Is Lycra now the marketing managers preferred choice?

For most of us Lycra brings to mind visions of Lance Armstrong on his bike or the latest Diva in a music video. Not for long. This stretchy, light-weight fabric is starting to dominate event displays and trade show booths.

The use of fabric in the trade show industry is still unique in many ways, but there are clearly disadvantages as well as advantages to consider. Why is Lycra becoming a preferred choice for some marketing managers but not others? Is it washable? Can it be used to differentiate my company?

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Light weight The unique look differentiates your company Inviting, soft look Washable	Wrinkles (solved easily with a portable steamer) Not as "photo realistic" Frames can be a little more bulky Your supplier may not have it

Before the past few years Lycra was reserved for sports wear, boat canopies, and water bottle jackets. Now with improvements in dye sublimation, solvent, and ink jet print technology printing on this stretchy fabric works well and is cost effective for the trade show industry. For many the days of using the hard to align, curly, and easily damaged "plastic" print popup panels are behind them.

While the fabric systems have their challenges as well many marketing directors are finding fabric is a way to differentiate themselves at a trade show. Availability of vinyl, polycarbonate, laminated paper products and other "hard" print media is very high, the prices are falling, and quality is relatively level. Fabric on the other hand is not as easy to find and only a few companies produce a quality product.

The majority of this discussion will focus on Lycra. While there are many other fabrics: polyester, silk, cotton, and others Lycra is the dominant player.

Let's begin with the positives of fabric. It is light-weight and therefore easy to transport or suspend. It is still unique. The majority of booths are printed plastic. It is widely available and economical. Generally the set up is quick and relatively easy. The "typical" fabric trade show display is an aluminum frame with a zippered or Velcro fastening system to seal the stretched Lycra. Just as it does on bodies, Lycra forms to the frame. This produces a seamless (to the eye) graphic display.

Differentiation is one of the key attractions to fabric. It has a softer look that encourages a more human approach to trade show marketing. After all we wear fabric we generally do not wear plastic. Backlighting and other effects are also possible with fabric that cannot be accomplished with traditional plastic materials (except of course duratrans, which are plastic). This softening effect, some would argue, is more inviting and offers a comfort level that the hard surfaces do not. Clearly it depends on the message and brand you want to project with your display.

Finally, these fabric structures have one attribute that plastic does not, they can be washed. Depending on how the material is printed the lycra fabrics are color fast The ease of care and setup, portability, and uniqueness all lead more and more trade show and marketing managers to choose fabric. Though the story is not complete.

Let's take a look at the down side to fabric. Wrinkles. While many of the Lycra products simply stretch over a frame some stretch better than others. The curved products like the Nichols Entasi product in my experience tend to pull tighter to the frame while the straight wall Velcroed products like the Orbus HopUp have a more loose casual look. Again, it all depends on what you are trying to acheive. Wrinkles can easily be dealt with. Steam. A portable steamer will make your display look like a fresh pressed dress shirt. The challenge, most sales and marketing people, with the exception of a brave few will touch a steamer and actually do this. So companies are left with usually wrinkled image.

Even with the great quality of print from the Entasi and the HopUp products they still do not compare to the "photo realistic" look of a photo paper or plastic display. However for many this is not their goal. Other disadvantages of fabic are that their frames are often bulky and not so easy to put up as the popup frames. In many cases the frames require a tool (usually a hex driver) and in some trade show venues this means union labor to put up your booth. Check with the exhibit management to find out what their rules are regarding setup.

All in all I believe fabric is here to stay, at least for a while. If we can produce wrinkle proof khakis, why not wrinkle free trade show displays. Choose wisely there are great producers of these products, you just have to find them.

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