Bizcommunity
Leading your brand to survive and thrive in a dynamic marketplace is Marita le Roux, sales and sponsorships manager at Exposure Marketing. She provides customised marketing solutions for Exposure Marketing’s clients across various specialised marketing services. With exhibitions being one of the most sought-after face-to-face platforms and her years of experience in the exhibition industry, she has seen first-hand the intrinsic value of exhibitions as a unique platform for meaningful interaction between sellers and buyers. Exposure Marketing’s MamaMagic Baby Expo was finally able to resume as an in-person exhibition this year. Feedback from the initial Gauteng event indicates that buyers and sellers are confident to engage.
“Covid brought on two years of limited physical interaction with moms, and brands yearned to engage with these buyers. The launch of the MamaMagic 2022 exhibition calendar has been received with great excitement from both buyers and sellers as it is the ideal platform to connect face-to-face again and to create brand awareness,’ says Marita. “Exhibitions are still an ideal opportunity for brands to personally connect with a very targeted audience for promotion and selling. Exhibitions allow brands to achieve much more than sales goals. From connecting with new clients and increasing brand awareness to launching new products, gathering consumer insights, product education, and generating leads, conducting sampling, media engagement, and increasing sales by upselling and cross-selling.”
Digital content sponsorship that leads to physical sponsorship at an exhibition, allows your brand to stand out from the crowd and reinforces your brand messaging. For example, Kimberly Clarke’s Huggies brand, with Exposure Marketing’s guidance, launched an online video series during the Covid pandemic called ‘Lights Camera Baby’, to support moms with vital information in their parenting journey. They then carried this theme through in their sponsorship of the Expert’s Lounge at the MamaMagic Baby Expo by providing parents with valuable advice and having their parenting concerns answered, in person, at the exhibition. These interactions are not a direct sales drive but strengthen the brand recall when moms choose to purchase nappies.
“Exhibitions allow brands to close the deal and ensure immediate sales, rather than relying on an online connection only, where you cannot effectively respond to their concerns. Attendees to an exhibition are traditionally a very receptive audience. They have reason to be there, make an effort to attend, and are desperately seeking products and services that will be purposeful in their lives,” she says.
“Touch and feel are very important to consumers, especially in the parenting market. In many instances, Moms want to see the products before buying them, and they are hesitant to buy certain items online. The exhibition allows them to speak directly to the brand custodians and get the info on the product they want and need,” she says.
