Look up the word “alive” in the dictionary, or as we do today, “Google it”. You’ll find a definition that is something to the effect of:  having life: not dead or inanimate: still in existence, force or operation. You could also say that being alive is having the ability to “experience”.

In the business world and with brands, “alive” carries very much the same meaning for you….Having the ability to keep the energy of your products and services moving, current and in a state of growth.

In order to have meaning, your products and/or services must be able to create experiences that enrich the lives of your customers. To be clear, a great product or service or brand – helps us “live”. And those brands that constantly look for ways to innovate, grow and serve their customers (enrich their lives), are at their very core – alive.

The inverse is that many well known brands of the past have declined in recent years,  and many are truly near the brink of extinction. In other words they are nearly “dead” and in a  true sense are quite far from being “alive”. These brands have entered a state of entropy and their energy to grow, re-invent and serve their mission has diminished to the tipping point of decline. Soon they will either disappear altogether or re-appear, depending on their desire for life.

Very similarly, we humans go through the same process during our lives. And corporations are a direct reflection of the collection of human beings within them. Do they have this great zest for life or are they just getting by? What does being “alive” mean to them and just how “alive” do they want to be. How “alive” are you and your brand?

From the day we’re born, humans are supposed to “live” and “experience” the world and Universe in which we live. We learn and come alive so much in our first few years of life but eventually, in many of us, the process eventually slows – unless that is, we are infected with the bug called “living” and we do it to the max.

Adventure, discovery, growth and the exhilaration of triumph over failure take over, for some, and living to a different depth and height rule their thoughts and activities. In some, the desire to create excitement and progress is so strong and their quest to be “alive” so real – that entire societies are moved. Mankind is moved forward by the will to discover and “live”.

As this relates to your business or brand, the cliché “our employees are our greatest asset” is one of the areas where the test of being “alive” is often overlooked. It’s a fact that job satisfaction, over pay, has repeatedly been the key result that shows up in employee surveys.

The translation of this is how “alive” do workers feel in their work lives and personal lives. How are they developing their self worth through work? Do they feel significant in their contributions? How proud are they of their brands?

Are employees knowledgeable and proud enough of their brand to be ambassadors – even if they are not in marketing or sales? Does the environment they work in curtail their enthusiasm or are they immersed in the brand promise and actively living it?

Are you and your co-workers truly “living” your brand and creating experiences for your customers that enrich their lives?

DesignShop, now ColorCraft, was previously named one of the “Top 100 Companies to Work For in Florida” by the state’s top business publication, Florida Trend for the second time. We attribute this success to each of our individual Team members and not only their willingness to endorse the brand we’ve built, but their zest for life. Their willingness and eagerness to push the envelope and truly create “brand experiences” for our customers and their customers.

We truly live our brand at ColorCraft and through trade show booth design, experiential marketing and yes, kick-ass branding, help our customers move the needle and create new life within their own brands.

If you have a passion for being “alive” and want the same to come through in your brand’s trade show program, give us a shout. We can help breathe new life into your brand!

So, we’ve written a number of articles about the pros and cons of trade show rentals vs purchasing your trade show booth – but one area we’ve only briefly touched on is the business end of both. Sure, you can have a great looking exhibit, whether you choose to rent or purchase your trade show booth – AND depending on how many shows you attend each year both choices have their merits.

Purchasing Your Trade Show Booth is a Capital Expenditure

That being said, what about capital expenditure? If you choose to rent your custom trade show booth, it will go down in the books as an operating expense (in the calendar year the rental is paid for). However, if you decide that purchasing your trade show booth is the best option – understand that this is a capital expense and must be tracked and depreciated over time.

Accounting and Your Trade Show Booth

The latter choice, capital expense, comes with a bit of accounting baggage (and additional cost) as it must be tracked and depreciated over time.

Typically with a capital expense, the investment must be accounted for and written off over their useful life. This period is typically three, five or seven years according to the IRS. So, there are tax impacts to making a capital investment vs the one-time operating cost of renting your exhibit.

Understand the Pros and Cons Before You Decide

Whether you choose to rent or purchase your trade show exhibit will be determined by many factors, including:

• The number of shows you attend each year
• How often your booth design must change
• The audiences you exhibit to
• And whether you exhibit at multiple shows at the same time

But how your investment or operating expenses affect your bottom line and taxes should be taken into consideration as well.

Have questions about how renting your trade show booth may help you avoid making a capital expense? Give the seasoned pros at ColorCraft a call – we’ve got the answers to help you navigate the best choice for your company’s trade show marketing budget!

You consider the new exhibit design rendering on the paper in front of you. The lines are elegant, the presence is significant. Everything has been considered. Branding. Product display. Storage. Customer Engagement Areas.  Setup and dismantle concerns. You must have it.

Then you receive your first post-show reconciliation invoice and realize that ALMOST everything has been considered. The one missed detail in all of the design concepts was – weight, drayage, material handling.  What is this thing made of? What will it weigh? Darn!

If your beautiful new exhibit design also has the annual operating costs of a small country, have you really gained anything from this display investment? Or will it end up being an expensive and heavy drag on your annual trade show budget?

The design philosophy at ColorCraft goes beyond developing an engaging and attractive exhibit environment for your brand. We do more than simply consider the weight – we eliminate it wherever we can.

Our methods vary from project to project, and depend directly on the needs of our clients.  From extruded aluminum framing to fabric graphic panels, ColorCraft has a multitude of options available to create an attractive, functional and lightweight exhibit.

Even when using wood as the building material of choice, weight management is still at the forefront of our minds.  Using our computer controlled flatbed CNC router, we can precisely shave away every ounce of extra weight….leaving a strong, yet lightweight exhibit structure.

Depending on the size of the exhibit, the weight savings alone could cut your operating costs by half. The round-trip shipping and drayage numbers can be shocking for an exhibit that had no weight strategy built into its design.

This lightweight exhibit design debuted by one of our long-standing clients, PGT Industries, at the International Home Builders Show here in Orlando. Give us a call and allow us to explain the approximate 50% operational savings PGT is realizing from the unique design and exhibit fabrication approach ColorCraft employed to support their brand at PGT’s many upcoming events….

Is your heavy exhibit weighing you down? Contact ColorCraft today, and let us show you how to lighten up!