As the world-famous Ideal
Home Show prepares for next year ’ s 100th edition , I started to ask myself the niggling question , “ why has this event lasted the test of time ? Why in a world of online shopping , failing high streets and troubled shopping centres , is this event such a success ?”
Firstly , the name . Ideal . Home . Show . It says it all – you don ’ t have to explain what it is , there ’ s no mystery in what you will be seeing and once we tell the potential visitors the dates , they come in their droves . OK , there ’ s a bit of science to it but deep down it is a simple proposition and what ’ s more , every person through the doors is coming to buy for their home . Visitors attend knowing it will be a full day out , they don ’ t get distracted by other outside influences as there are no other retail sites or shopping centres to distract our visitors . The Ideal Home Show is a home show , people want to buy things for their home . Simple .
The issue of the venue and its location is something that I ’ ve spent long hours thinking about . Why do some locations work and some struggle ? Let ’ s look at some that have failed – Glow at Bluewater was a concept that seemed great ( we attract x million people per year to the shopping centre , so an events space has to work ) but didn ’ t work in reality . As stated earlier , visitors come to the Ideal Home Show for a sole purpose ( to buy things for their home ), it is a singular activity and should never be muddled or distracted by
Ideal model for success
Media 10 founder and CEO Lee Newton ponders what makes the Ideal Home Show a success when high streets are floundering
other factors outside of the event space .
Bluewater failed because shopping centres are the worst places to hold an exhibition . I can ’ t state that strongly enough . Various organisers spent years putting on events which all failed at Bluewater because the visitor wasn ’ t invested
Lee Newton in the event , they didn ’ t stay long enough in the exhibition space to get their ‘ purchasing fix ’ because they were in a shopping centre with all the distractions and the allure of shops and restaurants . Therefore , the dwell time in the show was almost zero compared to a conventional exhibition centre and the
08 — May