“If you saw a magazine with just ads, why would you read it? Shows have to get away from just big exhibits and do what magazines do. They have to produce more content, education, networking and industry interaction,” says Rob Cappiello, Industry Vice President for the National Hardware Show, owned by Reed Exhibitions.

Cappiello — the former Publisher of Home Channel News, a leading retail home improvement news magazine — has built on his publishing experience and contacts to design a new content-rich model for one of the largest trade shows in the country. “To be relevant, the content must be integrated into the show, not just added on,” he says.

Based on analysis of the attendee demographics, the redesigned National Hardware Show has customized its content by market segment to better serve retailers’ needs, says Cappiello. Attendees will be offered 60 seminars clustered in 15 conference tracks, which are sponsored and produced by trade magazines or other independent groups such as the Home Improvement Research Institute. “Just like a magazine works with columnists and writers who are experts in the field, we tapped experts in the market to provide timely, relevant sessions,” he says.

Why did Reed bring a publisher on board to run this high-profile show that’s going head-to-head with its former association sponsor? Cappiello’s industry experience and contacts were clearly the driving factors. “As the industry continues to evolve, we can now leverage Rob’s knowledge, creativity and insight to plan the future direction of the National Hardware Show to serve exhibitors and attendees more effectively in the years to come,” says Dennis MacDonald, Senior Vice President for Reed. “The National Hardware Show will benefit from Rob’s fresh, new thinking.”

With so many similarities between publishing and trade shows, show managers, like Cappiello, who’ve made the switch may have the edge. They bring a unique B2B perspective from publishing that both complements and contrasts with trade shows. Find out what they know — and how to put these publishing strategies to work at your next show.

Strategy #1: Gain industry credibility and build loyalty
Publishers and show managers are perceived very differently in their shared market. “Publication editors have strong visibility in the industry,” says Don Pazour, CEO of PBI Media, who has spent nearly three decades in the communications industry, including 22 years at Miller Freeman, where he began as a magazine editor and eventually became CEO.

To produce compelling content 12 or more times a year, editors have to stay ahead of the knowledge curve in the industry and have a broad view of what’s going on across the industry. At the same time, editors also have a command of the details and a sense of what’s coming. Publications invest a great deal of time and resources in industry research and analysis, and they tend to be recognized leaders in their industry.

On the other hand, “You rarely see a trade show manager with equivalent standing in the industry,” says Pazour. Part of the reason may be that recognition of the editor’s knowledge and standing engenders a certain amount of loyalty. “Magazines have loyalty from readers and advertisers built around a person and leadership in the industry. There’s no loyalty to the manager of a show,” says Pazour.

In an effort to build loyalty, Cappiello publishes a blog (Web log) that’s posted on the show’s home page (www.nationalhardwareshow.com). “Editor’s columns give publications a personality and voice,” he says. “It establishes a relationship between a publication and its readers. Most shows don’t have that. We wanted to do something fun and lighthearted that people could relate to.”

Strategy #2: Know your audience
“Publications have to show value every issue, and they have to be able to sell that value to readers and advertisers,” says Kathy Wilson, Owner of Symmetry Consulting, an event marketing, research and sales company. Previously, Wilson served as Vice President Sales, Hannover Fairs, ICT Group, and worked on the launch of CeBIT America last year. Before joining CeBIT, she served as Associate Publisher for Network Computing, owned by CMP Media. “Like magazines, shows are going to have to demonstrate that they deliver what they promise.”

To show value to readers, publications carry on virtually constant research — reader surveys, focus groups, demographic studies — so they can produce the content to drive circulation. “Magazines are intimate with their readers,” says Pazour. “They understand their readers better than trade shows understand their attendees. Shows need to figure out ways to have more frequent contact with their attendees.”

Because publications monitor their readers and their industry closely and frequently, they can respond to changes in the market and adjust their content. Shows aren’t that nimble. “For a show, one of the worst things that can happen is the market turns left and the show goes straight ahead,” says Pazour.

For the National Hardware Show, Cappiello says he analyzed the market and determined that there are all types of other retailers, like Pier One, getting into the hardware market. “They’re looking for home improvement and home decorating products,” he says. The show is responding by changing its product mix, away from the traditional building products to adding small appliances, outdoor living, and lawn and garden products.

Strategy #3: Prove your value
Magazines have to do just as much research to prove value to advertisers. Advertisers, who often have many choices for ad placement, expect to see extensive data before they make decisions. “Media kits are much more complex than exhibitor prospectuses. There’s much more information because it has to appeal to several levels of decision makers to sell ads,” says Pazour.

Magazines have to prove their circulation numbers, generally by hiring an independent firm to conduct an audit. Trade shows have not been as rigorous about reporting attendance. “We need to do more research on attendees. In the publishing world, if you say you’re read by the CFO and you’re not, you’re held accountable. Shows need to give exhibitors the tools to make good decisions,” says Wilson.

“Trade shows have had less need to demonstrate demographics because the interaction is visible. Either it works or it doesn’t. When you put an ad in a magazine you don’t know what the reader thinks, so you have to produce statistics. At a trade show you can walk the floor and pick up the buzz. If you go to two shows, you know which one is better,” says Pazour.

But the marketplace is changing for shows. Exhibitors are beginning to act more like advertisers. They’re expecting to see more research-based data. “Show attendance has been declining in the past few years, and exhibitors have become more selective. Things aren’t getting bigger and better every year,” says Pazour. “Exhibitors want more than buzz. They’re asking more questions, and they need more explanation. Sophisticated companies want audits. They want to know the number of competing exhibitors and the number of real buyers coming to show A or show B.”

Increasingly, shows, like magazines, are being scrutinized by more layers of management. “More people than ever before are involved in the buying process,” says Wilson. “It’s not just marketing.” Other departments, like purchasing, have to sign off on the choice of a show. “They have no vested interest. They’re only interested in the numbers.”

This is especially true when dealing with agencies, and more and more exhibitors are turning to them to help them make event marketing decisions (for more on this trend, see “The Opportunists,” from the April 2004 issue of EXPO). “If you don’t have the numbers, agencies aren’t going to recommend your show. It’s too risky,” says Wilson. “Like ad agencies, event marketing companies have to have the facts. And it’s the booth salesperson’s responsibility to help them understand your numbers and the audience.”

In addition, a number of shows are taking a more active role in vendor success. They’re adding pre- and post-show support services to help exhibitors increase their ROI. For example, some show organizers are setting up appointments with qualified buyers, providing free Web-based training for exhibitor staff and sharing lead retrieval. TechTarget, an integrated IT media company based in Needham, MA, builds a database that captures a profile of attendees, including their budgets, what products they buy and what they plan to buy in the next quarter, which it shares with vendors.

Strategy #4: Provide compelling content
“Magazine content is the model for show content,” says Kevin Beam, Vice President, Storage and Security Groups for TechTarget, which has one editorial director to manage both publications and events. “Like magazine content, show content has to be independent and unbiased. Exhibitors can’t participate in the content part of the event, but they do benefit from the content because they meet decision makers who are there to solve specific problems.”

Many shows that are beefing up their content are also changing advisory boards to look more like magazine advisory boards — fewer exhibitors and more independent industry experts. “We have assembled a steering committee of seven world-renowned photographers,” says Kathy Schneider, Group Publisher for Studio Photography & Design, which is launching the Photo Imaging and Design Expo, May 5-7, 2004 in San Diego. The committee oversees content and vets speakers. “We’re appealing to high-end specialists, and our content has to drive attendance.”

Besides a full range of seminars, the Photo Imaging and Design Expo will feature content on the show floor. Attendees can observe a live fashion runway and wedding shoots during which they can ask the experts questions. “Exhibitors are coordinating booth demonstrations and speakers with the seminar topics so education is ongoing all day,” Schneider says. The content focus on the show floor gives exhibitors more opportunities to demonstrate their products and interact with qualified buyers.

These buyers usually rely on trade magazines to identify trends and provide forecasts, using market research. Cappiello is taking a page from publishing by funding proprietary research that will be presented for the first time at the show. “We’re doing this to serve the industry and to put the show at the center of the market,” says Cappiello. The results of the study, conducted by the Home Improvement Research Institute, an independent nonprofit retail research firm, will be given to registered attendees and exhibitors.

Strategy #5: Focus on the buyers, and the suppliers will follow
“A publication has to keep their audience fresh by continually qualifying its readers, or they won’t exist for long,” says Wilson. “Shows need to do the same thing. Many shows haven’t taken responsibility for getting attendees to the event and to the exhibitor’s booth.”

Shows are qualifying attendees much more precisely than they have in the past, in some cases reducing the numbers to improve the quality. “The biggest shows are still product-centric. Buyers have to come every year. But the trade show model is changing to more selective events matching high-end buyers and high-end sellers,” says Pazour.

TechTarget offers a good example of the new model of smaller, focused events that match the right vendors with the right buyers. Using the same information-gathering techniques for both magazines and shows, “We identify the top problems facing our readers/attendees. Then we set up shows organized around those themes,” says Beam. The company provides free admission to attendees but requires delegates to apply in advance and qualify by purchase authority, budget managed and company size. Some events are limited to 500 attendees, but they’re the gold standard as far as exhibitors are concerned: decision makers with purchasing authority and budgets of at least $1 million.

In April, TechTarget released the results of all 2003 conference audits, conducted by Exhibit Surveys Inc., Red Bank, NJ. The audits report that 100 percent of the attendees at TechTarget conferences have a role in purchasing the specific enterprise technologies related to each conference.

“If you can show a connection between who was there and who you said would be there, you’ll gain trust from exhibitors,” says Wilson. “But it all starts with content. If you understand your audience, build a product that interests them, communicate the benefits to vendors, then you can sell them a solution from the audience you’ve created.”

Patricia D. Sherman is a freelance writer and editor based in Dallas. E-mail: wrsherman@hotmail.com. Danica Vasos is Editor of EXPO. E-mail: dvasos@ascendmedia.com