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visitors left quickly to spend their money in the hundreds of shops just outside .
Many years ago , we ( Media 10 ) made a huge mistake when we dipped our toe into the shopping centre event space with the Bluewater Christmas Market . For all the reasons already mentioned , we only did the event once and never entertained doing it again , as our exhibitors didn ’ t benefit from the thousands of people that visited the shopping centre . We were lured by the prospect of a huge audience but these visitors were not there for the experience we were offering – it has to be their sole focus or it simply will not work .
For any event to be successful , you have to tick all the boxes but keeping your visitors in your event for the longest time possible is one of the top five Media 10 tips . Shopping centres works
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“ At the Ideal Home Show 100 % of our audience are there for the event .”
against this very premise .
Another tip is making sure you get the right visitors . Having tens of thousands of people in a space doesn ’ t guarantee success … trust me , we saw this at Bluewater . Imagine the scene ; an irate exhibitor says that they are having a terrible show – and we say , “ but look , there are loads of people here ”. Yes , the wrong audience , wrong demographic , there for the wrong reasons . At the Ideal Home Show 100 % of our audience are there for the event . You need to match
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the buyer with the seller , the visitor to the exhibitor .
Think about it for a few minutes , where would you go to buy garden furniture ? Or for a sofa ? Not to a shopping centre – shopping centres visitors rely on a demographic looking for clothing , food , for kids to hang out in , etc . When was the last time you went to somewhere like Bluewater to buy something for your home such as a sofa , a bed , a table and chairs , wallpaper , carpet , garden furniture , a garden building , windows , doors , etc ), probably - like me - never ? It is why you won ’ t find these stores in a shopping centre – it doesn ’ t work for them or the visitor . If it worked , then there would be more of these stores in shopping centres .
If you want a sofa you go to a retail park , for garden furniture you go to a garden centre , or you go to somewhere like the Ideal
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Home Show where you can get all of this plus you see celebrities , room sets , advice centres , and all the stuff that we throw in to make it an experience . There is a science to this game and if you are looking to buy home products you go where they sell them … trust me , I ’ ve been there and got the t-shirt .
So , as I sit back and bask in the success of another fantastic Ideal Home Show , I now see why it works and why exhibitions work . After a devastating few years the last thing we need is to do damage to our industry – because if your clients aren ’ t successful , then your show isn ’ t successful and then ultimately the industry isn ’ t successful .
Events fail if you try to bend the rules and shoehorn in concepts that sound wonderful but are doomed from the start . All that glitters is not gold . EN
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May — 09 |