Taking a show to a smaller city usually doesn’t make commercial sense. But if the show is at the heart of a nation’s industry, it can be an ideal way to tap into both a customer market and information resource.
France-based organiser Comexposium is taking its Sitevi wine machinery and equipment exhibition to one of China’s third-tier cities in an effort to capitalise on the local wine industry.
Sitevinitech launches in Yantai on June 20-22 this year, managed by Comexposium’s office in Shanghai.
The event will be preceded by a launch in Mendoza, Argentina, from 31 May to 2 June.Comexposium has also confirmed it will expand the brand further in South America by launching in the Chilean capital Santiago in 2013.
According to the firm, Yantai is the capital of the Chinese wine production industry, which would suggest it’s a worthwhile place to host a show in a country with an estimated population of 1,347bn people.
Deputy general manager of Comexposium Shanghai, Bjoern Kempe, believes the city’s reputation for food and wine makes it a prudent investment for the organiser. He spoke about how organisers should approach cloning exhibitions at the 2012 UFI Asia Open Seminar, which took place in Shenzhen, southern China, in February.
Kempe insisted that the Yantai venture would succeed. “Yes, you can bring shows into second and third-tier cities. For example the sales for our show in Yantai have been very good. It’s at the heart of the wine production industry in China. We are moving the show to the industry.”
Bringing the supply to the demand market
After the event, he told EW that Yantai is the heart of China’s booming wine growing industry, with the Shandong province accounting for more than 40 per cent of the output of China’s wine.
“The world-famous winery of Changyu based its headquarters in Yantai so we believe this region has a very high demand for viniculture equipments and technologies,” he said.
“We believe in the benefits of bringing the supply to the demand market.”
Sitevinitech is being organised as a joint venture with Vinitech, which has hosted four wine shows in Penglai, China. Comexposium is also partnering with the Yantai Asia Pacific Wine Bureau in a bid to attract more industry-versed visitors.
“The Yantai Wine Expo has a long and successful history, and every year companies from France, South Africa and Chile are their exhibitors,” said Kempe.
However, he acknowledges visitor promotion will be a major challenge for the expo.
“There are difficulties because Yantai doesn’t have a good international airport and other infrastructure benefits,” Kempe explained. “For visitors from other provinces we really need to deliver more value to make their trip more beneficial.
“Another challenge is the local mentality towards international participants. Often the services are not in the level of international exhibitions so our task is to explain slowly to build up a good partnership in a trustworthy atmosphere and to be very patient in terms of request and timing.
“We need to plan ahead as things move slower compared with first-tier cities.”
Kempe said the show will be promoted in remote provinces like Xinxiang, Gansu, Ningxia and Shaanxi, and the organisers will work further with local government to outline the requirements needed for an internationally organised show.
To promote Sitevinitech, an account was opened on microblogging site Weibo which helped the expo gain fans in the last four months.
The organisers also engaged a PR agency to provide support for communication in the remote provinces, to follow up with China’s 100 largest wineries, write press releases and chase leads with media partners.
“We also established good government contacts to all wine-related associations and bureaus in China but also development centres, research and development centres, universities and wine growers communities,” Kempe added.
Kempe said the show is targeting a 50 per cent ratio of international exhibitors, but admitted that the figure is likely to be 35 per cent for its first outing.
Preecha Chen, president of Reed Exhibitions Greater China, has also had experience running shows in third-tier cities. He revealed to EW that Reed China is making a concerted effort to invest in shows in China’s secondary, less popular exhibition cities.
“Our electronics manufacturing industry and giftware clusters each have a show in Chengdu,” he said. “Our pharmaceutical, medical and health care cluster also has a hefty presence in Hefei, where we currently host three shows annually. In Zhengzhou we have two events, and one each in Xi’an and Suzhou.
“Shows in the west of the country are expanding fast. For example, at the electronics manufacturing show Nepcon West, we are expecting to cover 50 per cent more exhibition space than in 2010.”
Chen believes these new cities are now emerging into the premier tier of China’s exhibition venues.
“Because they are developing so rapidly and constructing new, world-class venues so fast, they have made themselves a very attractive option for organisers of large trade shows,” he said.
“That’s the best way to ensure the exhibition industry’s growth – by elevating cities like Hefei, Zhengzhou and Suzhou to first choice trade show locations. And that is what Reed China is doing by positioning new events there.”
Chen says Reed has used research from The China National Bureau of Statistics, which has put together a list of the country’s 20 fastest growing cities. He thinks these regional cities are set to develop into key commercial hubs.
“Reed already has a presence in several of these [second-tier] cities, and we are looking to expand even further,” he said. “Zhengzhou is what some might call a typical second-tier Chinese city.
“Industry growth was nearly 20 per cent in the first 11 months of 2011. More than that, the province of Henan, of which Zhengzhou is the capital, is attracting huge investment, not just from local capital providers, but from international investors as well.”
Chen believes the country’s manufacturing focus is seeing a definitive shift from the saturated cities of Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou.
“It’s a strategic move that makes sense because these cities have the labour force, space, transportation connectivity and rapidly developing infrastructure to become integral manufacturing centres, in the same way their larger counterparts have,” Chen said.
Kempe also addressed how organisers should approach cloning. “There is no best practice for cloning. Many brands do not allow differences between cloned shows, but I advise against a copy-and-paste. The danger is not addressing local issues.”
Taking a show to a second- or third-tier city may not suit all international exhibition organisers, but those with a sense of adventure may see this approach as a model for growth and a way to help re-evaluate routes into new markets.
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