The Show Advisor

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Welcome to The Show Advisor.

Here you’ll find all sorts of information on a wide range of topics based around exhibiting and attending trade shows, events, fairs – in fact all kinds of shows.

Whether it be help and advice on topics such as  trade show marketing or wonderful product reviews on essential items such as -

• Pop Up Stands
• Banner Stands
• Exhibition Stands
• Modular Display Stands

You’ll find it all here at The Show Advisor.

Want to stand out from the crowd, make your show a success and save BIG money? Then find out about our exclusive ShowPRO Club here.

Or perhaps you want top quality stands, equipment and graphics for your show? Then why not visit our Show Store for a massive range all backed up with our wonderful satisfaction guarantee!

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Light box displays can create a really appealing showcase and are perfect for numerous purposes. Illuminated signs provide a very clear impression to the customers day time or even night time and may be made for indoor or outside use. They are a very adaptable product.

Lightboxes are proven to be an extremely effective advertising tool, particularly in window features and store outlets. They are also utilised in floorstanding media strategies and wall mounted display campaigns. Research has shown that lightboxes and illuminated point of sale features used in a store environment can drastically increase revenue. The attention catching mixture of colour and light often is the effective collaboration that will attract prospective consumers to your items, services or details.

There are a huge range of illuminated signage displays to select from like backlit or edge lit, front loading or slide in, internal or external, standard poster size or bespoke, aluminium or acrylic, ultra slim or standard widths, wall fitted or freestanding and lastly curved or flat.

Illuminated displays and light boxes can also be quite useful in areas just like airports, train stations, night clubs, pubs, bars, coffee shops, banks, places to eat, show rooms, supermarkets, cinemas, media channels, ferries, office buildings, industry events and exhibitions. All light boxes is usually supplied with printed back lit films using your design on them. You must make sure your light boxes illuminate your graphic image with the most even light distribution feasible, bringing your images to life and creating powerful appealing displays. Changing the artwork in these great items is quick and easy to do, making them perfect for use in shops.

Freestanding light towers and illuminated pillars are one of the ideal platforms to make your graphics, branding, logos and marketing stand out. A dual sided illuminated light tower will ensure that your message is never overlooked. Extra options may be incorporated into your light box to improve your exhibit. These range from shelving units and literature racks or brochure holders.

Full details on all of our Lightboxes are available on our Show Store Site, please click the link – Lightboxes

For years in order to create a “L” Shaped Curved wall for a clients show or event I have had to mess around with two different pop up stands and join them with ghost panels. At last somebody has designed and made a ready curved pop up stand  – the L Shaped Pop Up Stand. HOOOOOOOORRRRRRRAAAAAAYYYYY!!!!

The L Shaped Pop Up Stand is just as easy to use as a normal pop up and is transported just the same but the advantage of this new type of stand is that it is just one unit therefore cheaper!!

I can honestly say I will over period of a trading year source and supply over 30 clients who request such a stand for their exhibition or event. The L shape allows them to create a two walled display and is nice and curved so creating a smooth finish. Also the L is a great room divider. I have used them before to create interview bays for an event with graphics the whole way around the unit. As mentioned before in order for me to create the shape previously it would need two pop up stands plus extra ghost panels to join the two together and this could, dependant on size and make be a costly exercise.The price of the L shaped Pop Up Stand is about the same as a normal pop up stand!

The Show Store supplies the L shaped Pop Up Stand and it comes complete with full colour graphics. Just like the Supremacy Pop Up the transit case and lights have to be purchased separately – so be aware! The Stand comes in 3 sizes – 3×3, 3×4 or 3×5 and don’t forget they can be linked together just like any other pop up stand to create some weird and wonderful shapes.

If you would like more information please click the link for full details – L Shaped Pop Up Stand.

Looking for something different but as affordable as a normal banner stand? So was I and came across the Logik. It is a stand made of Bamboo and in my opinion looks really cool!!

It works just the same as the normal aluminium stands but looks amazing and trust me gets people talking. The stand is extremely lightweight and easy to use, the only downside if you could call it one is the pole comes in 3 parts. This as far as I can see is not a problem and doesn’t take any longer to put together and everything comes in a padded bag anyway.

I have used this stand twice for a client and they used it to complement an exhibition stand they already had, positioned next to foliage and a fab graphic it looked stunning. They informed me that they had more people coming to the stand to look at the banner than they have ever had and this led nicely lots of leads!!

The Logik Banner Stand is available from the Show Store at an extremely competitive price. Click here for more detail.

I have just been reading an article on Freebies (promotional gifts) given out at Exhibitions and Events. Most people attending a show expect to come away with free gifts, brochures, samples etc. What they don’t know is a lot of thought goes into (or should go into) what is given out.

The idea of freebies are that when the potential customer has gone home he will look/use your gift regularly so when they need your product they automatically think to call you instead of your competitors. So what you give them is important, you don’t want them binning it or shoving it to the back of the draw.

Ok, back to my article………..

A survey has been carried out and a new Top 10 has been revealed and I thought I would share it with you.

1. Sweat Shirts
2. Drawstring Backpacks
3. Pocket Calculator
4. Clocks
5. Computer Accessories
6. Umbrella
7. Flashlights
8. Packaged Candy
9. Lip Balm
10. Coffee Mugs

Controversially the good old pen has been missed off this list….I have read many reports which say the pen is the  “king” freebie as it is cheap to mass produce and people always need a pen! Make your own mind up on this one.

One item that is a new comer and is fast becoming the numero uno item to give away is hand sanitiser – since the outbreak of swine flu some genius came up with idea to add company details to the bottles and it is taking the freebie market by storm.

Moral of the story – think before you exhibit, give something away that people will use and remember you by!

Not a lot of people, believe it or not, think about replacing the graphics on their existing stands. I have had numerous enquiries for new hardware when a simple replacement graphic would suffice. Also I have found having a second lot of graphics is a great (cheap) way to test a marketing idea, especially if you have a pop up stand.

I have in the past had a client (who will remain nameless) take 3 sets of graphics with him to a show and each day had a swap around to test which concept worked the best with potential clients. As he pointed out it worked out much cheaper buying the extra sets of pop up stand graphics than paying to attend 2 more exhibitions to test his theory – good point well made!!

Most people though have a change of logo, or the images are looking tired and out dated or they want to promote a different product………these guys can just replace the graphic easily and save money!

When looking around for people to replace the graphic make sure they are able to do so.  Sounds daft but some companies will only produce a graphic for the systems they have in stock. Also if you are looking to replace a graphic on a banner stand my advice is to send the whole unit back and get them to do it for you. Most banner stands work on a tension basis and if you don’t do it properly then you can get into all sorts of bother.

The Showstore, although always offered the service, have put a new catergory on their on-line store for replacement graphics.  They will produce graphics for any type of stand (pop up stand, pop up banner stand, roll up banner stand etc), whether they stock it or not. You must be aware though if it is a stand they don’t normally stock there may be a small extra charge if they need to source special materials in order to complete the job (this will be in a minority of cases!!).

Click the link to view their prices – Replacement Graphics.