Maison and Objet

Parlez-vous français? Sprichst du Deutsch? Parli italiano?

... Scusi do you speak English? A common phrase I repeated over and over again.

In a world of international business, the key to success is knowing multiple languages. As an American, I’m not exposed to the vast amount of different languages present throughout the world and specifically in Europe. Benedetta would greet people and immediately know what language they spoke due to their accent. This is an aspect of the trade show that was a drawback for me because I wasn’t able to sell as much as I had hoped, and push the advantages of buying Marakita products rather than other products similar. However, this is a blessing in disguise due to how this has driven me to be more studious with my Italian studies.

The Maison and Objet world fair was incredible. The interesting aspect of countries coming together to sell their products and to see what products their buyers want and were interested in. This created a type of cultural diffusion that amazed me. Maison an Objet splits the exposition into eight different sections to help the buyers go to find the correct products they are in search of. Marakita was located in the “Fashion Design” section. This section had a multitude of different bags, jewelry, and home décor. The designer of the show designed the booths to have the name of the company as well as exbitor’s country flag. I assume this is to help buyers to search for countries that have lower shipping and exporting and importing costs. After rows and rows of similar products I was interested in seeing how companies managed to standout from the multitude of companies.

There are key aspects to stand out from the rows of other designers designing similar products to his/herself. The first is how the exhibitor designs the booth. Benedetta and I redesigned the both on Saturday because we noticed that people wanted to touch the products. The previous set up, having a table in the center of the booth, hindered the buyer from touching the hand woven bags and the rugs placed on the ground did not stand out. Instead we placed the table in the upper corner allowing buyers to come all the way in the both to touch and see the different styles of handbags present. This also helped to display Benedetta’s rugs that complemented the bags perfectly, and not being hidden underneath the table.

But I was able to experience this show as an exhibitor and an exhibitee—an exhibitee due to my mother’s business located in San Francisco, CA. This allowed me to approach other companies that I was interested in to gain contacts prior to my arrival back to the United States. It was also interesting to see the different marketing styles that companies used, and likewise what products customers were interested. Some companies were very pushy with their marketing habits, making it somewhat uncomfortable. Some companies gave “freebies” to remind the buyer the quality of their products and their company in general. Walking around I also became aware that packaging matters. One jewelry company placed their necklaces in a glass bottle—this was a hit! The necklaces themselves were nothing special, but everyone loved this idea of a necklace in a bottle (similar to the old fashion message in the bottle). Displays also have a huge effect on customers. As I previously stated, being able to touch and feel the products are essential to people purchasing the products.

After coming back from the trade show a few days ago, I have looked into becoming a representative for several companies that I became in contact with. I know in the United States people can become a representative for several different companies and in turn people place order through the representative rather than having to deal with finding overseas connections. At first I gained these contacts for my mom’s business, but then I wanted to think bigger, more international. I would like to ask and gain more knowledge about importing and exporting of products to the United States. What I assume this far is that I would have to get a “cap” on shipping. I need to do more research, but I think the way this works is that I would need to get a cargo or a container full to decrease the cost of shipping and likewise in turn having to increase the products themselves.

My overall experience of the Maison and Objet was an experience of a lifetime and I was so happy to be able to experience under the wing of Benedetta. I’m looking forward to our future endeavors together, and gaining more knowledge about small businesses in Europe.