Over the last 20 years, the way to engage with customers across the entire sales cycle has evolved beyond recognition. New technologies have enabled things that simply were not possible before and this process continues. Traditional customer touchpoints are being challenged, even replaced, as the mix of engagement activities becomes more complex and sophisticated.
The rise of digital communication, which started in the late 90s, helped customers to access product information instantly, via websites and all kinds of e-newsletters. Later, around 2010, many manufacturers went further by opening eye-catching, content-rich demo centres to host and engage clients in various ways, in person or digitally. Webinars, amplified during Covid, became as popular as e-newsletters. This happened as traditional media, especially newspapers, declined and journalists and influencers grew to rely on the web to access and share information. They also started organising actual events with properly integrated online components including social media.
The resulting traffic and customer engagement has been incredible. Email campaigns to customers and prospects are more efficient and automated, even traditional direct mailing is more effective with better targeting. To complement this, industry associations continue to organise local events and user communities run even more sophisticated global events, all with digital outreach. Lastly, the traditional tradeshows, predicted by many to die out by the time Covid was over, have adapted and are thriving and that is so true for drupa.
So how can we connect the dots and navigate around this complex, dynamic environment? It all comes down to customer touch-points which each have their reason to exist, their purpose. They are all aligned to and orbit around the customer purchase cycle.
Starting off, when you are simply an observer, today you can surf the web and easily find all manner of useful, rich content. You can subscribe to numerous newsletters and collect enough subject matter to make your own reference collection. You can attend a few webinars, even sign up for an online immersive experience, to learn something new, something that triggers your mind further. Then, when you become more serious, attending an industry or association event and meeting your peers will make a lot more ‘real’ sense.
This could also be the time when you’ve decided to check out a specific configuration for real, like wanting to sit in the car you previously configured on the web. You could visit a demo centre, see the solution for the first time in action. But let’s say they seduced you but didn’t quite convince you. This is where an industry tradeshow fits the bill; it can and will help you make the most important, reliable decisions.
In one single location, you can see and feel everything that could make your dream a tangible reality. You can compare things that are either not on the web at all or identify their real differences when everything online often looks the same. You can read between the lines, can see what is not documented, you can connect your own dots and, for a while, sit in the future.
This is why drupa truly is the pulse of the print and packaging industry, the place where all manufacturers exhibit and benefit, whether as a large player or a smaller one. It helps them to set timelines on internal product development and for their industry announcements. It helps them to motivate their employees towards an ambitious target. It enables customers to meet and to exchange views and ideas. Every visitor gets to see so many things not available anywhere else. In a word, it’s kind of magical.
The customer experience provided by exhibitors is evolving from ‘touching the metal’ to understanding industry trends; from measuring speeds to discussing new business opportunities and to assessing more sustainable solutions. It is aimed more than ever at highlighting things you do not do today but which you should be doing tomorrow, in order to succeed and prosper, things which may indeed take you by surprise!
So drupa is not just a tradeshow anymore. It’s the ‘rendezvous point’ for millions of people, living for and thanks to the print and packaging industry, who seek unparalleled insights and opportunities to stay ahead of the game. That’s what makes drupa the ‘must attend’ event for anyone involved in the printing industry whether printer, supplier or software provider.
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François Martin is a freelance consultant in the graphic industry