Participating in a national Pavilion, versus having ones own stand. 

If you are an exhibitor who wants to explore new overseas markets for your products, in countries where you have not exhibited before, you are faced with challenges. Questions arise, like:

• Will I find the right target group?
• Will I present myself in the right way, that my message in this different culture get’s across?
• Will I be faced with technical hurdles, which I don’t know how to approach?
• Will I block too much of my capacity with the preparations?
• Will I ever know what the final amount of all costs involved ends up to be?
• Is it all worth the effort?

• You keep your costs low
• You keep your organizational efforts low
• You keep your “risks” low
• You draw from the know-how of others
• You profit from the established advertising, events and invitations
• You save on costs for marketing/advertising
• You feel home and safe amongst like-minded exhibitors

CON’s

• You have no individual identity
• You are not recognizable as market leader
• You are standing in the same greeting-line with your competitors
• The overall design does not match your corporate identity
• You do not have enough space to show your graphics and displays
• You have no privacy with your clients (this list can go on, depending on your individual situation)

If none of the CON’s weighs heavy enough, that it would not be contra-productive for what you want to accomplish, and/or the show is in a “test-market” and no-one knows what the outcome will be anyway, you might as well go for your space in a pavilion.

If the CON’s are unacceptable for you, do not panic, there is help available.

Preparing a participation in a show abroad for you, is in general not much different from any of the local shows, that you attend for the first time. You just have to talk to the right people. Where you start is definitely with the show-organizer, and his demographics. Find out what importance the show has in that market, who the visitors are, how many will come, what the structure of the show is (open for public, professional days, etc.), how did your competitors present themselves in that show before, and decide on the right amount of space for you (if you can, involve your exhibit house in that decision).

Next, get together with your local exhibit house, and find out if they have international experience and contacts. Ask EDPA (Exhibit, Designers and Producers Association), they have strong ties to their counterparts in the world, and will provide you with on-site exhibit-builder-contacts. Or, find yourself an international Trade show-Consultant, right here in the United States. There are also branches of European and Asian exhibit-builders here in the States.

Present them with your findings from the Show-Organizer and your own specific trade show-concept, and let them take it from there. They will suggest if you should ship a booth, or maybe more economically rent on-site. If you made the right choice, they will even take care of the production of your handouts in the local language, and arrange events and invitations for you.

A good alternative to a pavilion can be a joint venture with a recognized leader in a certain industry. If for example you are the manufacturer of a classy, wooden Steering-Wheel for cars, you might want to ask a leading luxury-car-manufacturer, to take you under their wings for a nominal fee of what you would ever pay for your own booth, and profit from the lavish infrastructure of their booth and their highly qualified visitors.

To your success,