Trade fairs the biggest medium for Swedish business-to-business companies
A new study by fairlink.se shows that Swedish manufacturing companies spend an average of 26% of their marketing budgets on taking part in trade fairs. This means that they spend more on trade fairs than on advertising and direct advertising, for example.
December 1999
In November-December 1999, fairlink.se commissioned a survey on business-to-business companies' participation in trade fairs in Sweden and abroad. The survey was carried out by research company Scandinavian Poll and Survey Group via telephone interviews with the marketing managers of 203 Swedish manufacturing companies with over 50 employees.
The survey shows that 74% of the companies queried take part in various trade fairs in Sweden and abroad annually. Of their total marketing budget, an average of 26% goes to trade fair participation, 24% to catalogues and direct advertising and 13% to trade press advertising. The Internet and events come in joint fourth place with 10% each.
One quarter of the business-to-business companies in the survey confirmed that the marketing budget allocation to trade fairs has increased over the past five years. As many believe that their investments in trade fair participation will grow further in the next five years.
Another interesting observation is that the companies queried are tending to increase their presence at trade fairs abroad. 16% of the companies stated that they will be increasing their investments in trade fairs abroad in 2000, but not at the expense of trade fair participation in Sweden.
"The trend of more and more companies participating in fairs abroad is not limited to Sweden. We are also seeing signs of globalisation in major trade fair-attending countries such as Germany," says Åsa Nordberg, General Secretary at fairlink.se
fairlink.se's survey coincided with a study by German trade fair organisation, AUMA in November. Like in Sweden, German companies are also showing a growing tendency to take part in trade fairs abroad without decreasing the number of fairs attended in Germany.
The top industry fairs were also given a favourable forecast in fairlink's survey. One quarter of all the marketing managers queried stated that the importance of being present at leading industry fairs will rise in the future. Only a tenth believed that the importance of this will diminish.