Because we believe exhibit programs are tools used to accomplish and/or sustain marketing and communications objectives, we view tradeshow program flexibility as a foundational attribute of any effective and well-considered exhibiting strategy. That said, we are very in favor of the idea that flexibility is an essential component to any exhibit strategy – to the point we think flexibility should be demanded.

Any thinking on the subject of tradeshow objectives is, in fact, contemplation of flexibility. After all, the core of exhibit flexibility is an exhibit’s ability to achieve various things at various times. And that idea is rooted in the notion of making a given exhibit into the right tool for the job.

Flexibility is ensuring that your exhibit is the right tool for the job.

For the purpose of exploring the subject, we’ve divided the issues that exhibits address into three groups of issues.

1. Your product or service
2. Your company/brand/corporate culture
3. The tradeshow itself

You will be faced with unique challenges from each of these groups at every show. And effective (and therefore valuable) exhibit program will have agility to answer each challenge. Flexibility is essential – demand it! If your exhibit program is not adequately flexible, you will not maximize the value of your investment.

Take, for example, an exhibitor who is in the surgical equipment business.

• At any given time, they will have a variety of products and services in the various stages of their life cycles. Their exhibit will have to remain responsive to these realities.
• There will be broad corporate communications needs that have little or nothing to do with specific products (branding, financial announcements, acquisitions, overall market strategies and positioning)
• There will be different audiences at different shows (surgeons and hospital administrators, for example). There may be different regulatory realities at different shows. Moreover, the exhibitor will have different spatial realities from show to show.

It is a necessity that the exhibitor’s exhibit be responsive to each of the above realities. To fail to do so is to fail in a tradeshow program. The diagram below is a good snapshot of the situation.

 Is your exhibit program flexible? Please share some tips and tricks your company has learned over the years… we’re all in this together.

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Sometimes the decision to rent or purchase is a function of the location of your product on its Product Life Cycle (or PLC) curve. 

Here’s what this means: “The conditions under which a product is sold will change over time. The Product Life Cycle refers to the succession of stages through which a product passes. Product Life Cycle Management is the succession of strategies used by management as a product goes through its life cycle.”[1]

How does this relate to your rental vs. purchase choice? Your exhibit should function in different ways at different times. If you opt to purchase an exhibit for the launch of one suite of products, would it be appropriate as the product grows and evolves? And what happens when you launch another project? The things done at trade shows are important to the PLC because a marketer’s actions influence the shape of the curve.

This occurs because the curve exists as an example – and example that does not attempt to predict the future.  The PLC describes a general shape of a path but does not describe when and if a product will move from one life phase to another. That’s where the actions of an effective trade show strategy (including the exhibiting tool) come into play… so yes, the decision to rent or buy can have a long-reaching influence indeed!

[1]  Wikipedia. Product Life Cycle Management. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Product_life_cycle_management#CITEREFDhallaYuspeh1976

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Welcome to the latest addition to the Catalyst arsenal: our blog. Through this forum, we aim to provide you, our discerning audience, with advice, guidelines, examples and anything else we feel can help make your trade show experiences that much better. Allow us to lend you our industry knowledge in the hopes it helps you along your way. So without further ado, we present a topic that is as contested as it is misunderstood: the myths of cost when it comes to renting or owning exhibits.

The Myth of Cost

The “myth of cost” states that there is an intrinsic price gap between exhibit purchase options and exhibit rental options – i.e., it costs more (or less) to rent than to own.

We refer to it as a myth because we don’t find it to be necessarily true.

When it comes to rental and purchase, each has its own benefits, and each is loaded with price in different ways. When you purchase, most of the costs are upfront. When you rent, the cost is spread out across the time frame of an exhibit program. But the differences do not end there.

Purchase items are “capital expenditures” that, theoretically, create future benefits and can be repaid over an extended period. Rental items are “marketing expenses” or “operating expenses.”  They are an ongoing cost and are not amortized – oftentimes making them an easier expenditure to make.

But in the same breath we say the two differ, we must also point out how they are alike. Sure, the two deals may look different, but in terms of actual dollars spent over the life of a tradeshow program, rental and purchase can be considered equivalent. Perhaps a better way to put this: There is no cost benefit inherent to either strategy – it depends on what you want or need to do.

In the end, we do not believe it is even possible to compare rental and purchase costs in a qualitative (or even meaningful) way. Rental suggests flexibility, whereas purchase suggests a long-term commitment. And yes, there are rental options in the marketplace today where the price exceeds that of purchase. The converse is true as well. The only thing to do is see both as possible strategies, and determine which works best for your company.

That said, we invite you to share your thoughts on this issue. Just as we’ve concluded the two cannot be fairly compared, you might have a different angle – and we welcome you to share that. We aren’t the only experts out there… and we look forward to sharing with all of you.

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