“Oh the times they are a changin’…”
I had a classic cross-generational moment the other day when my teenage niece asked me if I had heard of this guy Bob Dylan yet.
“The singer and songwriter?” I asked her with a slight grin.
“Yeah. I’m not sure about his voice but the lyrics are like poetry”.
I was a tad flabbergasted as I usually see her bobbing her head to pop music that makes my skin crawl. Lately I have been feeling the flow of change around me and these rapid evolutions in cultural norms and attitudes leave large opportunity gaps in every industry, including the trade show and exhibition world.
Emerging cultural markets like the legal (in some states) cannabis industry, electronic gaming and social media marketing have opened up new horizons for new as well as existing/traditional companies.
Even though the cultural stigma of marijuana for a near-50 year old like myself is hard to shake, this freshly minted and newly acceptable weed industry is growing and it sorely needs structure and traditional goods and services. Early entry into the trade shows associated with these developing industries can put you miles ahead of the competition as an early adopter into the business lives of these next-generation entrepreneurs.
It’s not just about eye-catching trade show booths and displays. The key to winning is exhibiting at the right shows at the right time and utilizing experiential marketing pre, during and post event. A comprehensive event marketing plan from a full-service event marketing company can pry open these new markets for even the most “traditional” companies. As I get older I realize I must battle against my ingrained ideas and beliefs or get left behind.
Let’s examine the brave new world around us and look at the some of these new opportunities according to the Inc.com article “The Hottest Sectors for Launching a Business in 2018”. The list is “based on data on the fastest-growing sectors, as well as interviews with industry experts, investors, and entrepreneurs.” Might your company sell to these up and comers?
- Legal Cannabis
- eSports and Video Games
- Disaster Relief
- Beauty Tech
- Women’s Reproductive Health Care
- Elderly Care
- Influencer Agents
- Alternative-protein Food Products
An experienced event marketing company like Apple Rock can also help you pick the best shows in these new markets as there is often a glut of new options and the options can be difficult to wade through. The bottom line is that there is opportunity in these freshly legitimized sectors and often these business owners are craving B2B providers to treat them with the professionalism that they deserve. The future is wide open if you are willing to step into the void…
Apple Rock will help you enter into these new markets with an experienced blend of trade show design, fabrication and event marketing savvy.
