Executive VP of international at Global Experience Specialists (GES) Jason Popp discusses tricky rebrands, the role of a contractor in an increasingly globalised marketplace and diversifying without compromising your reputation for core activities.
Rebranding can be a tricky game. In the case of a hungry exhibition contractor looking to broaden its network in step with an expanding service sector, there is even a risk of compromising a name that takes years to build.
American contractor Global Experience Specialists (GES), owner of UK-based Melville Exhibition and Event Services, is trying to unite two identifiable brands under a single umbrella title.
Executive VP of international Jason Popp spoke to EW about the challenges of entering new regions and sectors under a new sail.
What is GES Melville’s key business focus?
Fundamentally, we are a global face-to-face marketing agency. This means we can support our clients – whether they are exhibitors, show organisers or corporate clients – with their face-to-face marketing.
A couple of examples illustrate this point. We were recently named the agency of record for a leading industrial manufacturing company in the US and produced an attraction titled ‘Harry Potter: The Exhibition’ in US cities Chicago, Boston, Seattle, Toronto, New York and Sydney, Australia.
However, most people see us primarily as a contractor that produces exhibitions, events and individual exhibits. Clearly our remit goes well beyond those activities, although we are proud to do our core business well.
How does the GES Melville rebrand affect business? Is there a clear division of responsibility?
We launched the rebrand at Melville and in our other non-US based businesses in the early autumn. As the industry continues to globalise, our clients are increasingly using us in multiple geographies. We work with organisers such as UBM and Tarsus in the US, UK, Middle East and continental Europe, and manage the global exhibition programmes for corporate clients across all the major exhibition markets.
The rebrand simply visually clarifies that we are indeed one company serving these clients, wherever in the world their needs are. That said, we wanted to retain the strong heritage and equity the Melville brand has in the UK.
The great news is that the new brand has gone down well with clients and they understand we are one team serving them across the world. The GES spirograph is visually strong and carries a powerful message – that everything we do revolves around the customer.
Are your activities being expanded – are there any new elements of business where you now place greater emphasis?
Yes, I see a definite shift in requirements in our client base. Customers, be they exhibitors or show organisers, are getting increasingly sophisticated in their requirements. For example, there is a growing appetite for real data about what is happening on the show floor, which is growing the demand for our lead capture devices and other data-related tools. Our EthnoMetrics business, which tracks attendee behaviour via video cameras also addresses this growing thirst for data on what is empirically happening during the show.
The growth of online tools and mobile phone apps continues to expand into the exhibition and event world. As consumers we book all our travel and do our shopping online. Likewise, show attendees and exhibitors have the expectation that they can access real-time information on shows online and via their mobile devices. Similarly, social media continues to proliferate the exhibition and event world and GES Melville is continuing to enhance its products and services that address this growing trend.
What are the latest projects taking place at GES Melville?
As always, plenty is keeping us busy already this new year. As mentioned, we are excited that several of our attractions are now overseas. Harry Potter: The Exhibition is in Sydney Australia and The Chronicles of Narnia: The Exhibition is in Singapore. In the US in January we produced one of the largest trade shows in the world, the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
This year at Melville we are rolling out exhibitor and organiser dashboards, a new event and exhibition app, and a completely new and revolutionary registration system for Melville Data. And along with the rest of the UK we are eagerly awaiting the 2012 Olympic games.
Our Middle East business continues to win new appointments and we look forward to working with Informa Exhibitions in the UAE and continuing our work with other organisers such as DMG. Our custom exhibit design and build businesses in the UK and Europe have good prospects going into the year and will be onsite at many leading shows in 2012 including Drupa in Germany, the Farnborough Air Show in the UK and ADIPEC in the UAE.
How is GES Melville expanding geographically? No new office openings per se, however our revenue from outside North America continues to grow, which I guess is not surprising since this is happening across much of the corporate world, while economic growth in developing economies continues to outpace that of developed economies.
For example, in 2011 we undertook several projects for corporate clients in Brazil, which is itself a rapidly growing exhibition and event market.
We have a strong network of partners in Asia and South America who we have successfully worked with for decades and we typically utilise our design and project or event management resources with these partners’ production capabilities for projects in the few regions where we don’t have a direct presence.
Any comments? Email exhibitionworld@mashmedia.net
