TRADE FAIR IN THE 21ST CENTURY: 10 THESES

LESS IS MORE.

I.The basic approach of a trade fair has always been to bring an industry together and represent it in its entirety. In pre-digital times this was the only chance to get a periodic impression of the market and all novelties. Nowadays, though, all information, all news and all products are only one click away – all the time. And the sheer amount of brands and products has become almost impenetrable. Consequently there is a new task at hand for modern trade fairs: they have to show a selection of the market, a limitation to the most important, the trends, the progressive, the new, the different.

MORE IS MORE.

II.Presenting yourself once a year for a few days at a trade fair is fine, but a contemporary event should offer more to clients and visitors. For example consulting and communication services all year round, not just within the limits of the show. Especially young companies often need services and support for the brand building and communication - during a trade fair and beyond. Like this the trade fair becomes a temporary, physical manifestation of continuous dialog and a general expertise. A service provider and partner.

NEW TARGET GROUPS

III.The professional visitor is an essential part of a good trade fair audience. But the exhibitors shouldn‘t focus on just caring about existing contacts, but on consti-tuting new customer relationships. And that is where the end consumer becomes more and more important - also for the manufacturer. The number of manufacturers also distributing directly via own shops and own online platforms is rising. Even those, who that do not (yet) distribute their products directly, benefit from the direct contact with their final buyers and can use that to draw attention to their brand as well as to create awareness. The direct feedback of buyers to products is priceless for manufacturers as they have to know his target buyers as well as possible and a trade show offers the best opportunity.

DIGITAL IS BETTER.

IV.A classic trade fair is analog thoroughly. Of course it may have an internet presence that is sometimes good, sometimes not so much. And for sure there will always be an analog core at any future trade fair, as it is a live event. But how about digitizing a trade show? Maybe even hold an online trade fair or - after a few days of live event - transfer the show for the rest of the year into the web? How about QR codes on every stand to inform the visitors? And an application that enables visitors to collect their favorite brands on their smartphone with one click... There are numerous possibilities to optimize an analog event with digital tools!

TRADE FAIR IS SHOW BUSINESS.

V.Booth next to booth and bad catering at most - this concept unfortunately still is reality quite often, but it is outdated. Back in the days there was no other option then visiting a trade fair to be informed. Nowadays many, mostly digital ways to gather information can be used instead. And especially the progressive professionals tend to use them exclusively. Thus a trade fair needs to be more than ›just‹ a trade fair. Entertainment, good catering, customer services, inspiration trough the integration of related topics - all this can and should be part of a new live event. And it simply has to look great. Work and fun aren‘t a contradiction. Seriousness and glamour aren‘t either. So let the show begin!

IT‘S ALL ABOUT COMMUNICATION.

VI.A trade fair being a marketplace is a platitude. First and foremost exhibitors of a classic trade fair want to sell. And are forgetting way to often the talk before that sale. In just thinking of a talk with my ›key accounts‹ I am ignoring numerous possibilities. It‘s about communication with media, clients and final consumers. And that includes listening to and noticing of feedback instead of solely screaming out loud my brand message. The way I present myself is itself a kind of communication - big and loud, innovative, open minded and friendly or incommunicative and exclusive, a little crazy and flashy, understated and classic... And not just the exhibitor has to communicate, also the trade show itself has to - for itself and its clients.

TRADE FAIR AS A TEST TUBE.

VII.We‘ve talked about it; the ›trade fair as marketplace‹. A contemporary trade show should go further: Like at a chemistry set, different elements have to meet and react to create something new. The event has to offer the room for that reaction and to bring the ingredients of this experimental arrangement together. That means for example to open up new possibilities for conversations and dialogue, to bring together supplier and searchers and also to let opposing parties encounter each other.

IT‘S ABOUT INSPIRATION.

VIII.Why do visitors come to a trade fair? Primarily to see something new. At the same time, this demand for news and brand new products in an everfaster rotation becomes more and more unrealistic and not always desirable with regard to sustainability. But maybe it is not always about the newest products of the popular and established manufacturers. A modern trade fair has to show the well-known products in a new and unexpected way. And most of all, it has to bring completely new brands and manufacturers, who can be discovered by the visitors for the first time.

LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION.

IX.The old credo of realtors ›location, location, location‹ also applies to a modern trade fair. The location is the trade show, the trade show is the location. A trade show at an anonymous exhibition site in an uninspired trade fair town is at least not suitable for lifestyle topics anymore. The visitors wish for an overall package: an interesting city that is worth a trip, an event location with character and ideally further exciting site events at other spots in the city.

THE TRADE FAIR IS DEAD, LONG LIVE THE TRADE FAIR.

X.If you follow in all that we‘ve said - is what comes out still a trade fair? A modern trade fair should in any way be destinctly different from the classic concept of an exhibition of goods. So it might be better to find a new term to better define a next generation trade fair in opposite to the classic fair of the 19th and 20th century. Maybe it is simply a show? Or a live event? Or maybe it is better to stay with the old term of a trade fair and redefine it with the power of innovation.