Deciding what to do about SEMA and a stand-alone NACE is not a nice spot to be in for several industry paint suppliers.
The non-concurrent 2010 dates selected for Automotive Service & Repair Week (ASRW), which features the International Autobody Congress & Exposition (NACE); and Automotive Aftermarket Industry Week (AAIW), which includes the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) Show, has several vendors in a quandary as they formulate their plans for next year.
“Considering the ‘new normal,’ it is doubtful many companies will be able to invest in exhibiting at both shows when you consider the overall expense of having the shows during separate timeframes,” says Darlene Eilenberger, marketing director at BASF Coatings North America. “We at BASF don’t see any benefit to suppliers or the industry from splitting the shows.”
Previously BASF has either exhibited at both NACE and SEMA or alternated buying booths at the individual events in differing years.
“The challenges BASF will face if we do both shows will be travel budgets and scheduling issues,” says Eilenberger. “Typically we set annual global schedules with the assumption that both NACE and SEMA would be held during AAIW in Las Vegas. In the past, BASF has benefited from splitting its work force between the two shows depending on the needs of each particular show.”
The expo lineup for next year remains in flux. “BASF intends to participate in trade shows within 2010, but has not yet made final decisions regarding exactly what shows those will be,” Eilenberger says.
“We will continue to market toward the interests of collision and custom professionals,” she adds. “The decision will be made by considering the preference of our customers and potential customers and the return on investment we intend to receive from the shows.”
AkzoNobel is likewise undetermined as company officials ponder the coming year’s marketing and budget strategies. “It would be inappropriate for me to me to make a comment on these issues for external consumption prior to our own plans being completely finalized,” says Bill Orr, manager of marketing communications.
Matrix System Automotive Finishes has already made its pick: “We looked at the quality of leads, and it’s a ‘no-brainer’ that we would choose NACE over SEMA,” says marketing executive Kelly Mack. “Our marketing strategy is geared more for NACE. NACE is easier to deal with and the people are more organized.”
The company has previously patronized both shows, “but this year we only exhibited at NACE, which was a better idea,” Mack maintains.
A paint industry executive, exchanging anonymity for frankness, is critical of NACE’s operational procedures.
“NACE has blamed SEMA for their mismanagement. By ignoring their customers – the people who pay outrageous sums of money to exhibit – they have encouraged them to vote with their feet by staying home or going to SEMA,” he contends.
Having hosted displays at both shows, the executive says SEMA officials never pressured him to choose SEMA over NACE.
His unhappiness with NACE includes “getting gouged on electricity, air and freight all these years through the preposterous labor rates” that have been charged. The executive says the amount of money he paid for three days of electricity at his 20-foot by 20-foot NACE booth is equal to what it costs to power his entire home for six weeks.
NACE’s alleged lack of floor traffic is another gripe. “Friday was a day you could have fired a cannon down the aisles or played touch football,” the executive asserts.
“We had a number of body shops, jobbers and warehouse distributors that did SEMA but not NACE,” he says.
“For the body shops, the big rub for why they don’t go” is a widely held yet false perception that “there is never anything new there.” The executive feels NACE should “hammer home the new products offered by each vendor” to help overcome those erroneous views. He’d like to see product-launch announcements posted for free on NACE’s Internet site along with other marketing initiatives aimed at attracting additional prospective customers through the doors.
Despite all his complaints, though, the executive still intends to cover both shows next year. The SEMA presence will be enlarged, and “we will mitigate the costs by a much smaller booth at NACE. There are still a core number of shops going to NACE, so this justifies us going, I think,” he says.
The executive goes on to stress that NACE needs significant upgrading to make it more relevant to collision repairer attendees and the suppliers serving them: “Only a radical transformation can turn this around.”
The organization is indeed heeding the calls for change, according to NACE Chairman Jerry Burns, who says an array of ongoing enhancements is being contemplated.
Sherwin-Williams Automotive Finishes, PPG Automotive Refinishes and DuPont Automotive Paint & Coatings either did not reply to inquiries seeking comments on this article or said they have not yet decided what they will do in 2010.
