Regional Exhibitions - do they work?

Do regional exhibitions work as events? Do they work in delivering the right audience? And perhaps most important of all, do they work in generating new business?

The headline poses a most fundamental question.

But, like many such fundamental questions, its open to various interpretations.

Do they work as events? Do they work in delivering the right audience? And perhaps most important of all, do they work in generating new business? Lets examine the first issue "Do they work as events?" Many regional exhibitions have a dubious reputation.

Frankly, deservedly so, they are structured as "business to business" events.

Often the only common denominator between exhibitors is that they are from the same region.

Walk the aisles and you will see an engineering company next to an hotel, next to an office equipment company, next to a golf course.

How on earth can any organiser deliver an audience that satisfies the needs of such a diverse range of businesses? Regional Manufacturing exhibitions are a different proposition altogether.

Here, the common denominator is not location, but the markets served.

Typically, exhibitors comprise 50% of local companies looking to generate more business on their doorstep and 50% national companies supporting their regional sales office or distributor.

They all serve manufacturing industry.

With such a targeted audience, an equally targeted visitor campaign can be mounted.

And that, in a nutshell, is one of the primary reasons for the success of the ETES series of six regional manufacturing shows.

As they say on TV "this provides a natural link to our next item." Do they deliver the right audience? This takes us into the question of National Events versus Regional Events.

For reasons beyond their control, many national engineering manufacturing shows are declining.

Typically, visitors are down 30%, some shows have disappeared completely.

The reasons are not difficult to identify.

Industry has pared away surplus fat - right to the bone some would say.

Such are the pressures on remaining staff it is difficult to justify one or two days out of the office travelling to the NEC.

The figures speak for themselves.

One major exhibition at the NEC reported in its own figures 380 visitors from the North of England and a similar number from Wales.

Both the ETES, Northern and Welsh Manufacturing exhibitions deliver around 2,000 visitors.

The message is starkly simple, "If you want to sell to these regions, you have to go to these regions".

Nothing could be clearer.

Even a most cursory examination of the analysis of visitor statistics for regional manufacturing exhibitions reveals that over 90% are engineers, purchasing managers or directors.

That represents formidable purchase influence.

Finally do they generate new business? Here itûs a bit like a child leaving the best bit of his dinner till last.

The most qualified people to answer this are without doubt the exhibitors themselves.

Just listen to what Holden Aluminium Technologies have to say.

The company specialises in producing aluminium extrusions then forming and fabricating then into a wide range of components.

This fabricating service is complemented by the latest acquisition, a long bed five axis machining centre.

It was recently used to produce 5m long formed aluminium component for railway carriages.

Holden attended Midlands Manufacturing for the first time in 2001.

An enquiry at the show developed into ?1.5 million contract to supply 2 million extruded aluminium steering columns for Ford and Jaguar car.

An automatic special purpose machine is being designed and production deliveries are scheduled for March 2002.

Another previous Midlandsûs exhibitor is AWE Precision.

Simon Birch, summed up his reason for coming back by saying "At the last Midlands show I took 12 sales leads.

Before the year was out 11 had converted into orders.

Thatûs why Iûm here again".

Some companies target specific regions by attending several shows a year.

M and G Plastics have made the ETES regional shows a main plank in the development of the company.

M and G offers a start to finish service for plastic components.

It starts with design and rapid prototyping through tool making to manufacturing, assembly and packaging.

Tony OûHara, Sales Manager values the real contribution the shows have made.

He commented "We attended our first Regional Manufacturing show four years ago.

During this period our business has doubled its size.

The majority of the new business came from sale leads generated at the shows" Other companies have similar tales to tell.

Rose Precision Components supply casting and machined parts from India.

Itûs a major decision to source outside the UK and itûs essential that top-level management are part of the decision making process.

After the recent North West Manufacturing 2001, Andrew Mann, a Director at Rose said "We have taken some very serious enquiries from purchasing and senior management.

It is essential for us to have this level of entry into new customers, if we are to generate long term supply contracts.

The regional shows are our only source of new business leads.

Thereûs plenty to go at once the showûs over".

From, the exhibitorsû comments its clear regional show generate business.

Thereûs another reason why theyûre so successful.

They are horizontal events that cover everything from subcontract machining services to CAD/CAM systems, packaging and labelling to electronics assembly.

At any event there is limited competition between stands.

Many offer complementary rather than competitive services.

Itûs not unusual for exhibitors to leave with a significant number of enquiries from other exhibitors.

Exhibitors have even reported taking firm order before the show had even opened.

During build-up another exhibitor saw a solution to a problem and placed an order on the spot.

John Boddy of Four Square, a specialist catering company that supplies industry, admirably summed up this lack of competition.

He said "In the first morning we took more enquiries than we had taken over three days at a specialist catering show.

As the only drinks dispensing exhibitor here weûre not sharing these enquiries with any other competitive company".

That says it all.

With all the focus on new technology methods available for addressing the market place, itûs timely to emphasis "People buy from People".

And, the only place you can meet people that you donût know face-to-face is at an exhibition.

Back to top