1. TRADE SHOWS ::
A corrporratte and iin--house
communiicattiion ttooll
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iin B tto B
RADUA Marie-Agnès

2. IINTRODUCTIION
Trrade shows rreprresentt one off tthe mostt iimporrttantt
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prromottiionall ttooll iin B2B
B2B communiicattiion speciiffiiciittiies :: iindiiviiduall
rrellattiionshiip,, perrsonall selllliing iintterrnall communiicattiion
majjorr rrolle..
How can a trade show both achieve
external and internal communication
objectives ?

3. Trade Shows
siigniiffiicance ffor
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iindusttriiall
communiicattiion

4. B2B Communiicattiion
overviiew
B2B communiicattiion speciiffiiciittiies ::
IIndiiviidualliised rrellattiionshiips
A speciiall//corre ttarrgett :: tthe buyiing centterr
Diisttiincttiive charractterriisttiics off busiiness communiicattiions
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B2B communiicattiion ttoolls ::
Mass Mediia ((TV,, rradiio......))
Trrade Prress
Salles supporrtt and maiinttenance matterriialls
PR and publliiciitty
Trrade shows

5. Diisttiincttiive Charactteriisttiics off
Busiiness Communiicattiions
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High involvement
Rational Face-to-face
Business
communications
Tailor-made Interactive
Individualised
From « Marketing Communications – A European Perspective » book – Pelsmacker, Geuens, Van Den Berg – 2004.

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Mediia -- TV ::
Mediia –– TV ::
Philips’ latest tv ad to promote its
expertise in medical sector.
Trade press ::
Salles supportts and
maiinttenance matteriialls ::

7. PR eventts and Publliiciitty :: Trade Shows ::
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B2B Mediia Spendiing
Year B-to-b magazines % of growth Exhibitions % of growth Total % of growth
1998 $13,602 $8,129 $21,731
1999 14,715 8.2% 8,528 5.0% 23,253 7.0%
2000 15,730 6.9 8,908 4.3 24,638 6.0
2001 12,952 -17.7 8,621 -3.2 21,573 -12.4
2002 11,092 -14.4 8,521 -1.2 19,613 -9.1
2003 11,010 -0.7 8,650 1.5 19,660 0.2
2004 11,149 1.3 8,853 2.4 20,002 1.7
2005 11,510 3.2 9,208 4.0 20,718 3.6
2006 11,982 4.1 9,598 4.2 21,580 4.2
2007 12,594 5.1 10,066 4.9 22,660 5.0
2008 13,278 5.4 10,589 5.2 23,867 5.3
Source: VSS Communications Forecast and Report –2004
Trade shows : a major promotional tool for business
markets

9. Trade shows :: a sttrong promottiionall
vehiiclle ffor busiiness marketts
A ttypiicall mean and essenttiiall prromottiionall miix varriiablle
iin B2B
A powerrffull marrkettiing mediium whiich mustt be
prreparred and managed carreffulllly necessarry tto
iimpllementt a speciiffiic sttrrattegy
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Maiin rrolles ::
-- Prroductt’’s orr serrviices’’ needs rrecogniittiion
-- Prroductt speciiffiicattiions devellopmentt
-- Prroviide ffeedback ffrrom custtomerrs
-- Exchange iinfforrmattiion aboutt marrkett evolluttiion,,
compettiittiion,, iinnovattiions……
-- Buiilld rrellattiionshiip

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Reachiing
extternall communiicattiion
objjecttiives tthrough
ttrade shows

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Trade show communiicattiion sttrattegy
Consiider tthe show as a compllette « markettiing productt » and
buiilld a ttrade show’’s speciiffiic communiicattiion sttrattegy
2 maiin ttechniiques ::
Diirectt adverttiisiing
Mediia

12. Diirectt adverttiisiing :: Mediia –– Press ::
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Trade fairs
Generate sales
leads
Selling
Relationship
building
Monitor
competition
Tradition
Reinforce
corporate image
Demonstrate Internationalize
Launching / Testing
products or services
Brand / Company
awareness
Employee
motivation
Trade shows generall objjecttiives
From « Marketing Communications – A European Perspective » book – Pelsmacker, Geuens, Van Den Berg – 2004.

14. The effffecttiiveness ffor company’’s
iimage……
Corporatte communiicattiion polliicy’’s iinfflluence ::
Poweriing company’’s posiittiion on a speciiffiic markett
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Communiicattiing company’’s maiin message
Reachiing tthe diifffferentt ttargetts
Excellllentt ttooll tto buiilld and enhance brand awareness
Brandiing nottiion :: sett productts or serviices diifffferenttlly ffrom tthe
compettiittiion
Creatte a uniique iidenttiitty :: parttiicullar name,, phrase,, desiign,,
symboll……
The company mustt be diifffferentt and uniique !!

15. IInttegrattiing brand awareness
tthrough ttrade shows
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3 key ellementts ::
Consiisttency and repettiittiion
Allll markettiing and promottiion ttoolls consiisttency ((llogo,,
collours,, ttypefface,, sllogan,, charactters……))
Peoplle’’s percepttiion aboutt tthe company :: salles tteam
iinfflluence
How ?
IImpllementt a sttrattegiic exhiibiitt markettiing and ttacttiicall pllan off
acttiions :: pre--show,, att--show,, postt--show

16. IIncenttiive :: a reason why tto viisiitt tthe bootth
Press rellattiions effffiiciiency :: speciiall publliicattiions,, press
relleases,, press kiitts,, dediicatted sttaffff members tto iintteractt
wiitth mediia
Mullttiimediia :: web siitte iimpllementtattiion ffor custtomers or
prospectts who can nott attttend tthe show
Attttracttiive and iinfformiing ttrade show bootth
Follllow--up on tthe postt--show sttage tto conttiinue tthe
rellattiionshiips :: newslletttters……
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Variious possiibiilliittiies

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Whatt aboutt
iintternall communiicattiion
on ttrade shows ?

20. IIntternall communiicattiion iinfflluence iin tthe
company glloball sttrattegy
Att tthe crossroads bettween markettiing and
managementt
A productt = tthe company knowlledge tto encourage
iindiiviiduall reacttiiviitty and ffaciilliittatte synergiies
IInfformiing on a sttrattegiic diimensiion tto reach tthe
company’’s objjecttiives
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Techniics evolluttiion :: IInttranett

21. A lliink bettween tthe extternall enviironmentt and tthe
iintternall attmosphere
Liistteniing,, produciing iinfformattiion,, diisttriibuttiing,,
sttiimullattiing,, adviisiing,, pllanniing ……
Company sttaffff :: tthe bestt extternall communiicattiion
vehiiclle
The ffiirstt publliic off corporatte communiicattiion :: emplloyees
Creatte a reall corporatte culltture tto buiilld a crediiblle
extternall brand iimage
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22. Trade shows iintternall communiicattiion
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Why ? Whiich objjecttiives ?
Moralle buiilldiing and moralle boosttiing :: Workers obttaiin
recogniittiion and iinfformattiion retturns on ttheiir daiilly work
and experttiise
Ascendantt iinfformattiion producttiion :: ffrom extternall
enviironmentt tto iintternall managementt
Descendentt iinfformattiion generattiion :: proviidiing an
overviiew on tthe sttrattegiic sttakes and objjecttiives iinvollved
iin tthe ttrade show parttiiciipattiion
Proffessiionall iinfformattiion diisttriibuttiion :: promotte and
iincrease knowlledge and meettiings bettween peoplle
workiing ffor tthe same company.. Buiilld a « corporatte
culltture »,, a reall « entterpriise spiiriitt »..

23. How ? Whiich means ?
Variious ttypes off supportts:: wriitttten,, audiioviisuall,, mullttiimediia
Newslletttter,, company magaziines and iintternall documenttattiion ::
anytthiing publliished iintternalllly iis a pottenttiiall publliic documentt
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Sttaffff iinvollvementt ::
Pre--Show :: proviide basiic iinfformattiion and briieff expllanattiions
on exhiibiittiion sttrattegy and messages tto broadcastt
Att--show :: supportt salles reps wiitth concrette and sttrattegiic
argumentts
IInttranett ffor reall ttiime iinfformattiion
Gettttiing ttiimelly iinfformattiion rapiidlly
Dediicatted iinttranett tto be on tthe ffiirstt lliine iin llearniing cruciiall
iinfformattiion daiilly..

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CONCLUSIION
Trade shows :: a rellevantt ttooll ffor B2B
communiicattiion
A useffull mean tto reach extternall
communiicattiion objjecttiives ((iimage,, brand
awareness,, corporatte iidenttiitty))
An iimporttantt eventt tto communiicatte iintternalllly
so as tto mottiivatte tthe ttroups and tto broadcastt
a posiittiive iimage outtsiide tthatt reffllectts iintternall
chaiin off iinfformattiion..

25. Thanks ffor your
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attttenttiion !!

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Goiing Furrttherr……
IIntterrnall communiicattiion on ttrrade shows
iinsiide smallll companiies..
Viirrttuall ttrrade shows :: Riisky fforr fface--tto--fface
rrellattiionshiips ?