Research
A measured approach to success
Paul Colston explores the rising career of Mark Brewster , CEO and co-founder of UK-based research specialists Explori
E xperienced Londonbased exhibition organiser Mark Brewster launched Explori 12 years ago with the idea of filling a gap in the market for quality research and benchmarks for the exhibition sector .
He has since gone on to work with most of the top exhibition organisers and industry associations , measuring 7,000 or so events and recently having launched yet another product , Maxbi , into this market .
Already quite a body of work and achievements for us to discuss , but I wanted to know what were the original project ideas , motivations and founding aims at the outset of Explori ?
“ I had worked for a period at a trade show specific research business and the opportunity with
Mark Brewster benchmarking was very clear , that it added value to clients and gave critical context for interpretation .”
Having worked on the Body Beautiful show in the UK , Mark launched a patient feedback measurement system for cosmetic surgeons and aestheticians . “ I got quite far down the line but ran out of funding and executed badly . Although that particular opportunity didn ’ t come to fruition , I always believed in the value of benchmarking customer feedback so business can truly understand what good and bad looks like and raise their levels with evidence .”
The traditional boutique agency model may have proved not to be very scalable but Mark knew that software was .
That was back in 2007 . Then followed a return to Mash Media running shows in London such as Beyond Boundaries and directing the company ’ s publishing strategy , including the younger self of this journalist !
By the time Mark was ready to strike out again with a desire to move into SaaS , he had secured the support of Arran Coole , from event technology specialists ASP .
Initial success First early success ? “ Signing your first clients gives you confidence , of course , and one of my first deals was with Paul Byrom at Upper Street Events ( now Immediate Media ) who are still a loyal client today . Early adopters like Paul , saw our vision and understood the potential this level of insights and data could bring to their business and the wider exhibition industry .”
To deliver properly meant taking on board a lot of initial feedback and recalibration . More feinthearted souls may have stalled at
24 Issue 5 2023 www . exhibitionworld . co . uk