Bold new brand gives starring role to AMT/USA Pavilion
Last month AMT Director of International Exhibitions and Sponsorships Bill Herman traveled to Beijing, China, where he managed the AMT/USA Pavilion in the China International Machine Tool Show (CIMT).
As the largest advanced manufacturing show in China, CIMT featured more than 1,700 companies (more than half from 28 countries outside China) exhibiting on 1,506,947 SF, with a focus on smart manufacturing. CIMT hosted 139,079 visitors. In all, 41 AMT member companies participated in the AMT/USA Pavilion occupying 2,442 SM (26,285 SF) of exhibit space—the largest ever of our international pavilions.
With visitor traffic up 2.5 percent compared to the 2017 show, AMT members demonstrated their products and services to many new potential customers across the backdrop of a bold new look featuring America’s national colors streaming upward. AMT members reported better-than-expected results, defying recent news about China’s slowing economy.
AMT VP & CXO Peter Eelman credited the new brand identity that debuted at CIMT with attracting visitors and encouraging them to browse around the AMT/USA Pavilion. “We distinguished ourselves from other pavilions by completely freshening up our brand across all of the onsite banners, booths, and structures, including strategic placement of our brand message in areas of highest visibility.” Peter noted that this was the first rebrand in more than a decade.
The AMT/USA Pavilion featured the theme: “Digital Innovation to Serve the China Market,” to convey AMT members’ understanding of the unique challenges faced by China’s manufacturers.
“One measure of event satisfaction is whether exhibitors are eager to talk about the next year’s event,” said Bill. “During and after CIMT, several companies were already inquiring about the next AMT/USA Pavilion opportunity in China.” Their next chance is the China CNC Machine Tool Fair (CCMT), April 7-11, 2020, in Shanghai. (Contact bherman@AMTonline.org for space applications.)
Bill reported similar optimism following January’s IMTEX show in India, indicating continued enthusiasm for the major Asian markets.
Each of the shows where AMT organizes a USA Pavilion—IMTEX in India, CIMT and CCMT in China, and EXPOMAFE in Brazil—face the same issue: demand for space exceeds availability. “A signal that exhibiting companies continue to see tremendous value in these markets in general, and participation in the AMT/USA Pavilion in particular,” said Bill.
