The Future of Trade Fairs: Physical vs Digital vs Hybrid Formats

What comes to your mind when you think of the topic of trade fairs? Experience products and services live, meet with the most important figures in the industry, bring customers and suppliers together in one place? In fact, in the past, physical trade fairs were seen as the panacea of ​​the exhibition industry. However, alternative formats have been added in recent years.

Three young alternatives to the live trade fair are these: Digital formats that depict a physical trade fair experience in virtual space. Hybrid formats that enhance the on-site experience with digital elements. Year-round trade fair platforms where exhibitors and visitors can exchange ideas regardless of the season.

Design the optimal trade fair experience from the customer’s point of view

But are such trade fair formats already future-proof and what goals are exhibitors and visitors pursuing by participating in trade fairs? How can trade fair providers best support their customers in creating an optimal trade fair experience? Koelnmesse has tested a number of such formats in recent years, working together with the Institute for Marketing at the University of Münster.

Answers were found with the help of surveys of exhibitors and visitors of Anuga, h+h cologne, spoga+gafa and spoga-horse. The focus was on decision-makers from management, marketing and sales. With 261 answers from a wide variety of industries, a wide range of perspectives on the topic could be taken into account. A quarter of those surveyed opted for the physical trade fair format when they last attended a trade fair – and the results make it clear where this preference comes from.

Hybrid trade fairs are complex and confusing

The mood for the three formats considered, physical, digital and hybrid, shows that hybrid trade fairs are perceived as complex and confusing by two-thirds of those surveyed. Purely digital formats were able to score points with around 75 percent of those surveyed due to the clarity and price advantage compared to the physical format. However, the physical format was particularly convincing due to its comfort (65 percent), clarity (78 percent) and entertainment value (91 percent).

The relevance of physical trade fair formats is also visible in the distribution of the budget. The respondents stated that they use about the same budget for trade fairs as for digital channels (about 25 percent of the total budget). The physical trade fair format enables the most important goals of the trade fair participants to be achieved, such as a market overview, obtaining information, establishing contacts, maintaining business relationships and, in particular, the physical presentation or experiencing of new products, which 70 percent of those surveyed consider very important. The respondents also stated that they use a triad of channels for their customer contact: personal customer contact, social media and ultimately the physical trade fair format.

Year-round product presentations make you more independent

Does the digital trade fair format still have a future? The results of the study show that digital platforms in the context of trade fairs require a clear industry profile and must deliver noticeable added value. Almost 70 percent of those surveyed stated that they currently did not want to make any additional investments for such formats. However, around a third of those surveyed showed interest in a year-round product presentation in order to become more seasonally independent. In particular, such platforms should have features that provide further information on market overviews and trends, or even allow orders, as shown in this figure.

Basically, a trusting cooperation between trade fair organizers, exhibitors and participants is essential for the success of new trade fair formats. If all stakeholders are involved in the development and design, a tailor-made industry can be created, which significantly increases the success of a trade fair format. With this in mind, it is worth considering expanding physical trade fairs in the future with year-round platforms that provide additional information about trade fairs and trends and facilitate networking.

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