The pitch: Winning the battle for hearts and minds

By DONA WHITE

Every year the marketing battle gets fiercer. It's harder to engage cynical consumers, build brands and foster "intimate" relationships with target markets, creating the brand loyalty that ultimately transfers into sales.

Marketing experts point to integrated marketing as the best way to touch the hearts and minds of consumers and increasingly they are including exhibitions, trade shows and events in the mix.

No other medium offers companies mass - and targeted - exposure, enabling them to reach significant market numbers within a defined time, a managed space and face to face.

Exhibitions tap into basic human drives. As sensual beings we like to see how gadgets work, taste a rich new chocolate drink, smell a wine's fruity bouquet and feel the softness of a baby blanket. Using our senses to physically assess a product, and meeting the people behind it, connects us to the brand and helps to develop loyalty.

Exhibitions provide the ultimate opportunity to intimately engage with consumers on a personal basis. This is the only medium to provide customers with a showcase of "living brands" under one roof, and shepherd them to each selling opportunity.

Show visitors want information about products and services. They want to sample and experience and they want to buy. Uniquely, exhibitions introduce you to people who pay to hear your sales pitch.

Exhibitions aren't just about turnover but can help you meet other objectives. One company might want to drive sales, but other targets are just as important for long-term success.

Leads, information gathering, product launches and market positioning can all be achieved.

As the inaugural president of the New Zealand chapter of the Exhibition and Event Association of Australasia, and with 16 years in the exhibition industry, I am passionate about the role exhibitions fill.

I know that 75 to 90 per cent of people who attend my shows buy something, while on average 85 per cent will use information gained and relationships formed to make future purchasing decisions.

That stacks up well against the 50-50 rule of advertising, where we know half works but we're not sure which half that is.

Australian exhibitions are an A$2 billion ($2.27 billion) industry. There is plenty of scope for the New Zealand industry to make a comparably significant contribution to our economy.

Event, exhibition and trade show organisers need to do more to promote the potential of our shows, and to let more people know how to get the most out of events.

As an industry we need to increase our professionalism - which is one of the aims of this new chapter of EEAA. We are starting to compile credible industry research, set up support systems to develop professionalism and educate the market.

Exhibitions and events provide a unique opportunity for personal interaction between an organisation and the people it wants to sell to, influence or win over.

If you want to engage consumers in two-way dialogue and let them experience your brand, then excluding exhibitions from your marketing mix is a short-sighted option.

* Dona White is inaugural president of the New Zealand chapter of the Exhibition and Event Association of Australasia and a director of North Port Events, responsible for the Food Show, the Visionary Living Show and the ASG Parent and Child Show.

* The Pitch is a forum for those working in advertising, marketing, public relations and communications. We welcome lively and topical 500-word contributions.
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