IFA is Europe’s largest gadget fair, attracting around 240,000 visitors to Berlin each year. It is the place for brands to announce product innovations and catch up informally with journalists and buyers. While the fair previously attracted mainly retailers, buyers, journalists and industry specialists, this year also brought many consumers.
Technology is becoming more accessible and is now mainstream among millennials, defined here as people born between 1980 and 2000. Popular technology media such as PCM publish dozens of IFA reports. Many technology journalists are themselves millennials. The question is: what kind of exhibition presentation appeals to them?
Tip 1: attract their attention
First, make sure you capture millennials’ attention. At IFA, major brands are well equipped to do so. Vestel installed enormous robot arms carrying three screens each, turning a simple company video into a futuristic show through precise coordination. LG created a magical tunnel of OLED screens. Sphero demonstrated its rolling Star Wars BB-8 with the accompanying Force Band.
But you can achieve a great deal with less. A compact hall with almost fifty stands gave start-ups a platform. Many stands were staffed by energetic entrepreneurs who were founders, CEOs and millennials themselves. Among them was Dutch company Beam Labs, whose smart projector earned an interview with CNN.
If you create a great deal of fuss over very little, however, expect a backlash, including from the media. Do not invite a journalist or blogger to your stand if you have nothing new to present or if the presentation does not fit the relationship. Millennials expect brands to take them seriously. That helps explain the cool reception for unremarkable product announcements that journalists travelled to IFA early to attend. Media relationships are especially important in these situations.
Tip 2: encourage interaction
Millennials enjoy interaction, so make room for it on your stand. Wacom offered a great example: a treat for graphic designers and illustrators, where visitors could test both the latest products and their creativity. Microsoft created an area focused on its Surface range. Under the theme “Designed on Surface”, visitors sketched with the Surface Pro 4 and its pen. People sat down and took time to try the products.
Interaction keeps visitors engaged and gives bloggers, vloggers and journalists an opportunity to test new products hands-on.
Tip 3: make some noise on social media
Social media promotion matters too. These channels can create engagement with your audience, provided you know which platforms they use and what content interests them. Lenovo, for example, generated plenty of attention for its IFA presentations on Instagram, a platform popular with millennials.
Think carefully about the channels and content that fit your audience. That is also how we approach our work for AVM, which enjoyed another successful IFA this year.
Remember: attract attention in the right way, encourage interaction and choose the right social media strategy. Would you like to discuss reaching millennial audiences? Contact our PR agency in Amsterdam or Antwerp, and we can develop a strategy that suits your business.
Kinyi
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