CASE STUDY
HOW UK COMPANY M&I MATERIALS USED PORT TO FIND A PARTNER IN SOUTH KOREA
Trade shows are an important marketing channel for M&I Materials, a manufacturer of specialist materials for industry and science. When travel restrictions arise due to Covid19, M&I Materials was able to continue their overseas business development and marketing in Korea through Port's remote event visiting solution. In just two hours, they were able to meet the prospective business partners they wanted - all remotely from the UK.
16
new companies spoken to
34hrs
travel time saved
-91%
travel budget saved
The Story of M&I Materials
M&I Materials commercializes materials for industrial applications. It is dedicated to manufacture Specialist Materials for Industry and Science and is the driving force behind a wide portfolio of successful global brands.
Renowned globally for outstanding customer service, reliability and integrity, their materials make the next generation of product innovations possible. M&I Materials exports to over 60 countries across Africa, the Americas, Asia Pacific, Europe and the Middle East and work with leading global organisations from Siemens and ABB to Cern, the Three Gorges Dam and Boeing. With offices and manufacturing facilities globally, they have the local knowledge, language skills and the agility to respond rapidly to our customers' needs.
Industry
Mechanical or industrial engineering
Company size
Medium (49 - 249 employees)
Location
Manchester, United Kingdom
M&I Material's Challenge
M&I Materials wants to attend the ATEM Expo in South Korea to find a distributor for one of its products, but Covid19 prevents them from easily traveling to overseas trade shows to search and meet with potential partners.
At the same time, international business travel is a resource intensive activity for both time and budget. A small trade show like ATEM Expo does not always justify an international work trip with the team, but is still interesting to prospect.
Why M&I Materials choose Port
When M&I Materials heard about Port’s remote event visiting solution where they can video call their personal guide on the expo floor, they found it to be a perfect solution to help them find a distributor in the Korean market efficiently without having to travel to South Korea.
Although trade organizations can search and provide a short list of candidates, it does not allow them to immediately ask questions to help with prospecting and get them introduced to become a warm lead.
How M&I Materials used Port
M&I Materials looked through potential interesting partners at the ATEM Expo and provided a list of 16 exhibitors they wanted to meet. The Port guide then prepares with the materials provided by M&I Materials. The purpose of the visit was clear: to find a distributor in Korea for one of their products.
At the day of the exhibition, the M&I Materials team video calls directly with the guide through the Port platform.
The Port guide will follow the provided list and introduce the M&I Materials team to the exhibitors. When the team wants to speak to the exhibitor, the Port guide helps with Korean language interpretation.
At the end of the 6-8 minute in-depth conversation, they exchange contacts for a potential follow up meeting and head to the next exhibitor.
The Port guide and exhibitor speaking with the M&I Materials on the video call
The results
During their remote session at ATEM Expo, the M&I Materials team was able to prospect 18 companies to potentially work together with.
They had a prospective conversation with 16 companies:
-
6 companies were interested to become a distributor.
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4 companies were interested in buying the product.
Total time spent: 2 hours
Total effort: instructing the Port guide at the other side of the world comfortably from their own home or office in the UK.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
“Our Port guide was a very good translator. She was perfect for our needs, with good charisma and humour, which is essential for this.”
- Dominic Coll, Commercial Manager M&I Materials
The future of M&I Materials with Port
Port will continue to support M&I Materials on their future needs for trade shows that are not convenient or economical to attend on-site. Using Port's remote event visiting solution, we hope to contribute to making their business more efficient.
“It worked extremely well. If other interesting global trade shows come up, I will definitely consider going with Port again”
- Penelope Livesey, Applications Engineer M&I Materials
Where do you need to go?
If there are trade shows or on-site market research you would like to attend but it's not convenient to go with the team, then try out Port's remote visit solution.