If a roller banner isn’t quite right for your next campaign, a cardboard display totem could be the answer. Lightweight, easy to transport and simple to assemble, totems combine eye-catching display with practical functionality – making them a smart alternative to standard exhibition and retail display stands.
Display and dispensing in one unit
One of the biggest advantages of a cardboard totem is its flexibility. A single unit can promote your campaign, dispense literature, collect completed forms and even hold pens or pencils – all without taking up significant floor space.
Why choose a totem over a roller banner?
Roller banners are a reliable workhorse for many display applications, but they’re not always the right tool for the job. A cardboard totem offers several practical advantages:
Greater visual impact. A totem is a three-dimensional structure. It occupies space in a way a flat banner doesn’t, which makes it more noticeable and more engaging at close range.
More hardwearing in high-traffic environments. The retract mechanism on a roller banner is vulnerable to damage in busy settings – a knock at the wrong angle and it’s out of action. A well-constructed cardboard totem has no moving parts and can withstand the demands of a high-footfall environment far better.
Easier and more cost-effective to transport. Totems ship flat and can be sent directly to each venue by courier, eliminating the need to transport display equipment between locations. For campaigns running across multiple sites, the saving in logistics costs alone can be significant.
More sustainable. Cardboard totems are made from recyclable materials and printed with water-based inks, making them considerably more environmentally responsible than PVC or aluminium display systems. At the end of a campaign they can go straight into the recycling rather than into storage or landfill.
Simple on-site assembly. No tools, no specialist knowledge. Staff on site can erect a cardboard totem quickly and without assistance – which matters when you’re relying on busy clinical or retail teams to set up a display.
Built-in dispensers. A totem can be designed to hold and distribute leaflets, questionnaires, pens or pencils as part of the unit itself. A roller banner simply can’t do that.
A real-world example
RMP Design supplied cardboard display totems for an NHS research campaign running across A&E departments in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. The brief required a unit that could promote the campaign to visitors, distribute questionnaires, collect completed forms and dispense pencils – with hygiene considerations factored into the design. Multiple units were couriered directly to each hospital site, erected by staff on arrival and recycled at the end of the campaign. A bespoke cardboard totem met every requirement in a way a standard roller banner simply couldn’t have.
Bespoke or adapted standard displays
Whether you need a straightforward leaflet dispenser or a multi-function point of sale system, RMP Design can help. We work with a carefully selected range of standard display solutions that can be adapted to keep costs down, or design fully bespoke units where standard options won’t cut it.
All our cardboard display solutions are designed to minimise materials, reduce transit volume and make installation as simple as possible.