This year, Unidrain tried out a new trade fair format for the first time. Simply put, it takes place on board a ship where the exhibitors each have a stand. The ship visits a new city on three occasions during the week, travelling by night to the next port. This makes it far easier for visiting architects and designers to attend, giving them the opportunity to talk to many existing and potential partners without having to travel far. Known as RiverEvent, this format is used in Germany, Belgium, and The Netherlands – and for our first trip as part of the set-up, we visited Ghent, Brussels, and Antwerp over the course of the week.
Very Popular with Architects
Created especially for architects and designers, the RiverEvent set-up is clearly a hit with the target group. As our International Sales Manager, René Risom says: “We first heard about the concept from some of our architect partners, and we were immediately intrigued by the idea. Moving the entire trade fair from one city to another over the course of the week to welcome a whole new audience is a brilliant concept! Obviously, it makes it far easier for architects and interior designers from different regions to get access to the same information. Our architect contacts also told us that these events attract plenty of visitors because the concept is not only convenient but also novel and exciting.“
Simple Set-Up
For exhibitors, the framework is very simple: “Everyone gets a stand with a wall, a screen, and a podium, and then it’s up to you to decide how best to present your offering within that framework. Also, the general facilities on board are great: there’s fantastic catering, which always helps the mood!“
– “As this was our first time participating, we were very excited when the fair officially opened on the first day of the week-long tour. This was in Ghent, and all our hopes were fulfilled: the attendance was great, so was the general atmosphere, and people were very interested in our solutions.“
Partnering with Botha
– “For the RiverEvent tour, we set up the Unidrain stand in conjunction with our Belgian partner, Botha, a leading manufacturer and seller of tiles,” explains René Risom. “So the team greeting our guests comprised Marie-Bénédicte Potti from Botha and Anne-Sophie Laurent from Unidrain.“
Anne-Sophie adds: “At all three locations, we saw the same tendency among the visitors: the Custom Line solution attracted particular attention. There’s just something about being able to hide the drain seamlessly beneath the tile that speaks very directly to architects: it lets them create a very clean look, making sure that the tiles they’ve chosen really get to shine. Of course, being able to present this feature alongside Botha’s tiles helped put the message across even more strongly.“
– “The drains are obviously fundamental to bathrooms, but our final flourishes attracted attention too. The entire Reframe Collection of bathroom accessories was very popular with visitors, not least due to its potential for keeping all the metal detailing in the same finish. The simple, Scandinavian aesthetic was widely commented on as well. Out of the entire collection, the pedal bin was probably the greatest star of all – greatly helped by the fact that it has won no less than three design awards this year!“
Summing up, René Risom comments: “We have to agree with the architects who recommended this trade fair format to us. There was such a good buzz, so many exciting new displays. We loved it, and the many visitors clearly did too. We look forward to taking our show on the river again, visiting even more cities in this uniquely pleasant way.“