When a Roll-Up Fails, Who Pays?
When a Roll-Up Fails, Who Pays? You’ve seen it; companies take pride in having an aesthetically pleasing roll-up banner, one that looks great for the duration of the show it’s on display at. However, when the banner is transported to the next event (six months later), the frame is bent, the mechanism jams, and someone is already starting to calculate how much they will spend upgrading their assets.
The question isn’t “why has this happened” but rather how many iterations of this purchase will happen before they stop.
This is the conversation that currently happens among producers and large-scale enterprises. Understanding what goes wrong is a valuable first step to understanding the issue, but the solution may surprise you.
The Real Problem With Budget Roll-Ups
To be clear, a budget banner isn’t a cheap banner. A banner priced at $50 to $150 may seem cheap, but it’s actually an expensive choice.
This is because buying a budget roll-up banner means accepting a long list of compromises that come at a steep price over time.
While the frame is light, it is made of thin-walled tubing. It is lighter to transport. However, the thinner the wall of the metal, the easier it is to bend. The frame is no longer square, causing the bâche to pull unevenly, distorting the image. Because the frame is no longer rigid, the roller mechanism is put under additional strain when rolling the banner up or down.
On the roller mechanism itself, which rolls the banner material up and down on a metal rod, the ends are capped with cheap material. Nothing is engineered. This means that the material can’t easily roll onto the roller mechanism. The material buckles, folds, or, in the worst case scenario, is caught and ripped as it rolls, putting the mechanism itself at risk of damage.
Finally, the bâche material itself. While it’s a good material for a banner designed to be used once, it is fragile. It fades and becomes brittle when exposed to sun and other elements. It will suffer damage when being rolled, unrolled, transported, and stored.
Buying a cheaper banner means you have to buy a new one every six months. This seems like an expensive choice, but is the alternative truly better?
The Mathematics of Repeated Failure
Let’s put numbers to this. If you buy ten budget roll-up banners, costing you $100 each. Initial cost: $1,000 and expect them to last for two years, you would be right. However, in the first year, two banners will need their roller mechanisms replaced.
This is an additional $50 per repair, maybe more. Now you’re at $1,100. In year two, three banners will need replacing as the frames bend and no longer roll the material correctly. That’s three more banners, costing you $100 each = $1,300 total.
However, a quality banner, built from reinforced aluminum, precision-engineered mechanism, and a professional-grade bâche costs $300-400. Ten of them would cost you $4,000. A steep increase, but you will have the same banner set up and ready to be transported 20+ times before seeing the need to replace any of the banners. The mechanism on the banners will roll the banners material cleanly and efficiently.
The banners will not fade, and the frame will hold the image taut. After four years, you will have spent $1,800 in cumulative purchases and repairs. Your quality solution? Still $4,000 on your banners, while the banners you purchased on a whim for $1,000 are still being used.
What Makes a Banner Last?
If you are in the market for banners, and intend to purchase dozens of them at a time, here are the things to look for.
A rigid frame made of thick-walled tubing allows the banner to hold the image taut.
Precision-engineered mechanism allows the material to roll cleanly and efficiently onto itself. A banner should roll without any effort. If it requires force, you’re likely looking at a banner that will cause issues down the line.
High-grade bâche material keeps the printed image vibrant. When you hear banners being referred to as “Ferrari bâche” it’s not a brand name, but rather the high-quality professional-grade vinyl used by professionals.
Strong connections throughout the banner allow it to hold up under repeated use. The weakest links in any banner are the connections. The points on the roller mechanism where it meets the frame, the feet on the base, and more all need to be strong enough to hold up under the additional strain that comes with repeated use.
The Reality of Heavy Use
Where things get interesting is in the reality facing large-scale enterprises. Large events require large-scale banners. And, at times, there’s not enough of them. Where many companies fail is with these large-scale enterprises.
A single bent frame can throw your budget off for the next quarter, especially if you’re managing 50 or 100 of them. A jammed roller mechanism may be a quick fix, but if half your banners suffer from the same issue, you’re already losing time that could have been spent with the rest of your team.
You’re not losing money by buying cheaper banners, but you are losing time and reliability.
It’s not that a budget banner is a bad choice, it’s that a budget banner doesn’t have the same reliability that a large enterprise requires.
Enterprises require reliability and predictability. If something goes wrong in the field, it creates a ripple effect. If a banner won’t roll up properly, it takes longer to set up and break down. This results in additional labor costs. Additionally, banners with rigid frames, precision mechanisms, and professional-grade bâche keep your entire operation from suffering downtime. These features are essential at this scale; things that may seem like nice touches on a cheaper banner are necessities when you’re deploying scores of banners at a time.
Where Budget is an Advantage
However, not all producers are large-scale enterprises. Some only need a couple of banners a year, and won’t need to transport them anywhere other than the warehouse. These companies would likely find that a cheaper banner suits their needs better.
It’s a matter of scale. Companies who need banners but are only using them for one show a year won’t need to worry about transport or regular deployment as much. Companies who need to transport them or who need them deployed more than once a year, however, should strongly consider buying higher-quality banners.
What Comes Next
If you maintain any banners, it’s unlikely that you’re buying a single banner and never having to replace it again. For most producers, this is the point where you start to do the math. If you’re spending money on labor to replace broken parts or if your banners need to be deployed more than once a year, it’s time to consider upgrading your banners.
How much do you currently spend replacing parts or replacing broken banners? How much does your team spend trying to get banners to behave the way they should? How many times a year is your staff having to call you to trouble-shoot an issue with your banners?
It’s more likely than not that once you do the math, you’ll find that buying quality banners makes more financial sense in the long run. However, it’s always worth doing the math to make sure it makes sense for your company.