Under the title “Digitization in the Live Marketing + Exhibition Industry – Opportunities + Challenges,” IFES has published a Whitepaper on the occasion of Best of Events Connect, the online offshoot of the BoE industry trade show, that focuses on the changing use of digital formats in the context of physical events.

In the paper, which is aimed primarily at small and medium-sized Enterprises, the association uses the “customer journey” to describe strengths and weaknesses as well as opportunities and risks of digital and hybrid trade show and event formats.

The working paper starts with a situation analysis and breaks down how corporate communications have changed over the past year. This is followed by a basic definition of the terms “virtual” and “hybrid” event concepts. Focusing on the relationship between exhibitor, organizer and visitor, the paper illustrates the changes that digital “add-ons” have on the role of the partners involved.

As a decision-making aid for communication managers in companies, the paper then uses the customer journey to describe the changes at touchpoints between customer and product/service. The SWOT analysis that follows gives the reader the opportunity to compare his own situation with the possibilities of the changed communication measures.

“It was important to us that we provide as comprehensive a basis for decision-making as possible for our members’ customers within the scope of the paper,” says IFES Association Managing Director Uta Goretzky.

“In doing so, we also wanted to dispel the misconception that the acceleration of digital communication makes face2face communication obsolete or that digital communication channels are fundamentally cost-effective and lead to a better ROI,” Uta Goretzky continues.

The white paper is published in English and can be requested free of charge from the IFES office. An e-mail to Events@ifesnet.org is sufficient.