Shanghai New International Expo Center will host the home appliance industry’s annual event, Appliance World Expo (AWE). This is the fourth time AWE will take place in Shanghai. Media has heavily exposed the expo’s details before. For example, major international brands from Europe, North America, Japan, and South Korea will all be present. 4K, OLED, smart appliances, and other cutting-edge products will make their debuts. The home appliance summit, distributors’ forum, China Appliance Awards ceremony, Environment and Health Appliance Forum, and other colorful activities will also be held at the same time.
The reporter also learned that international superstar Lin Chi-ling is 100% confirmed to appear at AWE.
What sorts of detailed preparations did the main organizer, China Household Electrical Appliances Association, have to do for the show’s extensive contents and to ensure the success of AWE? On the occasion of the expo’s opening, Cheaa.com obtained an exclusive interview with CHEAA’s Secretary-General, Xu Dongsheng. He will talk about the association’s intentions and vision for AWE as well as the painstaking preparations done to ensure AWE’s rise over the last few years.
Being the main organizer and the industry’s association, gathering all our strengths to successfully organize the exposition is the fundamental requirement of our work. To do so, first we need to work well with the exhibiting enterprises. This requires strengthening contacts within the industry, keeping in close contact with the exhibitors, listening to their aspirations for the exhibition, and absorbing their valuable comments and suggestions. This kind of dialogue is something we’re constantly working on maintaining. Besides, we also value collaboration with partners within the industry, like other industry associations, consulting companies, domestic and foreign agencies. Strengthening our cooperation with these parties allows us to take advantage of everyone’s strengths.
When we first started contacting exhibitors, some exhibiting enterprises had doubts about whether the expo would meet their needs. After operating for a few years, we gradually built a high-quality team. From planning to execution, we work hard to provide participating companies with a higher level of service. We strive to do the best preparatory work in every aspect, and after each year’s exposition, we complete meticulous reviews, highlighting any problems that appeared. This directs us to better complete our work in the future.
A home appliance exposition is different from other expositions; it’s a consumer products exhibition, not an industrial products exhibition. Besides the conventional work of organizing exhibitors and professional audience, it’s also necessary to raise public awareness and attract consumers to the event. Actually it’s harder work than organizing a normal expo. The functions of the expo are more comprehensive, and this tests our operational ability in many areas. But with the strong support of each of our partners, at present the level of satisfaction of the exhibitors is consistently becoming higher – their ratings are becoming higher.
In recent years, AWE has become a highly regarded platform for product releases. Enterprises are coming to value it even more. And so, more and more new products are brought to the exhibition for their releases. AWE’s influence within the industry continues to grow, and has become the bellwether for the year’s consumer trends. Gradually it has come to guide consumer trends and display the industry’s achievements. All this improves communication and dialogue within and about the industry, one of the goals of organizing the expo.
This year’s exhibition area increased by 30%, however, the rate at which booths are being sold is clearly increasing – three months before AWE, there were no more booth spaces left. Some companies wanted to increase their booth area later, but there was no more space available. This reflects exhibitors and the industry’s recognition of AWE. The expo will cause society to concentrate their attention on the home appliance industry, just as a big sports competition attracts a lot of attention from the public for that type of sport. As the industry rises, every year new technologies emerge and are incorporated into the show. In 2014, the number and quality of applications for the China Appliance Awards vastly surpass those of the previous year – this encapsulates the progress being made on many fronts.
AWE is the industry’s platform for dialogue, we place a lot of importance on inviting distributors, and we focus on being targeted and comprehensive. AWE’s exhibitors include many companies that are not only traditional large home appliance enterprise, but also including domestic and foreign OEMs, parts manufacturers, and manufacturers in emerging sectors of the industry. Different types of exhibitors are not interested in the same type of distributor. Therefore, besides traditional dealers, we consider some luxury distributors and untraditional distributors to be within scope for our invitations. These two years the exhibition has closely collaborated with JD.com and Tmall e-commerce retailers. We also selectively invite real estate developers and building materials, home improvement distributors to visit our exposition.
During the exposition, as the main organizer we also plan a series of panels, conferences, and other auxiliary events. This enriches the expo and expands the industry’s influence and appeal. CCTV’s co-sponsored China Household Electrical Appliance Development Summit has been held for the past four years, and it has played a great role in guiding industry trends. The industry’s step up to the next level, internationalization, industry transformation, etcetera, are also topics of attention for our exhibition. This year, the expo will also focus on topics related to the height of consumption levels and industry development levels, not to mention the Internet of Things, smart home appliances, e-commerce, big data, and other related issues.
China Appliance Awards are the highest awards for products within the industry, and the award ceremony will be held during AWE. Every year the home appliance industry will have new developments – for example, new technology, “smart” appliances, low-carbon environmentally-friendly products, new trends – and the China Appliance Awards selection takes these new developments into account. This year, JD.com actively participated in the China Appliance Awards selection process – the entire “Audience Favorites” selection interface was done by JD.com, exposing the expo’s events to all levels of society.
This work all fits the show’s theme of guiding consumers; of course there are accompanying events targeting some special areas. For example this year the public is paying close attention to air and water pollution. And so, the expo also has guiding and consumer-education events on these topics. There is a related panel – the China Environment & Health Household Electrical Appliance Summit. Furthermore, 25% of the entire expo’s area is dedicated to environmental and health home appliances.
Besides the expo’s organizational and planning work, the work of media communications is also immense. Only through the media can the expo’s effects be felt to the greatest extent, allowing industry insiders and outsiders who cannot personally attend the event to understand the state of the industry’s development and changes in consumer trends.
Every year we analyze and report important points and general directions. We also develop a detailed program for media coverage and organize many media personnel and media teams to come cover the show. Some media outlets also set up on-site interview booths. Whether it’s industry media outlets, financial media outlets, TV, or online media, all have done extensive coverage of AWE.
At the same time, foreign media’s attendance has also expanded AWE’s international influence and support. Last year, Yomiuri News, Wall Street Journal, and other international media covered the expo. These reports attracted a high degree of attention for the expo. This year the organizing committee will continue efforts to promote overseas coverage, inviting Reuters, Japan’s Yomiuri News, Korea’s Chosun Ilbo, Financial Times, and other foreign media, expanding from previous years.
As of now, the recognized international expos for home electronics and consumer electronics are IFA (Internationale Funkausstellung Berlin) and CES (the United States International Consumer Electronics Show), respectively held in Europe and North America. Asian-Pacific people cover half of the world’s surface and the manufacturing output of China, Japan, and Korea is the strongest globally. However, there is no large-scale exhibition in Asia of corresponding influence, with status within the industry and market. Considering China is a large manufacturer and consumer market, we think there should be an industry event of proportionate importance.
AWE is being held for the fourth time in Shanghai; our goal is to have the expo double in size within three years. As of now, the first stage of our goal has already been accomplished. Also, the influence of the expo within the industry has met our expectations. Although AWE’s development has been over a short time period, we still need to learn from IFA, CES – these types of international expos – and continue building up our event.
With regards to our vision, we hope to build a truly global expo. We want AWE to lead the industry and consumer trends, becoming the industry’s platform for exhibition and communication, serving every part of the industry and consumers. In the future, we will steadily internationalize AWE, not only to serve China’s industry, but also that of the entire Asia-Pacific region, becoming a home appliance expo with international influence.