We invited Paul Woodward, chairman of Paul Woodward Advisory, to discuss his article: Too Big to Succeed. Within the podcast, our host, James Dickson, asked Paul on his professional background, the opinions expressed in his article and the history of trade shows.
Having been in the exhibition industry for over 35 years, Paul is justified in having perhaps the controversial opinion that trade shows are suffering a profound blow, drawing examples from Cebit, Baselworld and Interbike.
If exhibitions aren’t closing their doors for good, they’re making drastic cuts in order to preserve their presence in the trade show world: Cebit is gone and Baselworld has suffered a 50% reduction in exhibitors.
Though Paul commented that trade shows are still useful for smaller companies, he stated that a lot of bigger brands are asking questions regarding the effectiveness of these exhibitions. The development of technology has allowed businesses to invest money in digital marketing and their own events, but trade shows may no longer be a priority in the marketing budget.
Describing exhibitions he used to visit as a child, Paul suggested trade shows are still very similar today as they were back then. He agreed with James that, in times gone by, a trade show was a “key moment of the year” for businesses to promote their brand, whereas businesses nowadays have a plethora of marketing options at their fingertips.
Paul commented that, despite his article, he is “upbeat” about the future of corporate events but states that some may simply not be around forever. One of the reasons for this may be the effort put in by the businesses themselves, despite pumping their marketing fund into their exhibitions.
For example, a company may splash out on a stand, posters, banners and freebies at a trade show, but if the employee manning the stand doesn’t make the effort to engage with the audience and other businesses, the company will have little to show for its time there.
Podcast: Martijn Timmermans reviews storyboarding for planning events
Podcast: Erdal Kilinc, Deal Room Events, discusses networking at live events
Podcast: Michael Weiss, from Ai4, explores AI applications
Podcast: Jez Paxman from Live Union on the 'Anatomy of a Delegate'
Podcast: Dan Mason & Andy Sexton from 2LK discuss experiential marketing
Podcast: Mandy Mahil joins us from Mango Pie
Podcast: GL events UK & EIGHT PR discuss ‘The Good Event Guide’
Geoff Revill on KrowdSafe winning funding to improve event security after 2017 terror attacks
Podcast: Crucial FX’s Mark Rivkin discusses the Origin experience
Ravi Chalaka from Jifflenow on ROI
GL events UK & Ryder Cup unite to create 42nd golf tournament
Lime Venue Portfolio & HBAA’s, Jenner Carter, talks mental health first aid #MentalHealthAwarenessWeek
Nils Braude discusses new Twickenham East Stand
Richard Belcher – should I be using live-streaming to increase exposure of my event?
ExCeL London and its new ‘no plastic’ campaign
How to climb the Google ladder with your event website
Practical uses of technology at Bournemouth 7s Festival
Podcast: CEO and co-founder of Tito, Paul Campbell describes the fickle relationship between integrity and success
ExecSpace CEO, Emma Little talks ‘Behind The Business’
Join Podbean Ads Marketplace and connect with engaged listeners.
Advertise Today
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
The emPOWERed Half Hour
NABOR® TALKS
U.S Property Podcast
Aligned Money Show
The Ramsey Show
Planet Money