Exhibitions : Trends, evaluation & follow-up

Marketing is a process where companies are able to promote their product or service and create a demand for it. One of the instruments to perform a good promotion is an exhibition. Exhibitions go back hundreds of years ago, where they were markets of exchange for home made products. In today’s modern society, exhibitions are an effective marketing tool where people gather for a short period of time to present their products and services. Clients, competitors, visitors and all involved in the particular business visit the exhibition to get an update of the market.The research in this essay will concentrate on trade fair exhibitions, while consumer exhibitions are a slightly different topic. While exhibitions are an effective marketing tool they are also very expensive to participate at. Exhibitions organizers charge companies great sums of money to be part of an exhibition, where during the few days of the event more people visit a company’s booth than perhaps during a 6 month period. The amount of exhibitions has also increased due to bigger and new markets. Which exhibitions to participate at are where many companies have a dilemma.As this essay is a research paper, it is also a project for SKF Service Division Europe that I have the privilege to write. SKF is a global company that manufactures and offers bearings, seals, mechatronics, services and lubrication systems. SKF is represented in 140 countries and is divided in three divisions: Industrial, Automotive and Service. The magnitude of this company gives an idea of how challenging it is to decide which exhibition to participate at. An exhibition is an investment after all.Of all the marketing tools exhibitions are the ones that have the personal touch. Meeting with possible future clients in this way establishes a trust through the personal meeting. The fact is though that attendance numbers at exhibitions has decreased in the past few years. The research in this essay is to look at new trends surrounding exhibitions. What is the exhibition media moving towards? Is the marketing tool of trade fairs less popular due to for example other cheaper marketing? Another issue in the essay is concerning the developing market of exhibitions between big international fairs and small local fairs.The results of a trade fair can perhaps be more effective than all the other marketing tools combined. Another purpose to the essay is to find possible ways to do a fair follow-up on a trade fair. The research will hopefully give alternative suggestions that are useful to achieve a fair follow-up on a trade fair, and in that way justify the investment by showing what results it provided.The method used in this essay is of a qualitative type. Through interviews with people who are experts in the subject of exhibition media, the purpose of this essay will be accomplished. Assisting to that task are also SKF employees, especially my tutor Åsa Nordström, who has helped me with information needed to shine light on the essays problem. In addition to interviews, literature has been used to strengthen the empirical research and come to an analysis of the problem presented in the essay.In the discussion I am talking about future trends that could occur and how they can be predicted through situational analysis. A part of the discussion is devoted to the relationship between big and small exhibitions. Perhaps the most interesting part of the discussion, and the one of most importance to companies, is a follow-up and evaluation of a trade fair. I recommend using a model where ROI (Return On Investment) is a key number to examine the success of a trade fair, and in that way justify the investment made by a company. The essay in concluded with suggestions for future research to develop the knowledge on the topic that is trade fairs.Uppsatsnivå: