An Industry first - Cornelius hosts groundbreaking virtual cosmetics exhibition to overwhelming response
Bishop Stortford based Cornelius Plc has innovation at the heart of its values. It’s a core element of their strategic agenda to deliver newness on behalf and in support of principals, but additionally it’s also a vehicle by which they delight their customers. The Sales professionals at Cornelius recently identified that with the recession biting hard, many customers were finding it harder to justify the time required and the travel expense incurred to attend an exhibition and therefore on 3rd November Cornelius, seized the initiative and created the first ever online cosmetics industry exhibition, showcasing innovation to a multitude of businesses across the globe, in the comfort of their own offices!
The Cornelius Cosmetics Virtual Exhibition has proved to be an outstanding success. The idea was generated from insight and alignment with customer’s needs, as well as direct customer feedback that traditional formats such as exhibitions and trade shows no longer delivered the tangible benefits they expected and needed. In fact, customers cited that exhibitors often were reluctant to publicly show truly innovative ideas for fear of competitor's activity and consequently felt attendance did not represent true value for money. Group Sales Director, Darren Spiby commented, “ We understand the needs of our customers and the current climate necessitating major players such as Cornelius to demonstrate that we can innovate in other ways to drive value for money through the supply chain. It’s simply a new and more convenient way of communicating our ever growing offer”
The Virtual Exhibition allowed customers to access new product information, ideas and developments, at a time that suited them, without the need for travel. The format targeted key areas of interest to industry players, with an easy to navigate system which facilitated on line support, samples and quotations, with content relevant to all functions within an organisation.
For example, formulators could find the solutions to technical issues and challenges in the Troubleshooting Corner as well as see new ingredients, functionality presentations, videos and more in Product Focus Area. Industry marketers could address the latest natural and organic trend data by visiting the Go Green Stand, view innovative ingredients and even take part in an online survey on the world natural standards. Cornelius also gave special attention to cost-cutting, in their Cost Saving corner, which allowed visitors to view a full range of sustainability ideas, discuss R&D issues and evaluate alternative supplies of raw materials. Cosmetics Business Manager, Joanne Johnson stated “We are proud to have gained the full support of our suppliers who are world leading manufacturers of innovative products. The Cornelius Virtual Exhibition was used as a platform to showcase their latest developments and newest launches, allowing our partners to be the first to access this information”
The site was highly interactive with red carpet invitees having the opportunity to ask direct questions via Live Consultations, or via the ’Call Me Back’ facility and fill on-line Shopping Baskets with requests for further documentation, trends presentations and samples and face to face meetings. Such two way involvement addressed concerns that the Internet restricts a formulator from properly evaluating an ingredient. Indeed, one-to-one consultations from the Cornelius team and key suppliers in the market (such as BASF, Lonza, Silab to name but a few), offered new exciting dimensions to the ground breaking Cosmetics Industry Event.
On the first day alone, over 300 customers accessed the site (this number more than doubling in the two days that followed) viewing product information, consulting the team, and filling virtual shopping baskets with gusto! Some customers fed back that the lack of hard sell often experienced at the traditional exhibition stands was a positive, especially when supported by the ability to properly evaluate the product they are interested in without time pressures facilitating a better understanding of a product's benefits, performance and cost-saving capabilities. David Brown Group MD, commented “we have been overwhelmed by the success of the three day event with numbers of visitors and length of visit far exceeding our expectations, and have had some fantastic and encouraging feedback from both principals and customers alike. The relaxed and no pressure environment has facilitated both interest and awareness on a far broader scale than we could have delivered from a show. We are delighted”
So no sore feet, no assumptive close or rushed consultations from Cornelius, but a three day event was perhaps a little restrictive. Brown agrees; “It was invitation only and a limited showcase opportunity, but even visitors wished for more time. We’ve listened to that feedback and are responding with a one day only event on 27th November to allow those who missed our Event of the Year to benefit from the wealth of knowledge, innovation and formulation advances presented”
Visitors will get a second chance to walk the halls of Cornelius, asking burning questions while viewing the range on offer and benefiting from the technical know how and insight of the wider team, on the 27th November 2009. If you have not got an invitation and would like to see it for yourself, then please contact Nick Brown at nick.brown@cornelius.co.uk.