David DuBois, CMP, CAE, FASAE, CTA President & CEO, IAEE Marketing Trends for the Exhibition Industry

Understanding marketing trends empowers you to make better informed decisions. Why is this important?

A Near Future Look at the Exhibition Industry Marketing Trends Takeaways

1 What Attendees and Exhibitors Want

Exhibitors and attendees are investors and consumers Exhibitors: Invest in time, space, design, decoration and talent Attendees: Consume content, entertainment and hospitality

Attendee Common Needs and Wants

7 Attendee Common Needs Shop 69% Learn 66%

Most Urgent Shopping Needs New technology 5.54 New product intros 5.33 Show me what’s NEW! Interact with new products 5.31 Let me interact w/ new products Talk w/ industry experts 5.51 Questions answered ‘on the spot’ 5.26 I want to talk Idea generation, 5.24 Solutions to problems, 5.12 Brand comparison, 5.14 Info for upcoming purchase, 5.07 Help me process Scale of 1 to 7 where 1=Very unimportant and 7=Very Important

Importance in Purchase Process Pre-purchase Post-purchase Awareness building 81% Evaluate & compare 75% Narrowing choices 63% Maintaining relationship 63% Percentage=attendees assigning ‘Very Important’ or ‘Extremely Important to in-person face-to-face interaction at exhibitions

Most Urgent Learning Needs Industry insights 5.51 Industry trend insights – what’s hot? Professional networking 5.30 I want to connect F2F! Better job performance 5.30 I want to excel in my job Personal development 5.18 I want to grow personally Scale of 1 to 7 where 1=Very unimportant and 7=Very Important

SHOW ME WHAT’S NEW

NEW PRODUCT INTERACTION LET ME INTERACT WITH NEW PRODUCTS

QUESTIONS ANSWERED I WANT TO TALK

HELP ME PROCESS

INDUSTRY TREND INSIGHTS

CONNECT FACE-TO-FACE

EXCEL IN MY JOB

GROW PERSONALLY

Interaction on Exhibit Floor 62% of Deciders Touch, feel, smell

Most Popular F2F Settings at Exhibits

Most Important Factors When Deciding to Attend for First Time Value for money 5.37 Reputation of event 5.33 Quality of speakers 5.24 Convince me you’re worth the attending Network with other colleagues 5.17 F2F Opportunities? Info for current decisions/issues 5.14 Focused on industry sector 5.08 Relates to my industry & current needs? Current technology update 5.04 Broad range of products/services 4.98 Unique demos, 4.88 Satisfy my shopping needs? Convenient location 4.93 Good location? Scouts: Unique Demos, Info for Current Issues/Decisions, and Technology Update

Popular Resources Relied Upon When Deciding to Attend from colleague 69% Word of mouth 67% Personal invite from exhibitor 58% Personal Sources Industry publications 63% Industry association membership 61% Exhibitor 57% Known/Trusted Sources Exhibition organizer 61% Exhibition organizer website 60% Exhibition organizer direct mail 52% Exhibition Organizer Internet search 53% Digital Social media is NOT top ranked, 31 % or subscribed text, 29%

Corporate Event Marketers

Key Strategic Elements of Event Planning and Management Event Strategy: Alignment w/ Business Objectives Event Selection and Investment Optimize Tactical Drivers of ROI/ROO Lead Gen and Follow-up Measure: Assess and Improve Exhibit Surveys, Inc.

2013 Marketing Budgets Increasing/Event Budgets Decreasing 29 Source: BtoB Magazine’s 2010 to 2013 Outlook surveys Total Marketing Budget: Increasing39%52%41%49% Decreasing13%7%11%10% Event Budgets: Increasing35%44%47%41% Decreasing20%11%12%15%

Strongest Competition for Budget from Online Marketing 30 Source: BtoB Magazine’s 2010 to 2013 Outlook surveys Increasing Online Budgets 73%78%74%67% Average Online Budget %31%35%26%31%

Marketing Priorities of Marketers 31 Source: BtoB Magazine’s 2010 to 2013 Outlook surveys Demand Generation / Customer Acquisition 61%69%75%69% Brand Awareness15%19%15%18% Customer Retention16%13%10%13%

Organizers Must Prove Value Lead generation /fill funnel of opportunities Accelerate the sales process Position exhibitions to align with marketer’s top priority of demand gen and customer acquisition Meet exhibitor needs – profile and quality Prove/substantiate quality of audience Hosted buyer Access to buyers Facilitate exhibitor meetings Registration company Obtain full report to analyze effectiveness Track lead activity Provide information to exhibitors

Content Marketing Definition: All marketing formats that involve the creation of sharing content for the purpose of engaging current and potential customers Premise: delivery of high quality, relevant and valuable information Benefits: retain attention / improve brand loyalty 72% of b2b marketers use content marketing strategy* *Source: BtoB Magazine’s 2013 Outlook survey. **Source:

Most Effective Content Marketing Tactics for Users 34 Source: 2013 B2B Content Marketing Benchmarks, Budgets and Trends, Content Marketing Institute.. Events Rank 1 st in effectiveness

Revenue GenerationAttendee EngagementCost Containment DIGITAL PLAYBOOK

Revenue Generation

Attendee/Visitor Engagement

Containing Cost 84%

86% 81% 84% Containing Cost

2 Takeaways

 Networking is important for both attendees and exhibitors  Highlight / educate on industry trends  Excel in job  Personal growth  Product demonstrations  Conversations with exhibitors – especially industry experts

43  Organizer must demonstrate value in terms relevant to exhibitor CMO’s  Organizer must learn to become more consultative in their approach  Organizer must deliver more (better) tools and data to help exhibitors demonstrate strategic value of exhibitions versus low cost online options Takeaway

44 Takeaway Competition for marketing budget increasing – Other event channels – Other marketing channels – Exhibiting in fewer shows Tradeshow and event mix strategies more sophisticated for major exhibitors

45 Takeaway Exhibitors are being challenged internally  Cost reduction - the “new normal” (procurement more involved)  Marketing strategies changing – demand generation top priority

Takeaways In addition to other marketing channels, exhibitions compete with private corporate events. – 44%* of CMOs globally who exhibit, report that they also produce their own events – And attendees to exhibitions also attend private events (attend average of 3.4 tradeshows and 2.6 private events**) – CEIR data Many companies, therefore, have an “event-mix” strategy, not just an exhibition selection strategy. 46 *Source: Customer Attainment from Event Engagement™ study conducted by CMO Council 2013 **Source: Center for Exhibition Industry Research Report F05.12 The Role and Value of Face-to-Face Interaction, Trends in the Use of Exhibitions.

Takeaways If you have not already done so, create your digital strategy. With 72% of all Digital Playbook respondents expecting to increase their spending on digital tactics, prioritize based on the most impactful tactics for your exhibition 47

48 Attendees Valued Information Personal Interaction CME Organizer ROI Organizational Goals Suppliers ROI Sponsors ROO ROI Event Ecosystem Growth Dependent Upon Delivering Value to all Constituents (courtesy of Exhibit Surveys, Inc.) Value to Exhibitors qualified audience exhibitor experience Value to Organizer revenue attendance draw Value to Attendees highly valued content networking opportunities right mix of exhibitors attendee experience Value to Organizer meet organizational goals exhibitor satisfaction Value to Exhibitors Engage with exhibitors Deliver ROO/ROI Value to Attendees Highly valued information 1 to 1 engagement

The industry continues to rise to the challenge of re-inventing the exhibition experience. New era of learning and engagement

Did you know? IAEE members have access to CEIR research as a benefit of Membership? Thank you! David DuBois, CMP, CAE, FASAE, CTA President & CEO, IAEE +1 (972) /