BRIO Srl: "We will not attend wire Düsseldorf 2020"

The number of companies that chose to withdraw their participation in wire & Tube Düsseldorf is growing: BRIO Srl, representing the most important European steel wire producers on the global market, adds its name to the list.

BRIO Srl is a commercial agency, thus, its presence at the trade shows as an exhibitor always goes hand in hand with that of the company's suppliers. "All our partners have announced that they will give up the event this year: therefore, we will not be there either. We are left with the option of attending as visitors. We are trying to see if it still makes sense, given the allegedly high number of cancellations", explains Fabrizio Briani, Export Area Manager of the Italy-based company. "In my opinion, Messe Düsseldorf should have aligned itself with other important trade fair organisations such as Cologne, Munich, and others, which have cancelled or moved online all their events planned for 2020".

The economic inconvenience also extends to the need to cancel flights, hotels, and perhaps even the orders for catalogues and exhibition material: "Personally, we have already lost several thousand euros with the first postponement", continues Mr Briani. "The hotel, for instance, did not want to listen to reasons and demanded 80% of the total rate. We have also postponed our flights to the new dates: if we will not visit the trade show, the ticket money will obviously be lost".

Offering maximum support to every customer has always been of paramount importance at BRIO. However, "this year there are not many ways to make up for a missed event like the one in Düsseldorf. We can only try to stay close to our customers by phone and email. The wire show has the great advantage of attracting exhibitors and visitors from all over the world and there is, in our opinion, no other way to reach out to such an audience in one fell swoop," states Mr Briani. Then, the focus inevitably shifts to how the pandemic has changed the way we do business. "Even after the lockdown in Italy, many companies have kept their gates closed to all those visits considered unnecessary. From a business point of view, we had to "reinvent" ourselves to try to maintain interpersonal relationships. The real problem is finding new customers! It is not easy to gain the trust of a lead just by phone and email, and in any case the process is longer and more complex".

Update (October 29, 2020): the 2020 edition of the wire & Tube trade fair has been officially canceled. See you in Düsseldorf in 2022!