Trade show success

When divvying up a company’s marketing spend, practitioners must decide on the right mix and what activities are going to deliver the biggest bang for their buck, and in doing so, consider whether the ubiquitous trade show is really worth it.

While trade shows such as the PC/IT Show and Comdex have fallen by the wayside over the years, others such as Taiwan’s Computex and CeBIT, both in Australia and internationally, have gone from strength to strength.

New forms of marketing such as the Internet have taken over the role of some shows and conferences, but many have also flourished because of it.

Some organisations say they have found that many of their customers are now conducting their product research over the Internet but that, now more than ever, need to attend the shows to meet clients and partners face-to-face and to demonstrate the application
or hardware.

Barry Freeman, principal of Juniper-authorised training company Training IT Professionals, said participation in trade shows should be considered along with any other marketing vehicle.

“Trade shows have to be used in terms of the marketing directory,” Freeman said. “Just like TV ads, print ads, ads on stairways or in airports it is all relevant to the marketing mix that a company wants to use and they all have a place.

“For instance, to someone spending millions on a TV ad to then spend a fraction of that on a booth at a show makes for another valid tool of marketing.”

However, a lot of companies get caught up trying to attend every show and conference, often ending up missing the point at the expense of their marketing budgets.

Maurice Famularo, marketing director at D-Link, Australia & New Zealand, said there are a lot of mixed opinions over the merits of having a significant presence at trade shows.

“In an ideal world we would do every one, but there are too many,” Famularo said. “Some are a waste of time and others you have to be at the right place at the right time – some conferences not appropriate one year could be right the next.

“Then there are other shows such as CeBIT, Wireless World, Media Connect’s Kickstart and a lot of retail conferences and partner conferences. There are so many industry-based conferences that you have to see whether you can fit it in and if you have the resources.
“If you did all of them you would do yourself out of a job which begins at the planning stages and whether you can leverage the eight- or nine-month lead-up campaign to the conference.

“It is often hard to see results from the money spent on the stands, equipment, freight assembling, staffing and putting people on flights and providing accommodation and then collateral costs for printing brochures – this can blow out to thousands just to get
a stand up.

“The problem is that they take up a lot of resources and there are a lot of hidden costs including naming rights, sponsorship and the only people who benefit are the organisers who are there to make money at the end of the day.”

hardware show success trade