Alan Jenkins, CEO of Poole-based Quadrant2Design, says exhibitors are stretching the definition of "modular" stands, and sacrificing quality in the process.
Nobody likes a bit of free-market cut and thrust more than me.
Competition is great; it pressures businesses into improving their products and services and ensures the customer gets value for money.
The exhibition industry is especially competitive, with hundreds of suppliers big, small, great and indifferent vying for the exhibitors’ pound.
Yes, competition works, but it works best when people know what they’re buying. When the terminology is agreed and understood by both buyers sellers and is not misleading.
In the exhibition industry there is a problem with the way the term ‘modular exhibition stand’ is being trashed by numbers of resellers of cheap display systems.
In my book a modular exhibition stand is, er…an exhibition stand.
So a modular exhibition stand system, can create complex, compelling and intriguing 3D event-environments where introductions can take place, meetings are held and business gets done. In other words…an exhibition stand!
Once the show is over, the modular exhibition stand can be reconfigured for the client’s next show, for a differently sized and configured exhibition space.
So, the exhibitor benefits from projecting a consistent corporate identity, in a professional manner across a number of events, while enjoying the operational and value benefits of modular stand construction.
I’m sorry, but flimsy banners or a metal truss system with a tatty banner stretched across it, do not pass muster. Of course, there is nothing inherently wrong with these solutions. It’s just that they are not ‘modular’ exhibition stands and should not be described as such.
Yet dozens of suppliers are passing off these contraptions as modular exhibition stands, confusing the exhibitor and devaluing the ‘real’ modular systems and stands on the market.
Let’s compete, but let’s do so without misleading the exhibitor!
Quadrant2Design has put together a myth-busting Buyers Guide to Modular Exhibition Stands that attempts to arm the confused exhibitor with information, terms and questions, ensuring that they get what they want out of their purchase.
