As summer would set in, bringing along with it the two-month long exciting holidays, I used to look forward to the most exciting thrills of my childhood days back in hometown – the Circus and the Exhibition. The circus light would beam up to the skies every night announcing to a catchment of almost 5 km to 6 km radius, inviting and reminding people to visit the circus. The electric arc lights were said to have been first used to propagate circus in the late 1800's and since then they have been a signature tool used to announce/advertise circus wherever held. So the thrill would begin from looking up to the skies and end in bargaining some time from dad and mom to take me to the circus, making an eventful, pleasurable and memorable evening for me. I remember the day used to end with a family dinner in a restaurant and I used to be filled with the satisfaction of having had fun and mirth, which I would reminisce and speak about it to friends for days! The exhibition found its floors laid out in the municipal grounds, carefully timing after the circus is done and wound up; the exhibition used to have a great retail mix to cater to everyone in the family irrespective of the age of the members. Retailers sold all kinds of merchandise. Kids used to look for innovatively engineered toys and personalized key chains while moms pulled everyone to the aisle selling kitchen equipment and utensils! The exhibition was more than a hypermarket with a well-served food court also! The entertainment area’s attractions used to be the giant wheel (one could see the whole town from atop the giant wheel) and the merry-go-round. Instant photo booth, horror and magic shows, candy floss , popcorn and film shows were a huge attraction to the young and the old equally! In a thirty-day span when the exhibition used to be on in full swing, many would visit the place at least twice. I have seen loads of people from the nearby catchment villages visiting the exhibition. It was complete fun, frolic and fulfillment.
Countries promote tourism by organizing expos. In the last few years I have had the opportunity to visit Singapore Expo – Convention and Exhibition Center many times. The infrastructure the Singapore government has created is over 1.23 lakh square meters of exhibition space with exhibition halls, conference rooms and meeting rooms in an area close to 150 acres. It is said that the expo receives six million visitors every year who witness events like exhibitions, trade shows and consumer shows.
India has not lagged behind. India Trade Promotion Organization (ITPO), the dynamic trade promotion organization operating under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India has created our very own Pragati Maidan spread over more than 60,000 square meters in New Delhi with exhibition halls and a large open display area. The facility boasts of a few hundred shows every year and hosts a multitude of visitors to the various events and shows conducted every year. ITPO has created such a state-of-the-art exhibition facilities in Chennai – the Chennai Trade Center (CTC) in 2001 and in Bangalore - Trade Center Bangalore (TCB) in 2004. TCB is a joint venture between ITPO and Karnataka State Industrial Area Development Board. Many new trade centers are in the planning stage in locations like Guwahati, Kolkata, Bhopal, Srinagar, etc. ITPO has also taken the initiative to provide assistance to state governments to set up Regional Trade Promotion Centers (RTPC). The Ministry of Commerce and Industry has done its best and yet doing its best to initiate and support the setting up of such state-of-the-art facilities to promote trade and consumer shows.
Yesterday I was at the Viveks Annual Expo 2012 organized at the Chennai Trade Center. Soon after inaugurating the expo, as Mr.B. A. Kodandarama Setty (Chairman & Managing Director, Viveks), Mr. B. A. Chandrashekar (Director, Viveks) and I were going through the aisles of the well-organized exhibition of multi-brand household electronics and appliances, I was going through memory lane; I remembered how I used to enjoy my visits to exhibitions! Crowds started thronging Viveks expo on the eve of the Tamil New Year day and the expo organized for four days is drawing multitudes of customers who would like to avail of special prices and exclusive benefits like interest free EMI on purchases. What amazed me was the use of the facility by Viveks in Chennai very appropriately to invite customers at the right time. Mr. Setty told me that retailers like Viveks would like to go with many partners and alliances in an aggregated mix every year to hold such expos on a large scale. He is right when he expects that a large expo organized by many retailers in an aggregated manner will be a huge success. Exhibitions can take products and services to unrepresented towns and new markets. Road shows can yet propagate products and services to the right target audience besides what the increasing popularity of digital marketing that uses many available social networking media, can do.
Majority of our Indian consumers live in small towns and villages. Exhibitions are relevant. Infrastructure is available. Even in towns and feeder markets we do have wide and open spaces managed by municipal corporations and panchayats. Our retailers should only have the will to explore the opportunities to organize exhibitions and expositions. Where there is a will, there is a way to delight many - the many who are yet to see retailing in its modern glory!
Dr. Gibson G. Vedamani
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