Marketing executives identify shortcomings in exhibit building

The implementer image sticks to exhibition construction companies. Executives remain obstinately sceptical about stand builders ability to accommodate brand management requirements.

These days, marketing executives rate the brand issue extremely highly in exhibition and communication construction. And so do many exhibition construction companies in their self-portrayal. Yet a lot of marketing managers still take a sceptical view of exhibit builders ability to do real justice to the demands of brand management.
This is one of the results uncovered by the market and industry study "Exhibition and communication construction 2005", a project partnered by m+a report, the Hanover-based exhibition construction company Holtmann Messe + Event, and brand consultants NOW Strategische Markenentwicklung, Berlin.
One aim of the study is to scrutinise the exhibition construction industry's self-perception, says co-initiator Claus Holtmann. "The industry has unquestionably moved steadily forward. But what do our customers think of us? How can we drive development forward? I feel certain the study will be of interest to exhibit builders, exhibitors and exhibition organisers alike."
The initial results coming out of the ongoing detailed analysis are clear: The industry's aspiration and image are still worlds apart in some cases. 95.3 % of the companies surveyed find it important or very important that the firm's brand be expressed in exhibition and communication buildings, which in the context of the study include temporary constructions such as pavilions or showrooms that cannot be assigned to the clearly delineated area of exhibition stand construction or point of sales structures. 70.6 % expect the importance of brand-consistent implementations in this sector to increase further.
That alone is hardly surprising. What gives food for thought is that only 40.3 % of respondents believe that exhibition and communication buildings already satisfy the demands of consistent brand management. A correspondingly sceptical view is taken of the exhibition construction industry's self advertisement. A scant 22.3 % consider the promotional promises associated with such buzzwords as "brand celebration" credible; the clear majority - 66.8 % - rate them questionable or downright implausible.
Good news for ambitious exhibit builders: 42.9 % of all the companies researched are at least prepared to remunerate special consulting expertise separately. In the consumer sector this figure rises to 56.3 %.
Consulting offers aside, more than 80 % of the executives surveyed say it is important to very important for their communication and exhibition construction partners to possess an understanding of marketing and brand competence. Only 43.3 % believe there are sufficient suppliers really in a position to build a "spatial brand".
The outdated "craftsman only" image is difficult to budge. Asked to whom they would assign the main responsibility for the realisation of communication building, a mere 41.6 % opted for exhibition construction companies. The study is based on a telephone survey of marketing executives at companies with more than 200 employees and an online survey at the study portal www.deutsche-markenstudie.de. Of the 238 decision-makers whose replies were evaluated about one-quarter each come from the consumer goods and capital goods sectors and roughly half from the services sector.

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