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I’ve just returned from GLEE, (NEC, Birmingham 12 – 14 September) probably the most important date in the trade calendar for the garden retail industry, where many of the key suppliers exhibit their products and services for the coming season. As a trade event, it’s been through some tough times in recent years, but in the last couple of seasons, things have changed and the atmosphere was buoyant.

I wondered why everyone is feeling so much better about this trade event, and how it’s come to be sold out this year and already looking like it will expand for 2017? What’s changed that makes everyone so optimistic and positive? It’s not visitor numbers because although no figures have been published yet, it was clear to me that whilst busy at peak periods, it wasn’t markedly busier than previous years.

Perhaps people’s expectations have changed? Many years ago, you might expect to see sales people frantically scribbling orders, I can remember when we took a fax machine with us to the show so that we could get each day’s customer requirements back to the office by the end of the day. Now, the atmosphere is more relaxed. It’s so much easier to land the order and get it into the system – via e-mail, EDI, on the web – that most are happy to postpone the hard negotiations for a later date. The show is all about building business reputation and presenting a menu of retail opportunities. I think the stands and the staff on them are all better for it.

So, if the objective is largely about reputation – or put another way – brand equity – young businesses or those new to trade exhibitions probably need to think carefully (maybe differently) about how to make the best of exhibitions like GLEE. Here’s my checklist

  • Get your overall brand hierarchy and core brand messages agreed and established well ahead of the show. Make sure you have brand graphics and ‘tone of voice’ clear and consistent so that there’s no debate when you’re in a mad hurry to get to print hours before a deadline
  • Train the team so that everyone understands the brand values and business objectives, and make sure they know how to communicate them. Create a business Q&A document and keep it up to date so that everyone is delivering the same consistent answers to customers, the media, competitors
  • Keep your core message and your brand identity clear and consistent in all your pre-show activity. Send all your customers an invitation before the show that reinforces your core brand messages.
  • Take advantage of all the marketing and pr opportunities on offer. Brief the media partners both before the show and every day. Follow up afterwards with them too. Enter the new product awards showcase. Make sure you have great photography available of new products, key people, your stand
  • Agree your standards – make sure that visitors to the stand get a great reception from you and your staff. Agree rules for staff breaks, dress code, eating and drinking on the stand, slumping on the furniture, talking on the phone, staring at the laptop, curry the night before?
  • Have a simple, quick and foolproof way of capturing customer data and actions – the scanning and database technology available is great, but have a paper back up system in case there’s a failure. You’ve invested a lot, make sure you capitalize on every lead.
  • Follow up every visitor after the show and make sure the style and content remains ‘on brand’
  • Debrief thoroughly so that you can improve for next time!

With a complicated planning process and the organisational headaches involved in putting on a trade exhibition, it’s easy to lose your brand equity management amongst the stand builders, accommodation bookings, transport, deliveries and breakdown teams. You probably appoint a project manager (even if it’s yourself!) to control all the logistical aspects of the show. My tip is to make sure you have a separate brand champion who keeps the whole event on message!

The rules apply to larger and more experienced businesses too. My clients from Kelkay have the largest stand in the show and they work really hard to make sure the investment really pays off. Bonningtons were returning to GLEE after several years absence and they too put in lots of careful preparation which resulted in hundreds of new leads. And Vivagreen demonstrated how even the smallest companies can bat well above their weight by planning carefully and grasping every opportunity!

Great brand consistency and impact from Bonningtons

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A busy stand and great PR value extracted by Vivagreen

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