Marouane
Franken tells

Choose, don’t lose!

It sometimes looks like a boxing ring: in the blue corner your marketing and communication budget, well-trained but a bit meagre; in the red corner half a dozen exhibition organisers who assess the opposition with a greedy look on their face. Ding-a-ling. Round one. Fight!



You know the opponent’s tactics. One by one they will try to get through your defence with arguments that launch you to the left, and then to the right again. ‘We have more visitors!’ ‘We've been around for longer!’ ‘We are more accessible!’ ‘Our event is taking place in a better period!’ ‘Our price per square metre is lower!’ Let them build up quietly, but never let your guard down. You will survive those first rounds of exploration with flying colours.



End of the third round. Now let’s go back to the blue corner for a sip of water and tactical consultation. Which arguments hit me in the face? Was I caught by surprise or are these matters really important for my trade fair strategy? When countering the attacks in the following rounds, this will become your only focus: does this argument help me to achieve what I want by participating in a trade fair?



Meanwhile, you know how each of the opponents builds up an attack. Many visitors from abroad? That’s not necessary, I be will focusing on my existing clients in the coming years. A high concentration of buyers? Never mind, my focus is actually on the maintenance department. Ground-breaking side program? Nice, but our innovations are still in the pipeline.



The defensive approach works. Some of the opponents have already used up all their gunpowder and are hanging knock-out in the ropes. Who is left? The two organisers with the strongest proposition. So it’s high time to start your final offensive: what is your real benefit from participating in a trade fair? Lots of demo space? Maximum visibility? A mini-event for your existing customers in the margins of the trade show? A database for targeted prospecting? Don’t lose out,

choose and launch your demand as a well-targeted blow. I’ll bet you the opponent will get down on his knees?

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