- Schedule your appointments
I can’t recommend highly enough the importance of planning your meetings at exhibitions well in advance. This may sound obvious, but it’s something that’s often left to the last minute.
Brand owners should invite on- and off-premise buyers and operators to meet them on their booths and state clearly why they want to meet. Attendees, meanwhile, should also be proactive in arranging meetings. I would encourage them to not limit these to meeting with the brand owners they currently work with, but to take the opportunity to see what other new and exciting brands are exhibiting that may be of interest to them.
In the global travel retail channel in particular, brand owners should make visitors aware of the brands that are strong in key domestic markets, as well as those in strong growing beverage alcohol categories.
- Set your objectives
Brand owners need to be clear on their objectives when meeting with operators. Rather than show them a wide range of brands, they should focus on the ones that make the best sense for the operator’s customers.
Meetings shouldn’t be one-sided on the part of the brand owner; they are also a great opportunity for visitors to share their objectives and plans and for the brand owner to ask questions. This will enable brand owners to tailor their proposals accordingly and ensure they are focused on working with the operators to meet their objectives.
- Split your meetings into three
Meetings work best when split into three sections: visitor objectives and plans; brand owner presentation; questions and next steps.
For more formal meetings, it’s a good idea for brand owners to have a pre-prepared presentation outlining their key objectives, future plans and main initiatives for the year ahead. These events are a great opportunity for buyers and operators to find out what’s new and scheduled for the coming months.
- Maximise your networking opportunities
Trade shows are great places to network with all stakeholders in the beverage alcohol industry, so take full advantage of the social events that are planned. These offer a rare opportunity, not just for brand owners and sales operators to connect, but also to meet with the trade press, suppliers and sales outlet representatives.
- Sign up to conference sessions
There are always great insights to be gathered at trade shows, so make the most of the conference sessions. These are often very interesting and insightful, allowing you to pick up information to use in your meetings during the exhibition and beyond.
Great insights can also be obtained from informal discussions away from your more formal meetings, as well as from the trade publications that are available for delegates to pick up. These insights are often around topics such as consumer trends and behaviour, category and brand dynamics, and sales operator strategy.
- Walk the floor
Take your own tour of the halls and check out as many booths as possible. For brand owners, it’s important to not only check out what your competitors/peers are prioritising, but also to take note of what brands are doing in other categories. At GTR-focused exhibitions, for example, inspiration and learnings can come from fragrance, beauty, confectionery and fashion brands.
Sales operators should do the same, to see what new and emerging brands are on offer. After all, some of these will be the stars of the future!
- Offer premium sampling
Trade shows are amazing opportunities for sales operators to sample and experience the brands that are being exhibited. It’s important, then, that brand owners showcase their wares in a way that is premium and allows operators to try the ‘perfect serves’ for each one.
This means using real glasses, ice and, for those of you in spirits, having a mixologist on hand to make cocktails. It’s also a good idea to enable visitors to see the brand activity you have planned for the year – this could include merchandising ideas featured on the booth or experiential promotion mechanics.
Exhibitors and attendees invest a significant amount of resources (money and time) attending conferences and exhibitions, so it’s important to consider how to get the best return from them.
Hopefully, these insights will make sure the effort expended proves successful for everyone.
