Europe update
I'm back in Seattle after a week in Europe for the Outdoor Europe tradeshow. My audience (well, Grandpa, anyway) is clamoring for information. What happened? Here's a quick overview.
Last Tuesday and Wednesday, Steve (Marketing and Sales guy) and I flew to Zurich and drove to our hotel in Konstanz, Germany. The next morning we took a ferry across Lake Konstanz to Meersberg and drove down the lake to Friedrichshafen, the town where the trade show took place. The conference center was enormous with 10 bays of several hundred thousand square feet each. They were all full of outdoor equipment: 2 bays of tents, 1 of climbing gear (ropes, shoes, pitons), several bays of apparel, several of gadgets, and so on. A zeppelin sponsored by one of the big outdoor companies in Europe was parked as the zeppelin field next door (and flew over several times each day). I will mention that I don't like this company since they're selling the cheap knockoff of our candle lantern.
Steve and I had three goals for the conference. First, get familiar with the trade show and the European outdoor market. Second, find more outlets for our products. Third, find new products that we can distribute in the United States.
I believe we succeeded on all three. Given that Steve and I know almost nothing about the European outdoor market, it was easy to succeed on the first one. We learned a tremendous amount, saw products, met people, and debated our present and future strategies. It was a very healthy exercise. We met with our existing distributors in England, Germany and Greece. Spiros, our Greek distributor, doesn't buy much product. However, he was very enthusiastic and helpful to us. He introduced us to 4-5 potential business partners. He's an old-timer who seemed to know everyone. It was fun to feel that we were brought under his wing.
On the second goal, we met with several distributors that cover areas of Europe into which we don't currently sell our products. Norway, Sweden, and Holland are all new possibilities. We talked with a French distributor (definitely a market we'd like to crack) but the meeting seemed like a disaster so we don't expect anything to come of it. It will take a few months to find out if any of these opportunities are going to become business realities. The reps at the shows will need to go back to headquarters and discuss everything they saw at the show. It will be interesting to see if and when new orders appear.
On the third goal, we also had some good luck. We found several products that match well with our existing competencies. Also, they're not currently distributed (or not well distributed) in the U.S. We looked at some portable chairs, a walking-stick/camera-tripod, fire starters (a good match with candle lanterns, right?), meal kits, and so on. Again, it will take some time to find out if these will turn into real business or if they were just nice conversations. I don't want to mention the specific companies until the deals are solidified.
On the cultural front, the whole trip was a good reminder that different parts of the world operate differently. Diet Coke was Coca Cola Light in Europe. And it was never served with ice. When the flight attendant poured my drink over ice on the return flight, it seemed odd! Ice cubes seem also to be a rarity, at least in Germany. That makes our ice cream maker a harder sell. However, the Norwegian distributor seemed excited about the product and said the ice cube shortage didn't exist in her country. Ice cream (Eis) was available on every street corner and we did extensive product testing. Single scoops were usually available for 0.60 euros or about 75 cents. Hard to pass up. I loved the weather, overcast and cool with occasional sun and occasional rain. Very nice.
Here's a novelty. In America, it's virtually impossible to find European television shows or music on the radio. In Germany at least, it seemed that about half of the TV shows and radio music came from America. Most of the TV shows were dubbed into German (I watched a lot of MTV since it was mostly in English with German subtitles). On the radio, I mostly heard the same music I would hear at home. Funny! No wonder the French fear cultural imperialism.
And, finally, a helpful cleaning tip. A certain traveling companion who shall remain unnamed (accidentally) spilled red wine on my nice new white tennis shoes. They seemed destined for a life of pinkness when the flight attendant appeared. She retrieved a little bottle of vodka and used it to clean the shoes. Almost like new! Magic! I knew that alcohol stuff had a use, I just never knew what it was!
Last Tuesday and Wednesday, Steve (Marketing and Sales guy) and I flew to Zurich and drove to our hotel in Konstanz, Germany. The next morning we took a ferry across Lake Konstanz to Meersberg and drove down the lake to Friedrichshafen, the town where the trade show took place. The conference center was enormous with 10 bays of several hundred thousand square feet each. They were all full of outdoor equipment: 2 bays of tents, 1 of climbing gear (ropes, shoes, pitons), several bays of apparel, several of gadgets, and so on. A zeppelin sponsored by one of the big outdoor companies in Europe was parked as the zeppelin field next door (and flew over several times each day). I will mention that I don't like this company since they're selling the cheap knockoff of our candle lantern.
Steve and I had three goals for the conference. First, get familiar with the trade show and the European outdoor market. Second, find more outlets for our products. Third, find new products that we can distribute in the United States.
I believe we succeeded on all three. Given that Steve and I know almost nothing about the European outdoor market, it was easy to succeed on the first one. We learned a tremendous amount, saw products, met people, and debated our present and future strategies. It was a very healthy exercise. We met with our existing distributors in England, Germany and Greece. Spiros, our Greek distributor, doesn't buy much product. However, he was very enthusiastic and helpful to us. He introduced us to 4-5 potential business partners. He's an old-timer who seemed to know everyone. It was fun to feel that we were brought under his wing.
On the second goal, we met with several distributors that cover areas of Europe into which we don't currently sell our products. Norway, Sweden, and Holland are all new possibilities. We talked with a French distributor (definitely a market we'd like to crack) but the meeting seemed like a disaster so we don't expect anything to come of it. It will take a few months to find out if any of these opportunities are going to become business realities. The reps at the shows will need to go back to headquarters and discuss everything they saw at the show. It will be interesting to see if and when new orders appear.
On the third goal, we also had some good luck. We found several products that match well with our existing competencies. Also, they're not currently distributed (or not well distributed) in the U.S. We looked at some portable chairs, a walking-stick/camera-tripod, fire starters (a good match with candle lanterns, right?), meal kits, and so on. Again, it will take some time to find out if these will turn into real business or if they were just nice conversations. I don't want to mention the specific companies until the deals are solidified.
On the cultural front, the whole trip was a good reminder that different parts of the world operate differently. Diet Coke was Coca Cola Light in Europe. And it was never served with ice. When the flight attendant poured my drink over ice on the return flight, it seemed odd! Ice cubes seem also to be a rarity, at least in Germany. That makes our ice cream maker a harder sell. However, the Norwegian distributor seemed excited about the product and said the ice cube shortage didn't exist in her country. Ice cream (Eis) was available on every street corner and we did extensive product testing. Single scoops were usually available for 0.60 euros or about 75 cents. Hard to pass up. I loved the weather, overcast and cool with occasional sun and occasional rain. Very nice.
Here's a novelty. In America, it's virtually impossible to find European television shows or music on the radio. In Germany at least, it seemed that about half of the TV shows and radio music came from America. Most of the TV shows were dubbed into German (I watched a lot of MTV since it was mostly in English with German subtitles). On the radio, I mostly heard the same music I would hear at home. Funny! No wonder the French fear cultural imperialism.
And, finally, a helpful cleaning tip. A certain traveling companion who shall remain unnamed (accidentally) spilled red wine on my nice new white tennis shoes. They seemed destined for a life of pinkness when the flight attendant appeared. She retrieved a little bottle of vodka and used it to clean the shoes. Almost like new! Magic! I knew that alcohol stuff had a use, I just never knew what it was!
posted by Keith @ 4:14 PM
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