UNIT 13 MANAGING EXPOSITIONS – II
Structure
13.0 Objectives
13.1 Introduction
13.2 Background
13.3 Expositions as a Marketing Tool
13.4 Exposition or Show Manager
13.5 Marketing Research
13.6 Developing a Marketing Plan
13.7 Let Us Sum Up
13.8 Clues to Answer
13.0 OBJECTIVES
In this unit we are going to study
• The marketing aspects of the exposition industry
• Why is it that our country has failed in attracting a fair number of exposition tourists
and delegates both domestically and internationally
• The ways in which we can improve our markets to make them more viable for the
exposition industry
13.1 INTRODUCTION
As the exhibition or trade show industry becomes more sophisticated, those
responsible for the marketing of products or services will start to recognise what the
trade show industry already knows. In a 1990 report by the American Business
Press, trade shows were ranked as the second most useful advertising medium for
attracting businessmen to buy products. The only medium perceived as more
successful was specialised business publications. In this unit we are going to
understand the finer aspects of the marketing of the expositions and their current
status in our country. We will also talk about the neglected areas and the room for
improvement that can be undertaken.
13.2 BACKGROUND
In 1978, twelve industry groups realised that a neutral, non-issue-oriented
organisation was needed to address the trade show industry. They founded the Trade
Show Bureau for the sole purpose of "promoting trade shows as a bona fide marketing
medium—a vital component in the marketing mix that could match or exceed com-
parable investments in other marketing venues" (TSB 1991). To achieve this end,
the Trade Show Bureau researches studies pertaining to industry trends and effective
marketing practices. Corporate thinking regarding trade shows has traditionally been
less than positive, but the Trade Show Bureau has managed to give the industry both
credence and respect. Today, there are 17 sponsoring organisations and over 700
subscribing members of the Bureau. The mission statement of the Trade Show
Bureau sums up their purpose: "To position trade shows and expositions as the
primary marketing medium used to promote and sell products and services."
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Traditionally, the trade show has been separate from the typical marketing mix,
because executive decision-makers have not been educated on the marketing value
of trade shows. Consequently, their lack of involvement has diluted credibility from
the importance of trade shows as a marketing option. It has been an uphill battle for
organisations such as the Trade Show Bureau to educate not only CEOs but also the
business community about the effectiveness of trade shows as part of the standard
marketing mix.
13.3 EXPOSITIONS AS A MARKETING TOOL
Due to the efforts of trade show associations, successful companies are starting to
understand the importance of the trade show as a marketing tool, not just as the
social event it used to be. These companies are hiring and training exhibit managers
who understand the importance of trade shows as a primary sales tool.
A trade show specialist is a professional who is able to manage a booth that
welcomes prospective buyers, qualifies those customers, and provides vitally
important information about the product or services sold. A review of industry
figures reveals the cost effectiveness of trade shows. According to a Trade Show
Bureau Research Publication, it costs an average of $1,114 in personal sales calls to
close a deal, compared to trade shows, which cost an average of $349 to close a deal.
These figures further reflect the fact that it takes an average of 4.3 personal calls to
close a sale in the field as opposed to 0.8 follow-up calls to make a sale that has been
initiated at a trade show (Trade Show Bureau 1991).
One of the most difficult aspects of marketing is the identification of new sales leads.
It is very hard for the sales staff to devote a large portion of their time to identifying
potential customers, especially when the sales force works on commission. A trade
show brings prospective customers to you. These prospective clients have taken an
average of 30 hours out of their busy schedules for the specific purpose of reviewing
and comparing products that they are interested in purchasing. "Exhibitors meet new
people, uncover unknown buying influences, and also discover that 83% of their
visitors have not been seen by one of their salespeople in the preceding twelve
months" (Trade Show Bureau 1990).
Another unique aspect of trade shows is the ability for hands-on demonstration of
existing and new products. It is very difficult for salespeople to carry anything but the
most recent samples (assuming their product can be carried) to their customers. It
is as equally difficult for printed material to give a complete representation of a
product to a prospective customer. Therefore, the introduction of new products is
often difficult. In a trade show, many of a company's major products can be
exhibited for consumers to examine. This is extremely important for companies
that sell large equipment or rely on sensory stimulation to pique interest.
13.4 EXPOSITION OR SHOW MANAGER
In the last unit we have dealt extensively with the role of the exposition manager and the
kind of responsibilities he/she has. In this unit we will be talking about the
responsibilities of the show manager in marketing the exhibition. Let us see how an
exposition or show manager may work directly for the sponsoring organisation or for a
corporate whose sole purpose is to manage trade shows. The show manager is thus,
responsible for all aspects of the trade show. Depending on the involvement of the
sponsoring organisation, the exposition or show manager may or may not select sites.
Many of the largest trade shows do not move, but are held in the same exhibit hall in the
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same city annually. For example, the India International Trade Fair is held every year in
New Delhi at Pragati Maidan or SATTE is held at Hotel Taj, New Delhi.
Once the site has been selected, exposition managers are responsible for recruiting
exhibitors and attracting attendees which is a major part of their marketing activity. To
do this successfully, they must have developed a profile of prospective and/or past
attendees. This profile should include demographic and psychographic information as
well as past buying behaviours. In nutshell then the show manager has to work at two
levels in his marketing endeavour-at the exhibitors level and at the visitor level because
both decide the success of the trade fair or the exposition.
First, let us talk about the exhibitors level. It is important that there should be an adequate
database of the customers. Even those companies that just made an enquiry and did not
respond may also be included in the database. This would be helpful later in tracking
them down and understanding their reasons for not participating. Reasons for non-
participation, if found genuine, can be addressed and tackled in an appropriate manner so
as to get more clients. Once a profile has been developed, the show manager should use
this information to develop an exhibitor prospectus to send to potential exhibitors. This
prospectus should outline all important information required by a prospective exhibitor to
make an educated decision about whether or not to exhibit at the trade show. This
information includes, but is not limited to, times and dates of the show, move-in and
move-out information, cost of booths, payment schedules, details about the sponsoring
organisation, procedures for assigning booths, housing information, and the rules and
regulations for the show. A marketer should also make sure that there is enough
information in the prospectus to pursue and convince firms for participating in the
exhibition, which means that it should also contain a brief profile of other organisations
taking part and the kind of attendees they are expecting. Ideally it should also contain
information about the sponsoring organisation and the people involved in managing the
show. All this information has to be incorporated keeping in mind the profile of the
potential exhibitors. For example if the exposition is of automobiles and its
manufacturers then the prospectus should contain information on which all companies
are taking part and have been taking part. It should have information on who all are
added to the list this year and what is the increase quantitatively in the prospective
exhibitors. This kind of a prospectus carrying comprehensive information becomes all the
more necessary if the trade show or exposition is being conducted for the first time or the
organisers are a new name in the field or there has been a decline in that particular
exhibition over a period of time or if this is an attempt to rejuvenate a defunct event.
The exhibitor prospectus plays a major role in the marketing of a trade show. Without it,
a show manager has very little opportunity to sell the show. Therefore, it is very
important that a show manager keep accurate records of attendance figures as well as
Meetings, Conventions, and Expositions implementing post-event evaluations to
ascertain the success of the event from both the exhibitor's and the attendee's point of
view.
The exposition manager is also responsible for attracting qualified attendees. This is done
through advertising and marketing promotions and by providing exhibitors with free
tickets that they may distribute to their clients. However this should not be the only
attracting feature of the trade show as there should be attendees coming to it
spontaneously. There are certain trade shows that do not require a crowd and that is not
taken to be a measure of their success. Such trade fairs are quiet and generally private
affairs that rely on exclusivity as their trademark. For them the motive of holding that
show might be completely different. A trade show may also run educational seminars
and meetings concurrently to attract the targeted market. This happens particularly in the
case of our own INDIA TOURISM WEEK held every year at Pragati Maidan where
there are a lot of students present for the show. So the exhibition contains not only the
stalls of travel-related organisations and destinations but also the booths of a number of
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tourism training institutes and schools. There are seminars and talks organised at this
platform that are of interest to the industry, the general public as well as students.
After this part of the marketing gets over the most important part is that of keeping in
touch with the exhibitors. The trade show manager must also develop an application form
and contract that provides for an agreement between the exhibitor and the organisation
sponsoring the trade show. Although the contract is between the exhibitor and the
sponsoring organisation, the manager acts as liaison between the two and is responsible
for maintaining an open line of communication throughout the planning and
implementing stages of a trade show.
13.5 MARKETING RESEARCH
While organising the exhibition the primary aim is to attract customers. For this the latest
technique applied is of marketing research. Marketing research is the collection of data
with the single intention of using it to make an organisation’s marketing activity more
effective. In other words in contrast to market research it is applied action based research.
Most of the tourism professionals now find it odd that one should proceed to build
exhibition halls or galleries or create products with primary attention directed towards
operational matters rather than customer needs established by valid research. Especially
where there is going to be a lot of investment these aspects have to be really taken care
of. If a firm wants to gain competitive advantage it needs to know as much possible about
the clients, who they are what do they want out of the event and what else would they
welcome. If you are an exhibition owner you also have to identify clearly the sort of
clients most valuable to you. This may be combination of the company’s profile, it’s
financial standing, it’s standing in the market and it’s frequency of appearing in these
sorts of exhibitions. One marketing mantra that has to be remembered here is that it is
easier to attain a customer than retain one. And repeat clients are always better because
they involve lesser work.
The exposition industry needs research data for a variety of purposes. It helps to:
• Identify opportunities for product development
• Set prices in relation to that of competitors
• Select the best combination of promotional technique and the most appropriate
advertising media
• Subdivide the total market that can thus be targeted
• Make adjustments to customer demands and provide adequate services
• Review and change facilities
• Make decisions about investments
Exposition managers and those associated with marketing them require a wide variety of
data both qualitative and quantitative including the following:
• Statistical profiles of the exhibitors and the attendees
• Statistical records of the exhibitors behaviour for example where do they like to put
up exhibitions, what time of the year do they like it, how many expositions do they
participate in a year, were they more lavish in their decor or their stalls etc.
• How did they make the purchase decision meaning what motivated them to
participate
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• Customer’s perceptions of the expositions and here we mean both the internal
customers’ i.e. the exhibitor and the external customer that is the attendee.
• Customer satisfaction at the end result
• The identification of trends in the exposition industry. This is important so as to
develop your product accordingly
• The attitude of non-serious attendees. This becomes relevant to stop hooliganism and
control the crowds for a more positive work.
• Cultural and national differences in the case of an international exposition or a trade
show.
• The link between customer behaviour and their purchase decision.
As an organiser of the exhibition and as a smart marketer one should always strive to
improve the quality of ones service and the effectiveness of its marketing strategies.
13.6 DEVELOPING A MARKETING PLAN
Planning is one of the primary keys to success but also one of the most difficult tasks
involved in marketing. A well thought and prepared plan achieves two major objectives.
First it provides the organisation with a vision. Second, planning allows for identifying
problems which impede long term goals. Regardless of the nature of organisation each
marketing plan starts with three questions that must be addressed: where are we now?
Where do we want to be? How do we get from where we are to where we want to go? It
can also include questions like How do we make sure that we get there and how do we
know we got there? Every good marketing plan will have the following aspects:
• Market analysis
It means the analysis of the market in terms of size, buying power and market
segments. In the case of expositions it would mean determining the kind of exhibitors
the place would get and whether or not there exists a market for expositions in that
area etc.
• Consumer analysis
Closely related to market analysis is consumer analysis. Once current users are
identified the, further analysis is conducted with current and potential users to
determine how product attributes are perceived.
• Competitor analysis
An exposition’s competitive position is determined after the analysis of competitors
product and markets served. The goal of a competitor analysis is to uncover the
consumer segments that are not being served by a competitor. For example a
particular place may be lacking an art gallery and all art exhibitions may be
conducted there in a hotel which shows clear scope for a art gallery.
• Opportunity analysis
An opportunity analysis is simply an exercise to determine the strengths and
weaknesses. There are different methods used to identify opportunities. The most
common is SWOT. SWOT is an acronym used for Strengths, Weaknesses,
Opportunities and Threats. In nutshell SWOT is a featuring process that helps
business to determine the core strengths and identify areas that need further attention.
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Actual marketing starts with developing a promotional plan- including research and
procurement of mail lists, press packets and advertising. Press packets play a very
important role in the marketing of an exposition especially if it is a public exposition
because they determine the kind of image the press would seek of the entire event and the
kind of back up it would give to the entire program. It so happens that the write-ups in
newspapers play a very important role in swaying the minds of the public as to attending
or not attending. For example, the Book Fairs that are now being held with such
regularity in New Delhi are catching up on the general public because of the write ups
that most newspapers carry about the usefulness of books and their importance in
developing a child’s mind etc. Although these facts are all known to the general public it
is generally reinforced through these campaigns by the press. If the press advertising and
press write ups are carried out side by side then it marks a lot of impact on the minds of
the people because they can get the secondary information from the articles and the
primary one from the advertisements.
Next step is the development of promotional material for the exhibitors in the form of
packets containing all the useful information that an exhibitor might need in the form of
the registration form, brief history of the exposition, its usefulness, its participants and its
past record, if it is not a new event. Once all these formalities are complete then the more
rigorous process of marketing starts. It begins with establishing registration procedures
and seeing to it that they are a widely accepted and easily manageable phenomenon.
Once the registration formalities have been sorted out then starts the actual contact
procedure where the marketing force is going to receive telephone, mail, email and fax
enquiries. Proper customer care at this point is absolutely necessary because this the time
when the prospective client is weighing the options and deciding whether to enter or not.
In this case the sales people attending to queries must be very thorough with their product
knowledge and with their conviction about how good would it be for the organisation to
participate in the fair or the exposition should be able to impress the clients. At this point
of time the next step is to process registrations; receive, record and confirm the
registrations and finally prepare a listing.
The latest buzzword in today’s marketing is niche marketing; that is, providing an
increasingly specialised product to a smaller, but highly targeted groups of people. Niche
marketing is powerful because you talk in highly relevant terms to an audience that you
know is interested. Niche marketing is here to stay. But remember there are two critical
ingredients for it to be successful. You need to know which consumers to address and
you must have a properly constructed product to offer. You need to speak their
language as it were. So if there is going to be a exhibition specialist he is going to rely
on the big names of the industry that he is trying to represent and get the best business
from there.
So far we have concentrated on outside sales but strictly speaking every member of the
staff is a salesperson. The two major reasons why people do not buy is because the
salesperson:
• Is not of any help
• Displays no enthusiasm
And the most common reason lying behind those points is lack of knowledge. A good
marketing means that the sales force must be able to understand their product and be
enthusiastic about it too. If staff is not convincingly, knowledgeably enthusiastic about
your whole operation in an age of fast increasing personal service you will lose the
competitive battle.
Check Your Progress
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1) Can expositions be used as a marketing tool?
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2) How would you develop a marketing plan for an exhibition?
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13.7 LET US SUM UP
Marketing for exhibitions is like marketing for any other product or service. It involves
the right marketing mix and requires the right kind of training and enthusiasm. It also
involves the concept of marketing research and the right kind of promotional tools. What
is also required at the exposition level is the identification of the two levels of customers-
the internal and the external, i.e., the exhibitors and the attendees both of whom are
extremely important for the success of the same.
13.8 CLUES TO ANSWERS
Check Your Progress
1) Yes. Read Sec.13.3 and answer.
2) Read Sec.13.6 to answer.
Activity
On the basis of your knowledge about incentives prepare a LTC tour for your parents to
the destination of their choice. While suggesting them some new options.
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