By Stephen Ross, SVP, Brand Strategy & Experience Design, Access TCA
Concerns about cost are nothing new, but the current economic uncertainty leads event marketers to prioritize their expectations with cost-cutting tactics. Instead of panicking about the expense of a new exhibit, first consider:
Exhibit Cost Insights: Only 45 to 50 percent of budgets are allocated to design and build; the rest goes toward show services and association general contractor fees.
Sustainability Matters: Material choices, especially flooring and graphics, are driven by cost and environmental considerations. Environmental concerns are key to brand reputation and don’t need to add extra costs.
Strategic Goals Overlooked: Procurement now influences exhibit decisions, sidelining marketing input and reducing strategic alignment. Ensure all stakeholders are aligned with the budget.
Having a clear go-to-market strategy with defined objectives and stakeholder buy-in is a major budget saver.
Design and Construction
Typically, 45 to 50 percent of an exhibit budget is allocated to design and construction, while the remaining funds are used for show services and other expenses such as shipping, transportation, drayage, general contractor fees, labor, rigging, and lighting. Overhead rigging is a major cost driver due to labor and often inefficient execution, but there are alternative ways to create the desired brand impact on your audience. If your goal is a strong brand identity, you can achieve this without rigging. Building a foundation for a unified identity across your organization is both effective and more cost-efficient. Discuss this option with your design team. Consider how attendees will approach your exhibit—how they will see and perceive your brand and messaging in the exhibition hall, down the aisle, or next to a competitor. Answering these questions helps your design team create an effective 3D environment aligned with your brand’s communication goals, ultimately saving money on redesigns.
Lighting
Then there is lighting, a critical part of your exhibit’s appearance. Don’t think you can get the same effect with basic hall lighting. Know which expense will create an impact. Lighting design shouldn’t be an option. There are cost-effective ways to incorporate lighting into your design. Let your exhibit design and build agency work with lighting companies to optimize the budget effectively.
Aluminum Extrusions
When planning the architectural elements for your exhibit, consider using or renting aluminum extruded wall panel systems combined with custom-built components to save costs by speeding up assembly and reducing labor expenses. Most of these systems allow for the integration of panel insets to customize the space. These insets can be made from nearly anything but typically include a printed graphic on Sintra or recyclable paperboard. You can also opt for an SEG fabric graphic that features campaign artwork or a graphic design element; either works. Aluminum extruded wall panels provide a highly versatile and affordable structural solution.
If sustainability is a priority for your organization, let your exhibit agency guide material choices, especially for flooring and graphics, as these affect both cost and environmental impact.
Sustainability
Our industry is making significant progress toward becoming more sustainable. Carpet is sometimes viewed as problematic because of how it’s manufactured, how long it can be reused, and how it can be recycled before reaching the end of its life. Some flooring companies are exploring ways to recycle carpet. Some are leading the industry by developing carpet recycling programs within the exhibit industry and encouraging customers to reuse carpet. Others are finding ways to make flooring materials more environmentally friendly overall. That said, carpeting typically costs less than elevated floors, such as those used around the world. However, with proper planning, you can choose alternatives to carpet in your design and find ways to offset the costs.
Graphics
Graphics are another area where sustainable thinking is important. Printing graphics on solid substrates like Sintra or corrugated paperboard is easier to recycle than those made with fabric, which often end up in landfills despite their potential reuse as stuffing. LED graphics remain expensive due to rental and labor costs, so static graphics are usually a better choice for smaller budgets. LED walls and tile walls are costly because you’re paying not only for the technology rental but also for the labor involved. The Experiential Designers and Producers Association (EDPA) provides industry resources and a unique exhibit industry sustainability guideline that you can download at: www.edpa.com/sustainability.
A Changing Industry
The exhibit and event marketing industry is experiencing cautious changes, with complex organizational structures and shifts in talent affecting strategy and execution. A major issue is that procurement now influences exhibit budgets, reducing marketing’s input. Cost-cutting efforts must be balanced with strategic exhibit goals, which are often overlooked by procurement-led teams that lack an understanding of omni-channel marketing.
Over the past five years, we have seen that procurement increasingly influences exhibit decisions with less involvement from marketing, which hampers strategic alignment. Working with procurement requires clearly defining the goals of exhibiting: exhibits should be designed to meet the audience and event objectives, whether to generate leads or foster customer relationships.
A lack of strategy results in exhibits that merely display brand logos without integrated pre- and post-event engagement plans. Newer, less experienced procurement teams focus on cost over strategic event goals. This shift results in fewer integrated marketing plans and poorer return on investment in face-to-face marketing.
People who lack a background don’t understand that, in general, companies exhibit to fill their sales pipeline. Deep experience in omni-channel marketing is needed to restore strategic alignment in face-to-face marketing programs that could include exhibits, conferences, and brand activations.
Finally, there are operational challenges, such as staff turnover affecting project continuity. The industry currently faces a talent gap. During the 2020 shutdown, many experienced and skilled individuals retired or left the tradeshow industry for other jobs. When live events resumed, there were many new job opportunities for those seeking change, but positions at all levels come with a steep learning curve. The Education and Workforce Development Federation found that about 40 percent of the current tradeshow workforce has three years of experience or less. Despite this challenge the tradeshow industry is working to create more mentorship and training opportunities to bolster the workforce.
Optimize Your Budget
Begin by creating a realistic budget that details key need categories. Set clear goals and objectives with all your internal stakeholders—be specific about your expected results; in other words, level set expectations, then communicate them to your exhibit design and build team. They understand what works and what might stress your budget. Regular communication during the design and build process will keep everyone on the same page, especially when multiple agencies are involved. This will reduce potential “redesigns” which ultimately kill budgets.
Empower your exhibit design and build agency to take the lead in being responsible stewards of your exhibit budget. They will collaborate with you to provide recommendations in areas you have identified as crucial for your exhibit’s ROI.
By considering all aspects of your booth and the ways that exhibit design can be utilized to cut expenses, your company can avoid the panic and mayhem of other “cost-saving” tactics.
Stephen Ross is an accomplished creative executive with over three decades of experience shaping innovative design solutions that elevate brands and drive measurable results. As Senior Vice President of Design at Access TCA, he has built a distinguished career transforming ideas into powerful visual narratives that engage audiences and deliver business impact. He also mentors design students at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, and serves on the Advisory Board for the Master of Arts in Exhibition and Experience Design program at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) in New York City.
Image credit: Adobe Stock
This story originally appeared in the Q1 2026 issue of Exhibit City News, p. 28. For original layout, visit https://issuu.com/exhibitcitynews/docs/exhibit_city_news_-_jan_feb_mar_2026/28.
