By definition
a “gift” is something designed to be purchased and given to another without
payment as a sentimental token of goodwill. With this in mind, there was a huge
variety of different items available for trade buyers to peruse. We are sure
that from what was at hand, in the show as a whole, impressed a wide range of buyers
with very different focuses for their purchasing budgets, the range of
different sectors exhibiting together may also have opened up the minds of a
few buyers with very specific ideas about their customers tastes and
perceptions, encouraging them perhaps to expand their existing ranges beyond a
particular target market and therefore expand their reach and brand awareness.
The drawback to such a wide array of gift categories on show was that many of
the buyers encountered were very much “giftware generalists” seeking to find
affordable items with proven sales potential in a tight market and less willing
to experiment with new ideas limiting the sales potential for those with
forward thinking ranges.
Speaking from
the perspective of a potential
customer walking through the exhibition, I would welcome better organisation of
stands sorted by item or market category. This would direct me better to the
point of my interest and help me with easier comparison of products with a
specific focus. Being a new show in just its second year of trade, this would
be a difficult task in convincing a greater number of companies with similar
production lines to exhibit in a new location and particularly in a new city
away from both the capital and other established locations in the north such as
Harrogate. With fewer companies than normal, the show was small and very
diverse. There was little in the way of design led gifts, particularly gifts
with a homeware focus. This was both a help and a hindrance as we certainly had
a USP in offering something thoughtful, quirky and eyecatching as well asfunctional designed to appeal to those who would appreciate intelligent items,
however we were somewhat unexpected and stuck out like a sore thumb, so despite
having little competition, we also discovered that there was a lack of
appreciation for our offering on the whole.
Compared with our experience from design led shows, The
Manchester Gift Show was certainly more cost effective and food for thought in
terms of meeting new suppliers for ourselves who would adapt their ranges for
bespoke innovation, however, the show, in the end brought us only a few new
customers as there didn’t seem to be much in the way of a “Buzz” felt at the
show which usually comes about from widespread advertising. If the relatively
low visitor numbers were taken into account alongside consideration for the
shows infancy, we essentially did well.
This show has the potential to be something great and
a real must visit for buyers in the north, but in order to achieve this I cant
help but feel that the organisers need to be more ambitious from the outset,
increase their budget and go big. Making big promises to exhibitors and following
through by advertising properly through a more expansive network. This show
needs to guarantee a higher number of both categorised exhibitors and potential
visitors to really make its mark.
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