If you’re faced with the decision on whether to rent or purchase a new tradeshow booth, you’ll end up looking at the decision from many different angles.

First, there’s the biggest difference: the cost. A general rule of thumb is that is costs about one-third to one-half as much to rent a booth as it does to purchase the same booth. This means that if you purchase it outright, you’ve amortized the rental cost in the first two to three uses.

Beyond that, there are the additional costs of ‘dressing up’ the rental: graphics, carpeting, chairs, tables and other items that may be above and beyond the cost of the actual booth rental. Graphics tend to be one of the more expensive items: if you rent a booth, you still have to put your branding on it. If the rental is a standard configuration, such as a curved wall pop-up, getting graphics designed and produced is not going to a difficult or challenging task. But if the booth you’re renting is an elaborate custom-type booth, the graphics are likely to be a one-time use for that particular booth. Not a big deal if you plan to discard the graphics at the end of the show or rent the exact same booth again, but if you don’t plan ahead you’ll most certainly need to budget for new graphics for the next show.

After graphics, some of the issues that you’ll examine in making your ‘rent vs. buy’ decision include: exhibit storage, the ‘look and feel’ of the exhibit, upkeep and refurbishment, and your changing needs regarding the function of the booth.

Exhibit storage is straight-forward. When you rent, the rental company stores it – you don’t worry about it since you don’t own it. When purchasing, the exhibit will have to be stored somewhere in between shows. It’ll need to be examined after each show for possible upgrades, repairs or modifications. If your exhibit company can store it for you, that makes those exams and repairs much easier than if you have to have heavy crates shipped back and forth from your company storage facility to the exhibit house.

When you purchase a custom booth, the sky’s the limit on what the booth can look like. Depending on budget, some companies create a new exhibit and use it (with minor modifications) for years: it represents the company’s ‘look and feel’ and works well within the company’s tradeshow marketing goals. Other companies will create a unique booth for each large show they go to in order to make a splash at each show. These tend to be progressive companies in fast-changing industries where a company’s custom exhibit’s look might become outdated within a few years. In other industries, a tried-and-true custom look that elegantly represents the brand can last for years.

By purchasing a new booth, you’re committing to spending money each year to make sure it stays in good shape and runs well – much like the commitment you make when purchasing a new car. This means having the booth examined after each show, making note of repairs, updates and modifications that you want to make each time. A good rule of thumb is to prepare to spend about 10 – 20% of your overall purchase cost each year to keep the booth in good shape.

One item in favor of renting a booth is the challenge of a company’s changing needs. Some companies see different products, large growth, changing fortunes and other unknowns as a way to keep from making a commitment to purchase a tradeshow booth. By renting each time, you leave the door open to present a different ‘look and feel’ with updated branding each show. Renting in this case offers flexibility that purchasing a booth probably does not.

Often your goals at each tradeshow will differ – which suggests different functions that you’ll need at each show. Some shows may require that you have several work-stations or product-sampling stations while other shows may be focused on product demonstrations or extravagant layouts. Either way, a rental booth again offers more flexibility that most custom-built and purchased booths. However, if you know ahead of time that you’ll need different configurations, your design team can take those needs into account before the booth is purchased.

In the end, the best way to approach the ‘rent vs. buy’ decision is to ask a lot of questions: talk to management about their plans, talk to tradeshow staffers about their needs and how the booth actually functions at the show, and even talk to clients that visit your booth to get feedback on how they perceive your company and your tradeshow marketing presentation.

Tradeshow marketing is essentially marketing in 3D, face-to-face. It’s one of the best ways to market because it’s more personal. Your booth should be a reflection of your company’s image, brand and goals – whether you set up a rental booth with custom graphics or set up a custom booth that fits your company image to a T.

For 40 years Dynamic Display has built an outstanding reputation on innovative design concepts, excellent product quality, and friendly and responsive customer service. Providing the most up-to-date and versatile exhibit displays available, from pop ups to island displays, banner stands to motion displays, there is a solution for every budget.

For exhibitors who want a more impressive look than pop ups and banner stands provide, there are a growing number of aluminum extrusion and fabric systems hitting the market.  These systems offer customizable configurations and can integrate trendier materials such as eco-friendly fabrics and light-weight bamboo. Custom modular exhibits are, on average, approximately 60% lighter than conventional exhibits and thus require fewer materials to make, and require much fewer carbon emissions for transport.  Plus, by nature of the components they are made of, custom modular exhibits are easier to separate into recyclable components at the end of their useful life making them ideal for the environmentally conscience exhibitor.

As drayage charges continue to increase by double digits each year, and shipping charges become harder to justify, custom modular exhibits continue to gain ground.  Custom modular exhibits have replaced traditional custom designs for virtually all inline exhibits, most small island exhibits, and an ever-growing number of large island exhibits.

In any economy, needs and marketing budgets change. It is important to keep a close eye on trends. The team at Dynamic Display continues to do just that.

Every day I speak with CEO’s, marketing directors and trade show coordinators, and lately there is a common tone to all our discussions that perhaps one word can sum up fairly well…”scared”. Many speak of “cuts” that have to be made if their business is to survive but, where to make those cuts is often the question? Typically, the initial thought is to cut marketing and advertising. However let us state for the record that cutting your marketing and advertising budget is the single biggest mistake a company can make…especially during a struggling economy. Interestingly when an economy struggles that is often the time most opportunities for business growth actually exist. Experts have cited many reasons for this, sometimes it is because competitors close their doors and their customer base re-enters the marketplace (survival of the fittest). Sometimes a weak economy drives prices down, which creates purchase incentives. And still many companies benefit due to the high rate of unemployment and they have the ‘cream of the crop’ to pick their next great talent from. Whatever the reason, opportunities do exist. The question one has to ask is how can we take advantage of gaining an industry stronghold while our competition is making cut backs in their marketing and advertising budget.

Recently a client informed me that she was instructed by upper management to cut back the number of trade show they exhibit at annually in an attempt to cut spending. She explained that she was to reduce the usual twelve shows she exhibited at per year down to the best three or four shows…wow, that’s drastic! I began to explain to her that they were about miss out on an incredible opportunity.

By significantly decreasing your company’s presence at trade shows you can actually send the wrong message to your audience, which may include (depending on your business and industry), customers, clients, competitors, suppliers, wholesalers, distributors, manufacturers, sales reps, franchisees, dealers and even the media (press that usually covers any particular trade show). Be careful, your company’s absence might allow some of these audiences to obtain more face time with your competition, not to mention speculate as to why your firm was not exhibiting this year. We all know too well how quickly gossip spreads across a trade show floor, which is probably due to the concentration of professionals from a particular industry at a particular place and time. Now consider the potential opportunities if your competitors decided not to exhibit, but you did – most likely you would benefit from having more time to market and sell to your existing customers as well as convert your competitors customers to your products or services.

In discussion with my client, she shared that their existing booth was costly to ship and time consuming to set up due to the complexity of the booth and its size, so we discussed options. At Dynamic Display we work closely with our clients to provide cost effective solutions to their marketing and trade show exhibiting challenges. We were able to develop and design a new booth that was both dramatic and easier to set up, but even more importantly it was lighter and was able to be stored in 4 rather than 12 cartons, which drastically reduced shipping costs. The cost savings in freight and labor allowed our client to maintain their show schedule for 2009 and they experienced the benefits immediately.

After returning from their first show (which they almost cut from their line-up) my client informed me that two of their major competitors (as well as a few smaller ones) did not exhibit at the show. Because the competition at the show wasn’t as fierce their booth was packed with attendees for three days. In fact, they spent quality face-to-face time with some of their competitions’ clients which for years they had longed for that opportunity.

We have all heard the adage “when the going gets tough the tough get going”. At more than 40 years in business, Dynamic has weathered a few recessions before and we realize that opportunities do exist even when the horizon looks its bleakest. Now is the time to take action…to look for opportunities…to discuss with us ways we can help your business be more cost effective and less scared. Let’s work together to find strategic and creative solutions to help your business not just survive, but to thrive in this new competitive landscape. Don’t miss out on opportunities…make them!