Riding China's three decades of reform and opening-up, 30-year-old exhibition giant Adsale Exhibition Services Ltd has taken the lead in bridging China and the world.
Adsale boasts many number one and pioneering efforts in the industry, making its top position hard to surpass.
"I take the most pride that Adsale was the first Hong Kong exhibition company to explore the mainland market," Stanley Chu, chairman and founder of the Hong Kong-headquartered company and chairman of Hong Kong Exhibition and Convention Industry Association.
Chinaplas, one of Adsale's brand exhibitions, dates back to 1983. It has been recognized as Asia's No 1 - and the world's third largest - international trade fair for the plastics and rubber industries, just after K Fair in Germany and NPE in the US. Also, market watchers say the thriving Chinaplas has the momentum to exceed NPE in the coming two to three years.
Exhibition is complex, so "Adsale places high emphasis on systematic management and show organization", said Chu, whose firm received the ISO 9002 Certification in 2000, the first exhibition organizer not only in China but also in the Asia Pacific region to have the certification.
Chu is also very proud of his company's well-established show history and proven track record in international contents, professional services and quality management. To date, a total of seven exhibitions organized by Adsale or in cooperation with other organizers, including Chinaplas, WMF, Printing South China, Sino-Pack, Dongguan China Shoes, EP China and Yiwu H&G, have been certified as an "UFI Approval Event", the top laurel of the world's exhibition sector. The company, which became a member of UFI in 2006, is currently one of the few in China to have so many shows receiving recognition from UFI.
Key to success
Apart from exhibition industry, Adsale was the first China trade promotion specialist to publish the first edition of the China Trade Handbook and acted as advertising representative for leading international media, including the Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times.
"Our success is attributable to China's rapid economic growth, our internationalized operation, professionalism in exhibition organization and the privilege of having an ideal team combining excellent personnel from Hong Kong and the mainland," he said.
Compared with many mainland exhibition organizers that use large numbers of staff and volunteers, the company only has 100 professionals in Hong Kong and 80 on the mainland, but has taken great advantage of its personnel on both sides. "Hongkongers are good at communicating with foreign buyers and exhibitors, while mainland staff are close to our market and government authorities."
Adsale also received votes of confidence for internationalized operation, high-quality buyers, exhibitors and visitors. Nearly one-fifth of the buyers at Chinaplas are from foreign countries - more than 10,000 buyers from 110 countries and regions.
Many of the nation's so-called "international exhibitions" have few foreign exhibitors, buyers and visitors, market insiders said.
"In China, most of the exhibitions focus on commodities, garments, and electronic products, but there are few targeting raw materials and machinery like Chinaplas. Adsale has taken the lead in this area, reflecting that our business is much more in line with the nation's macro-economic policy - optimizing the export structure," Chu noted.
Consistency in strong innovation is also a key to success for Adsale, the chairman said. Every year, it organizes a high-profile forum for Chinaplas and with well designed themes and innovative approaches in line with the nation's development . Next year, a forum with dual themes of Sichuan reconstruction and cross-Straits cooperation will be staged.
Coping challenges ahead
With an economic downturn hitting world economies, many companies are slashing their promotion spending.
"We will cope with the challenges through our unique positioning and differentiation," the chairman said.
"Our constant position and commitment to placing exhibitors' interest on top will be our winning card," he said, adding that an exhibition organizer is similar to a newspaper publisher. If a newspaper can ensure good quality and quantity of readers, it does not have to worry about its advertisement income.
"For exhibitions, if we focus more on recruiting buyers, we can serve our exhibitors," he said.
Amid the economic slowdown, Adsale doesn't encourage exhibitors to join every event, but instead brand-name gatherings that indeed bring returns for them.
"The sluggish economic cycle makes tremendous opportunities for a future business boom," he said. "We will encourage them to make a cost effective choice."
To make exhibitors more loyal, Adsale also offers complete services in online and publication promotion.
This year, the single-month visits to the www.chinaplasonline.com reached a record high of 17.43 million hits.
"To be the market leader in international trade promotion services in China & Asia, we are committed to customer satisfaction through our reliable, quality and competitive services, as well as our proven experience in enhancing the economic ties between China and the rest of the world," Chu said.
Source: China Daily
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