"Improvisation is required"

Reiner Habermann, head of exports, and Martina Grüner, responsible for exhibition organisation at Kermi GmbH, on their experience with central and eastern Europe.

As an internationally operative company, Kermi GmbH exhibits in various countries. What special circumstances do you encounter when working at fairs in central and eastern Europe?There are various versions of our products for the various countries, which may differ from the products shown in Germany. Our exhibition objectives also vary from country to country. Visitors are more interested in literature to take away. In some cases exhibition organisation is very flexible. For example, the positioning, outfitting, premises or power supply may turn out to be quite different from what was booked. More improvisation is required than at German or west European fairs.

In which countries do you exhibit?We have exhibited in the Czech Republic since 1993, and we're also at tradeshows in Poland, the Baltics, Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, Ukraine - and Russia, too.

How do you organise your appearances there?A dedicated member of staff is responsible for exhibition organisation abroad. At shows in Russia the officer from our company responsible for that country handles the entire process together with the officer in charge of exhibition organisation. For the rest, we work with two experienced exhibition construction firms, who design various exhibition concepts for us alternately and take care of assembly. Unfortunately, we can't name any names here.

And the exhibits?The exhibits are usually sent along on the trucks that deliver our goods to eastern Europe. Assembly is handled either by our exhibit builders, who have years of experience in this field, or the respective exhibition company organising the fair, for example the DEGA expo team for Kazbuild in Almaty.

What do you have to take into consideration at east European fairs, what adjustments do you make?No, we don't adapt anything specially to east European tradeshows. Our giveaways, catering and stand architecture are always the same. Of course the brochures are in the national language. Equally, practically all the stand personnel are native speakers - either employed by us in the export department and responsible for the country in question, or directly from the local sales team.

Have your exhibition appearances opened doors to local markets for you?Most definitely! Once you've taken the first step by exhibiting there, you soon make good contacts and do business.
Trade fairs are for showcasing products and cultivating contacts. An exhibition participation may well give you a toehold in the market. After that it's a matter of relationship management.

What advice would you give an exhibitor who has never exhibited in central and eastern Europe before?Ahead of the event, he should consider what he intends doing after the fair with the contacts made there and how to follow up on the talks at the fair.
Interview: Christine Seizinger

m+a report Nr.6 / 2005 vom 23.09.2005
m+a report vom 23. September 2005