. less than the pop-up package.
  3. Setup and breakdown time will be shorter with the Exhibit Line Display.
  4. The cost to replace the large trade show graphic will be half of the cost of replacing the pop-up mural.
  5. Your Exhibit Line Display will take much more of a beating than any pop up trade show display.

Green Trade Show Displays , , ,

Pop-Up Display Graphics Makeover for the New Year

December 17th, 2008

Christmas time is the slowest time of the year for the trade show display industry. If your trade show program is currently on a break, I would recommend taking a look at your pop-up display inventory and deciding whether or not it’s time for an Extreme Pop-Up Display Makeover.

The Pop Up trade show display is the most common display at a trade show and most of those units could use a little TLC. If you would like to get a little more sizzle out of your pop-up, you might want to think about getting some new mural graphics. In addition, most of people don’t realize that 99% of pop-up display frames can easily be repaired. This means that if you have a broken frame, you can send the frame to the manufacturer for a complete repair. Once you’ve got the frame in working order, you can add beautiful full-color lambda or direct print mural graphic panels to create a like-new trade show display.

There is no question that when it comes to pop-up displays, the graphics make all the difference. Use this summer to get your pop-up display looking brand new. Also, another option is adding a kiosk to your pop up trade show display. Check out one enhancement kit we offer that includes our Premium Pop Up Display with a custom modular system integrated that creates a Hybrid Pop Up Display.

Uncategorized , ,

Top 10 Biggest Trade Show Mistakes

December 17th, 2008

Top 10 Biggest Trade Show Mistakes

#10 Cluttered and Dirty trade show exhibit. You’ve all seen the booth that’s filled with empty food containers, empty bottles, notebooks, give aways from other booths, and other miscellaneous junk. Usually these same booths have staff that’s busy talking to each other, emailing, and text messaging. It basically says to the audience “I’m not professional, very busy, and not focused on you”.

#9 No pre-show marketing. The best evidence of this is usually a booth with little traffic and no buzz. Great booth traffic doesn’t happen by chance (at least not usually), so be sure to take advantage of all the great pre-show marketing opportunities listed in my previous blog post.

#8 No post-show marketing. This is probably one of the most common mistakes that exhibitors make since they’re generally exhausted and behind on their “regular job” by the time they get back to the office. But, this is a huge mistake which is usually to forget to tag the bases after you’ve hit a home run. The fact is that the faster you get back to your prospects the more likely you are to close a sale. If possible, try to send out emails each night to at least the more qualified prospects you’ve met, and follow up within a week to schedule a meeting to answer follow-on questions.

#7 Untrained personnel. One step better than having no staff, or unfriendly staff, is a set of staff people who know nothing about the company or product you’re interested in discussing. This raises questions in your customer/prospect’s mind about the company’s dedication to the product or service and whether they’ll be able to get support when they need it.

#6 Going to the wrong show. The definition of “the wrong show” can vary widely, but basically it’s a show that doesn’t match the company’s target markethas very few qualified buyers (i.e. lots of consultants, job seekers, and other people trying to sell to you rather than vice versa)has a high cost per qualified prospect (i.e. the total exhibition cost including booth space, booth services, shipping, travel, other overhead, is very high and the turnout of qualified prospects is very low).

#5 Missing a critical trade show. As someone once said, the first step to accomplishing anything in life is to “just show up”. If you aren’t at the show, and your competitors are there, you’re missing out on customer meetings and new prospect demos, and, most importantly, the chance to build relationships.

#4 Really bad body language. Some booth staffers almost shout “leave me alone!” with their body language. Here are a few of my favorites:everyone is standing around talking to each other with their backs to you so you feel like it’s rude to ask a question. Usually these are the really big booths with lots of people “working” and no customers there (I wonder why?)everyone is standing like security guards with arms folded and mad looks on their facesThe one guy in the booth is working away on his email (or web surfing) with his back to you.

#3 No booth personnel. I’m always amazed that companies let this happen. It basically says that you aren’t capable of managing your company well enough to properly staff your booth. And if you can’t staff a trade show booth are you really ready to handle my business?? You never know when that one “big fish” is going to stop by and you better be there when she does!

#2 Really lousy trade show display. I’m sure you’ve all seen the company with a desk, chair, and a cheap looking sign that has the company name, and, maybe, some low resolution photo that’s been blow up way above the 4×6 inches that it was shot at. This just screams out to the audience that “I’m a one man show, don’t have any resources, and probably won’t do a better job with your project than I did with my booth display”.

#1 No exhibit booth. I’m sure you’ve all seen it as well. The totally empty 10×10 display space with the black drape in back and a small black and white with the poor company’s name on it. This, of course, is much worse than not being at the show. It basically says that you’ve gone out of business. My advice – buy your display from a company that’s been around for awhile and has good references, give yourself plenty of time, and use a reputable shipping company.

Uncategorized , ,

Toppers Table Top Display

December 17th, 2008

I want to introduce a new and cool modular table top display. This table top display was created from Abex aluminum extrusion components. These elegant displays feature aluminum poles, sleek low-voltage halogen lights, full color inkjet graphics and accent wings. Everything packs into a single, small, lightweight case with wheels. It is rare to be able to have a high-end elegant table top display that is easy to transport in one case. For more information please visit our website at http://www.ignitionexhibits.com/tabletop-displays-table-toppers-c-1_5.html

Announcement , , ,

Full Service Trade Show Graphics

December 14th, 2008

Rainmaker Exhibits has the ability to be your full service trade show graphics supplier. Our manufacturers have invested heavily in the latest technology allowing us to offer some of the highest quality graphics at the lowest competitive prices. Our printing capabilities include grand format banners and murals, dye sub fabric graphics and direct to substrate panels. We also offer hi-resolution inkjet graphics and in-house designer services at $75 an hour. Whatever your trade show graphic needs are we can serve them. For more information please contact us at 1-888-317-9797 or send us your graphic request at http://www.ignitionexhibits.com/index.php?main_page=request_quote

News , , , ,

exhibitline Displays Go Green

December 14th, 2008

Bring your company’s green business efforts to the forefront. Sustainable trade show displays are a great way to tell the world about your commitment to the environment. When you exhibit your green trade show display at industry events, you’ll have a unique opportunity to communicate your green marketing message and demonstrate your company’s environmental philosophy. The trendy and eye-catching exhibitline display system is the perfect way to catch the audiences eye. They are constructed from recycled aluminum and fabric graphics. The displays are also built in an eco-friendly wind generated manufacturing facility.

Green Trade Show Displays ,

Cheap Banner Stands

December 13th, 2008

It seems like these days with the economy crisis that a lot of exhibitors are looking for the cheapest trade show displays they can find. The problem with this is that a lot of companies will find that in the long run they will spend more money on maintenance and upkeep on the cheap display than they would have originally spent on a high quality trade show display.

However if you must go cheap we recommend you go with a low price banner stand. The reason is simple, there is little hardware that comes along with a retractable banner stand and tension fabric banner stand. The chances of having to do maintenance on a banner stand are much slimmer than on a pop up display or truss display system. Two products that we recommend that give you a good bang for your buck are the Pacific Banner Stand and the Orient Banner Stand. Both products have a low price tag and carry a one year warranty.

Uncategorized ,

Portable Exhibits Make Sense For Small Companies

December 13th, 2008

Portable exhibits make a lot of sense

Most small companies that attend trade show events are best off buying a small portable trade show exhibit. They are offered in a range of styles, from table-top display versions that cost a few hundred dollars, to full-height Custom Modular Exhibits. Professional-looking logos can be added to the top of the display booth and large full-color product photos can dress up the panels.

Portable exhibits are lightweight and fold down into compact shippable units. Custom-designed shipping containers are usually a purchase option and will help minimize shipping damage. Shipping costs, themselves, will be substantially reduced. Portable trade show exhibits are, in addition, extremely easy to assemble and seldom require the services of unionized booth assembly labor. Ignition Exhibits is an exhibit company that caries a full line of portable trade show displays at a wide price range. They carry both economy and premium exhibit, so no matter what a small companies budget is, Ignition Exhibits has a product that will fit their needs. For more information visit their site at www.ignitionexhibits.com

Uncategorized ,