The impact of Covid-19 has transformed many industries, spurring companies to create new value propositions and evolve how they deliver services and interact with customers through digital solutions.
The exhibitions industry, an industry based on face-to-face connection, has been no different. In fact, it’s one of the industries that has had to adapt the quickest to keep the communities that rely on their platforms connected in the wake of an isolating pandemic crisis.
Now, exhibitions and tradeshows are being seen as a beacon of hope for small-to-medium-sized businesses (SMEs) – which make up over 80 per cent of the industry’s fee-paying customers – as governments look to stimulate economic growth and recovery. But the way connections are being made may have changed forever – and I believe, it’s for the better.
Digital: In it for the longhaul
Here in Asia, we were the first region to get hit by the pandemic, and the first to see the light at the end of the tunnel. At Informa Markets, we have successfully run in-person tradeshows in mainland China and Japan since last summer, as well as in Taiwan, Thailand, and India.
The feedback from business owners who have participated is that the power of face-to-face is integral to the way they do business. Integral to rebuilding disrupted supply chains. And integral to building new business relationships.
However, in almost all these areas, travel restrictions have remained in place – and so it’s been practical for us to organise local events, serving local communities, instead of the large-scale international tradeshows we are accustomed to.
Technology has enabled us to mimic that experience, extending the reach beyond the showfloor to international audiences eager to return to connective commercial experiences. And, based on what our customers are telling us about the success of that model, the digital elements that run alongside our physical events look to become an important part of our customers’ future marketing mix.
The hybrid event model is continually evolving, but the basic premise is that buyers and sellers have the option to participate in-person at the show – or online, connecting with one another virtually before, during and after the event – or both.
This varies market by market, depending on the needs of individual communities. It might be through content-rich virtual event programmes, matchmaking services, sampling services or full-scale online marketplaces where transactions can take place. Equally, it can be a mix of these with each offering its own value proposition and bringing unique benefits.
Data: Helping us intelligently meet customer needs
The disruption the pandemic brought to the exhibitions industry was genuinely unprecedented and it made us go back to the drawing board – starting with a better understanding of what our customers really need.
It’s all well and good creating new ways for buyers and sellers to connect – but if they’re not the connections they’re looking for, then we’ve failed. We introduced non-financial key performance indicators (KPIs) around customer engagement with our virtual events and other online platforms, to help us understand what our customers want – and whether we’re delivering the value they expect.
In this hybrid world, data is key – and first-party data is mission-critical to many businesses. For us, it’s no different, and so we have bolstered our expertise in data to become better at capturing behavioural insights to profile users, enabling us to deliver a more personalised experience.
Increasingly, our exhibitions are adopting omnichannel marketing strategies – and they too need to manage data more effectively to track and nurture leads.
Moving faster forward on sustainability
Informa Markets is not alone in taking this time of disruption to rethink how we can improve upon our environmental impacts. We are working across the industry to see how exhibitions can serve as a model for green initiatives, through more sustainable design practices, such as minimising material use, reducing waste and considering indoor air quality.
FasterForward is Informa’s approach to being a sustainable business and taking tangible action to champion sustainable practice across our business and industry. Our goal is to reduce our carbon and waste footprint to ultimately be carbon neutral by 2025 and net carbon zero by 2030.
One of the ways Informa Markets in Asia is working to reduce waste is by steadily lowering exhibitor stand heights across the region to reduce the amount of material needed to build them. We are also increasing awareness of a more reusable approach of frame and fabric stands, where all elements of the frame and fabric overlay can be disassembled and reused. At a pilot at our HOFEX event in Hong Kong, for example, this halved production time and reduced the amount of wood used in construction by more than two thirds.
Elsewhere in Asia, at Children-Baby-Maternity Expo, we removed all carpet, saving around 120,000m2 of carpet a year, and our ProPak Asia show in Thailand worked with its venue’s charity partner to donate 40 cubic metres of PET plastic waste from the event, which was then recycled into medical equipment.
Ultimately, we are committed to developing new approaches to set the standard for sustainable events across the region and sharing our experience with others wherever possible.
A better tomorrow
The pandemic posed incredible personal and professional challenges, but if I can find a silver lining, it’s that it created space that allowed us to re-evaluate the value and impact we provide our customers and develop complementary experiences that improve the way we come to market, the way we connect people, and the impacts we have on our communities.
While we see the lasting value in the in-person experience, perhaps now more than ever, we also have built digital and data solutions that improve and extend connections to keep the communities we serve in business, with the right people, year-round. And that will be the differentiator in what keeps our business, and our customers’ businesses, resilient for the long-term.
Margaret Ma Connolly is president & CEO – Asia at Informa Markets. The Informa Markets business in Asia delivers over 300 exhibitions across China, India, Japan, Korea, Taiwan and South-east Asia, which include Furniture China, Cosmoprof Asia, CPhI India and Food & Hotel Asia.
Connolly joined UBM in 2008, which combined with Informa in 2018. She has extensive experience in managing diverse business portfolios and building cross-cultural high-performing teams.
Thirty-four individuals and organisations which have shown extraordinary resilience by adapting their business models and products to the changing landscape of tourism amid the Covid-19 pandemic were recognised at the Singapore Tourism Awards 2021, which took place virtually for the first time on Friday (July 23).
Organised by the Singapore Tourism Board (STB), this year’s ceremony was graced by minister for trade and industry Gan Kim Yong. There were 77 finalists nominated across the award categories of Experience Excellence, Enterprise Excellence and Customer Service.
Xperience DMC’s Fascinating World of Aviation PLUS Exclusive Hangar tour was one of two winners of the Outstanding Tour Experience under the Experience Excellence (Leisure) award category, for presenting Singapore’s unique aviation history with a special focus on Seletar Aerospace Park.
The other winner was Tribe Tours, whose Chinatown Murders tour was recognised for its use of gamefication and storytelling to bring a precinct tour to life.
Messe Berlin and Milken Institute Asia Center were both named Outstanding Event Organiser under the Experience Excellence (MICE) award category. The former was recognised for testing the hybrid event prototype for safe business events with TravelRevive, while the latter for combining virtual and holographic components with an in-person event at the Milken Institute Asia Summit 2020.
Sentosa Development Corporation (SDC) was one of two winners for the Outstanding Marketing Idea under the Enterprise Excellence award category, which recognised businesses that displayed agility and innovation with new marketing campaigns to engage audiences despite the challenging environment.
SDC’s Virtual Sentosa campaign allowed homebound travellers to digitally explore Sentosa island through Sentosa Crossing, a digital reimagination of the holiday island, its own version of the popular Nintendo Switch game, Animal Crossing. The campaign became Sentosa’s top-performing campaign in 2020.
The other winner, Skypark Sentosa by AJ Hackett (Bungy Holdings Singapore), was recognised for its No Scream Challenge campaign, where participants who resisted a scream got their next jump free, and those who screamed received an ice-cream treat.
This year’s ceremony also featured three new awards – Special Award for Sustainability, Special Award for Most Exemplary Employer, and Special Award for Community Care (Business and Individuals). Seven organisations and two individuals were honoured under the Special Recognition category.
Mandai Park Holdings and Resorts World Sentosa were each awarded the Special Award for Sustainability for their contributions to environmental sustainability.
Wildlife Reserves Singapore and Gardens by the Bay were each conferred the Special Award for Most Exemplary Employer for developing and implementing impactful policies to retain and retrain employees during the pandemic.
Marina Bay Sands, Resorts World Sentosa and SATS-Creuers Cruise Services & Star Cruises received the Special Award for Community Care (Business) for stepping up as leaders for positive change during the pandemic and displaying care and selflessness for the wider community.