SÃO PAULO, March 1 (ANSA) – In the age of social media and digital marketing, selling or presenting a product has become easier – and more accessible. However, trade fairs, with their traditional exhibition stands, remain unshaken, relying on the personal relationship between seller and buyer, an age-old technique that has driven global trade. Cipa Fiera Milano, a trade fair organizer in Brazil and one of the largest in Latin America, expects growth of 10% to 15% in 2018.
Italian subsidiary Fiera Milano Since 2011, Cipa has combined its experience in the Brazilian market with the know-how of one of the world's most renowned event companies. Currently, the company organizes 12 trade shows in Brazil, including... Fisp Fire Show (International Fair of Security and Protection) and the Exposec (International Security Fair), a sector that will account for a large portion of this year's profits, due to cases of urban and digital violence. Commercial director of Cipa Fiera Milano since 2014, the São Paulo native Rimantas Ladeia Sipas, 43 years old, told ANSA about the challenges of the industry and the requirements for organizing a successful event.
ANSA: What has changed in the trade fair industry in recent years?
Sipas: Previously, we had technical fairs that served to showcase products. But, with the evolution of technology and a new profile of qualified visitors, all of Cipa's fairs have evolved to offer courses, congresses, and not just a space for products. This is a global trend. The public goes to network, exchange information, gain experiences, take courses, attend lectures and congresses, and also see the products, but within this whole context. Companies are also more easily releasing employees to attend fairs. In recent years, with an economy in crisis and companies having no reason to buy new products at fairs, the solution was to send employees for professional development. We are one of the promoters that invests the most in content at fairs, long before this became a trend.
ANSA: How have social networks affected the trade fair sector?
Sipas: Social media has helped us maintain constant engagement. Since the fairs only happen every year or two, there was a period of less interaction. With social media, we have daily contact. Visitors say which products they want to see, check the schedule, and comment on the courses. It's a barometer. We can have a channel focused on the visitor throughout the year, all the time. That was the big difficulty before, because we would hold the fair and only have contact with the visitor a year later.
ANSA: What are the main characteristics a trade fair organizer, such as Cipa Fiera Milano, needs to have to operate in the sector?
Sipas: Delivering the expected results for both the exhibitor and the client. The exhibitor has every opportunity to connect with the visitor, who, in turn, also has all the facilities available, such as advance VIP accreditation and facilitated transportation—everything to facilitate the meeting between the exhibitor and the visitor. It's important to listen to the exhibitor, to know what they need, what changes they want. The direction of a trade show is determined by the visitor and the exhibitor, and we need to interpret that well. Besides being very determined and focused, investing heavily in marketing, never think that your trade show is already established or that you are a market leader. You have to treat the trade show as something new. All the trade shows that thought they were at their peak have closed. The trade show offers something the internet will never give: the feeling of interacting with the product, smelling it, touching it. I'm not afraid of the internet; it helps to promote the product, but it will never offer personal contact, the feeling of a sale, the face-to-face interaction. The automotive industry launches cars, even online, but nobody buys online. You need to see the car, smell the new car smell. Human beings need contact with other human beings.
ANSA: Is there a high turnover of exhibitors?
Sipas: No, that's our big advantage. We have a very high level of loyalty, from 901 to 951 exhibitors, year after year, because they see results from the trade show. If you organize a trade show and need to bring in new exhibitors every year, you don't evolve.
ANSA: Cipa is a subsidiary of Fiera Milano. What is that relationship like?
Sipas: In 2011, Fiera Milano acquired Cipa here in Brazil, which then became known as Cipa Fiera Milano. We have authorization to conduct business in Brazil independently, following the specificities of the Brazilian market, which is very important because you can't buy a Brazilian company and turn it into an Italian one. The culture, the people, the way of doing business are very different, and Italy understood this well. Fiera Milano transferred technology, information, everything we could improve in terms of know-how. Globally, Cipa became better known because Fiera Milano is very famous in Europe. Institutionally, it opened doors to international clients.
ANSA: What are CIPA's expectations for this year?
Sipas: I believe in 100% growth this year. The businessman managed to decouple politics from the economy. Our expectation is for growth of 10% to 15%, as we already have a higher sales curve than at the same time last year. It's unlikely we won't be able to meet this goal. The electronic security sector should grow a little more than that. Look at the case of Rio de Janeiro. If the government doesn't do it, private companies are doing it; people want to protect themselves. And workplace safety will also grow. Industry has started growing again, and if you hire an employee, you are required to buy a safety kit.
ANSA: Are there any sectors that could be better explored through trade fairs?
Sipas: If anyone has that answer, please give it to me, because I want to launch this trade fair. I can't see a sector of the economy today that doesn't have its own trade fair.
