Baselworld: Community platform, not sales stage
After the Swatch Group, another prominent exhibitor, Breitling, has withdrawn from Baselworld 2020. However, a return for 2021 is not excluded.
Breitling CEO Georges Kern gives two reasons for the withdrawal: The trade show date and "the business model of the trade show with its sales booths" (Werbewoche.ch reported). Exhibition director Michel Loris-Melikoff says in Baselworld's own newsletter in this regard that Breitling's strategy of presenting its brand worldwide as an "experience" corresponds exactly to Baselworld's intention of transforming itself into an experience platform, 365 days a year.
Following discussions with exhibitors at Baselworld and the Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie SIHH (Apr 26-29, 2019), the show's management under Michel Loris-Melikoff has moved the earlier March date of Baselworld to April 30-May 5, 2020, so that buyers and journalists can combine a stay in Switzerland with a visit to both shows. This is to be welcomed in the interests of the industry. But as the saying goes: you can never please everyone; a company that fulfills every customer's every wish at all times will not survive. And relaunching Baselworld on many levels is not enough. Michel Loris-Melikoff knows that. The good is the enemy of the better.
A key point of criticism by Breitling CEO and co-owner Georges Kern (NZZ, 14.4.2019) is directed at the effectively outdated business model of trade shows as sales platforms. Trade shows are much more. This is what trade fair director Michel Loris-Melikoff presented in Basel on March 26. Only 15 percent of the expected revenues are to be generated in the future by classic individual stands, 55 percent by "infrastructures" newly developed by Baselworld (at prices reduced by 10 - 30 percent). Michel Loris-Melikoff gave indications of what these new platforms will be about: An experience stage that will not simply be aimed at buyers, but at the entire watch and jewelry community of distributors, consumers, influencers, etc.
This is exactly the target group Georges Kern is looking for. He reports in the Basler Zeitung of March 17, 2018, that Breitling is relying on decentralized roadshows in the world's major cities, from London to Zurich: "That was a huge effort, but it was worth it. I met 800 retailers and at least as many journalists, influencers and watch collectors at this roadshow."
The crucial point is: Baselworld is on its way to revitalizing the "sales fair" business model. But in contrast, a roadshow can be compared to an in-house exhibition. Here, one usually reaches existing customers, the ambassadors of a brand, and shows them a vision, makes a brand tangible. However, the final goal of a trade show participation must always be sales; creating awareness is not enough and is difficult to measure. Baselworld and a roadshow are not competitors, but cross-media marketing. It's a matter of doing one and not leaving out the other.
But if Baselworld wants to win back customers like Swatch and Breitling, which Breitling is not ruling out for 2021, that will essentially also depend on how successfully the "Messe 365" theme is implemented.
After the decline in exhibitors in recent years, the relaunch of Baselworld 2019 was a kind of turnaround. Georges Kern underlines this: "Baselworld 2019 was a success for us." He is not alone in this. Patek Philippe has already confirmed participation for 2020. Rolex will certainly come with its subsidiary Tudor with its own stand. The country pavilions Hong Kong, Thailand and China are motivated to participate again in 2020. Interestingly, the latter are those customers who use the fair as a classic sales stage. Exhibitors from the jewelry industry are the most loyal customers anyway - because they do successful business in Basel.
What are the conditions like, will Baselworld 2020 come at all? The exhibition management will decide on this after the summer vacations in 2019.
