Planning to participate in an exhibition abroad can be a mind bogglingly challenging task, especially for companies who don’t have offices in the country where the exhibition is taking place and also for people exhibiting in a foreign country for the first time. Another tough task is the time taken to organize and plan everything for the exhibition and most importantly the large amount of funds required to cover all the various costs involved.

In this blog, we look into the many ways that can help you to exhibit with style in a foreign location and make inroads into new markets. As one of the foremost exhibition companies in Dubai we have been helping our clients all over the Middle East and North Africa to exhibit successfully in Europe, USA and India for the past eight years. Very few exhibition companies in Dubai have the kind of outreach like we do. Being a part of the Insta Worldwide Group gives us access to the worldwide exhibition scene thanks to our associate companies in Europe, USA, and India.

One major hurdle faced by companies who want to foray into exhibitions abroad is a lack of in-depth knowledge of the exhibitions that are right for them and awareness about the markets there. One way of gathering info about this is to attend several exhibitions as visitors so that you get to experience the exhibitions as well as to see whether a particular exhibition meets up to your marketing goals. As one of the preferred exhibition companies in Dubai we have complete in-depth knowledge about exhibitions and markets in foreign countries and we can guide and help you at every step leading up to your participation in an exhibition overseas.

As a company planning to exhibit for the first time in a foreign land there are four basic ways to go about it, we will take you through the various ways that can help you in your venture so read on.

1. Stand alone

You can opt to participate in an exhibition in your own stand alone exhibition stand. This way you have your individual stand which will also bring out the individuality of your brand and products to the forefront. A stand alone stand acts as a major advertisement in the exhibition announcing to the visitors and competitors that you have arrived and are ready to do business in that country. These stands give a boost to your brand and product value. To participate directly you need to do a lot of detailed planning and use up a lot of resources, or else you can get a professional exhibition company like Expo Display to handle your project. We will take care of all the nuances that go into participating in a foreign exhibition without you going through any stress and unnecessary expenses, all you have to do is be present in your stand during the exhibition and establish your brand and products in that market.

2. Country or State Pavilions

Many countries participate in exhibitions abroad with their trade pavilions, if your country participates with a pavilion then you can book a stand in that pavilion. The advantage of such participation is that the pavilion organizers set up the stands and as these stands are usually shell scheme stands you also get to save some money. The flipside of this is that you lose your individuality and your product will be one of many that will be on display, you may lose out on establishing your product in that market as the pavilion may be located in a part of the exhibition that is not focused on your particular product category. You also need to decide if it suits your brand to be identified with your country or be counted as a global entity.

3. Trade Council or Industry Association Pavilion

Often your countries export promotion council or your industry association may participate in an exhibition abroad with their own industry pavilion. Exhibiting from such kind of industry pavilions give you the advantage of being part of an industry and product collective and your stand will be built by the association so you do not have to bother about any planning, further it is cheaper to be a part of such pavilions. The drawback to such kind of participation is that usually the stand sizes in such pavilions are extremely small and most importantly you lose your individuality completely in these set ups. Normally you end up just displaying some graphics and will not be able to demonstrate your products. So even though you may save money you may lose out on the actual purpose of your participation which is establishing your brand and products in that market.

4. Co-participation with a partner

You can participate in a foreign exhibition with a partner if you are comfortable with it. That way you can share the costs and support each other to plan and execute the stand. In such a scenario, you must keep in mind that your brand value may get diluted and you will also be competing with your partner if they are selling a product similar to yours though you can have a bigger stand as the costs involved will be less. It will be best if you can get a partner whose brand value is lesser than yours and products are different from what you are offering.

Why participating in a foreign exhibition can be beneficial for you business:

1. Completely new set of visitors interested in your products
2. Build up new contacts, meet new prospects build up dealer, distributor and partner networks
3. Tap a hereby untapped market
4. Great way to test the market
5. Establish your brand in a virgin market
6. Display and demonstrate your products to a completely new set of clients
7. Just participating in the exhibition builds up your brand value and helps establish it
8. Opens up new possibilities and chances of increasing business

Some valuable hints to make your experience even better:

1. Do your research; get to learn about the country, its culture, and the preferences of the market. Make it a point to learn about the customs and of the people to save you from making any possible faux pax. Educate yourself about the various laws and conditions of the exhibition grounds to avoid any nasty surprises later.
2. Keep some cash; it is advisable to keep some local currency on yourself as many times you may not be able to access a bank, ATM or pay by credit or debit cards at the exhibition ground and you will definitely need to make some last minute purchases.
3. Engage a well reputed professional exhibition company to design and build your exhibition stand. Expo Display can help you with this at any location in Europe, USA, and India.
4. Carefully select your team for the exhibition and remember to book their tickets, accommodation and buy insurance well in advance to save money.
5. Consider the local cultural sensibilities and customs so that you can design graphics which will not offend anyone, also see to it that you and your team dress and behave appropriately so as not to upset people.
6. Be adventurous and enjoy the sights, sounds and culture of your new surroundings.

Exhibiting in a foreign land comes with many benefits and if you are able to do it successfully it can mean substantial business rewards. As one of the leading exhibition companies in Dubai, we can help you achieve exhibition success without you ever facing any botheration.