The Apple Expo is an annual event started in 1984 that was originally dedicated to Apple products but has expanded to the digital world more broadly. It began as a way for Apple to directly communicate with customers but over time grew significantly in size. However, Apple's decision to withdraw from the 2008 event caused visitor numbers to decline sharply and marked the beginning of the end for the Apple Expo in its original form.

1. SEMINAR 3
14/03/09
Apple Expo is
an annual event
dedicated to
the world of
computer
manufacturer
Apple.
Festival & Event
Apple Expo
Apple Expo was born in June 1984, at the Porte de Versailles in Paris. While the Apple II and Macintosh compete for the
limelight, Apple fans gather at the invitation of Apple.
Appointment is given for the following year, June 85 at the same place, then at the Grande Halle de la Villette in 1986.
The custom was then taken every year, fans, clients, professionals and curious, are grouped around Apple and its partners that
display, display and sell their latest products.
According to Stephane Roux, who wrote in Le Monde (french news paper) in October 1990, when the Apple Expo
mobilized 250 employees of the brand, this type of mono-brand exposure is the result of the 80’s and cocooning. Attempts
were made to enter the consumer-client-partner in the intimacy of a wrap, whose benefits would be universal. He also points
out that the Apple Expo is the oldest exposition, before DEC and its quot;DECvillequot; and Sony World. It is a means of effective
communication, as opposed to participation in major exhibitions too noisy and cumbersome. Beyond that, it is a process of
evangelization that is emerging, a more commercial approach.
After two years at Porte de Versailles, then three years at La Villette, Apple Expo moves from 1989 to 1995 at the CNIT,
la Défense. Then, in 1996, back to the Porte de Versailles Parc des Expositions de Paris.
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2. SEMINAR 3 // FESTIVAL & EVENTS 14/03/09
Festival & Event
Apple Expo
In 1992 and 1993, Apple Expo is also installed in early June at Halle Tony Garnier in Lyon, in the form of a regional
exhibition which will not have the durability of its national version.
About the prices, free entry to the single condition to apply in advance, a badge of entry. Over the years, the recording
was made by minitel, by withdrawing an invitation to an Apple, or via the Internet.
Later number of visitors, and despite a decline, the editions of 2000 and the 90’s have confirmed the Apple Expo as the
largest gathering quot;Macquot; in Europe, and the largest information technology event in France.
Later number of exhibitors, a smooth trend: 150 in the 80’s, it rose to 200 in the 90’s, then 250 in 2000, before
plummeting to the catastrophic 2008.
Apple Expo has never been seen by Apple as a major event for the presentation of news, it’s typically the day at
MacWorld Expo in United States of America. So we are discovering console products already announced but not yet
marketed the scanner Apple in 1988, System 7 in 1991, the Newton in 1993, the Spartacus in 1997, the iMac in 1998, the
Cube in 2000 ...
In 2000, however, Apple Expo becomes the appointment official European Apple at the expense of London, and at the
same level as those in New York, San Francisco and Tokyo. That year, a new iBook, color quot;limequot;, Key Lime in the original
version, is presented in Paris. The same year, thousands of people waiting for over an hour to buy, the beta version of
MacOS X.
However, things seem to evolve in the mid-2000s. Indeed, it is this event that chooses Phil Schiller on 31 August 2004 to
present the brand new iMac G5, the world premiere, Steve Jobs was recovering. Disappointment, however, the following year,
without special announcement less than two weeks after the fanfare launch of the iPod nano.
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3. Festival & Event
SEMINAR 3 // FESTIVAL & EVENTS 14/03/09
Apple Expo
Apple Expo is an brand event organized each year around the world Apple (long focused on information, the show is
now a large place on music and the world of iPods). The events are organized meeting places of people passionate about the
brand and allows the brand to communicate.
In this room, there are different types of players: those who love the brand (often collective), professionals, and people
curious to see for themselves the products so that you can touch and talk directly with advisors and sellers. Apple Expo allows
exhibitors (partners of Apple) to present their new products or services, but also a means to introduce new and future
consumers, to meet people sharing the same passion and power to transfer but also the time when Apple announces new
products in the form of quot;keynotequot;, a conference presented by Steve Jobs.
The exhibition is the perfect place to find the direct client-manufacturer. At Apple, the corporate culture is characterized
by a strong emotional connotation. I speak of emotions, that is to say, the passion for the product sold, based on
communication and nearness (proximity). Apple's identity associated with a strong affective / emotional relationship with
both the customer with the Macintosh - and the quest for quality and professionalism.
Apple Expo is a way for community members (community) to make visible their group and meet members in one place.
They then have the opportunity to meet and exchange resources collective identity. Apple Expo is an event eagerly awaited
by your partners and customers.
For enthusiasts, it is not simply a regular appointment. There are as you go to a family meeting to get the latest gossip,
new trends ... And he forges a sense of belonging to a community, a quasi-cult world.
The show is a way to bring consumers passionate about the brand but more generally all the players who coexist within
it. Apple Expo is a device to show the quot;ecosystemquot; built around a brand. Personally, I'm going to the Apple Expo to meet the
marks that are accessories for Macs and iPods, there are lots of things found nowhere else: software, bags ... is the meeting
place of the environment.
What is interesting is the Apple Expo to explore the links between groups of fans. They seem at first isolated. However,
the event marks an opportunity for them to meet, exchange information and establish contacts among themselves and with
employees of the mark. These factors explain the importance of exposure are in the lives and speech of our informants.
The brand events as the Apple Expo are wonderful tools for understanding the social dynamics around a brand. Indeed,
it is an opportunity for users of a brand to meet, which is a very hard time in the life of a brand. It is therefore a particularly
relevant and visible to the world together quot;Applequot;, supporting its development and ensure sustainability. Beyond the
anecdotal, the existence of events organized and facilitated groups of social groups is a marker of socio-cultural systems.
Thus at the Apple Expo, we consider the public as a whole and identify the collective dynamics pertinant.
Apple Expo provides a highlights as unique leisure (Festivals, events and the destination / Ros Derrett) and cultural
experiences, powerful travail motivators and facilitators of community pride and delelopment
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4. Festival & Event
SEMINAR 3 // FESTIVAL & EVENTS 14/03/09
Apple Expo
In 2006, Apple Store was still regarded as the biggest IT and digital in France but also the Apple event that attracts more
people. But after a year 2007 without any real announcements from Apple, it was during the 2008 edition that Apple has
decided to leave from this event. Consequences ? Apple Expo has been renamed quot;Apple Expo remix'08quot; and has not
attracted as many exhibitors and visitors than the previous editions, 30 000 against 54 000 visitors in 2007. It must be said
that conditions were rather difficult, because Apple was conspicuous by his absence, greatly reducing the attractiveness of the
Apple Expo. Reed Expositions France, the organizer of the event, said, following the most recent edition, that the event
would have more places in its current form.
A strategic choice of the firm because Apple wanted above all to ensure a network and permanence in the visibility
through more than 200 Apple Stores, rather than annual fairs (including the forthcoming opening of an Apple Store near the
Louvre, in Paris). The growing popularity of the Apple.com web site allows them to directly reach more than one hundred
million customers worldwide through innovative means. To present its new products, the company focuses on its proprietary
events, such as the recent conference quot;Let's Rockquot; held in San Francisco. A decision that applies to four continents.
It is interesting to study the 2008 edition of the
Apple Expo, Reed Exhibitions France because of a deal
from Apple. The show took place from 17 to 20
September 2008 at Paris Expo, Porte de Versailles in
Paris. Parc des Expositions de la Porte de Versailles is the
largest exhibition French. It has an area of 220 000 sqm,
divided into eight exhibition halls, placing at the top
French and the fourth largest European exhibition. In
2007, he received more than 6 million visitors over 200
fairs, congresses and events.
The objective of this edition was to initiate a transition (the start of Apple), and refocus the show on the creative side out
of the great public and professional show. The show ran for 4 days in order to be accessible to as many (Wednesday to
Saturday). Prices for exhibitors has been reduced by 40%, following numerous cancellations and passage of 3 days to 4 days
show.
It seems indeed that Apple no longer needs to promote its products through an exhibition event, Apple customers have,
it seems, become accustomed to consult the official website of the company to keep the news, making obsolete the physical
channel (which is certainly more expensive) ...
It would seem that this is the most accurate this year because there is no Apple at Apple Expo, more exactly, there is a
stand Fnac (high-tech store) selling the products of the apple brand. Nothing more formal.
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5. Festival & Event
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Apple Expo
Admission free by registering in advance on the site of the expo, is very pleasant : a reader barcode automatically issue
the ticket. No queues, and direct arrival in the middle of the stands.
All these brands are obviously a more or less distant with Apple, or creative hobbies. Crumpler bags and fantastic
transport, and process NIKEiD order customized shoes online, but also its Mini cars ready to accommodate an iPod, etc..
Hardware, software, applications design, video editing, databases, printers, plotters, magazine paper, etc. There are all, like
any self-respecting fair. The advantage for exhibitors, of course, is to present and sell their products and services while
benefiting from increased visibility via street marketing operations, postings and content partnerships with media involved.
The press was of course invited to this event and could
apply for a badge on the official website. A press room has
been equipped at their disposal throughout the duration of
the exhibition, with many work areas, meeting places, with
the possibility to consult the press kit released Remix'08 and
exhibitors. Bloggers (high-tech) have also been invited to the
event, they were treated as journalists.
So the Apple Expo has nothing original this year. This
is the principle of buying prevails. Some reductions, a more
customized products via internet, but ultimately no big
happening.
Fortunately, to raise everything from workshops and conferences can immerse themselves more in the world of creative
and digital entertainment, as this conference dealing with electronic books, or the workshop explaining how to create a living
panorama in flash, or other practical learning to do a layout in Xpress.
Finally, the conclusion is completely clear: potential customers are now informing themselves via the internet, they no
longer need as much as before to see about products at a trade fair... what makes the Apple Expo rather disappointing and
unappealing.
In the future ? Reed Exhibitions will surely expand the show to the world of computers, by opening the PC and Linux,
and any businesses of digital creation. But while the engine in terms of promotions and communications will have to be
changed. The risk is to cut the general public and focus on professionals. The hardest part is to convince customers (the
exponent), offering added value to the Internet, for example being able to actually meet the brand.
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