How INDEX Introduced Organisation in Design to the Middle East

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11 Apr 2019

It was early 2018 when Organisation in Design set out to enter a completely new market for the first time [the Middle East] and connect with design professionals in that region. How were they going to do it? Who were the right people to connect with?

There were 2 main challenges Margriet Vollenberg, Founder and Director of Organisation in Design, found herself facing. The first of which being that the Middle East represented a brand new culture Organisation in Design was not familiar with.

As is the case with entering any market for the first time, Organisation in Design wanted to understand what trading platforms were available? What are the regulations surrounding each trading platform? What’s the best way to generate leads and maximise sales in the region?

The second challenge facing the organisation was that most of their exhibitors had never traded in the Middle East before. They didn't have any existing business relationships or agency agreements in the region. Nor did they have any brand awareness. They were starting from scratch.

Founded in 2005, Organisation in Design is a PR and event studio with offices in The Netherlands and Italy. Under the name Ventura Projects, they curate international contemporary design exhibitions focused on quality and concept. The company is the brain child of Margriet Vollenberg who’s ethos is, ‘’design makes the world a better place and designers are an important part of this positive change.’’

After evaluating a number of different options, Margriet decided to launch Ventura Projects in Dubai and selected the INDEX exhibition (the region’s largest and longest standing exhibition dedicated to all things interior design) as the platform to do it.

Given that INDEX was Organisation in Design’s first entry point into the Middle East market, the INDEX team started by providing them with information about the region upfront. This included reports on economic performance, relevant industry insight directly from prominent regional design buyers and project updates.

Through this close collaboration, Organisation in Design were able to learn a lot about the region’s design culture before arriving at the exhibition. The 43 exhibitors who took part in Ventura Dubai met over 100 different design buyers and were very happy with the quality of the new connections they made.

Due to the success of their participation, Organisation in Dubai has announced their collaboration will be continued in 2019 with the second edition of Ventura Dubai at INDEX and they have decided not to participate in any other design exhibitions in the Middle East outside of INDEX in 2019.

‘’The INDEX team took care of everything. Due to this perfect organisation, the exhibitors were able to dedicate their time to building as many new contacts and key relationships as possible,’’ said Margriet. She went on to say, ‘’we were very happy with how everything turned out. INDEX showed us that it’s possible to enter a new market successfully if you work closely together and rely on each other’s expertise.’’

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