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Video creates trade fair added value

Hardly any other environment is as perfectly suited to a video as a trade fair. Here companies, products and individuals are captured so closely and tangibly that it's like having direct contact with them. To present the right content professionally in a video Messe Frankfurt provides a video production service tailored to customer wishes. Jan Kluge, Manager of Online Sales at Messe Frankfurt and video professional Yvonnic Jäckel, Plattform3.de, explain the Messe Frankfurt video services and how customers can profit from them.

October 2018

Jan Kluge, Manager of Online Sales at Messe Frankfurt
Jan Kluge, Manager of Online Sales at Messe Frankfurt

Mr Kluge, Messe Frankfurt offers various services when it comes to producing a trade fair video. What are they and how can companies profit from them?

A professional trade fair video provides companies with a number of possibilities. Among other things, you can convey certain corporate messages in a unique, lively trade fair atmosphere, present products or comment on trends. If companies the place the content on a website, blog or in the social media domain they can achieve a positive image effect with the relevant target groups and arouse interest in the company or its products. Together with our partner Yvonnic Jäckel from Plattform3.de we offer exhibitors the opportunity to present desired content in a professional video. This can be done in a number of different forms. For instance, the fair stand with new product and stand activities can be highlighted in a 1-minute spot. Using social media or their own website, companies can communicate a certain fair-related flair and currently relevant company topics to their target groups. If exhibitors wish to place greater emphasis on new products a longer video including a presenter is a good option. The presentation loosens things up and specific questions can be used to focus on specific main topics and highlight product features. This kind of video is ideal as a complement to the product section of the homepage or to enhance a customer newsletter with video material.

Mr Kluge, Mr Jäckel, what are the first steps if I as an exhibitor want to exploit the advantages of a video production at the trade fair?

Jan Kluge: Our service starts with an intensive consultation. In this we consider which video product would be best to help the customer achieve his objectives and how the messages can best be conveyed to the target groups. We also advise the exhibitors on how they can use the end result with the greatest benefit after the trade fair and how the video can be deployed on a website, in a newsletter or at events. Regardless of which product the customer goes for he will get an all-round care-free package because, in collaboration with Plattform3.de, we take care of everything: the filming permit, camera team, light, editing and sound – and if required also a presenter.
Yvonnic Jäckel: It's important that the exhibitor defines the possible uses he wants beforehand as the basis for the video's dramatic effect. For example, if it is to run mainly on Facebook the user must be captured right at the beginning to make sure he carries on viewing – by means of powerful images, a bombshell effect or something similar. If the video is intended more for the company side than as an image film, then the company's central, overarching messages will be the core of the film.

Mr Jäckel, ultimately how is the video made?

In the preliminary phase we take a look at the stand and the situation on the spot and develop an initial idea. On the day of filming we compare this with the exhibitor's notions and we soon arrive at a common approach and a central theme on the basis of our many years of experience – we are fully aware of what works. We then proceed swiftly with the implementation phase. We work on the stand with a very small team and special compact equipment, we film and then we're soon gone again. This means that the trade fair business on the exhibitor's stand is not interfered with and customer and visitor conversations can proceed perfectly normally, especially since we are totally autonomous in terms of the power supply and the technical equipment. Except for an interview lasting a few minutes and the taking of statements we are almost invisible for the customer. We're almost just as fast with the production. The exhibitors get their video at the latest 5 working days after the trade fair.

Mr Jäckel, what about short-notice enquiries?

We're very flexible here. After all, for the duration of the trade fair we're on site with a team and mobile equipment all day long and so we are able to react promptly and create a video production spontaneously. If, during the trade fair, themes suddenly arise which may be of special news value or crisis potential, exhibitors can initially inform relevant target groups actively on their own Facebook channel in the form of live streaming and the resulting videos. As a second step the material can then be used on other channels such as a website or YouTube. Exhibitors are always approaching us with video wishes which are unusual to a greater or lesser extent. We invariably find a solution for this as well. In addition to retrospective translations and voice-overs we have in the past managed to do a lot of things, such as making a video made outside the trade fair hall or filming in the centre of Frankfurt. One interesting aspect in field of video as a whole is the fact that many exhibitors book videos at short notice with us after talking to us during the trade fair. Often they become enthusiastic once they hear the initial idea and the procedure is described.

Mr Kluge, in your view why do exhibitors often only decide spontaneously to book a video?

I think that for a number of reasons video does not play a part in the prior planning of the activities. First of all, exhibitors may possibly have a misleading impression of the work involved. They think that a production is really time-consuming and will interfere with the activities on the stand. Furthermore they incorrectly estimate the cost of a video production. In fact the expense incurred by the exhibitor is minimal. And as regards costs we offer highly attractive options. We can soon clarify this in a direct conversation at the trade fair and so many exhibitors will then decide spontaneously to produce a video.

Mr Kluge, what services can exhibitors expect in future?

Just imagine the trade fair with the exhibitors in a kind of Google Street View. This is precisely the service we wish to offer our customers. The trade fair stand can be experienced digitally as a 360° panorama and as a first step it can easily be integrated as a panorama image in the company website. As a second stage further information can be integrated to make the panorama image an interactive landscape with many points of view, configurable information panels and videos. For example, direct purchasing options can be installed which will then boost the exhibitor's sales. The panorama image can be produced in such a way that it can be viewed and used with a VR headset. On the whole we see this product as having a lot of potential for future services.

Mr Kluge, Mr Jäckel, thank you for this interview.

Tags

  • Digital Services
  • Digital Marketing