Introduction
Before the history to Installer Live (2/5 June 2005) is lost, a sample of the promotional spin is set out for the record. This should serve as a warning to prospective exhibitors and visitors in the future.
Buildingtalk website – February 2005
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Exhibition of between 120 – 150 manufacturers, merchants and service providers
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Tens of thousands of installers are expected
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CORGI surgery containing 40 CORGI inspectors every day ready to answer all your questions
Press release – April 8 2005 (less than two months to the show)
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Exhibition of over 100 manufacturers, merchants and service providers
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CORGI surgery containing 20 CORGI inspectors every day ready to answer all your questions
Press release – May 9 2005 (less than one month to the show)
Installer Live website – Current news page
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Exhibition of between 120 – 150 manufacturers, merchants and service providers (1)
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Tens of thousands of installers are expected (2)
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CORGI surgery containing 40 CORGI inspectors every day ready to answer all your questions
Installer Live website – Current exhibitors’ page
With the full weight of CORGI behind it and innovative and exciting visitor attractions, InstallerLive is set to be the unmissable event of the 105,000 Gas Installers 2005 diaries (3)
Feedback from CORGI registered businesses has been exceptionally encouraging, and while we are promoting this as a show with a minimum of 10,000 visitors, early indicators suggest that this show will attract an even greater audience (4)
Gas Installer Magazine The industry's number one read, with over 54,000 subscribers, has carried advertising and editorial in every issue since September 2004 (5)
PHAM News, Heating and Plumbing Monthly and Professional Heating and Plumbing Installer With a combined readership of over 150,000 carrying an intensive, all channel advertising campaign (6)
CORGI Inspectors: With over 170 Inspectors, visiting 2-3 CORGI Registered Installers every day, InstallerLive has a sales force doing over 20,000 face-to-face meetings between March and June, delivering each Installer a unique, innovative pack, designed to pre-register them for the show (7)
CORGI Passport: An innovative sponsorship opportunity and marketing campaign, sent to every CORGI Registered business (over 49,000) offering FREE registration, and a chance to win a VERY special prize (7) (8)
Analysis
1. The Installer Live website shows a list of 60 exhibitors today. Three of those are duplicates due to spelling differences and a spelling error. It is known that some additional exhibitors were in attendance and there will have been late entries. A finally tally of 75 is considered generous. A good number of exhibitors might be considered as not contributing to the main aims or indeed alleged unique aspects.
2. Tens of thousands of installers expected ? Clearly now it has been shown 2000 installers would be a generous estimate.
3. According to January 2005 Corgi figures the maximum number of actual registered operatives is only 97027 not 105000. Most of the 97027 are employees.
4. Clearly the initial estimate was naïve and the early indicators I would want to check ever existed. Pre-bookings were known to be small and convention holds that typically less than half of pre-bookings actually turn up. As entrance on the day was set at £20, early indicators probably confirmed the actual numbers turning up.
5. According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations today, the Gas Installer has a circulation of far less than 52000, not 54000. It is known that many if not most employees never actually see the Gas Installer magazine. In our view every operative should receive a copy as of right to enable them to keep up to date technically. That is a gas safety issue which needs to be addressed.
6. According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations the combined circulation of HPM, PHAM News and PHPI is less than 120000, not 150000. That is using the most generous statistics. Only magazines like HPM require re-registration to keep the readership current. Of course many who read magazines, usually read several, so unique readership will only be a proportion.
7. This clearly illustrates that Corgi are promoting their separate business interests with a trapped audience of Installers. Not something that other media has access to. Advertising in magazines is legitimate for anyone. Anything else is not. This needs to be investigated.
8. According to January 2005 Corgi figures the maximum number of Corgi registered businesses is less than 48000, not 49000.
And …
The Installer Live website (and other sources) states:
The UK has the biggest heating & plumbing market in Europe. Yet while Italy’s heating & plumbing show has 150,000 visitors and Germany’s show has a whopping 180,000, UK’s biggest trade show receives only 3,000 visitors. InstallerLive plans to give UK gas installers the opportunity to attend a new type of show, one that adequately reflects the professionalism & importance of today’s heating & plumbing engineers and registered installers.
Up until now the industry has had small regional trade exhibitions, or at the other end of the spectrum, broad construction exhibitions. The gas, heating & plumbing market has never before had an inspirational show dedicated solely to the needs of engineers and installers. InstallerLive will be unlike anything ever experienced by anyone in the UK construction marketplace. The show has been designed to give CORGI registered installers everything they need from a trade show and more. It will be an innovative, original and unique experience with education and enjoyment at it’s heart !
Editor's note:
Both the Italian and German shows are International shows which have been going strong for many years. Neither of them is just a Heating and Plumbing Show. That was an absurd suggestion. The Italian show attendance (bi-annual) is confirmed at 150000. The German show (bi-annual) with four storeys and a floor area 270 times bigger than the whole of Telford, enjoyed traffic of around 200000 people in March this year. More than stated on their website, as confirmed by our own media sources.
Whilst Interbuild is a shadow of its former self, to suggest that the biggest UK trade show receives only 3000 visitors is nonsense.
The best known show by far is PHEX. I say show and not shows because PHEX is arguably a travelling show. In other words, instead of PHEX expecting everyone to travel to them, they travel to the visitors. Thus England and Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and our colleagues in Eire are provided with better opportunities. The content is currently unsurpassed and the total number of unique visitors served each year is far superior.
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