AdExpo opens in Johannesburg

“Stimulant”

“We are a stimulant of the advertising industry and a media platform for media owners through which people can visit and connect with and do business with them,” Chris de Klerk, founder of Cadek, told Bizcommunity.com on the sidelines of the event.

Cadek is the company that is hosting the event, with Bizcommunity being a media partner and also having a stand at the exhibition.

An estimated 5000 visitors are expected to pass through the stands, have a glimpse of what exhibitors can offer in terms of business and sit at workshops to learn more about today's marketing techniques.

“We educate marketers and run tight-schedules workshops in which we discuss various branding, marketing and social media aspects, de Klerk said.

It is believed that marketers from as far as Nigeria and Kenya have contacted the organisers in the view of staging the event in those countries.

“We are working hard towards building Africa's leading advertising exhibition, and we are mindful of some countries' interest, but first of all we want to bring them down here where the offices of some of the big multinational corporates are located,” he said.

Grown by 30%

The event has grown by 30% since last year despite the 2009's economic hardships, de Klerk said, adding that exhibitors have shown a tremendous optimism bearing in mind that the adspend is slowly but surely increasing. The challenge, however, was to find sponsors for the event, with media companies thinking twice to support an event of this magnitude due to the recession, according to the organisers.

Lwandisa Majali, a Cape Town-based delegate doing her internship at Kaleidoscope Communications, told Bizcommunity.com: “For me this is an important event in the sense that it represents a career-direction kind of platform.

“I want to see all sorts of products and services being showcased here and learn as much as I can about them and hopefully choose a career that will suit me best. In today's corporate world, the way people communicate matters a lot, and the more advertisers understand the world in terms of technological changes and consumers' needs, the more they are likely to advance their business operations,” she pointed out.

Marketing and advertising students are also allowed to attend, provided that they produce a valid student card to register at the door.

Speakers of the workshops include e.tv's Debra Patta (‘Why South Africa Matters'), Tumisang Moatshe (‘Brand Infatuation'), Michael Jackson (“The Hard Sell of Advertising'), VWV Productions'[and regular Biz contributor and blogger] Abey Mokgwatsane (‘Thinking Like a Challenger') and Anthony Swart (‘First Aid for Brands').

Tiffany Stubbs, sales executive at The Citizen newspaper, said her publication's presence at AdExpo is to promote media space for the newspaper, and educate people in terms of what the newspaper in general and its various supplements can offer in terms of advertising.

Doors open at 10am every day and close at 6pm, and the event ends on Thursday 25 March.

For more:

• Official site: www.adexpo.co.za
  
• Bizcommunity press office: Cadek Media (exhibition organisers)
  
• Bizcommunity search: AdExpo