For Vallox Oy and for its predecessor, Valmet Oy’s Loimaa plant, trade fairs have always been important marketing events. Ventilation innovations and new products have traditionally been presented at construction trade fairs, which have been also an opportunity to meet both professional and consumer customers.
I have to say that Valmet in its time had a great trade fair culture, in other words a lot was invested in fairs, recalls Markku Mäenpää, one of the Vallox Oy’s previous owners and company’s marketing manager from the 1970s until 2008.
Participation in trade fairs was always carefully planned and it was important that the fair stand was attractive.
-It was very important that we had something that would attract customers to the fair stand, Mäenpää says.
The new products were, of course, the most important thing, but in addition to them, Vallox also used other means to get customers to the stand. Such were, for example, competitions and lotteries.
-For example, just before the FinnBuild 1990 trade fair, we sent actual keys to some of our customers, and we invited them to our trade fair stand to try if the key fitted in the lock. Of course, it was a fine moment for those whose key was fitting in the lock as they received a prize that was waiting behind the door, Mäenpää recalls happily.
However, the most striking attraction in the stand was not necessarily new products or competition, but the hostess or host who interested the public.
-Pia Nolvi, who won the ‘Loimaan Likka’ beauty contest in 1987, and Johanna Raunio, crowned as Miss Finland in 1974, and known also as a model and actress, were very good and professional fair hostesses, whose presence appealed to the audience, Mäenpää says, remembering the most memorable fairs.
According to Mäenpää, Johanna Raunio’s presence at the Vallox stand at the FinnBuild 1990 trade fair did not only have a positive effect on getting customers to the stand, but also the staff was eager to work at the stand during the whole event!
Trade fairs provide a lot of information and new innovations
For consumers, the construction trade fair is an excellent opportunity to get comprehensive information about construction and renovation in one place at once. For professionals, trade fairs are a place to network, gain new information and learn about new products that are not yet on the market.
The purpose of pre-marketing at trade fairs is to arouse the interest and get the sales of a new product started as soon as its production begins.
-When I worked as a marketing manager, the product design department always wondered why marketing and sales wanted to bring a product to market before it was ready and in production, Mäenpää laughs.
With a long work experience in marketing and sales he notes that when a new product is introduced to the market a little ahead of time, the results are good.
Elina Paavilainen, Vallox Oy’s current marketing manager, is well aware of the situation that the product is introduced to the market before the actual production begins.
In construction projects, there are usually several months between the drawing of the HVAC plan and the installation of the ventilation unit, so a completely new ventilation unit can be selected for the plan much before the actual sales and production of the new model has even begun.
-When we talk about ventilation technology, the time between the launch of a new product and the start of its production has not shortened from the earlier days, Paavilainen says.
Today, the importance of trade fairs has somewhat changed, as most people search for information about products first online.
-Many people come to the fair stand telling us that ‘we have or will have this particular Vallox model’, and they want to learn more about the functions of the unit and possibly ask for some other information related to the ventilation, says Paavilainen.
Trade fairs change along with the rest of the world
Many things at the fair have remained the same for decades, but as the world changes, the fair events will inevitably also change and evolve. Digitality and even virtuality have entered also the fairs.
Especially at large international trade fairs, the stands are more and more spectacular. New technology allows to demonstrate the operation of the products in totally new ways, but it also means a huge financial investments, Paavilainen tells and continues
-Yet, at numerous construction fairs in Finland, it is still more important that the customers get a personal contact with the company.
Vallox has therefore tried to ensure that there is enough staff at the stand talking to customers and answering their questions.
The corona pandemic has affected also trade fair activities. We have witnessed even first construction trade fairs organized completely virtually. Participation in virtual fairs brings new challenges for those working in marketing. Creating compelling content is even more important than before, and it requires a lot of work and new kind of expertise to get customers to fetch information themselves and to click themselves into the virtual fair stand.
As the use of virtual reality becomes more common and technology evolves, presentation opportunities at future trade fairs are likely to be more diverse, regardless of whether the customer is met face-to-face in a trade fair hall or virtually online. Hopefully, the face-to-face encounters will not stop completely, but it is certain that the fairs will continue to develop with the rest of the world.
