CES , the world’s largest consumer technology tradeshow, is always a highlight of the year for me. Not only do you get to see some great work from some of the most creative minds in the event and exhibitions industry, but you also get to check-out some new technologies that can be potentially used in future work.
I didn’t get to go this year so I spent a bit of time recently online trying to catch some of the action. There was a lot of buzz about Microsoft announcing that CES will not be as important in their plans beyond 2012. Related articles had quotes like “the final nail in the coffin” or “tradeshows are dead”. I think that such turns of phrase make catchy headlines, but for a topic that has been regularly discussed over the years, I was again left wanting for an intelligent argument in support of the hype.
While some event organizers are letting their shows become extinct through a lack of progress or change, many are far from dead. In fact, many brands would suffer negative consequences to their business if these shows were to disappear. Tradeshow equity is, in large part, made up of how they contribute to how an industry runs.
For Asia, we can learn a lot from what is happening in tradeshows in Europe and North America because the maturity of many regional tradeshows is less than these markets. It is not that the older tradeshows are becoming obsolete; instead they are simply losing relevance to some sponsors and exhibitors. This is perfectly natural. It’s not Armageddon; it’s just life.
For would-be sponsors and exhibitors in places like North America, they get to a point where they already know who their customers are and decide that they no longer need to aggressively look for new ones. In such situations, scaling back investments or reallocating spend to other types of events or relationship-building activities makes sense.
Whatever the catalyst for change, there is usually a negative side effect from not participating. It is simply a matter of working out which is the lesser of two evils. Microsoft is a perfect example of this and they did the right thing by going to great lengths to communicate the thoughts and rationale behind the change in their participation in CES going forward.
Some within the events industry have often used hype to advocate spending on proprietary events or small targeted brand experiences. I am not saying that such events don’t have a place. My company does these for clients because they are the right tactics to deploy in the right circumstances.
The simple fact is that tradeshows offer a unique business opportunity for brands and they always will. Brands often need to work out how to make them more relevant to your current or future needs by leveraging the equity that many tradeshows have in different ways.
Ultimately, I really believe that there is an onus on brands to push event organizers to provide them with what they need. Often, new ways of participation are simply needed to make tradeshows a better part of your marketing mix.
