How many times have you switched the channel on television as soon as an advertisement is being telecast? An advertisement break provides you the chance to get a quick glance at the programs being telecast on other channels. The short attention span of the audience makes it difficult for most advertisements to grab the eyeballs of the target audience. The advertisers are therefore leaving no stone unturned to get across their communication to the target audience. Innovative promotional mediums have swarmed the market in recent times. Banner stands are one such promotional medium that are much preferred by the advertisers. A banner stand fits into the advertiser's requirement for a cost effective medium of promotion that is also hassle free as compared to some other mediums.

Banner stands have many features and benefits that add to their popularity as an effective medium of communication. It can be effectively used to communicate with a mass unlike some other mediums that need a one to one interaction. This feature makes banners popular for exhibitions, retail stalls, trade shows and other events that require a message to be communicated to a large target audience at the same time. The important feature of being lightweight, compact and mobile further increase the attractiveness of the banner stands. A banner stand can therefore be easily carried or send to any location as and when the need arises, without the fear of damage. This proves to be very economic for the advertisers as they can reuse a single banner stand for multiple times, provided the communication remains the same for every location.

A banner stand may be of different kinds such as portable or retractable. The attention grabbing features of retractable banner stands include the high quality graphics and designs. A competent designer creates an eye catching design and the addition of an interesting message adds to the appeal of retractable banner stands. However this feature may also turn out to be a disadvantage for advertisers who would like the graphics on the banner to change with every location. As the designs are stored in a sophisticated cassette that requires careful handling, it is not possible to change it at short notice. Also banner stands need to be carefully selected based on the location where they will be placed. The careful handling of the graphics on a retractable banner stands makes it only indoor specific.

The fact that a banner stand is placed in any area where there is a gathering of the target audience ensures that the message displayed will have a lasting impression on the people. The reason that the banner stands have a strong impact is because they have a longer time to create an impression. As the target audience is accumulated in a particular place rather than moving around from place to place constantly, the banners automatically get some attention. A business cannot make a profit unless it can get customers talking about its products or services. The advertiser will therefore try every medium that can ensure better publicity. Banner stands can serve this purpose well if used with careful planning and strategy regarding the location, message and target audience for the business house.