MACH is the UK’s largest exhibition showcasing engineering and manufacturing technologies to over 26,000 attendees. The bi-annual event is open over five days at the NEC, providing visitors with the opportunity to network and discover new technologies live and in action. Working together with show organisers the Manufacturing Technologies Association (MTA), the Adfield Group worked hard to make the 2024 show a resounding success for visitors and exhibitors alike.
Tasked with delivering both visitor registration and exhibitor stand sales promotion, the comprehensive two-year marketing campaign involved all aspects of digital and traditional marketing, including – PR, video, social media, telemarketing, SEO, email marketing, website, influencer marketing and remarketing strategies.
Sue James, Director at Adfield Group, said: “We’ve been organising MACH shows for many years and we were very pleased to be once again MTA’s chosen marketing and event operations partner. While working with the MTA to deliver another hugely successful MACH 2024, this allowed us also to showcase our own expertise at its best, which has been built over many years.”
Recent data compiled by the MTA demonstrates just how successful this year’s exhibition was. Here are some of the most impressive figures:
- Visitor numbers increased by 6% from MACH 2022
- 5% of visitors to the show became leads by interacting with exhibitors
- On average, exhibitors generated over 100 unique connections during the show
With over 500 well-known brands showcasing their latest cutting-edge technologies, exhibitor stand size at MACH 2024 ranged from 9 to 750 square meters of floorspace.
International manufacturer of EDM Machines, Sodick, invested in a 416 square metre stand. Their UK Sales Director, Greg Capp commented on the return on investment they expect from the show: “This week has been absolutely fantastic for us; it has probably been our best MACH ever. The footfall has been the most for a very long time, and on one day, we got enough enquires to last us six months”
In addition to the exhibitor and visitor marketing campaigns, Adfield was also contracted to manage the operations and logistics for the show. Members of their team are based on site with the MTA throughout the 7-day build, 5-day show and 3-day breakdown.
Ian Field, Adfield’s Managing Director and MACH Operations Director has been overseeing operations since 2008. He manages the enormous logistics operation, unloading over 800 artic lorries of heavy machinery into the halls over the 7-days of build period. From 28.6t hot forging machines to 14.3 tonne laser machines, the technology on display at MACH is on an industrial scale.
Sue James, Director at Adfield, was responsible for approving stand plans and mandatory documentation, ensuring they were safe, compliant, and aligned with both NEC and MACH Show site rules. With over 500 stand plans submitted, Sue’s detailed eye was crucial in pre-empting issues to secure a safe and efficient build up period.
The MTA and Adfield have a longstanding and trusting relationship which is essential to the success of any project. Over the years this relationship has been tried and proven through many successful events.
James Selka, CEO, Manufacturing Technologies Association, said: “We are very pleased with the results of this year’s MACH show. The success is largely due to our strong relationship with our partner, the Adfield Group, whose continuous hard ensured with our team ensured the exhibition logistics went like a clock work and thousands of visitors flooded into the halls from day one until the show closed.”
He continued: “We’ve received a significant amount of positive feedback from both the exhibitors and visitors and have already taken a bumper number of exhibitor bookings for MACH 2026.”
The Adfield Group has a proven track record in delivering the marketing requirements and producing tangible results for their impressive array of clients.
They believe in working openly and transparently alongside their clients to form a strong partnership to deliver their clients marketing needs. They focus on targeted, measurable campaigns that offer a clear return on investment. Their clients know that they can count on them to deliver real, quantifiable results that help them achieve their business goals.
The team of experienced marketing professionals handle all aspects of marketing, from events and exhibitions to traditional and digital marketing communications. As part of Adfield’s full-service marketing agency they also offer telephone marketing services and a results-oriented social media service. Adfield can tailor a solution to meet their clients’ needs, whether this is a one-off project or providing ongoing marketing and event management support.
The Adfield team was appointed by the PPMA Group of Associations, organisers of the 2023 PPMA Show to deliver the visitor marketing campaign for the show. Our proven marketing experience and expertise helped to deliver a campaign which played a significant role in making the 2023 PPMA Show a huge success with visitors for the show exceeding those in previous years.
The PPMA Show is recognised for being the UK’s largest packaging and processing machinery show in the UK. The 2023 show was a real triumph with over 300 exhibitors and thousands of visitors filling hall 5 at the NEC Birmingham over the course of three days in September. The exhibition hall was abuzz with excitement and anticipation every day.
The Proposal
The organisers selected our tailored marketing service to plan and execute the visitor campaign for their event. This saw our team work alongside the organisers own team and use our marketing expertise combined with the knowledge of the organisers team to deliver a successful event.
Upon being appointed by the organisers of the show to deliver their marketing campaign, Sue James, Director at Adfield Group, said: “We were thrilled to have been chosen to deliver the visitor campaign for the impressive PPMA Show. The event is a perfect match for what we do at Adfield and the industries we work with. Event campaigns like these are our bread and butter, and I couldn’t be happier with everything we did. Our team worked diligently to select target audiences that we knew would be interested in attending the PPMA Show and had the decision-making power in this industry.”
The Plan
Our team of marketing professionals worked closely with the show organisers to understand their requirements before bringing in an experienced dedicated core team to work on the campaign, utilising our strengths in digital design, PR, social media, telemarketing and advertising. The whole team was tasked with ensuring that the 2023 PPMA Show remained as the UK’s largest event for its sector.
A PR campaign was implemented to handpick the relevant trade publications for the event and to place a series of tailored press releases for targeting potential visitors from the many industry sectors covered by the show. These articles highlighted the key attractions, such as the impressive array of exhibitors, demonstrations, seminars and networking opportunities, all of which had been designed to enrich the visitor experience.
Throughout the project an ongoing social media campaign was scheduled to build momentum for the show. Simultaneously an intensive schedule of e-shots were launched at driving visitor registrations. Regular e-shots were created and sent out alerting recipients of the latest developments at the show and urging them to register to attend.
The Results
Scott McKenna, Group Exhibitions and Membership Manager at the PPMA Group, said: “We are thrilled with the results of this year’s PPMA Show with thousands of visitors throughout the three days of the show. We enjoyed working alongside our marketing event partner, the Adfield Group, and through our collaborative partnership, we strived to ensure that the show’s visitor campaign was a success. The Adfield team has been great to work with – they’re knowledgeable, efficient, and always willing to help.”
Here at Adfield Group, we have a proven track record in delivering the marketing requirements, and producing tangible results for their impressive array of clients.
We believe in working openly and transparently alongside their clients to form a strong partnership to deliver their clients marketing needs. We focus on targeted, measurable campaigns that offer a clear return on investment. Our clients know that they can count on us to deliver real, quantifiable results that help them achieve their business goals.
Our team of experienced marketing professionals handle all aspects of marketing, from events and exhibitions to traditional and digital marketing communications. As part of our full-service marketing agency, we also offer telephone marketing services and a results-oriented social media service. We work with a one-time project or ongoing marketing support, tailoring a solution to meet client’s needs.
To find out more about us, please contact us.
Citizen Machinery UK’s new £3 million Centre of Excellence has received its official opening, with the event being successfully project managed by Adfield.
The centre, based on Hurst Business Park in Brierley Hill, West Midlands, is the result of a major investment by Citizen’s Japanese parent and a major show of confidence in the UK operation and the wider UK economy.
The 1,660m² centre houses a showroom, international conference area, customer training school, engineering department and administrative offices, while the 680m² showroom and technical centre extension will enable partner companies to set up permanent demonstration areas.
To underline the importance of the new centre, both to Citizen and the rest of the industry, a showpiece ceremony was arranged to show off the facility to Citizen management, suppliers, other stakeholders and the media.
This involved Adfield liaising with Citizen management to project manage a showpiece ceremony stretched out on a global canvas.
In recognition of the facility’s importance, the opening event was attended by senior management from Citizen’s parent company in Japan, while representatives from the company’s operations in Europe, Scandinavia and Israel, together with civic dignitaries and politicians were also present.
With Adfield’s support, more than 150 people attended the opening ceremony, including guests specially invited by Adfield such as Dudley South MP, Mike Wood, the Mayor and Council Leader of Dudley MBC and representatives from manufacturing support group, Made in the Midlands.
They joined more than 50 of Citizen’s UK employees including those from the company’s headquarters in Bushey. Joining them were Citizen representatives from Japan and around Europe, together with dealers and supplier partners from Japan, France, Italy, Portugal, Scandinavia and Israel.
Staff from the contractors fulfilling the challenging build – which was completed in just 26 weeks – were also present for the occasion.
Citizen’s deputy managing director Darren Wilkins was the first to speak at the opening ceremony, with a script specially written for the occasion by Adfield.
He said: “Citizen UK is a growing business, with a growing number of turnkey business solutions tailored to meet our customers’ exacting requirements.
“Nevertheless, a decision to invest £3 million in the UK manufacturing industry in the current climate is one that was not taken lightly.
“However, the increase in capacity offered by the new centre means we are now better able to serve the needs of not just our UK customers but our wider European businesses, together with our network of dealerships in western Europe, Scandinavia, the Middle East and Africa.
“We have – and will continue to – work very closely with our sister group of companies across Europe, especially Italy and Germany.”
Whilst the new centre is one of the largest Citizen operations in Europe, the company’s UK headquarters remains in Bushey, near London and this is where the majority of its administration staff are based.
President of Citizen Machinery Japan, Mr Keiichi Nakajima, travelled from Japan to attend the ceremony.
In a separate speech prepared by Adfield, he said: “Citizen Machinery UK is now established as UK market leader for bar turning and sliding head sales, greatly contributing to the growth of our business in Europe. As a result of this performance, we are on target for a new record high, with 1,200 units sold in Europe last year.
“Underpinning this success has been a significant programme of investment in plant and equipment, both within Japan and beyond.
“The investment made in this new UK centre of excellence exceeds all of these and is a demonstration of Citizen’s confidence in the UK.
“Whereas other machine tool builders focus more on investing in emerging markets such as China and India, Citizen has always had faith in the quality of the UK engineering industry.
“Therefore, it was a simple decision on my part to commit to investing in this new facility. Standing here today – in what is the heart of the UK manufacturing industry – and seeing all of CMUK’s staff brimming with confidence, I am convinced that my decision was the right one and that this investment will bring significant benefits to Citizen including growing its market share.”
After the presentations, Mr Nakajima cut a ribbon formally opening the new centre. He then planted a cherry tree in the grounds of the 1.1-acre site as a traditional symbol of Japanese culture and a lasting reminder of the strong bonds between Japan and the UK.