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Tradeshows – should you be there?
Inevitably we’d ask the question “Has the show been
financially rewarding, has it been worth attending?” And you
could almost pick the stalls that shouldn’t have been there,
before they said “I dunno, can’t tell yet”.
A clear focus on their products and good marketing material
aimed at the market they needed to reach, seemed often lacking
completely. It’s tough doing that by yourself, and expensive
if you have professional help.
 This made it much more
attractive to be part of the combined State stands at the
shows where, under the banner of their Department of Primary
Industries, you received a very small counter space under
their State umbrella. That's the NSW DPI stand with a crowd
at the opening breakfast.
Essentially you piggy back as part of a combined marketing
message. This is particularly important if the intended
market is overseas sales. Both of the shows last year had
Japanese visitors (and a few local TAFE Asian students
travelling in packs looking for free samples). The ‘all we
need is one big sale’ dangled before most of the small
producer’s eyes.
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of those combined stands may also have worked against some
types of products. If it’s not on display customers can walk
past you. .So again, being clear about who your target market is helps.
Is it an interstate distributor? Any distributor? Direct
restaurant sales? Individual chefs? Thinking ahead about how
you will fill a big order is also crucial. We liked the
story of the Singapore buyer, a distributor who loved the
producers product. They talked and agreed on a unit price.
The distributor asked how many containers they could supply,
and how soon they could get them. Beaming the producer said
he had plenty of boxes in the truck down in the car park that he could supply
them right now. Then it dawned on him that they were talking
cargo container loads. He wasn’t ready for that volume but
his stall and marketing material gave the impression his
business was much larger than it was.
Austrade and the State Departments
of Primary Industry can help you judge that point where
you’re ready and advise on markets. They will again be at
various trade events in 2008 and you should make an
expression of interest via their websites.
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