Back in the autumn I was looking forward to the latest round of property exhibitions and promptly booked my tickets for a couple of them in London & Birmingham. I entered both in anticipation & left disappointed. However, my own personal feelings aside I noticed an overwhelming feeling amongst agents that the branding exercise of an exhibition stand was still very much a must, despite the lack of investors through the door.

Now before you say it, of course I attended on ‘trade day’ – day one of three which is often perceived as a big networking event where cold pitching business is welcomed as opposed to discouraged. However, upon following up conversations during the oncoming week I would ask how they felt the attendance was and they would all say the same, that it was “ok” but “no, not a great deal of leads but they’ll do”. And besides, since when would an agent take a non-client call the week after an expo!

This told me that the branding exercise of attending was still very much at the forefront of their priorities despite the economic downturn. So with another round of exhibitions just over a month away I have begun to think about attending these also. By contrast I could be right in not having enthusiasm for doing so and certainly on the basis of my attendance last time round it would be a waste of energy! However this time round I shall be there with bells on (ok, perhaps sans bells) for other purposes, more on that another time.

So between the autumn & oncoming exhibitions we have seen a fair few goings on in the exhibition scene, particularly goings. One major exhibition has downsized from its traditional venue at Excel to the smaller Earls Court whereas another has retained its choice of larger venue. For me this reflects a paradigm shift in the quality of the anticipated audience. Active investors in the market are fewer but most certainly present, so gone are the days of bag grabbing “shoppers”, which can only be a good thing.

However the question which does remain is that are those actively in the market likely to attend an exhibition nowadays? Are they now sticking to their trusted agents and or relying more on the internet? Only time will tell. For me this is a last throw of the dice for the exhibitions. If they work then they will live on, but what if they don’t? If no-one comes through the doors, who is going to part with their decreasing budgets to attend again this autumn? However, with market share diminishing and hot on the heels of the announcement this week of voluntary administration by a household name attendee & purchaser of larger stands, those agents remaining have little option of siding with the former. Attend they will and with maximum optimism, but one thing is certain.

The question is branding more important that online marketing will be answered come the end of spring.