At 2:30 p.m. on May 25, the Shanghai Convention and Exhibition Industries Association held a special online salon titled New Ideas for Exhibition Development under the Impact of the Pandemic. The salon was viewed 37,674 times in total. It was moderated by Sang Jingmin, president of the association. Nine guests delivered insightful speeches, including Chen Xianjin, Party secretary of the association; Gu Chunting, vice chairman of the Shanghai Council for the Promotion of International Trade; Chen Huifeng, president of Donghao Lansheng Exhibition Group; and Wang Mingliang, executive director of Shanghai Sinoexpo Informa Markets International Exhibition Co., Ltd. The topics and summaries are as follows.
Salon Moderator: Sang Jingmin, President of the Shanghai Convention and Exhibition Industries Association
This year, because of the pandemic, our exhibitions have been suspended. How the industry should recover and develop has become a major issue facing exhibition professionals. At present, major exhibition organizers and service enterprises are exploring online exhibition models. This is a positive exploration. Providing online services is a good option and also an important corporate strategy.
How should online services be provided? How can new business models be formed? How should investment be increased to build and manage online teams? How can technical support be configured, and how can a new online-offline integrated exhibition platform different from traditional e-commerce platforms be created? These are major issues facing the industry.
To gather industry wisdom and provide ideas for member organizations and peers nationwide, the association specially organized this salon. Leaders from across China's exhibition industry were invited to explore these questions actively and exchange views through livestreaming on how the exhibition industry should respond under the new situation, jointly leading the industry and promoting development.
Chen Xianjin, Party Secretary of the Shanghai Convention and Exhibition Industries Association
Topic: The Meaning and Purpose of New Ideas.
Speech summary:
I. Background, considerations and measures for developing online exhibitions.
The significance and purpose of this salon lie in the Ministry of Commerce's requirement that the industry pursue innovative development. Regarding how to innovate, the association believes that the next stage should focus on the development of online and cloud exhibitions, their relationship with offline exhibitions, and integrated online-offline development.
Over the past three or four months since the outbreak, China's exhibition industry has been hit hard. During this period, everyone has done a great deal of thinking about how the industry should develop. Cloud exhibitions and online exhibitions have become hot topics. Some in the industry use the phrase going up the mountain. Some say this is being forced onto Liangshan, meaning there is no way out unless one goes online. Others compare it to going to Jinggangshan, where a single spark can start a prairie fire, suggesting online exhibitions can bring major development to the industry. Since physical exhibitions cannot be held under current conditions, online exhibitions must be considered. This is the broader background.
After several months of reflection, several patterns have emerged in the industry. First, some exhibitions already had online sections and are improving on that basis, such as Sinoexpo. Second, exhibition organizers have formed joint ventures with internet companies and online trading-platform companies, such as the cooperation between the Shanghai Council for the Promotion of International Trade and Alibaba to establish a cloud exhibition company. Third, organizers and internet companies are exploring project-level strategic cooperation, such as Donghao Lansheng Group. Some organizers have already begun practical operation, such as China Brand Day and the Canton Fair. Others are researching and developing online-offline combined models suitable for themselves, such as beauty exhibitions.
The purposes of developing online exhibitions differ. Some regard it as a new form forced by the pandemic. Some see it as a necessary supplement to offline exhibitions, especially in a highly developed information environment where early deployment helps improve competitiveness. Some need it for current business operations, while others believe online business will become a new growth point.
II. Industry consensus on online exhibitions.
Through industry exploration and discussion, and by understanding why enterprises are studying online formats, several points of consensus have been summarized. First, the industry has long lacked sufficient innovation, and the pandemic has pushed the industry to accelerate innovation, with network and digital technologies playing an increasingly important role. Second, most organizers believe exploring new forms of online exhibitions is not a temporary expedient but a long-term development strategy. Third, digital paths and methods are diverse. There is no single model, and each organizer will find a development path suited to its own characteristics.
Online exhibitions play different roles in different projects. On issues such as the future position of online exhibitions and their relationship with traditional offline exhibitions, the industry still holds differing views. There is no clear conclusion yet, and more practice is needed.
The impact of the pandemic on the industry will not disappear in the short term, and the industry must prepare for a long-term response.
Gu Chunting, Vice Chairman of the Shanghai Council for the Promotion of International Trade and Chairman of Shanghai International Exhibition Co., Ltd.
Topic: Breaking Through, Empowering and Shaping the Future Together.
Speech summary: Vice Chairman Gu Chunting used the case of the joint venture established by the Shanghai Council for the Promotion of International Trade and Alibaba Group, Yunshang Exhibition Co., Ltd., to introduce the cooperation background from both policy and technical perspectives. He discussed the historical inevitability of online exhibitions and the complementary advantages of the two partners as the foundation for cooperation. Yunshang Exhibition Co., Ltd. is positioned as an independent third-party public platform. Its goal is to build a world-leading cloud exhibition digital-intelligent platform and use digital methods to facilitate smooth global trade.
Gu also shared five strategic plans for cloud exhibitions: first, allow online and offline formats to coexist, complement each other and grow together; second, focus on building an independent third-party public platform; third, develop core capabilities different from ordinary online exhibition platforms; fourth, ensure the data security of all organizers; and fifth, follow a market-oriented path of cooperation and mutual benefit.
Chen Huifeng, President of Donghao Lansheng Exhibition Group
Topic: Cloud Exhibitions: Empowerment or Disruption?
Speech summary:
First, are online exhibitions an emergency measure? From the perspective of trends, whether positive or potentially negative, the rapid development of digital technology will accelerate its impact on offline exhibitions.
Second, since online exhibitions have an impact on offline exhibitions, is that impact empowering and supplementary, or revolutionary? Before today's discussion, information-technology companies were partners of offline exhibitions, providing many tools and services. But when we talk about online exhibitions and cloud exhibitions, we face major internet players such as BAT. Their logic and business models are completely different from those of existing information-technology companies. We must understand what is different about their empowerment or services for exhibitions, and we must understand their purpose and commercial logic in cooperating with us. Exhibitions and the internet are both, in essence, platforms, and this competitive relationship cannot be ignored. Only after clarifying this issue can we approach online-offline integration from our own position and perspective.
Third, under this broader background, what changes will occur in our industry? After the pandemic, the involvement of major internet companies may affect exhibitions whose display categories and products are relatively standardized or not highly knowledge- or technology-intensive. Once buyer consumption habits change, the change is irreversible. We hope more to work with internet companies or technology providers on innovation in tools and management. The most valuable parts of offline exhibitions are person-to-person communication and face-to-face interaction, and we must make these aspects even more refined.
If one day internet companies truly revolutionize our industry, then I only hope to be a guardian and watcher of the exhibition industry, not a deserter who lays down his arms.
Wang Mingliang, Executive Director of Shanghai Sinoexpo Informa Markets International Exhibition Co., Ltd.
Topic: The Online-Offline Integration and RMB 35 Million Annual Online Revenue Model of Sinoexpo Exhibitions.
Speech summary: 1. Online revenue is mainly divided into tangible and intangible revenue. Tangible revenue includes annual fees, online advertising, customized services and other income, and can reach 5 to 10 percent of total exhibition-project revenue. 2. Online operations include the integrated operation of websites, procurement platforms, WeChat, livestreaming and other new media, as well as mini-programs and apps. This is the most important component of online-offline integration and core competitiveness for exhibitions. These online services do not directly generate tangible revenue. 3. Internet construction is content-driven. It requires ten years of continuous collection, editing and updating. If one rushes for quick success without laying a solid foundation, a profit model cannot be formed. 4. Internet team-building requires technology, editing and customer-service teams to work together with project sales and marketing personnel, each performing their duties. 5. The best online profit model is the all-around development of B2B, B2P and B2C. Sinoexpo's furniture online procurement platform and food and beverage online procurement platform have been online for nearly a year and have begun to show results. 6. A weakness is that without a business scope covering value-added telecommunications services, the profit space for exhibition organizers will face a major obstacle.