Hidden behind other cards in your wallet, these small cards usually sit in your wallet for weeks on end only to appear if you have met someone you would like to share your contact details with, either a business acquaintance or potential client.

Deemed as inconsequential pieces of paper business cards have a long established history which most of us don’t appreciate in modern times?
Born in 17th century Europe, business cards were used to advertise and announce aristocratic people arriving in their town. Shaped similar to a playing card they became well used by the middle of the century by aristocrats or prosperous folk. Techniques changed through time with cards becoming more luxurious, engraved gold, lavish fonts and highly decorated. The middle classes all had business cards; you were practically non-existent without one.

Homes had card trays specifically placed for callers to leave there cards in, ornate in construction these trays became the norm, any visitors would simply leave there card before they departed company.

19th century
Cards were presented visiting a house (social cards) the card tray was presented to the visitor and cards were placed in the tray as a matter of etiquette. The card tray is taken away to be delivered to the head lady of the house. She would examine the card and its content/presentation to get a first impression of the visitor. Design and fold of the cards illustrated who the card was for. Folder corners were for a specific person of the house, folded in the centre were for all family members. Lettering on the card had meanings, P/C stood for condolence call, P/F for a congratulatory visit. Cards were also used in trade meetings across the UK.

Formal
Formality changed in the industrial revolution, visiting and trade cards merged and giving out on informal meetings as well as trade or business The UK upper class had a diversion to informal card, however in the USA there use increased and became widespread.

Modern times
Business card snobbery became dissected in time, etiquette had vanished but some rules still apply today. Cards are not presented loose, no writing on the card face and presented in the left hand.

Today’s business cards are expected to display the name of the card holder, title, company with which they are employed or director and any relevant contact information (Address, telephone, fax numbers and email address/s.) Business logo are used with marketing strapline’s.

Traditionally business cards are printed black onto ivory or white board, modern business cards are heavily graphic designed, some even using a double sided print to make use of the cards reverse for other company information.

Article by Rob Steele – large format printing services

A goal is the sole purpose for exhibiting; your goal has to be measured after the show to evaluate if the exhibition is a success or failure and whether you will be exhibiting again at the same show or your marketing plan will alter to increase success rates. The goals can be run in line with your company’s whole marketing objective.

#no no 2 – Failing to build a brand awareness at your stand

Your stand is your shop window, branding must be consistent and followed across the entire display stand, your stand graphics, leaflets, brochures and any marketing literature should reflect the same style.  Consistency is important to create a strong brand to be remembered by your visitors. The purpose for an exhibition is attracting visitors to achieve the company’s marketing objectives. Enhance memorability, visitors remember graphics/key messages make your stand bold and graphic heavy, visitors don’t read columns of text at exhibitions. They need to be able to read your message quickly and understand what your business services offer in an instant.

Remember- pictures paint a thousand words, text will be forgotten quickly. Create a stand that is open and friendly so visitors feel welcome and comfortable enough to step on and open discussions.

#no no 3 – Failing to create an incentive will loose visitors

Have an incentive, visitors like an incentive when coming to your stand. You may not have a prize or free offering but a new product or technique will create an interest. Remember your stand is surrounded by competition, what makes your stand different to any other business or business incentive.

Think out of the box, learn new techniques or look at ways you could show off your business from different angles.

#no no 4 – failing to have a lead follow up plan

Once your exhibition has finished and hopefully successful with sales leads a plenty do you have a plan to follow or chase the leads up. Strike while the iron’s hot contact the hot leads, don’t let management duties prevent you from contacting the sales leads. The best time to plan follow ups is before an exhibition. Inform your sales team before the show that you will be distributing contacts to follow up and create a database to allow reporting on follow ups. With the right system in place you will know which show has been a success and rule out the ones that aren’t

#no no 5 –  failure with promotional items and giveaways
offer your visitors a free item or handout, it will entice them to come to your stand.

Promotional items should be memorable, interesting and create a recognition of your company. Creating a memorable giveaway can be highly creative. Consider your target audience, what would your customers need for their business. A good idea is to target specific customers with promotions targeted specific groups of customers. You could have a different incentive or promotion for different visitors. A thank you is a good gift for your visitors, give away a goodie bag with promotional items (desk calendars, pens, magnets) all with your company branding. Speak to your large format printing services company they have experience with shows and promotions.

#no no 6 – failing to realise your staff are your marketing force

Your team or the employees on the stand are your main sales force. The team must be trained in your product, be very welcoming and professional. The team must be professional and interact with your visitors with ease.  They are representing your company and everything it stands for; the team are carrying your image. Don’t oversell just talk when the visitors require your team to. Overselling can be very off putting. This results to bad reputation at the show and loss of leads.

Here are some sure-fire tips to make sure make your exhibition a success.

1. Plan your exhibition as early as possible.  It’s always safe when you have time. You just never know any circumstances that might happen like getting sick.
2. Get a graphic designer involved at this early stage, some graphics require time to create. Make sure you commission a good creative designer after all this is the most important part of your exhibition stand.
3. Now you have your graphic designer next stage is the exhibition stand itself, you will need to know the floor space your stand will be occupying and how big the stand can be.
4. Find a large format printer and ask their advice, they can help you with the choice of stand and once you are happy you can get the sizes for the stand to brief the graphic designer.
5. Once you have the design signed off send these to the printer or ask the designer to they are used to sending print ready files so this might be the best option.
6. Once, you feel that you’re  almost on the last leg of logistics, assign a designated person at your booth the day before the official opening to meet with your Marketing Director or whoever the manager of your company’s tradeshow.  Get his mobile and give your manager’s mobile. It’s always smart to check everything on site before the big day.
7. Last checklist. Create a checklist for your IT person for equipment that should be brought to the tradeshow.  Don’t forget to test the electronic equipment before packing it.  Secondly, create another checklist for your collaterals.
8. Go to the stand before the show and make sure you are happy with it all and the setup this is extremely important, you are paying alot of money for this stand so it has to be 100% right for the business.
9. If you are not going to the tradeshow keep your phone on.  Just in case your colleague needs something that needs to be shipped immediately from an enquiry or just have an important question , you can take action as soon as possible.

Hope these tips will help you have a very successful exhibition.

On stand A23, hall 8B, Esko will be launching the new Kongsberg XN finishing table at drupa 2012.

“Our Kongsberg finishing tables have always offered cost-effective digital finishing without the expense of conventional die-cutting tools and equipment,” explains Steve Bennett, Esko Vice President, Digital Finishing Business. “And, as people will see at drupa, Esko continues to define the ‘cutting edge’ standards in short run productivity and versatility. Combined with our integrated i-cut Suite software, we offer digital finishing solutions for every process, material and application.”

New: Kongsberg XN suits virtually any application

The Kongsberg XN is the most versatile, highest performing finishing table available in the mid-range market. Capable of handling the broadest variety of materials, the new table serves all markets from packaging to sign making and displays. In addition, the Kongsberg XN can be used for cutting plates as part of the Esko Digital Flexo Suite and can handle the heavy materials used for protective packaging.

to read story >click here>>

The show organizer even mentioned that if they gave awards for innovative design and best stand, our entry would have been right up there! We are very proud of this.

Our stand design has given us recognition with show visitors – weeks after the show and even now, Sam and Dan regularly get referred to as ‘Superman’.

21st July 2011

We recently exhibited at the IN-STORE Show at Olympia and the response we got from our stand design and production was second to none.

From concept to production, the stand needed to stand out in the crowds and showcase our capabilities. This is what we came up with as the original concept……

We decided to go for a bright retro SUPER HERO theme that would include printed walls, flooring, stand-off graphics, plinth, stools, display table and unit.

The plinth was made out of timber and wrapped with foam PVC graphics. Spot-lights were fixed inside the unit and small windows were cut out to give a great visual effect. An acrylic top finished off the display and made it look truly in character to a super hero scene.

The display unit was also made of wood and wrapped with foam PVC graphics. A LCD screen was built into the top of the display to create a slide show with fitting music.

The stand-off graphics were printed directly to foam PVC and cut to shape on our CNC machine. To enhance the effect, spot-lights were shone on the speech bubble stand-offs and green neon lights were install behind the super hero stand-offs.

To give the visual impact of the New York sky line, we felt the floors were as important as the walls so we need to print these also. Therefore a false floor was erected with split battens and a tong & groove floor. The floor boards were then covered with direct to media printed 3mm Foam PVC straight off our Arizona printer and anti-slip laminate was added for safety and protection.

… and here are the results from weeks of planning and production….

To authenticate the stand, Dan and Sam dressed the part and were overwhelmed with requests (especially the ladies)!

17th July 2011

After six years of growth, it is now time to expand into a unit twice the size of the current factory. This shall provide us with more opportunity to grow and develop our product range.

In the past year we have invested in the Oce Arizona flat bed printer and a CNC cutter. There just isn’t room for any more room!

The final move date is yet to be announced but is expected late August. Please watch this space!

6^th June 2011

We hope you find the layout easy to navigate and the information useful and informative. If there is something you can’t find, don’t like or areas we could improve on, please let us know because this site is a work-in-progress. We are very keen to hear your feedback.

Enjoy!

1^st July 2011