93%
Case study
of visitors said that they met
their objectives at EDEX 2018
Case study
Egypt Defence Expo
3-5 December 2018
Show summary & objectives
EDEX was a launch event organised by Clarion
Events for the Egyptian Armed Forces, with a
brief to demonstrate military capability and
also offer Egyptian companies a platform
to showcase equipment and services to an
international audience.
EDEX was tasked with highlighting how
knowledge transfer partnerships could work
and, ultimately, serve as a meeting ground for
the next agreements to be forged.
A hosted VIP programme with senior
decision-makers was another important
element of the exhibition - the first tri-service
defence exhibition to take place in Egypt.
The brief was to deliver 10,000 visitors and
300 exhibitors across three exhibition halls
(30,000sqm gross space).
The Egyptian Ministry of Defence wanted an
event that could compete with existing defence
exhibitions, and find its place on the calendar.
Egyptian President El-Sisi was in attendance.
The number of commercial partners present,
along with the countries represented would be
metrics used to evaluate success for a show that
would be the first world-class event of its type
in Egypt.
Delivery
The Egypt International Exhibition Centre
in Cairo was completely utilised with the
presidential opening ceremony taking place at
a 4th hall.
Visitors from 84 countries attended along
with 62 official delegations that included
Ministers, Chiefs of Staff and senior authorities
from all over the world. Final attendance
numbers reached 30,141 people across the
three-day event.
Clarion worked with 47 international and
local media partners to promote the event and
there were 21 country pavilions.
w w w.exhibitionworld.co.uk
Visitor satisfaction
Branding
With EDEX being a launch event, it was
important that someone viewing the
branding for the first time could easily
identify that it was a defence exhibition
in Egypt.
The main logo featured the pyramids
and the sphinx – to reflect the location,
along with a warship, helicopter and
artillery vehicle – to reflect that the
event is tri-service (land, sea and air).
The red, gold and black colours were a
striking part of the campaign and EDEX
branding was placed on all screens at
the main airport terminal.
Social Media
The show’s social media channels ran
content for 12 months prior to the event
and the content strategy included a
mixture of high-quality images acquired
from the Egyptian archives, as well
as behind-the-scenes pictures of the
Egyptian military delegation visiting
overseas shows to promote EDEX in the
lead up to the event.
Onsite visitor features
Opening Ceremony – The opening
ceremony was held on Day 1 and was
attended by heads of state and led by
President El-Sisi.
Media Centre – Over 300 media
personnel from 147 outlets registered
to attend.
Static display – The outdoor helicopter
static display provided visitors with the
chance to get up close with something
that would otherwise be completely
out of reach. The Egyptian MOD also
displayed various hardware and
inflatable decoys, which were a major
draw for visitors.
Band Parade – With 300 members of
the military band performing outside
the venue throughout the event, visitors
could feel the “wow” factor as they
arrived.
Air show – The air show gave visitors
something exciting to watch and let
them see aircraft in action that they
wouldn’t usually see.
Fireworks display – The event concluded
with a huge reworks display.
Key measures of success
30,141
376
Exhibitors
Total visitor
numbers
4,500
sqm of exhibition
space rebooked
$3.5m
vs
$6.9m
Target revenue
for the event
Final achieved
revenue
78% of exhibitors to return in 2020
The 2020 edition will use all four halls
and is expected to sell out. Organisers are
also planning to add a Security Zone for
company’s looking to provide security
solutions to the defence sector, as well as
conference theatres on the show floor
EDEX was the largest launch in 72
years by Clarion Events and the 2018
edition won Best International Trade
Show at the 2019 EN Awards in London.
Issue 2 2019
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