July in Washington DC saw AMR International run its second data, analytics and digital strategy conference, in partnership with Lipman Connects. 125 senior leaders from across the exhibition industry were keen to learn how to deal with the changing environment of exhibitions and specifically how to harness digital and analytics.
It is already clear that digital and data opportunities will drive industry growth more than stand sales. Organisers now have access to the data needed to understand their customers, both visitors and exhibitors, and to provide tangible returns on investment – often beyond the open days of the exhibition itself.
Marian Bossard, SVP of The Toy Association shared her experience in establishing, a digital, 365-day marketplace to complement the annual exhibition. Messe Munich, as explained by Vincent Aydin, introduced an open innovation platform that allows exhibitors to address product and market challenges through collaboration with individuals who may not even be exhibition participants.
An exhibition environment provides the perfect opportunity to collect data about customers, but the difficulty now lies in the strategic methods of assimilating such data, and translating into practical, actionable strategies, in a form that can be monetised and for exhibitions to achieve continued growth.
Therefore, the dialogue around data, analytics, and digital is not solely focused on technology. It is a discussion about the culture, skills, and capabilities required to drive transformation.
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