South Africa-based Booth Exhibits™ recently announced plans to expand their business to the UK and USA. The company, which specialises in trade show displays and exhibition stands, has seen impressive growth in the South African market over the past few years and is now looking to capitalize on their success by tapping into the international market. Booth Exhibits™ has earned a reputation for designing and creating stunning custom stands that attract attention and make an impact. The company has a team of experienced designers and engineers that use the latest technologies and techniques to produce high-quality stands that are both eye-catching and functional. Booth Exhibits also offers a wide range of services, including fabric printing, LED lighting, custom graphics, and installation. “We are thrilled to be expanding our business to the UK and USA,” said Booth Exhibits™ CEO, Patrick Wells. “This expansion will allow us to offer our services to a wider range of customers, and we are confident that our designs will make a lasting impression on trade show attendees around the world.”
Booth Exhibits is currently in the process of setting up offices in both countries and is officially offering their services to the European and American markets.
Our decision to join AAXO has so far shown to be a wise one. In addition to connecting us with former co-workers, it has given us a forum where we can interact and offer answers to problems or obstacles we face daily and create prospects for new business.
I think it is reasonable to say that everyone has experienced a day where things don’t go as planned. Days like these are simpler to handle when one is an AAXO member since it offers the required pillars of support to continue and handle the many scenarios in an amicable and professional manner.
The COVID pandemic appears to have come and gone very rapidly when examining the business today, despite the fact that the experience was brutally painful. We are honoured to have been permitted to return to the field and are currently engaged in a restoration exercise with the goal of ten-fold restoring what we already had.
As the various firms have started using new business strategies, the industry has redirected itself in a different direction. As each business seeks to protect themselves and prevent potential losses or unfavourable outcomes, however, not all new measures being implemented by them are advantageous. Though, I am certain flexibility is exercised where possible or trust is not an issue.
Our way of thinking has slightly changed, as we now recognize the importance of greater collaboration across the many businesses and competitors as opposed to mere competition for customers. Despite the spike in costs, we have also had to consider our clients’ budgets in order to appreciate the financial burden we have all had to undergo while still delivering beyond excellence.
Judging from how the year has played out, I anticipate that next year will be very busy from January through December. I welcome this assumption since it will ease the financial hardships the industry is currently experiencing as a result of having been sitting out the COVID duration.
The industry has embarked on more fancy and exciting designs for custom stands, modern themes of eventing along the non-exhibition space.
With the goal of continuing to provide our clients across the country and possibly the African continent with nothing less than the best service, I am personally thrilled to be on a rebuild and growth program as 2023 approaches.
Contrary to popular belief, the concept of ‘influencer’ isn’t a modern-day invention that transpired in the 21st Century with the rise of the internet and social media platforms. In fact, the evolution of influencers can be dated all the way back to 105BCE when Roman gladiators rose to celebrity status, often even promoting the occasional product like oil or wine. [1]
If the pandemic taught marketers anything, it’s that influencer marketing truly showed the value it can bring to a brand or business. During lockdown, brands and businesses had to pivot the way in which they reached their target audience. With potential customers retreating to their homes, and with no other way to communicate than through digital platforms, this opened up immense opportunity for influencer marketing.
With the fog of the early 2020s dissipating, one thing still stands: As much as 61% of consumers trust recommendations from influencers, with only 38% trusting branded social content.[2] By the end of 2022 alone, brands are projected to spend a whopping R270 billion on influencer marketing with the marketing medium proving to generate 11 times the ROI of traditional digital marketing. [3]
What is an influencer?
An influencer, also known as a content creator, is someone who has the power to affect the opinions and purchasing decisions of others based on their social media presence. Their influence can come from their authority, knowledge, position, or relationship with their audience[4]. These individuals have grown their audiences and built careers off the back of the content they create.
Within the influencer space there are categories; their ‘beat’, which is the sector their content speaks to and what their audiences are interested in, whether that be home, beauty, lifestyle, travel and so on. They are also categorised by their following, for example: Nano influencers (1K–10K followers), micro influencers (10K–100K followers), macro influencers (100K–1M followers) and mega or celebrity influencers (1M+ followers).
Why does influencer marketing work?
Picture this: You’ve met up with a colleague for coffee – someone you respect and admire. He tells you about the latest gadget he has tried and how it’s worked for him. Are you interested? Will you go home and search for it online? Possibly.
Well, this is how influencer marketing works. Influencers communicate with their audience on their channels, packaging a brand’s messaging in an authentic way that their followers trust. Through influencer marketing, an influencer is providing a brand with endorsement and word of mouth advertising. They are able to do this because they have an audience who relates to them, admires them and most importantly, trusts them.
With referrals being one of the top reasons consumers purchase or buy into a product or brand, endorsement from influencers not only means credibility for your brand but lead generation too.
How do you stand out?
Competing for attention online, amongst the plethora of engaging content, is no easy feat.
In order to stand out, your campaign needs to be engaging. The biggest mistake brands make is driving single campaigns once-off which may bring a burst of favourable results, but doesn’t truly build meaningful connections with your audience for longevity. Longevity is key and building authentic relationships and long-term campaigns will contribute to the success of influencer marketing for your business.
Credibility and relevance simply cannot be bought, however, strategic influencer marketing can and should form part of your marketing plan.
My father taught me that to understand an English word, it is always better to refer to its origins. About 80 percent of the entries in any English dictionary are borrowed, mainly from Latin. Over 60 percent of all English words have Greek or Latin roots. Today I want to discuss a word that is a source of most of humankind’s problems, the word Compete. The English dictionary defines the word as meaning “strive to gain or win something by defeating or establishing superiority over others”. Because most of us in life want to gain or win, we naturally assume that in order to do that we must out do or defeat other fellow humans thereby leading to the scarcity mentality where we assume that there are limited resources.
However if you go back to its Latin origin, it derives from LATIN verb=“Competere” meaning to meet, come together. Also means strive in common, strive after something in company with or together. Tracing the word to it origins actually tells us that we can collaborate and win together if we strive together. Imagine the cohesion we would have if we understood this word, not to mention impacts on our livelihood as far is it affects:
Marriages
In a marriage like any partnership, it is very important to remember that you are part of the same team with a common goal/s. You should appreciate the different strengths that you each bring and enjoy your different perspectives as all this contributes to a winning team. However, in some marriages, we bring the personal self rather the higher/authentic self, which leads to us pulling in different directions with ego. Always important to understand why you married in the first place. They say that marriages last longer when you bring all this love you have to share rather than going into a marriage looking for love that you don’t have internally.
Siblings
As parents, we need to be branding/marketing experts and super motivational speakers. Marketers know the importance of labels and can take any mediocre product and hype it up with labels. Similarly coaches and motivational speakers can have mediocre teams believing in themselves leading to unbelievable results. As parents we need to be deliberate about the labels we give our children and make sure it’s all positive labels as labels stick like hypnosis.
We must be careful never to compare our children even with all the best intentions, whether to motivate or encourage. “Why can’t you be more like your sister”. Sibling rivalries are very dangerous. We have seen family dynasties being destroyed by sibling rivalries. Our children need to know that they are part of the same team and should always give their best. We must raise them with a growth mind set, believing that anything worth doing is worth doing well.
Work
Companies all over the world are grappling to implement reward systems that promote and reward collective efforts rather than individual effort. The current reward systems drive bad behaviour whereby employees believe that they must defeat or outsmart other colleagues in order to be the best.
Innovation
Marcus Buckingham promotes that we all have a responsibility to find our strengths. According to his work, there are 9 strengths that are available with each individual having 2 dominant strengths. Imagine the limitless innovation that would be possible if diverse teams were brought into projects whereby all 9 strengths are available to drive performance and come with new products and new ways of doing things.
Instead, most project teams are composed based on who is the flavour of the month instead of the core skills required for the project. The project still gets delivered more as a vanilla box ticking exercise rather than as the next exciting thing where the creative juices are flowing with passion. Inevitably you also find the project team members competing rather than striving together.
Race
The whole world is grappling with issues of racism that have caused havoc for centuries. At a fundamental level, racism is about the belief that some races are better than others. The majority of humankind know that this is fallacy but it continues to divide us to this day resulting in different races competing for superiority or their place in the Sun. A closer look reveals that for human beings of whatever race, at the root of human aspiration, there are three core psychological needs: autonomy, competence, and relatedness (the need for social connection and intimacy). You need to feel autonomous, that you can make choices in your life. You have to feel effective and competent, doing things that make you stretch. And you have to have close relationships with others to satisfy your social mandate.
Attaining these core psychological needs does not require any race to be defeated nor superior.
I understand that to some people, the word Purpose is an old, outworn and threadbare notion/buzzword. However, we have just dealt with the consequences of not understanding the purpose of just one word. Imagine the consequences of not understanding our purpose as individual human beings here on planet earth. Dare I say that the notion of Purpose might be a buzzword but the consequences of not understanding our purpose live on all around us.
Written by Slingsby Mda
Slingsby Mda is the founder and Managing Director of Esto Quod Es (Latin for Be who/what you are), a South African company that specialises in Transformation Coaching, Impact Speaking and Strategy Facilitation. This was borne out of his ambition for understanding why some people don’t reach their true potential. Having gone through his own transformation journey to find his purpose, he then decided to follow his passion and assist others to reach their potential.
He likes to refer to himself as a reformed accountant with more than 20 years working experience in both the public and private sector. His motto is: The world is what it is and we are what we are.
When flipping through a magazine, watching TV, or listening to the radio, how often do you skip a full page advert, or become inattentive whilst an advert is playing? That’s because 70% of people would prefer to learn about a brand through articles – and meaningful content – than they would through advertisements.
For this reason, content marketing generates three times more leads than traditional marketing. Whilst advertising is an effective tool, content marketing and earned media offers third party credibility through media endorsement, driving a brand’s messaging, generating awareness and supporting in lead generation.
Are you using content marketing effectively to publicise your events, trade shows and conferences? Kirsten Roos and Samantha Thomas, Managing Partners at Pulse Communications, provide their top tips to use content marketing effectively in your overall marketing strategy:
PR is not an afterthought
In order to maximise efforts, and get placed in those coveted long-lead titles, ensure that you start your PR and content marketing efforts at minimum three months prior to your event (where possible). This is because most business and trade magazines work according to a three-month lead-time on content, and it also allows broadcast and digital platforms to build your content into their calendars.
Utilise your thought leaders
Your speakers, exhibitors, sponsors and own internal staff are all leaders in their own fields. Commentary from these thought leaders provides an abundance of content, insight and expertise for media titles to ensure you’re reaching a myriad of different audiences who all may be interested in your event.
Think ahead
Your event is done and dusted, but there is huge power in your post-event media relations (so don’t go quiet now). Recapping on highlights, statistics (such as number of attendees compared to previous years) drives the credibility of your event and ensures you’re marked in the diary for the next one.
For more information on Pulse Communications, and to connect with the team on your content marketing needs, visit www.pulseconnect.co.za
You can’t keep a good woman down. Despite the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic which brought travel and conference tourism to a standstill, Lindiwe Rakharebe, CEO of the Durban ICC, has bagged a second award in two months for her leadership qualities.
She has just won the Leadership Award in the third annual Sebenza Awards which focuses on recognising and celebrating top women for their brilliance, strength, and achievements in various fields of work.
Rakharebe, who has been at the helm of Africa’s leading convention centre since April 2015, also took top honours last month in the Venue Representative of the Year category of the seventh Women in MICE Awards.
Meetings magazine and The Planner Guru website jointly hosted the celebration of the leading Women in the Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions (MICE) industry to recognise the important role women play in the sector. Ms Rakharebe’s award was given to “the woman who has ensured the highest standards of guest and staff well-being by moving swiftly to implement measures that not only meet all requirements but exceed them”.
Ms Rakharebe said she owed the two latest awards to every man and woman employed at the Durban ICC.
“A leader is only as good as the team. It is the fortitude and resilience of our employees that has ensured the Durban ICC is post-pandemic ready.
“The success of our business depends on the satisfaction of our clients which, in turn, depends on the quality of the product we deliver and the level of customer service we provide. We set our goals high, working to achieve 100% satisfaction from our clients and exhibitors.”
“Unfortunately, at the beginning of 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic impacted our business more profoundly than anything to date. Nevertheless, we are filled with pride for all that we accomplished despite the challenges. As they say, ‘tough times don’t last; tough teams do.’” she said.
Kini Shandu, the founder of the Sebenza Awards, said for too long women in South Africa have been marginalised and still face gender-based violence on a daily basis.
“The Sebenza Awards brings about equality by identifying stars doing exceptional, extraordinary work in various sectors. We shine the spotlight on women, their contributions and position them in areas that create opportunities for them to excel even more,” she said.
She added Rakharebe’s award was all the more significant, coming at a time when the pandemic hit the Durban ICC particularly hard as it relies heavily on gatherings, which have been heavily restricted as local, national and international travel came to a halt.
“However, our Lindiwe ensured that contingency measures were put in place to ensure the Durban ICC continued to provide the highest levels of infrastructure and service standards.
Glen Mashinini, Chairman of the Board of Durban ICC, said: “We are proud of the Leadership Award bestowed on Ms Rakharebe for her sound leadership and outstanding achievements at a critical time.
“Her strengths which include vision, inspiration, interpersonal communication and strategic and critical thinking have motivated the Durban ICC team’s efforts to put new measures in place, uphold all principles of corporate governance, diligent oversight and efficient financial and supply chain processes during a most challenging period,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Durban ICC has been nominated for the title of World’s Leading Meetings & Conference Centre 2021 on the World Travel Awards and hopes to win the heavily contested accolade at WTA’s Grand Final Gala Ceremony 2021 which will take place in Moscow on 26 November 2021.
Durban ICC has been nominated in the World Travel Awards – Africa’s Leading Meetings and Conference Centre 20 times and has been voted the winner in this category no fewer than 17 times.
Issued by: The Inkosi Albert Luthuli International Convention Centre (Durban ICC)
For more information contact: Durban ICC Marketing Manager – Sandile Makhanya, 031 360 1192 or
The luscious gardens at the Johannesburg Expo Centre remain one of the key differentiating factors of the venue, we are well known for providing beautifully kept garden spaces to add to the ambiance of any event. As Our facility has large outdoor spaces and under the new way of living, observing all COVID regulations, it has been more urgent now more than ever to preserve aesthetic green outdoor living spaces around our conference and event centres.
At the start of 2020, we decided to gradually build our gardening team and upskill them to take our green spaces to the next level, whilst actively working towards water savings initiatives and environmentally friendly practices within our landscaping projects. This lead to the appointment of Ronewa Creations who have taken on the audacious role of taking the Centre under their green wealth of knowledge to support the gardeners and gardens of our highly praised Garden facilities.
They will be going through a series of garden training, designs, and consultations to improve the garden aesthetics and get the centre ready for future events.
Ronwea Creations is a 100% black women-owned local entity proudly founded and managed by an anunt-and-niece team. Both ladies have extensive experience in landscaping and hold qualifications in the field of Biochemestry, Botany, and Horticulture. We are proud to partner with local entities such as Ronewa Creations to keep to our commitment to growing and supporting our local community.
Scan Display has expanded its printing portfolio with new branding solutions for corporates, retail, events and activations nationwide. Its increased range includes custom wallpaper available in seven different textures, vinyl and PVC branding, indoor and outdoor signage, and portable outdoor branding such as flags, gazebos, and pop-up, telescopic and sharkfin banners.
Justin Hawes, MD Scan Display, says, “We print all these items in-house, so we have complete control over the production process and can deliver on our promise of value-for-money, flexibility and ease of doing business with us.”
And things are incredibly easy. In-house graphic designers can assist with your artwork if needed, while the printing facilities are open 24/7. This means you can receive sample prints and quick turn-around times, while being exempt from overtime charges. Short runs with no minimum quantity are also welcome.
In addition to its new products, Scan Display still provides its popular fabric branding system, the Tension Fabric System. This versatile product has multiple applications, such as video conferencing backdrops, retail displays, exhibits, showrooms, reception areas and foyers, interior signage or advertising, and more.
Its discrete and slim aluminium frames come with straight and curved options, and can be wall-mounted, free-standing or suspended from the ceiling. Single- or double-sided graphics are possible, as are back- and front-lighting options. Each job is made to your required dimensions, with seamless prints of up to 50m by 3m. As a bonus, the graphics are washable and re-usable, and easy enough for you to take down or put up as needed.
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