Crisis as opportunity: Since trade fairs have become almost impossible, organizers and exhibitors have become increasingly innovative, creative and experimental in order to reach the trade fair public. At GELITA, we too have had to find new ways to reach our customers, which is now greatly speeding up our strategic focus on digital.

March 2020. An entire industry is in crisis. After the initial shock of the global lockdown, many trade fairs were repeatedly postponed, canceled or changed into digital events for the time being. But even now, one year after the start of the coronavirus crisis, there is still no telling yet when “normal” fairs with the public can be held again. This also raises the question of what this “normal” will look like after the pandemic. Because the compulsion to develop alternatives has triggered a profound change in the trade fair landscape – or at least provided a strong impetus for changes that were already on the horizon.

Organizers and exhibitors alike are increasingly recognizing the advantages of this concept. As a result, the online events are attracting a trade fair public that had never visited a real trade fair before – at the last Vitafoods, this was around 40 percent. And for the companies, there is no need for costly travel, while they can still reach their target groups well and generate good quality customer data or leads for marketing. But the limits are also becoming clear: Communication is more difficult online than face to face. There are no informal conversations over a beer or a cup of coffee and the interpersonal aspect is lost.

Many organizers are currently remodeling their trade fair venues. They are optimizing them for mixed events with few seats on site and state of the art technology for online shows. Online platforms are also being improved to make it easier for the public and exhibitors to find each other. These include, for example, matchmaking using artificial intelligence (AI), the possibility of meetings and chats on the platform, and the simplest possible exchange of contact data.

At GELITA, we also reacted immediately to the cancellation of the classic trade fairs. After all, trade fairs are among the most important acquisition platforms for new customer business. We are mainly compensating for the loss of this communication tool with digital measures. For example, we are currently offering more webinars and podcasts, organizing online training for distributors and agents, and generating leads through various marketing automation campaigns. We are increasingly using mailing campaigns, landing pages, blog posts and social media posts to address our target groups with regard to the trade show organizers’ online or hybrid trade shows.

Nevertheless, we at GELITA are convinced that nothing can replace direct personal interaction between people. Which is why we, like you probably, cannot wait to be back live and “hands-on” at trade fairs around the world!