Choosing the Right Booth Mix:

The best experiential marketing initiatives – whether a one-time project or a long-term integrated campaign – start with a clear strategy that outlines and aligns decisions with your overall marketing and business objectives. Strong strategies incorporate insights about your audience, key performance indicators (KPIs), an extended year-long view of your show slate, and a defined budget for initial design and ongoing costs.

True strategic exhibit planning also involves considering the entire range of booth types—custom, modular, and rental—and selecting the right format based on specific needs for each event. If you’re working with an experienced exhibit partner that offers a range of booth formats in-house, they’ll help you navigate the process by asking questions such as:

What are you trying to achieve at each event, broadly and in terms of specific goals? Whether it’s lead generation, brand awareness, product launches, or strengthening existing relationships, the goals will influence booth design and booth mix decisions.

Who is your target audience? Understanding the audience is also key—knowing who you’re targeting helps ensure your booth meets their expectations and delivers a memorable experience.

What’s your timeline? Custom booths require longer lead times due to the design and fabrication process. For modular and rental exhibits, the timeline is generally shorter, but it’s still important to account for graphic production, shipping, and installation.

What’s your initial budget, and ongoing budget? Key factors like hidden costs (shipping, drayage, storage, labor, and assembly) should be taken into account. Shipping for example can often be the most underestimated expense, especially for custom booths that require large crates. Drayage fees can quickly add up if the booth components are not designed to be compact or lightweight. Modular and rental options can help keep these costs down with their lightweight materials and compact shipping configurations.

What are your technical specifications? Take a closer look at the size, format, and essential features that you want to include as part of the setup. The ability of modular or rental options to meet those needs may surprise some marketing leaders.

What are your branding requirements and goals? To ensure consistency across multiple events, companies develop a holistic trade show strategy that encompasses all booth elements and aligns with brand messaging, allowing for flexibility in exhibit formats.

With these answers in mind, it’s possible to determine which booth format is the best fit to deliver on your vision, while staying within constraints.

Choosing the right exhibit format requires some consideration, as each option—custom, portable, or rental—comes with its own set of advantages. The best choice depends on your specific needs, budget, and objectives.

Whether you want the ultimate flexibility, efficiency, or cost-effectiveness, understanding the unique benefits of each option is essential. Let’s dive into the details of custom, modular, and rental exhibits to help you determine which solution is the right fit for your business and specific trade show use cases.

Custom Exhibits
Custom exhibits are ideal for creating strong brand differentiation and a “wow” factor for major events. They offer total creative freedom, allowing for immersive experiences that showcase a brand’s personality, values, and products. With limitless creative options to include multimedia elements, interactive demonstrations, and even sensory activations such as scent and sound, custom exhibits leave lasting impressions on attendees.
However, custom booths come with higher costs and longer lead times, making them best suited for high-profile events – such as flagship industry conferences, major trade shows, and product launches. These events often warrant higher investments because they provide the opportunity for significant brand exposure and media attention.

Portable and Modular Exhibits
Portable booths provide flexibility, scalability, and cost-effectiveness, making them perfect for companies that participate in numerous events throughout the year. Their lightweight structure ensures long-term cost savings while maintaining design quality. Portable booths can be easily customized through graphic updates, and offer ease of assembly and disassembly which reduces labor costs and setup times.
Modular versions of portable booths extend benefits of flexibility, scalability and cost efficiency with reconfigurable layouts in varying dimensions. These are often a strategic choice for companies that attend multiple events throughout the year with different booth size requirements.
Portable and modular exhibits also offer important sustainability benefits, which is a growing consideration for many brands and their consumers. By reusing the same booth hardware for multiple events and simply updating graphics, companies can reduce the amount of waste generated.

Rental Exhibits
Rental exhibits offer a solution for companies seeking short-term options or those testing new markets. They provide financial and logistical benefits without the commitment of ownership, though they offer less customization than purchased options. Rentals are ideal for one-off events or when experimenting before making a larger investment. They allow businesses to participate in trade shows without high upfront costs.

Another benefit of rental exhibits is the reduced responsibility for maintenance and storage. After the event, the rental company handles teardown, shipping, and storage, freeing the exhibitor from logistical concerns. This can be especially valuable for companies with limited storage space or those that do not have the resources to manage logistics internally.
As a general rule, if a business needs a booth less than three times total, this may be the most cost-effective option. Beyond that, owning a portable, modular or custom booth often makes the most financial sense.

When it comes to trade shows, selecting a custom booth offers an unmatched opportunity to fully embody and convey your brand’s identity in an impactful and immersive way. A custom booth allows for maximum creativity and personalization, transforming an empty exhibit space into a dynamic environment that truly tells your brand story. With a detailed design process that’s led by an exhibit creative director, there’s no vision that can’t be brought to life with custom booth design.

High-profile opportunities often warrant the choice of a custom exhibit design because the goal is to leave a memorable impression on attendees, media, and industry stakeholders. One strategic consideration when choosing custom booths is the timeline. Due to the unique nature of these designs, the design and fabrication process can require more time and strategic engagement with the creative team to customize each element. This level of creativity and customization that’s possible is hard to achieve with other formats.

Custom booth designs allow teams to develop concepts that are truly one-of-a-kind. This level of customization allows brands to think outside the box, incorporating interactive elements, multimedia, and even sensory experiences to engage attendees on multiple levels. By embracing custom exhibits, brands can bring big ideas to life—whether it’s a dramatic entrance arch that symbolizes innovation, interactive product demo areas that allow hands-on exploration, or immersive brand stories using digital screens and soundscapes. In a landscape that’s focused on experiences and brand narrative, custom builds can be an effective path to creating a trade show presence that makes a major impact.

A successful custom exhibit is more than just aesthetics; it’s a physical manifestation of brand values and messages. By working with a design partner who understands your audience and objectives, you can create an exhibit space that not only attracts attention but also connects with visitors in a meaningful way. The design possibilities are virtually limitless, enabling brands to harness creativity in ways that differentiate them from competitors.

That said, the cost and logistical demands of custom booths should be considered when you’re seeking solutions for smaller events or operating with tighter budgets. Custom builds typically require higher upfront investments, increased shipping and drayage costs, and longer setup times. However, for the right events, these investments can yield significant returns in brand equity, memorable experiences, and business opportunities.

While custom booths offer ultimate creative freedom and personalization, it’s important to understand the customization potential of modular and portable systems, including rentals. Many misconceptions persist, potentially leading companies to overlook exhibit choices that align better with their financial and marketing objectives.

Contrary to outdated perceptions, today’s modular booths offer numerous creative possibilities, including the integration of custom elements for greater visual impact. Companies can reuse booth components to achieve sustainability and budget goals, while refreshing and customizing designs for each event without replacing entire systems. Key to maximizing design impact with portable and modular systems is the integration of high-quality graphics and innovative design elements such as lightboxes and interactive displays. Additionally, these components can be reconfigured to keep the booth layout fresh and engaging from one event to the next.

For example, tension fabric structures can create dynamic shapes and interesting visual effects, elevating the overall look of an exhibit. The use of lightweight materials also makes modular systems easy to transport and assemble, which contributes to lower labor and shipping costs. By combining modular systems with custom elements—such as a branded archway or interactive product demo station—companies can create a booth that is both impactful and cost-effective. That flexibility and expanded creativity is encouraging many brands to take the leap and diversify their format for the first time.

If you’re considering diversifying your exhibit mix, choosing the right partner is an essential first step. Coordinating multiple companies – such as one that handles custom builds and another that offers rentals – adds complexity and raises the chances of something going wrong. Instead, consider choosing an exhibit design partner that offers all formats and then can provide the support and services needed to put that into action. Working with a single, trusted partner simplifies the planning process, ensures consistent quality, and allows for a more seamless exhibit experience.

When choosing an exhibit partner, it’s important to consider their experience, capabilities, and approach to collaboration. A good partner will take the time to understand your brand, your goals, and your audience, and will work with you to develop a solution that meets your needs within your budget. They should offer a full range of options—custom, modular, and rental—and be able to advise you on the best mix for your specific situation. Ideally, a partner takes a consultative approach that’s designed to help you realize your goals while delivering cost-savings, reducing the workload on your team, and other benefits.

The right exhibit partner will also provide support throughout the entire process, from initial concept development to post-event evaluation. They can help with logistics planning, such as shipping and installation, and offer creative services to keep your booth design fresh for each event. By working with a partner that understands your objectives and has the resources to execute them, you can ensure a successful trade show presence not matter how much you diversify and experiment.

The STAR Approach to helping customers find the right solution for their needs begins with putting the client’s needs above everything else. Our approach emphasizes the importance of strategic consulting to understand a client’s true needs, often discovering that creative challenges can be solved in a more cost-effective way than initially envisioned. STAR – which includes its Featherlite line of portable and modular exhibits – offers a full menu of booth options under one roof and works as a full-service partner, ensuring consistent brand messaging and lifecycle management across all trade shows.

The STAR approach is built around five key pillars:

1 Strategic Alignment: We begin by aligning our creative solutions with your business objectives, ensuring that every element of the booth is designed to support your goals. Whether it’s driving leads, increasing brand visibility, or showcasing a new product, our strategy-first approach ensures that your exhibit delivers measurable results.

2 Creative Excellence: Our team of creative directors, designers, and strategists work together to bring your vision to life. We leverage cutting-edge design techniques and materials to create custom, modular, and rental booths that are visually stunning and engaging, while also being practical and cost-effective.

3 Integrated Services: As a full-service exhibit partner, STAR manages design, fabrication, logistics, and installation. This integrated approach ensures a seamless client experience and maintains high quality standards. With decades of experience, STAR leverages distribution locations nationwide to source and ship materials cost-effectively.

4 Lifecycle Management: Trade show booths are an investment, and we help our clients maximize that investment through lifecycle management services. This includes maintaining, refreshing, and reconfiguring booth components to extend their lifespan and ensure they remain effective over time.

5 All Formats Available: The modern trade show strategy requires flexibility, and we offer that to our customers by delivering world-class custom booths, flexible portable and modular designs under the Featherlite brand, and cost-effective
and quick-to-deploy rentals as part of one organization. Streamline your operations and work with a single point of contact on all projects for smoother communications, fewer headaches, and the confidence that your brand’s vision is coming to life.

Some questions to ask when evaluating a potential vendor include:

• What exhibit formats do you offer, including custom, modular, and rentals?
• Do you have experienced consultants that can understand our larger strategic goals and business context, and make recommendations, whether it’s for a specific show or maximizing impact across a trade show season?
• What support do you offer in terms of design, initially and for ongoing utilization?
• How can you support our needs in terms of logistics, storage, setup, and onsite services?
• For more ambitious projects, do you have a creative team that can be leveraged, including creative directors with strategic insight?
• Do you have diverse capabilities to help integrate technologies, deploy brand activations, or help us experiment with innovative concepts?