The Dutch trade show organizer VNU Exhibitions Europe has won the UFI Marketing Award 2011 with its Key Buyer Appreciation Program. The finalists have presented their submissions in Munich on 9 September during the UFI Marketing Committee Meeting. The 2011 UFI Marketing Award will be presented to VNU Exhibitions Europe at the 78th UFI Congress in Valencia from November 9-12, 2011. UFI is the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry.

At the end of April 2010, the Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajokull brought flight traffic across Europe to a complete standstill. At exactly that moment, the international trade show VIV Europe 2010 was taking place in Utrecht, from 20-22 April. As a result of the volcanic activity, which began six days before the start of VIV Europe, there were only half as many international visitors as usual. To compensate exhibitors, VNU Exhibitions Europe launched the Key Buyer Appreciation Program. This program enabled exhibitors to offer their most important clients a free hotel stay in Bangkok during VIV Asia, scheduled for March 2011. The program was developed in cooperation with the Thai co-organizer NEO and Creative Destination Management.

For this program, VNU Exhibitions Europe booked ten thousand overnight stays. Exhibitors could offer their clients a maximum of two free nights in a hotel. For the registration procedure, VNU Exhibitions Europe developed an Internet application which enabled exhibitors to book the hotel rooms and send the details to their key buyers. A call center was also set up to explain to all the exhibitors personally what the program entailed.
The program was part of a whole package of measures to help VNU Exhibitions compensate VIV Europe exhibitors for the lower visitor numbers.
The program resulted in a very successful VIV Asia 2011, which saw 40% more visitors than the previous edition. The number of international visitors rose by 60%. The size of the exhibition increased with a quarter. Both visitors and exhibitors rated VIV Asia with the highest appreciation scores ever seen.

Gerard Leeuwenburgh, Director International Business of VNU Exhibitions and responsible for the VIV portfolio. ‘We were not legally required to compensate the exhibitors for the consequences of the volcanic eruptions. However, even before VIV Europe, we started to think about ways to make a gesture towards those exhibitors who had looked forward so much to VIV Europe. We wanted to show them that we care for our clients. That is how we do business. With our program, we strengthened our position in the market. We showed what partnership means to us. And that is important to us.’

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