Speaking at IBC, Panasonic UK marketing director Marc Irwin told Broadcastthat the technology company has spent£675,000 this year, money that was better spent elsewhere. "It takes up a sizeable chunk of our marketing budget and a lot of people's time for what we get back," said Irwin.
According to Panasonic, which unveiled its new HD camcorder the AG-HVX200 at IBC this week, buyers have changed their behaviour and no longer make purchasing decisions at the event.
"Fewer buyers make it these days - they can get all the information they need from the internet via websites and discussion forums," said Irwin. He said that while Panasonic would continue to attend, it would no longer do so as an exhibitor.
He added: "Some key broadcasters think that IBC will go into decline because of the cost of attending."
An official Panasonic statement said: "It is not a decision to cut costs in our operations. In fact we are already working on a higher budget for activities next year. We intend to use this in a more focused approach directly from Panasonic Broadcast Europe."
Panasonic's move follows the decision by Snell & Wilcox to pull out of IBC in June.
Joe Zaller, Snell & Wilcox's vice-president of marketing and product management, said that the decision came after an internal review into how budgets and resources were allocated.
But, according to IBC, the event completely sold out this year, with more than 1,000 exhibitors. The number of visitors to the five-day event was 5% up on 2004 at 43,000.
IBC marketing director Mike Crimp told Broadcast: "We are still talking to Panasonic and would be delighted to see them back next year, but we sold out of exhibition space this year and it's likely that we will next year. In fact, we've already sold Panasonic's exhibition space for 2006 to somebody else."
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