The show creates a ‘perfect seller-buyer matching platform’ despite going without any machine on display.
Generally, we would measure the success of a printing exhibition by the number of live printing machines chugging down the crowded aisles of the exhibition corridors. But, when we talk about the recent The Hong Kong Printing and Packaging Exhibition – held at the Asia World-Expo (next to the Hong Kong International Airport) from 27th to 30th April, 2019, the scene was quite different. Yes, you are guessing it right, there were hardly any machines (except for a few digital printing ones) running as such. What can further intrigue you could be my irrefutably passing it as a highly successful show with over 500 exhibitors in attendance and an amazing visitor turnaround from around the world.
Since its inception in 2006, the show has entered its 14th edition in 2019. Since live machines were not the USP of the show, the stalls were almost all small, but stuffed with innovative, attractive and top-of-the-line printed products of international standards.
The ‘exchange reception’
Next, attraction was the ‘matching service’ provided by the organisers. This, I found, noticeably as the very focus of the organisers and rightly so. Unlike spending huge amounts on the exhibitors night, which is the trend at all exhibitions in ball rooms of hotels, the organisers had a small but effective networking evening. The organisers , wisely termed it as the ‘exchange reception’, which they held in the afternoon on the 28th of April with wine, beer, black tea, cakes, coffee, snacks and no seats but not for long for the invitees to mingle amongst themselves and network talk for business promotion.
Hong Kong is well-known as a high-end shoppers’ paradise, on the lines of which, certain progressive Middle Eastern cities are trying to build themselves. Hong Kong also holds a unique position as a foreign trade window connecting China and the international market. The Hong Kong International Printing and Packaging Exhibition, which was born in this context, is co-sponsored by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) and China International Exhibition Co., Ltd. (CIEC).
Channelling the power of presentation
Surprisingly, the show didn’t even have an opening ceremony, which we press people are so very used to. Without a doubt, I can term this as the organisers’ efficiency and their putting in all their efforts into creating atmospheres that directly match buyers and sellers. After all, it’s business that matters for the exhibitors, isn’t it? Mr.Willian Li of Skyware Protech Ltd, an exhibitor at the show comments on the same line: “The end result of buyer-seller matching should essentially be to target my buyers. If that happens in a more efficient way at a small cocktail party than at a large dinner, it holds much higher value for me from business prospective.
As modern consumers become more sophisticated, smart businesses have realised that good presentation is more valuable now than ever before in gaining a competitive edge for catching eye-balls. With a wide array of extremely high-end packaging solutions by leading printers and packagers from the Chinese Mainland and also from many other parts the world, the exhibition could be seen satiating the needs of the packaging buyers from across the world. In fact, the visitors I talked to (almost 80% of them repeat visitors), almost 30% were visitors from abroad and all of them seemed to be extremely happy about the exhibits on display. Exhibitors included companies from Hong Kong, India, Korea, Mainland China, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam to mention a few. The fair, as I discovered, was a one-stop sourcing platform for forward-thinking enterprises to channel the power of presentation into a significant business strength.
Today’s industry exhibitions are not only about scale and subdivision, but about the integration of effective resources and the chain of brand value. And this show has essentially encapsulated this aspect rather cleverly and developed efficiently over the last more than 14 years. From around 300 exhibitors and 9000 visitors at the first exhibition, the 14th edition of 2019 has over 500 exhibitors with the number of visitors almost doubling. The exhibition area is also getting more sections, like separate spaces for luxury goods, high-end packaging area, green printing area, innovative retail display area, advertising sign area, clothing accessories area and some equipment areas as well.
During the exhibition, the organizers also held a series of open house activities like The Hong Kong Print Awards (Exhibiting the award winning entries); a seminar on The Innovation Retail Technology Achievement Advertising (New Channel), The Hong Kong Graphic Arts Industry Certification and Training Services in addition to many more.
– Jacob George, Editor, Industrial Print Magazine
