Exhibition World Supplements Italy Supplement | Page 5

Italy Supplement many exhibitor-producers exploit their cultural skills, creating stylish and technological innovations, customer prototypes, ideas for the future, artistic workings and ad hoc products, often in collaboration with famous stylists and designers. The stand installations, full of creativity and design expertise, play their part in presenting innovation. It is no coincidence then, that the leading Italian trade shows are in sectors in which aesthetic creativity and know-how dominate, e.g. fashion and accessories, jewels and cosmetics, furniture and interior- design, food, wine and hospitality. Even in the most advanced technological sectors (such as healthcare, automotive, machine tools, wood, iron or marble processing, textile and packaging machinery, agriculture machines) Italian suppliers are more noted for technology that can work in small batches and with a higher aesthetic content than for the economies of scale with larger volumes offered by foreign competitors. This expertise often means Italian companies are industry leaders, able to make the many trade shows they attend abroad attractive. This culture of the ‘good and beautiful ’ enhances both the major European hub events and shows in emerging countries, where the Italian pavilions are always extremely impressive. Artistic and cultural frames at trade shows Art and culture enhance Italian trade shows collectively. Over and above the evaluation of individual suppliers, the other important motivation for visitor-buyers at specialist trade shows is the need to see the principal trends in innovation and competition within the sector, in order to make the correct strategic choices for the future. In Italy, most organisers are linked to producer associations and invest w w w.exhibitionworld.co.uk considerably in the format of the trade show experience. Work on the trade show experience and visitor engagement often involves artists and innovators from different backgrounds, like cinema, theatre, the digital world and technologies from other sectors. A cultural interaction to perceive the future of the business Finally, Italy’s increased innovation has also been led by the ‘fringe events’ like the ‘Fuori Salone’ during the Milan Furniture Show. In this case, investments were initially sustained by the host cities (for example, artistic and cultural exhibitions organised by Milan City Council during the Milan Design Week and the Fashion Weeks, or events arranged by Florence City Council during the Pitti trade shows, or the Verona and Bologna cultural exhibitions during larger trade shows). Subsequently, exhibitors and organisers also contributed with their own events and substantial sponsorships of cultural initiatives that supported their image of creativity and innovation. The showrooms, shops and creativity clusters that sprung up during trade shows have also attracted strong interest. The Italian ‘fringe events’ have certainly offered considerably incentives to the local economy but are today highly appreciated above all by buyers as sources of inspiration for their own activities. Ultimately, the cultural initiatives that support trade shows help to sustain the vision offered by these events. Indeed, we should not forget that trade shows are successful because sophisticated information and knowledge such as expectations for the future cannot be digitalised - it is tacit, ‘in the air’, and, consequently, perceptible only to visitors through a physical interaction with the complexity of the business even in cultural terms. Why Italian companies love exhibitions so much... ENRICO GALLORINI CEO, GRS Research & Strategy Italy is a major industrial power, with a unique feature: most of its companies are small or micro. This is part of the secret of what makes ‘Made in Italy’ a success. The entrepreneur is in direct contact with the (often artisanal) product, and consequently with the market. This ‘total orientation to the product’ pushes companies to extremely vertical and focused elements of promotion. The small size of Italian companies entails a need for marketing and internationalisation. In specialised niches, nothing is more important, powerful and useful than trade shows. For this reason, all over the world, Italian exhibitors are among the more numerous groups, and usually the most satisfi ed. Issue 2 2018 5