You can buy a modular exhibition stand and use it for 5 years plus, reconfiguring for each different show you attend.  But with the market place increasingly changing, it can sometimes be hard to get the footprint you want at a show, or what if your plot gets changed at the last minute?  Just how ‘modular’ can a modular stand be?  Well, I intend to show you…

The products Cotesi UK offer cover a wide range of industries from Fishing to Agriculture and even Defence.  They exhibit at around 10 exhibitions every year and came to TGAC looking to invest in a stand that would work for every different show!

Because the venues of the exhibitions they attend can vary from a plot at ExCel to a plot in a field, the stand needed to be truly adaptable.  Obviously it needed to be a suitable working environment, and give them plenty of room to display bulky product but in addition to this it would also need to be able to change its main function from show to show.  For example, some shows would have a focus on client entertainment, with a bar area being the main focus and free drinks being handed out.  Whereas at other shows the focus would be on promoting a product in a new market, and in this instance the product needed to be given centre stage.  Couple this with the fact that some shows would be in a lovely exhibition hall while others would be in a tent and we knew that this would be a great test of our modular exhibition system.

The stands first outing was at LAMMA in a bitterly cold January.  The stand was built in a large outdoor tented space which housed a large number of exhibitors and despite our installers complaining they lost all feeling in their hands on the first day of build as the temperatures plummeted below zero degrees, the show was a massive success and the new stand was very well received.

Since January the stand was used at the SECC in Glasgow for the fishing expo, this required it to be reconfigured from a corner stand to a stand with 3 open sides.  Next week the stand will be installed at Seaworks in Southampton, where it will need to be reconfigured again to fit a space with 3 walls and following Seaworks it will shoot up to Aberdeen where it will be used at the Skipper Expo in a space with no walls!!!

It has a couple more outings over the summer, then 2 in September before we start all over again.  Some of the shows require interchangeable graphics and have different lighting requirements etc due to the location, but all in all this is arguably our hardest working stand to date and it has adapted to every possible configuration we can throw at it whilst still looking great and working fantastically at generating new business for Cotesi UK.

So, if you have a show (or 10) coming up in the coming months, get in touch with TGAC and Go Modular!

Simply choosing to exhibit does not however guarantee a return on your investment.  There many factors you need to consider when planning your attendance which could dramatically affect how successful you are at the show.  While some of these factors may be out of your control, the weather for example, others are very much manageable and if given the right attention can be very rewarding!

During these last 3 months we have seen firsthand how good having a ‘feature’ on your stand can be for drumming up interest.  You don’t have to spend thousands on hiring a lion tamer or 30 plate spinners; you just need to think about something simple that people will be happy to interact with and you will be pleasantly surprised by the results.

A feature on a stand is not for everyone as some industries/marketplaces need to be more serious; you also need to think about the type of leads you want.  If you have a specific target market and have a coconut shy at the edge of your stand, taking a business card from everyone who has a throw might result in a pile of unwanted leads.  However if you have a product/service that can appeal to most of the shows visitors, then you are rolling in potential information that you may otherwise not have come across.

There are a few things to consider when thinking about a feature and there are different levels of focus for that feature.  Do you just have a feature on your stand, or turn your stand into the feature?  You could go from having a computer simulated football came on your stand to turning your entire exhibition stand into a football pitch and encouraging people to take penalties!

Always try and be different, don’t copy what other people have done as there is a good chance you won’t be the only ones copying and before you know it everyone has the same thing!  Most people will think about a big TV and a games console, this might work but I see it so much it is probably losing its ability to be a real draw!  Think about something that is easy to manage, makes it easy for you to collect data, is easy for passing prospects to interact with and is fun for the user!   That the key really, if they are having fun on your stand they are more likely to open up to you and certainly more likely to tell other people about the fun they have had on your great stand!

If you want a busier stand at your next show, consider investing in a feature and speak to TGAC about making your exhibition stand a real crowd puller!

Exhibiting at Spring Fair in February?

If you are, and your looking for portable exhibition kit such as:

Roller Banners



Pop Up Stands

Twist Stands

Order any of the above with TGAC Exhibitions for Spring Fair and not only will you get our great prices and print quality, we will deliver them to the site for you for nothing and even build them on your stand for you!  This means all you need to worry about is your product and perfecting your smile!

Get in touch for more information – 01274 674 988 – chris@tgacexhibitions.co.uk

Offer Ends January 20th 2012.

As a note to our clients old and new, the TGAC Grotto will be closing on December 23rd 2011 and re-opening on January 3rd 2012.

Some business news now, and keeping in the festive theme TGAC were proud to be working once again with Lloyds Banking Group on their Christmas installment  at the Halifax Head Office.

Every year a section of the head office reception is dedicated to a custom build Christmas scene and staff are encouraged to leave a gift on the stand which will then be donated to charity. It’s formally known as their ‘Secret Santa Charity Drop’ and with each new year comes a new design, previous years have seen everything from oversized Christmas tree’s, to nativity scenes and this year it was the turn of The Polar Express to stop off at the Halifax office.

Complete with a working headlight and flashing twinkle star lights, the stand is warm and welcoming and gently eases visitors into the festive spirit. Staff are already generously donating presents and the charity receiving the gifts this year will be Action For Children, once received the presents will be handed out to deserving children across the UK.

See below for pictures taken ‘on-site’ and if you are looking for something similar, just get in touch!

Chris

Its an office based position and you must have at least 2 years experience in the industry.

For a full job spec, e-mail chris.stewart@tgac.co.uk

Thanks!

TGAC Exhibitions have enjoyed working with our new and existing clients over the last few months on exhibitions across the country, we have produced some fantastic creative and pioneering installations yet still had clients come back saying how fantastic their ‘roller banners’ looked and how well they worked!   That’s what I love about this industry, everything is relative!  I get as much personal satisfaction out of making a success for a client with a £200 budget as I do with a client with a £20,000 one!  An exhibition stand, of whatever shape or size is simply the means to achieve goals, not necessarily the goal itself, and I think that is something which is often forgotten.

Our job is not to just create an exhibition stand which a client can show off to their competition (although this is important!!), it is to create an environment in which our client can sell, get leads and do good business.  Regardless of how groundbreaking and show stopping the design is, if it doesn’t result in new business, it has failed!  It’s a simple as that!

As an exhibitor you will no doubt be planning for next year and it’s never been so important to manage your budget.  Make sure you are getting the right balance between stand size, location and design as all 3 components are equally important.  If your budget will only stretch to a shell scheme stand, that’s fine, just make sure what you do with that stand makes you stand out like a pink house in a row of stone terraces.  Try and make sure that shell scheme is near the entrance, the cafe or even the toilets!  Anywhere with guaranteed traffic.

If you have more to spend, then the same fundamental rules apply.  Make sure your stand is going to get you noticed in a busy exhibition hall, but not at the expense of being approachable!  Make sure your visitors know who you are and what you do within 5 seconds of seeing your stand, and then make it easy for them to interact with your staff and/or products.

Of course there are hundreds of factors to consider when planning a stand and I can’t begin to get through them all in a tiny blog post.  Maybe I will elaborate more in the coming weeks and months but in our experience it’s all about balance, and that’s what we tell our clients!  Face-to-Face selling cannot be topped, and if you get the balance right 2012 will be a very good year!

Remember you can keep up to date with our latest work by following us on Twitter (link on the right) or visiting our Flickr page.

Thank you and happy exhibiting!

In addition to our shows this month, we have already started working on designs for shows in January and February 2012 and even further ahead for some of our clients who are exhibiting abroad.

If you are exhibiting in 2011 or 2012 its never to early to start planning your stand layout, whether you are looking for a few banner stands for your shell scheme or a full blown twin deck custom installation we can help you get the ball rolling.

In the meantime enjoy our Indian Summer, cut the lawn, trim the hedges, take the cat for a walk, crank up the bbq, wash the car, pour yourself a cold drink and lie back in your hammock dreaming of exhibition stands….

Having a successful show can be as much about the exhibition stand you use as it can be the quality of your product/service or the friendliness of your staff.  Once a decision is made and you are ready to invest in a new exhibition stand for your show, developing the initial brief becomes the most important part of the whole process and it is not something you should necessarily do alone, that’s where the experts come in.

I usually tell our prospective clients that the first step is to work out roughly what you are looking for from and exhibition stand and what you are looking to achieve at the exhibition.  You don’t need to go into too much detail at this stage and if you have picked a good contractor then they will ask all the right questions.  Initial things to consider are…. How do I want to approach the show? Would I want a stand that I can reuse at another show?  Do I want seating, storage etc?

Next, if you have the time ideally pick out 2 or 3 exhibition contractors who they think would be useful to work with.  You can base this initial decision on the contractor’s previous work, references, length of experience or simply how comfortable you feel talking with them on the phone.

Once you have worked out roughly what you want, it’s time to invite the contractors in for a meeting.  This initial meeting is vital as not only does it give you a great insight into what it would be like to work with each particular company, but you can tap into the knowledge of their representative and put together some really good ideas.  Meeting a contractor in the early stages has far greater advantages than simply e-mailing out a brief to dozens of different contractors, it means that once the designs start coming in, rather than having 10-12 ‘average’ looking stands with each missing a few vital components, you will have 2 or 3 really good looking stands which tick every box and have been designed specifically with you in mind.

Once your contractors have their designs ready, invite them in to present and talk through their proposals.  This gives you a fantastic opportunity to ask questions and look at material samples etc.    You can also go through costs with them and if budgets are strict you can discuss ways to streamline expense.

Finally it’s up to you to make the decision based on strength of design, price, and relationship with the company plus any other factors you wish to consider.

In short there is no ‘blueprint’ to going out to tender for your stand design but it’s important that you give it the time it deserves in the early stages and make good use of the design knowledge and exhibition experience that a good contractor will be all to happy to share with you.

Remember a successful exhibition is your main goal; an exhibition stand is simply a means to achieve that goal.

To make a start on your new brief, contact us 01274 672 988 or e.mail chris@tgacexhibitions.co.uk

I guess my ‘thought of the week’ this week is to plan early!  A good exhibition stand contractor, like us, who undertakes all work ‘in house’ can turn stands around in a very quick time frame, but isn’t always the best idea, especially during the high season!  Over the traditional ‘summer holiday’ season the amount of exhibitions being held in the UK drop’s right down to the ‘barely any’ level.  This is not a bad thing by any means as it offers time for planning and preparation for the busier periods such as September onwards.

Once September hits the UK burst’s into life with exhibitions all over the country and a new one opening almost every day!  This intense activity only really slows down for Christmas before firing back up again in January and then going right through until May.

As a general rule of thumb, if you are exhibiting in either September, October, November, December or even January you should take advantage of the quieter Summer period and start thinking about your exhibition stand now.  Plenty of planning time means plenty of ideas thrown around, plenty of show research undertaken, plenty of pre-build time and plenty of restful nights sleep before the show, safe in the knowledge that your stand is all ship shape and ready to go!

Whether its Custom Build, Custom Modular or Pop-Ups, if you are exhibiting in 2011 or early 2012 and would like to start planning, give us a call on 01274 672 988 and we can start putting some ideas together for you.

Have a good weekend!

Chris

Just a quick post to kick-start the week.  We are currently planning small tweaks to our website and putting together a new brochure full of lovely offers for your next exhibition stand!

Just to get the ball rolling, you will find a link below to our ‘single page’ brochure which gives you a very brief insight into what we do.  Give it a click and keep coming back for more news!

TGAC 1 Page Brochure

Over and Out…

Chris