V. Trade Fair Participation
B. Exhibition Strategies and Styles

Once a decision to participate has been made, the exhibition strategy, the exhibition style and exhibition targets have to be determined. Exhibition strategy and style complement each other. It has proved to be helpful to follow these planning steps as the exhibition styles make it easier to decide which booth design and which communication tools to choose for the participation. 

Exhibition (marketing) strategies48)

• Within the market processing strategy it is decided which products will be offered to which markets. The company can either present new or already known products. It might choose the present markets as relevant for the market offer or new markets which are not yet opened for the company's assessment.
• If you combine the potential markets (new or known) with the type of products (new or known) four market processing strategies can be distinguished. For further explanation see the next slide.

Exhibition style49)

• The concept of the exhibition style provides a guideline from which the design elements of a booth can be chosen and the marketing instruments can be selected and finally applied.
• An exhibition style supports the decision making process in the run-up to the exhibition. The management has to choose which communication instruments (i.e. press conference, brochure, direct mailing, special event, banners, advertisement) to use. The exhibition style delivers the criteria for the final decision.