Dear Friends in the Lighting Business:

I’ve just returned from The Las Vegas World Market Center, where I gave a one-hour seminar for Residential Lighting Magazine called “Marketing Strategies for the Next Decade.”  I brought my Swarovski Crystal Ball and looked into the future of retail advertising.

Here's what I saw:
1. Websites that are getting better and better
2. Retailers with huge email lists that they use as a regular part of their advertising
3. Video streaming on websites
4. Bigger newspaper ads with full color
5. Yellow Pages replaced by Google and Yahoo

If you’d like to see my PowerPoint Presentation from Las Vegas, email dave@lightads.com and I will forward it to you.

The big lighting news at the market was that Murray Feiss had pulled out at the last minute, leaving a sizable hole in the decorative lighting display. Recognizable lighting manufacturers who did make the show generally had smaller showrooms than in Dallas and included Adesso, AF Lighting, Besa, Crystorama, Dale Tiffany, Elk, Glow Lighting, Jesco, Light Source, Kalco, Mica Lamp, Nora Lighting, Trend Lighting, Pacific Coast, Quoizel, Robert Abbey, Stein World, Stylecraft, and Vaxcel International.

I learned about “Elemental Fusion” from interior designer Tina Dyba who designs her interior spaces based upon “fusing elements of nature into interior living spaces to create a tranquil feeling.” You can learn more about elemental fusion at www.divaconceptsinc.com.

I also prodded Jim Fleming at Kalco about his unique claim to possess “hand forged iron” and found out that, in fact, it is relatively rare for lighting manufacturers to utilize the old world method of heating and turning solid bars of tapered iron to make scrolls. Score one for Kalco. You can learn more about their hand forged iron, their 14 layer hand painted finish, and their philosophy of using unique materials such as crystal, stone, leather and shell to transmit light. Go to www.kalcolighting.com for details.

Jim also shared with me a fun video made by Eric Lebersfeld from Capitol Lighting called The Pink Pig.  This video highlights the amazing ability of lighting people to use their creative imagination and proves that lighting manufacturers can and will create just about any type of lighting fixture. Check it out on YouTube.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=jK7EG7ZzQqY

While the lighting categories are nowhere near the magnitude of Dallas Market, World Market Center is a good place to find new categories of heart stopping designs. There were a plethora of furnishing and decorative accent exhibitors, as well as a tremendous offering of creative ideas from the temporary exhibits.

All in all, going to The Las Vegas World Market Center is time well spent. The buildings are compact, and it’s possible to scan the entire market in one long day. Then you’re off to the amazing casinos, restaurants, and back to the well-appointed hotel room. There’s nothing lacking about the services in Vegas.



Dave Clark
Clark Communications Group
800-886-2522
cell: 802-369-6687
"The Brightest Ads in the Lighting Business"