Exhibition marketing in the Big Data age

Reporter： At the internet age， how to leverage new technologies and mobile devices to innovate exhibition marketing？

Ben： In this age and time， there are so many ways we can leverage new technologies in like the Internet as well as mobile to enrich the experience for exhibitions onsite， drive awareness and promotions leading up to the fair， and also help to make operations for an exhibition more efficient. There are actually so many practices and applications for technology to be used to enhance exhibition operations and experiences but I would like to name just a few per the three areas mentioned above：

First， in terms of enriching onsite experience for attendees with technology we now have the ability to help visitors better navigate through large and small fairs through the use of mobile apps as well as help them to plan meetings and learn more about exhibitors ahead of time.

Second， in terms of helping to drive promotions via technology， the Internet has certainly help change the landscape in which information is shared and received. Social media as just one example is channel in which we can cost efficiently and interactively connect with our audiences and industry communities regarding our fairs’ subject matter to help create interest and awareness but also to help us （as organizers） better understand the needs and opinions of the actual people we are hoping to serve better.

Last， in terms of operations， technologies such as RFID， QR codes， and NFC enabled applications help us to determine the traffic patterns of our visitors during fair times whereas online tools like Online Exhibitor Service Manuals and portals help our exhibitors and sponsors to receive needed information in quick and“green” ways.

Reporter： What is the development direction of modern exhibition marketing？

Ben： Very good question indeed！ Though I cannot speak for all exhibition organizers， I can say that UBM and UBM Asia aim to create unique and valuable interactions and experiences at our fairs. What I mean by this is that we want to be able to service our stake holders （both visitors and exhibitors） in ways which will create business value for them and sustain longevity and repeat visits to future fairs. In short， we are tremendously customer focused.

Perhaps you may be thinking that the answer to this question would be something like “online technology” or“social media” or “mobile.” Of course these new opportunities， services， and technologies， are all part of a modern day marketer’s toolset； but they are just channels and should be used to enable the overall goal： good customer experiences—in UBM’s case.

Reporter： At 2014 CeBIT tech fair in Hanover， datability became the backbone of the event， the topics focused on how to efficiently process data from various recourses and apply data in a responsible and sustainable manner which pointed to a critical issuethe data security. What do you think of the relation between big data and data protection？

Ben： Generally speaking as trade organizers， I will simplify data security into two general areas and examples with my opinions：

First， data security and protection within the realm of responsibility of the organizer. As fair organizers who have accumulated visitor data for the purposes of marketing promotions to our fairs， it is our responsibility to firstly abide but the appropriate email and mailing laws per each country in which the contact was made. Secondly， it is important for us as marketers to smartly take care of our data by making logical choices beyond the realm of what is legal and what is not. One example for instance， is do we consider that behind that data set that there are actually real people who get annoyed with too many or poorly constructed emails？

In addition， in terms of data security as protecting databases from internal or external parties who aim to steal and/or sell our data to others， this remains a controversial and important issue. There are many processes as well as tools which enable individual data security for a company. Restricted access levels for individuals remains one of the top solutions for most groups. However， typically the trade-off many companies and organizations think about is how many levels of security is enough to help protect the one’s data but at the same time not make it so difficult for end users （marketers for example） to access？

Reporter： Global big data is still an inchoative concept； many enterprises realize the importance and benefits of big data while many are deficient in professional analysis and applications of big data. Given the development trend and potential problems of big data， what challenges do you think China exhibition industry will face in applying big data？ How to address these issues？

Ben： Again a very good and very direct question！ I feel for me to best give advice on this matter， it would depend on the individual Chinese exhibition organizations or companies and at which level they are already comfortable in using and manipulating data in general. For Chinese organizations who are more advance in terms of data management and are ready for big data， there so many tools and services that enable individuals to better understand and process big data. Many of these tools are “visualization”tools which take big data sets and interpret them in graphs， charts， and other visual ways as to help the viewer better understand their own data. UBM Asia for example uses versions of Tableau software to interpret our big data. For Chinese companies who are not quite at this level yet， they should consider what are the reasons why they may not be ready for big data analysis. I reckon the answer is that their existing data could be managed better.

Reporter： Currently， big data are widely applied in large corporations while rarely applied in SMEs， what do you think are the possible reasons？ What should we do to encourage SMEs to absorb and efficiently apply big data， where should they start？ And how to implement？

Ben： Well， likely the answer as to why big companies are investing in Big Data already is because their operations and type of business is firstly very data driven and dependent on good data analysis； second， also they have the resources to invest in people and technologies to better interpret their big data. Companies which always come to my mind in this category for me are e-commerce companies like Alibaba and Amazon. If you can imagine， these sites rely heavily on understanding online behavior and analysis of their visitors as to drive better online “experiences” and ultimately purchases. They will of course spend more money on data analysis than say perhaps direct mailing.

As to how do we get SMEs to efficiently apply big data， actually I would like to take a step back on this and similar to my answer to last question， I feel that if SMEs are not ready to take on understanding Big Data well because they do not yet have the need or resources to handle then that is fine. We need not follow every “marketing buzz” item if it does not make sense. The better question to ask， I believe， is how we make better use and sense of our existing databases.