Interview
size and just under half ( 40 %) plan to reduce spend on their stand design and build . Where the cuts are also seen however , is on travel and accommodation expenses , with 58 % cutting in this area .
Left : Sophie Holt , managing director , Explori
Below : Marketers who didn ’ t use trade shows before the pandemic
New audiences Surprisingly , last summer only about half of the visitor respondents had participated in a digital event of any form and this has not increased substantially , hovering around 60 %.
However , through digital , we are seeing a potential new audience emerge who plan to attend live events when they return .
From our core audience , of those who exhibited at a new digital event last year , nearly half ( 48 %) say they are very likely to exhibit live at the event given the chance . Over half of all visitors are keen to attend a live event where they have previously participated in some way .
In this round , a new group , was surveyed for the first time . Made up of senior marketing decision makers based in the US or UK who had not used trade shows as a marketing channel prior to the pandemic , around 70 % of ‘ the panel ’ said they are very keen to participate in live events for the first time as a consequence of exhibiting or sponsoring a digital event .
This indicates that the digital events that arose to meet a specific
Below : Existing exhibitors
Only 64 % of exhibitors have participated in digital need during the pandemic have been instrumental in attracting new audiences to trade shows . Although the core exhibitor audience has been lacklustre about digital , ‘ the panel ’ are highly positive about it as a channel . This group expects digital to remain part of their marketing mix going forward and there seems to be great potential to convert them to be exhibitors at live events too .
Will hybrid be best of both ? There is no evidence of a large scale shift away from live events to digital , with exhibitors who had attended both live and virtual events rating live as a single channel more highly while hybrid was seen as a distraction from the overall experience . Those who are
Increase driven by sponsorship & virtual booths
Virtual booth is the most used option – 38 %
67 % more likely to have sponsored a digital event
80 % have participated in digital
44 % more likely to organise their own digital event
more positive about hybrid tend to have participated in virtual events generally since the start of the pandemic .
Although it appears digital has the potential to capture a new audience , it is important that the scepticism of the current audience and the middling experiences they have had around digital , is not ignored .
In summary Our survey reflects the optimism that live events will soon return to pre-pandemic levels felt by the exhibition industry .
Budget cuts have not been as harsh as predicted and spend is expected to return to 2019 levels within an average show cycle . Quality shows are likely to be protected and digital has opened up new opportunities to convert naysayers to the power of live !
The full report will be available to UFI members in August 2021
50 Issue 4 2021 www . exhibitionworld . co . uk