Writing the post show coverage is always a task as one has to cover the whole show meticulously, arrange the large number of photographs taken/watermark them and then arrange them in the desired order to link with the article written for them. It takes a lot of time and mental concentration to do so, though inadvertently, there can be some mistakes which we will ensure to minimise to the best of our abilities.
As always our aim is to provide an as fair and impartial reportage of the show as possible, based on what we personally experienced ourselves. For sure, there will be those who will be aggrieved by what we write and be cross with us but we do so for the general benefit of the entire home audio video industry, that we consider ourselves to be part of. We hope to see not only the industry grow but also the level of the shows like What Hi-Fi? and maybe more that we will hopefully see taking place pan India.
As per our experience, this show has been one of the poorest attended and disappointing in more ways than one. The following are a couple of our observations of the show, that were contributing factors, ones that hopefully won’t be repeated in the future shows:
Provision of Information of Brands/Models being Showcased – Time and again, we have requested the exhibitors taking part in the show to advise the details of the same, so that the show organisers and we amongst others as digital AV focused media can create the awareness and interest into the target audience to ensure they must visit the show. This is a very critical aspect that needs to be addressed the most as AV enthusiasts by and large do not have an avenue to experience a lot of the brands and their respective models(notably high end) at a dealers premises for obvious reasons.
Static Displays – Whilst it is very easy for the exhibitors to do so and time and again we have being noticing the trend growing amongst the exhibitors, it doesn’t really serve the purpose as the attending visitors do not appreciate the same and would love to hear the equipment on demo to their benefit rather than just see. After all the What Hi-Fi? Show is a Aural & Visual experience hence the exhibitors MUST make the effort to have the gear showcased properly and as desired, notably the aspirational / expensive / halo brands that the normal av enthusiasts do not ever have an opportunity to hear anywhere else. It rather makes sense for the show to be a small one that is focused on providing the satisfaction of the visitors than be a large one with the said visitors just walking by in disappointment and disgust.
Demo Set Ups – By and large most of the exhibitors who make the effort of showcasing their gear on demo always do so with great care, but there are some that just do not pay attention to this aspect, thereby the said product/brand doesn’t get showcased in the right manner. The reasons for such instances can be attributed to a lot of factors, including lack of relevant experience for doing the desired setup and or not having the synergy to showcase either their brand of electronics or speakers. Not always does a distributor have speakers and electronics that have a synergy between them and by showcasing such sets ups due to such constraints always backfires. Hence, it would make sense for distributors of such brands to have brands of other distributors showcased with their brands to achieve the desired synergy, thereby making it a win win situation for all concerned. There were a few that did precisely this and the results achieved were fantastic. We hope that this trend continues in future as well!
Designated Time Slots for Demo’s – Whilst a few exhibitors had smartly managed this, it needs to be done by most if not all to get the desired satisfaction of the visitors, so that they can hear the gears on demo in the correct fashion to appreciate or get more insights into the set up on demo as a future reference or purchase.
Pricing Information – A perennial question that most if not all of the visitors would like answered to! Besides one exhibitor, who ensured that all their products had the respective pricing displayed, none of the others did so. Our market is always curious to know the prices and that aspect is vital so that the same question does not keep getting asked and answered to time & again.
We hope that our observations are taken into consideration positively and they help in improving the quality of the shows in the future to ensure growth for all concerned.
Link to Show Report Coverage Part -1
