Feature
Peter Gillett, CEO, Zuant
“The exhibitor experience
of the future will be defined
by a full digital experience
from receipt of ticket within
an app that can be scanned
by exhibitors to take you
through into a new gateway
of exciting content and fast
follow-up.”
Simon Timmis, brand,
digital and impact
marketing lead, IET (The
Institution of Engineering
and Technology)
“Exhibitors need to have
the ability and confidence
to use exhibitions as a great
live marketing opportunity
for customers to truly
connect with and immerse
themselves in their brand
and understand what makes
them unique – rather than
a purely data gathering and
click collection exercise.
Marketers will need to be
confident in judging the
success of an exhibition
experience in different
ways; building success and
awareness over a longer
period of time and being
part of a range of channels
which come together to
drive a sale – rather than
solely focusing on ‘how
much did we get?’ 24 hours
afterwards.”
Jamie Vaughan,
head of
European sales,
Cvent
"In a word:
personalisation.
By embracing
technology,
exhibitors will
maximise their
impact onsite
with a system that
will tell them who
to meet and what
they’re interested
in, driving more
meaningful
and profitable
conversations.”
Matt Coyne,
commercial
director, GES
“Insight-led
exhibitor sales
will create more
transparent
and meaningful
relationships
with exhibitors.
As a result,
churn will
reduce, and
exhibitor re-
bookings will
increase.”
Brecht Fourneau, senior director –
EMEA Marketing, Aventri
“The exhibitor experience of the future
will be enriched by artificial intelligence,
data analytics and facial recognition
technology. These three trends below
are now in motion and poised to take off
in a big way over the next few years:
“AI will transform the experience.
Using wearable technology and
mobile event apps, more exhibitors
will get notifications when good
prospects are approaching their booth.
Notifications feature a headshot and list
of shared interests to spark meaningful
conversations.
“Personalisation will take a giant leap
forward. Exhibitor booths will be able
to greet attendees by name thanks
to facial recognition technology. As
facial recognition and AI continue
to gain traction, more exhibitors will
capture leads without having to ask for
names or scan badges. They’ll deliver
a more memorable experience and
give undivided focus to building quality
relationships.
“Proving a return on investment will
get easy. As more organisers adopt
data analytics platforms, they’ll provide
robust ROI reports showing: booth
traffic, leads captured, year-on-year
gains, visitor dwell time, repeat visits,
etc. More exhibitors will prove ROI
and gain valuable buyer insights their
companies can use to build brand
awareness and drive revenue.
Christopher Cashman, sales & events manager, LSO St Luke’s
“The days of passive attendance are numbered, so interactivity
will certainly define exhibitor experiences of the future. If visitors
can get the same experience from the comfort of their computer
screen they will, so exhibitors need to focus on the personal
touches to truly engage and encourage visitors. This will mean
more collaborative seminars, hands-on product testing
and closer interaction with key industry names to provide an
experience they couldn’t get anywhere else.”
April — 47