1. Serving/servicing the trade fair industry in CENTRAL EUROPE
Trends incl. audit The CENTREX way
Budva, November 7, 2008

2. Trends in trade fair services in CE
Who are in need of services from us?
Both, exhibitors and visitors
Comfort services
Business services
Are they ready to pay for it????
Usually not (except for traditional stand design and construction services)
CE – much less willingness to pay (historic approach – information was free and services were not acknowledged as values given)

3. Visitor services
Comfort – travel, accommodation, advance information – this is available greatly now through Internet
Comfortable reach – quality of roads, entry, on-site services, catering – lots of question marks
Business – advance info about markets, trends, financial and taxation – also – good preparedness possible via Internet
Catalogue – if exhibitors want that
Lowered expectation for „unexpected, unknown, unforeseen” new partner meetings!!! – it is a fading miracle of trade fairs
But: is it expected that the organiser cares for arranged meetings between exhibitors and visitors? Or even between visitors and visitors?
Role of business media
Opportunities have – on-line registered visitors, questionnaires, match-making
Question again: are they ready to pay for it? – very little market demand yet

4. Exhibitor services Technical – it is OK
Completely equal to foreign practice – same companies use same stand concepts, technical level, same stand construction people
Demand same technical facilities from organiser/venue – this sometimes a problem
Hotel, travel, entertainment – no difference to West
Business visitors, business meetings – depending on market! Smaller markets, heavier influence of globalisation on visitor numbers and capacity.

5. Business demands need Information and (see) the Results
Information about who do they meet? – realistic info is needed – correct data, audited visitor statistics
We must help them to develop their own methods of measuring the Return on Investment

6. Audited information
Auditing is a
Tool
for increasing
Competitivity

7. What exhibitions are good for
Making long term & short term business (sales) between exhibitors and visitors, exhibitors and exhibitors
Promoting products/companies (marketing communication, PR)
Self-education (professional development)
Pleasant experience (feel the feeling)

8. (we have same interest as the exhibitors!)
Whom do we serve?
Visitors / buyers
(we have same interest as the exhibitors!)

9. Why do we need statistics?
We need measurements / tools
Base for measuring trends, changes, directions (external, internal management tools as well)

10. What do we measure? Exhibitors’ investment (size)
Area of interest / motivatedness aroused (no. of exhibitors)
Interest of / motivatedness of visitors (capacity of buying, origin etc.)

11. Do we have competitors?
YES

12. What is the field of competition/fight?
Fight for visitors’ attention – who can get it and get inside of vision & motivatedness
Visitors budget (only partly)
Fight for exhibitors budgets (and readiness to spend) and conscience WHY!!!

13. Who are the competitors?
Other tools, like …
Printed press, electronic media, shopping malls, DM, POS etc.
Those who reach (or target) our target audience!
(Remember: VISITORS)
Only partly other exhibitions (consider overlapping of visitors and their actual interests)

14. Do they measure? The serious ones measure Readerships (at visitors)
Advertising space sold cm² or minutes (exhibitors)
Viewers, surfers (hits, etc)
And trying to sound competitive – so they audit their figures

15. So do we need audit?
We need to audit our trade fairs to show our competitivity, and our competitive edge
So we have similarly concepted base for comparing features and building claims - arguments

16. So what do we measure?
Visitors, their origin (and if the organisers are willing, other qualitative features)
Rented/contracted exhibition space (net ²)
Special show area – full impression for visitors)
Number of exhibitors (willing to make business) and origin (international catchment)
Number of represented companies (full business interest area)

17. Anglosaxon approach Visitors, visitors, visitors
They know they are the ultimate buyers
Visit to the fair, registration, check on visitor database, post-show check
Clearly not a financial type of audit

18. Advantage for exhibition industry
Not only marketing communication but and mostly, emphasizedly part of sales process
It is possible, and recommended to measure the return on marketing investment (ROI) (exhibition participation)
And is is not so with many other media and marketing tools

19. CENTREX – what we do Why are we a special case
International across the border operation
Internationally comparable, unified system
Understanding similarities from recent past
And we understand what the competition is about
Not a fiscal, financial audit (more a consultation what are the possible sales and marketing arguments that can be established)

20. … and more
We go beyond visitor audit (unlike Anglosaxons) – reason: we think we need to present our exhibitors also measurement tools about their competitors’ marketing efforts
A financial audit is the interest of owners
Our statistical audit is the interest of management – a measurement of performance and market competitivity

21. ….. and more
Beyond statistics: organise platforms, forums (CEEEF), surveys (e.g. first international visitor survey)
banking on our similar challenges & interdependence
18 members in 6 countries – about 70 p.c. of the market
We are a distinguised member of UFI
personally – a member of UFI’s marketing committee, education committee and statistics & transparency committee

22. Thank you for kind attention
CENTREX International Exhibition Statistics Union
1101 Budapest, Albertirsai út 10, Hungary
Tel/Fax: