business services Sites, Cities, and Services Changing your perspective
The exhibition industry has seen tremendous changes in recent years. Budgets remain tight. Audiences are dificult to reach. There are stricter demands for ROI. Despite — or rather, because of — all
that, Global Experience Specialists believes we’re entering a new, exciting era in experi- ence marketing. Change your perspective, and you’ll see that in rising to meet these challenges we are, in fact, inspiring unprec- edented creativity. This new creative world encompasses far more than the exhibits themselves. Trade-show organizers are ben- efiting from a host of new ideas that can help make shows more successful — and their jobs less stressful.
Step Right Up
Exhibitors expect every aspect of a show to run like clockwork. That’s nothing new. But now they’re demanding even more value. And it’s not just about attendance; it’s about getting more buyers/customers. Digital media has fragmented audiences,
making them more dificult to reach. But change your perspective, and you begin to
Global Experience Specialists
see that digital also presents new opportuni- ties to connect with customers. Analytical tools help GES deliver target-
ed messages more eficiently to attract the best prospects to a show. Mobile apps are enriching the customer experience. Digital tools measure at-show effectiveness in real time, improving ROI. Audience-tracking tech- niques through GES’s video-measurement tool, ethnoMetrics, are even allowing some organizers to identify premium trafic areas and charge accordingly.
Expresso® Powered by GES
At show time, the main goal is still to keep everything running smoothly, of course. But here, once again, new tools and new ideas will change your perspective on what’s possible. Expresso, GES’s online planning, order-
ing, and management tool, is powering more than 1,200 shows. Expresso puts everything exhibitors could ask for right at their finger- tips — including easy access to schedules and a running shopping-cart total that helps them manage their spend. Even things like materials handling are
being creatively reimagined by GES, with solutions ranging from a new tracking sys- tem for refrigerated products, to an animated video that helps organizers explain the ben- efits of advanced storage.
What’s Your Perspective?
At EXHIBITOR2012 this past March, GES turned the exhibit world on its head — literally
— with an upside-down booth that received best-of-show honors. The exhibit was an invi- tation to “Change Your Perspective” about what’s possible in trade-show marketing. That invitation goes out to trade-show
organizers as well. Change your perspective, and you just might find that this is the most exciting time ever to be in the trade-show industry.
For more information: Visit ges.com or the GES blog at defyingconvention.ges.com. The first annual Trend Tracker — a GES-compiled list of the top 50 trends impacting trade shows at events — is available at convn.org/ges-trends.
Turning events on their heads GES’s upside-down booth at EXHIBITOR2012, awarded Best of Show: Large Booth, challenged attendees to change their perspective about what’s possible in trade-show marketing, and engaged them with gravity-defying design, an interactive game, hands-on technology, and a wall to share their perspectives.