By Noharuddin Nordin
Published: 2009/09/01
International trade fairs, after more than 150 years of existence, are still relevant and effective tool for trade promotion, says Matrade CEO
INTERNATIONAL trade fairs have been an integral part of global marketing, dating back to more than one and a half century, when the inaugural World's Fair was held in the Crystal Palace, London in 1851.
However, are they still relevant as the advent of the Internet and other developments in information and telecommunications technology such as video conferencing and virtual exhibitions have provided more options for the marketers?
The answer is quite straight forward, despite the excitement and fanfare of virtual exhibitions during the dot.com boom era of the late 1990's, major international trade fairs such as Anuga, Cebit, Automekanika, Sial, Ambiente have continued to attract both exhibitors and trade visitors over the years.
Although there are trade fairs that have lost their relevance, new trade fairs far outnumber the ones that have been discontinued. This is true even in Malaysia.
One might question the relevance of exhibitions when doing business online or over the Internet seemed much faster, easier and cheaper. Many have found out, however, that the truth is often to the contrary. Sifting through the Internet looking for relevant leads in between checking emails, making calls and dealing with personnel issues can turn out to be more time consuming that normally assumed.
Imagine the number of websites or portals one has to go through to obtain the best products or services, quotes and prices.Consider the alternative of the trade fairs where the old and trusted face-to-face way of doing business is still possible. The personal touch is still very important in concluding a deal even during these modern times. Exhibition is the only marketing medium that brings together buyers, sellers and product/service providers together at the same time and under one roof.
All these people have complementary objectives. Therefore, even though it entails one leaving the office, it makes sense to exhibit or visit the exhibitions.
Many important goals can be met through participating in or visiting trade fairs, including looking for new products and services, collecting information on products and services, buying and selling products and services, learning about industry trends and building network.
Everyone is there to conduct business.There is enough argument to conclude that trade fairs continue to be relevant in this day and age but how can Malaysian exporters take advantage and make the most of participation in trade fairs?
Many exhibitors just target only the exhibition itself, focusing on what to do or promote during the exhibition. While this is important and cannot be ignored, much of the preparations should start well before that, even up to a year before the identified event.
Some trade shows are extremely popular and space bookings may have to made well in advance, sometimes even years ahead.
Effort must also be made to identify which trade show is the best event for you to participate in. In this regard, some trade shows have audited records of exhibitor and visitor profiles of previous year's events, which could provide useful insights.
Many established trade shows need advance bookings just to obtain space, let alone a good location. Other advance preparations would also have to begin well before the event. This will involve getting the brochures redone or reprinted featuring products that are relevant to the specific market, preferably in the language of the targeted market. In doing the translation it is a good idea to translate into the language of the country concerned and get a different person to translate it back into English. This will ascertain that the intended message is not "lost in translation".
Many major trade show organisers have websites that contain pre-show information that also includes details of trade show exhibitors. You should take advantage of this facility as many potential buyers visit the show organiser's website to pre-qualify the exhibitors that they would like to meet during the exhibition.
Trade show exhibitors should also ensure that their product profile is targeted for the specific trade show, and should also include the website of your organisation. Also, it is necessary to ensure that your products or services are listed correctly in the index of the show directory so that potential buyers looking for a specific product are able to locate you, as many key buyers with limited time visit only pre-qualified exhibitors.
Advertising in the show directory will also help you to increase your visibility among buyers going through the show directory.
Other pre-event publicity that could be undertaken may include making reference to your participation in the trade show on your own website, so that potential buyers are aware of your participation in a major trade fair.
It is also a good idea to write to potential pre-qualified visitors in advance of the show and to invite them to visit your booth at the exhibition.
Enquire also whether a mailing list of past trade visitors are available from the show organiser.
Stand display is another area that should be emphasised to attract traffic to your booth. The display could also help in branding the exhibiting company.
If necessary, use the services of a professional in displaying the exhibits to have maximum impact.
In major trade fairs, which sometimes may have a few thousand exhibitors the visual merchandising can have an impact on visitor traffic. Also do remember to bring sufficient business cards and corporate brochures. Many exhibitions also feature daily show newsletters and exhibitors could often get free coverage in these newsletters, particularly if the product is unique and has news value.
As these newsletters are distributed to trade visitors it helps exhibitors to attract attention to their participation.
The media is also often present, and this is an excellent opportunity to get free coverage in the local media such as newspapers and television. However, it is often necessary to proactively seek out media coverage and be prepared in advance to speak to the media.
It has been noted that Malaysian exhibitors are reluctant to be featured in the local media, perhaps due to lack of preparation to meet the media.It is also critical that the right personnel be chosen to man the booth.
It is often sad to observe that, having spent thousands of Ringgit to participate in a trade fair, the booth of Malaysian companies are sometimes manned by people who are inactive, just waiting in their booth for someone to walk in.
Personnel manning the booth should be proactive, lively and eager to welcome visitors to their booths.
Punctuality is also important and never leave the booth unattended, as this will create a negative impression among visitors who may happen to pass by your booth during your absence.
Proper record keeping is also important in ensuring that effective follow-up is undertaken after the trade fair.
In many exhibitions, it may be possible to rent scanners to collect trade visitor's profile by scanning the visitor's badges during the exhibition.
In addition, it is critical that adequate notes be made of a trade visitor's sourcing requirements as well as comments that could be useful feedback for product development or adaptation of your product to a specific market.
Shipping terms and conditions should also be particularly noted when quoting prices, as this is often an area of potential dispute.While at the trade fair, particularly if there are two representatives from your company, it is advisable for one of the representatives to spend some time to evaluate the competition in terms of pricing, product development, design, innovation, etc and benchmarking your products with that of the competition.
Many trade shows also have new product launches and it is worth noting what's new in the marketplace. In addition, many trade shows also offer seminars relating to the latest trends, regulatory environment, standards and other developments relating to the product sector covered by the show, and this could provide useful insights on product trends and innovation.
Many of these seminars are free or subject to only a nominal fee. For example, in the International Home and Housewares Show in Chicago, very informative presentations on the colours for household products for the next buying season is often held, and this will be useful information for export planning.
Make it a point to drop a personalised "thank you note" to all trade visitors that visited your booth, even if they are not immediate prospects.
At the very least, the note will remind them of your company and products and help create a positive image for your company and brand name. It will also make your organisation stand out among the hundreds of booths that the trade visitor may have visited during the show. Also, immediately after the show follow-up on any promises made to the trade visitors such as forwarding price quotes, samples, etc.
Even better, call or e-mail your office to follow-up while you are still at the show and your prospects will be impressed to see that the information you promised has already reached them by the time they return to their offices.
In major international trade fairs, Matrade organises the participation of Malaysian companies in the form of national Pavilions. Among the international trade fairs that Matrade had or will have a presence in the form of a Pavilion for the year 2009 include Arab Health, Paperworld, Gulf Food, Cebit Germany, Semicon China, I Saloni (Furniture), Hong Kong Houseware Show and Who's Next (Fashion).
Malaysian SMEs may apply to Matrade to be considered for a 50 per cent reimbursable matching grant for eligible expenses relating to their international trade fair participation, under the Market Development Grant (MDG) or Services Export Fund (SEF).
Please refer to the Matrade website www.matrade.gov.my for further details on this.
In conclusion, international trade fairs, after more than 150 years of existence, are still relevant and effective tool for trade promotion, as there is nothing like personal face-to-face contacts in export promotion, particularly with the increasing focus in relationship marketing and brand building.
Nevertheless, the outcome of the exhibition will to a large extend depend on the preparation that are put into the show and, more importantly, the effectiveness of follow-up action on the trade leads generated at the fair.* Datuk Noharuddin Nordin is the chief executive officer of Malaysian External Trade Development Corporate (Matrade).
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