How the World's Largest Independent Aerospace Distributor Runs Its Global Exhibition Calendar

Featuring:

Mustafa Abou-Taleb: Global Marketing Manager, Proponent

Ronald Verkade: Product Line Manager, Proponent

Proponent is the largest independent aerospace distributor in the world. It's also employee-owned, a structure Mustafa Abou-Taleb, who leads global marketing, points to as central to how the company operates.

"We pride ourselves on being employee-owned," he says. "I think that's probably one of the main things that makes us unique and different from our competitors. Everybody has a piece of the pie in Proponent, and what they do matters. I think that shows in our culture."

With operations spanning the Netherlands, Spain, the UK, Singapore, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, the US, and Germany, Proponent covers nearly every region it serves. Running an exhibition calendar across that footprint is its own kind of operation, one that came into sharp focus this year when two major shows landed in the same week, on two different continents.

Why Exhibitions Work Differently for Proponent

Ask most companies why they exhibit, and the answer is some version of lead generation. Proponent's approach is different.

"We're not going to trade shows necessarily to look for new customers," Mustafa explains. "Our strategy is to go to some of the biggest trade shows in our industry to meet our customers and our suppliers. People we already have a relationship with, or are building one with, and we're actually sitting down and meeting with them. It might be a contract extension, a new contract, issues, things we're doing well, things we're doing badly. It could be at a trade show, but the main thing is we're setting up meetings in advance and using the show as a place to meet."

The efficiency case is straightforward. "One salesperson can have ten meetings in a day, with people from different countries, as opposed to having to fly to each of those locations and figure out the date and time."

Ronald Verkade, who leads much of Proponent's presence across Europe and Asia, adds a scale point: "In aerospace, you can be present or exhibit at a show approximately every week, because there's always one somewhere. We select a couple which are of great importance for us, and the MRO shows are very important."

Two Shows, One Week

This year, AIX in Hamburg and MRO Americas in Atlanta landed within a week of each other, on opposite sides of the Atlantic. For most companies, that would mean choosing one show over the other, or splitting attention thin across both. Proponent split the team instead.

"Some people are attending AIX, some people are attending Americas," Mustafa explains. "Ronald is on the AIX side, so he's there, he's the contact person, making sure everything's going well. From MRO Americas, it's either myself or Jennifer on our team."

Running two major shows in parallel, across two continents, with different people responsible for each, depends on trusting the people on the ground, both your own team and your exhibition partner. “Being able to count on [Noisy&Co] to know that you have everything in place," Mustafa says. "You've got a team out there, you've got a team here.”

There's a small, telling detail buried in that week too: in one year, James Hunt of Noisy&Co made it to both shows himself. "I think so," Ronald laughs. "He might have done that."

One Partner, Not a New One Every Time

It wasn't always this way. After a gap in trade shows during the pandemic, Proponent restarted its exhibition programme by bidding out each stand individually, picking whoever offered the best combination of design and price for that particular show.

"It worked until it didn't work," Mustafa says. "You'd use the same vendor maybe two shows in a row, then another show you'd use somebody else. It was extra work, and you're risking it every time. Were they going to be good? They were good last time, but you haven't used them in a year."

The bigger cost wasn't really the risk, it was the repetition. "You don't have to explain the show strategy every time. You don't have to explain what we do every time. It's so much better."

Ronald, who deals with sourcing on the ground in Europe, points to a specific, recurring example. "We have a couple of things we feel are important to add to a booth. We encountered that every time we were sourcing, we needed to emphasise those details. Now we're working with one consistent partner, you don't have to ask for those things anymore."

Trust When Things Go Wrong

Consistency isn't just about saving time on the brief. For Ronald, who's often the person on site when a stand comes together, it's about knowing what to expect on the ground.

"Over the years I've experienced huge surprises. I've had to wait until ten p.m. before things were ready. I don't want to show up an hour before opening to put everything in place that should have been done the day before. You need to rely on your partner."

Both he and Mustafa were clear that the trust isn't about things always going perfectly, it's about what happens when they don't.

"No one's perfect, including ourselves," Mustafa says. "When things go wrong, it's about being willing to correct it, to admit to it. Sometimes people can make a mistake. Knowing that even if something goes wrong, there's going to be a solution provided, that goes a long way."

Ronald puts it plainly: "Our comments are often detailed, sometimes picky. But it's always well received, never like an assault. We're in it together to get the highest output. That's a philosophy as well."

Their Advice to Other Aerospace Brands

Asked what he'd tell another aerospace or aviation brand managing its first international exhibition programme, Mustafa didn't hesitate.

"Have a good partner. I know it's maybe cheesy, but it's true."

Ronald's advice was more specific: "Do not source for every show. Go for a long-standing partner."

For Mustafa, the case is less about any single show going well and more about what a long-term relationship removes from the equation entirely.

"Having a partner where they know you, you know them, you don't have to explain the show strategy every time, you don't have to explain what we do every time. That's so much better."

He points to the rhythm it's created. "We have our weekly calls, pretty much year round, because we have shows year round. Sometimes they're short because everything's going great, just a check-in. Sometimes they're more detailed, because we're at the beginning of a show. But they're great to have."

Conclusion

Proponent's exhibition calendar doesn't slow down. With AIX, MRO Americas, and a rotating set of regional shows across the Americas, EMEA, and APAC running throughout the year, the team's approach has settled into something closer to a rhythm than a series of one-off projects.

The Noisy&Co team has worked alongside Proponent across these shows for several years, including that same week in Hamburg and Atlanta. If Mustafa and Ronald's experience is anything to go by, the real work of running a global exhibition programme happens well before any stand goes up.