Virtual Exhibitions – Trade Shows of the Future
Published on : Friday 02-07-2021
Virtual exhibitions or online exhibitions have sprung up to fill the vacuum left behind by physical exhibitions, says PV Sivaram.
It has been over a year that physical exhibitions have taken place. In this period, many changes have happened in the way businesses are executed, and industrial operations are carried on. Due to restrictions on physical attendance at offices and factories, companies adopted remote working (work from home) as an alternative way to keep operations going. To this end, more reliance has been placed on the tools from Information Technology (IT).
Over the last few years, a wave is coming over the industrial landscape called Industrial Revolution 4.0. This new wave puts the technologies of IIoT, data analytics, artificial intelligence, and cloud technology as an important toolkit to improve operational excellence and customer centricity. These tools are deployed in various divisions of an enterprise – supply chain, manufacturing, quality control, safety, sales monitoring, and aftersales service and so on. The companies which have used these tools find a significant improvement in customer satisfaction and profitability.
As the thought process extends, the question arises – what of marketing? In consumer marketing, the internet is already a familiar tool. Social media is harnessed to deliver messages to prospective customers. And not just any messages, but those tailored to be of interest and relevance to the specific individual. The time has now come for the other segment that is B2B, to use these technologies.
For the B2B segment an important activity is the industrial exhibition. Market of industrial goods behaves in a different way compared to consumer goods. Presentation of products, sales discussions are oriented differently. More so in case of complex goods like automation, which essentially get incorporated into capital goods assets. The buyer segment is sophisticated and knowledgeable.
Is it a good idea to go virtual for such exhibitions?
We are talking of industry exhibitions, trade shows, essentially B2B events. We are looking at the positives and negatives of virtual exhibitions, without even the factor of the pandemic. We had examined in depth about the advantages and disadvantages of physical exhibitions in the previous article. This time round, we will discuss virtual exhibitions.
The last year has not been without any virtual shows. To fill the vacuum left behind by physical exhibitions, virtual exhibitions or online exhibitions have sprung up. There are several organisers of Virtual Show Platforms who are happy to arrange a show for you. Our inboxes got filled with invitations to online events – exhibitions, webinars and so on. The calendar was peppered with interesting events. When business appeared to be heading into troubled waters, it was a need to invest in marketing. Every company got tempted to jump on to the bandwagon. Many companies have staged online shows of their products, technologies and solutions.
But, alas, from the point of view of the visitors, the thing generically called ‘Zoom fatigue’ struck! The visitor count started dwindling.
But this is not inevitable. We need to format the virtual exhibitions so that we retain the advantages of physical exhibitions and completely avoid the disadvantages. The virtual media is very powerful, and indeed the future.
Innovations offered by virtual events
What are the features and facilities possible at a virtual event which is not easily possible in a physical event?
Flexibility is a first outstanding feature. A visitor can view the exhibition from the comfort of her office or home, at a time suitable for her. For example, fit in the exhibition visit in between two meetings. The visit can be as long or as brief as fitting. A virtual event offers itself to viewers around the globe. It could be possible to view the exhibition, without the feature of interaction, for a longer time than the exhibition is open.
Individualisation is a possibility for each visitor. As the visitor logs in (enters the venue), exhibitors can get alerted, and meetings can be set up. If the visitor indicates preference for a particular product range or industry vertical, path guidance can be provided to tailor-make his traverse of the exhibition. Language switching – for brochures, for visual messages, for audio track, would all be possible.
Data collection and tracking is a function also in a physical event, but online it is a different dimension all together. Data collected from the registration document of visitors can go directly into the exhibitor Customer database. But beyond that, the queries and the information provided can be recorded for later processing and follow-up. In the case of a virtual event, this ‘later’ could be just after a few hours or less.
Presentation of products and company. Here virtual media offer possibilities which cannot be imagined in the physical world. With the technologies of Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality (AR & VR), it is possible to transport the visitor into a totally immersive environment. By providing interactive controls, the visitor can create her own experience of the product, not just in exhibition, but in the Virtual world of the solution domain.
Cost as always is an important concern. Virtual events eliminate many costs associated with setup of a physical exhibition stand. For a visitor as well, it is a comfortable and economical option, saving cost of travel, hotels and so on. It also avoids the need of being absent from the workplace for a longer time. Rental costs for space would be lower as well. Logistics cost for transport of material is avoided.
Green – a physical exhibition uses up a lot of non-renewable resources – electricity, wood, plastic, paint and so on. Transportation of machines and assets also consumes energy and adds to carbon load. We don’t even raise the issues involved in exporting and reimporting exhibits.
Are we ready to switch to online?
The mood speaks for it. We have spent a year without exhibitions. It is time to find another mode to present ourselves. But it will be unwise to switch too fast to digital, without understanding the medium properly. The ecosystem too needs to mature. Whereas we do not need services of electrical, aircon, etc., technical teams, a new set of specialists are needed now. Like for example graphic designers, web page designers, and some more.
It would be rather insipid to dish out the exact replica of a physical exhibition on a computer screen. The online medium has many more possibilities. Most importantly, content presentations can be interactively formatted by each visitor individually. An AR experience can provide richer experience. The exhibition becomes available 24x7 round the globe. But all this means gearing up in a different way by the organiser, and the exhibitor. Many queries need to be answered in a chat mode, immediately.
There are other concerns. First big one is about cybersecurity. Then we need to think of information security, privacy and confidentiality. At the connectivity level, the IT infrastructure like servers, broadband and so on have to be fine-tuned. The experience has to be tuned to work on various platforms like laptops, smartphones, and tablets; and on various browsers, etc.
In conclusion, it looks like physical exhibitions are no longer so attractive. And, in the medium term, it is not feasible. Combination of these two arguments push us towards online exhibitions. We would like to use this opportunity to come out with innovative ideas to present ourselves as a company and our products and services.
There are features of the physical exhibition which we will miss. More than anything else, networking with professionals in physical presence generates warmth and memories which lay the foundation for future cooperation. But today, most of our interaction is through web meetings and phones. Virtual exhibitions cater to these needs by setting up meeting rooms and chat corners, etc.
Change is not easy, but new is inevitable
PV Sivaram, Evangelist for Digital Transformation and Industrial Automation, is mentor and member of steering committee at C4i4. He retired as the Non-Executive Chairman of B&R Industrial Automation and earlier the Managing Director. He is a past President of the Automation Industries Association (AIA). After his graduation in Electronics Engineering from IIT-Madras in 1976, Sivaram began his career at BARC. He shifted to Siemens Ltd and has considerable experience in Distributed Systems, SCADA, DCS, and microcontroller applications.
Sivaram believes strongly that digitalisation and adoption of the technology and practices of Industry4.0 is essential for MSME of India. He works to bring these concepts clearer to the people for whom it is important. He believes SAMARTH UDYOG is nearer to the needs of India, and we must strike our own path to Digital Transformation. Foremost task ahead is to prepare people for living in a digital world. He is convinced that the new technologies need to be explored and driven into shop floor applications by young people. We need a set of people to work as Digital Champions in every organisation.