Denzil Rankine, executive chairman of AMR International
Visitors and exhibitors are becoming increasingly demanding; the digital revolution is encroaching into events and competition is intensifying. This is the time to rethink how an events business is structured.
It is time for real show strategies.
A show strategy is not a budget. It reflects market developments, participant needs and competition. It is a vision of the future.
This strategy needs to be built on solid foundations of market understanding and the application of structured strategic thinking, using tools such as value chain analysis and show lifecycle and maturity curves.
The strategy maps the show to the dynamics of its served market. It drives the targeting of visitor acquisition, as well as show segmentation and the balancing of sales targets. Essentially, it drives the desired shape of the event.
The event director owns the strategy and should be monitored by its delivery. That means contribution margin and an appropriate set of KPIs.
The organisational implication is that the show director needs to be able to hand off to well-oiled internal services that support event delivery. A useful parallel is that of the brand manager at P&G; this is where profit is driven from and where the power resides.
The training and development implication is that many event directors would benefit from adding a strategic capability that can often be more operational and commercial. We have seen such training lead to a step-change in performance.
