Volvo Construction Equipment has decided to pull out of Bauma 2022 citing a “new marketing approach aimed at even closer engagement with the company’s customers”.

The Swedish machinery giant said in a statement that the decision to not participate in the world’s biggest trade fair was taken under its new marketing strategy “in light of evolving customer behaviour which has accelerated due to the Covid-19 pandemic:

According to Volvo, the shift in marketing and customer outreach strategy will involve:

• Together with dealer partners, an increased focus on local market Volvo branded events to build stronger and more sustainable customer relationships
• A commercial marketing approach aimed at seamless integration of developing digital and traditional marketing channels
• Increased investment in digital channels and campaigns to reflect changing customer touchpoints and behaviours

The company said it will be refocusing on its “own purpose-built audience outreach combining physical, digital and hybrid events”, adding that this will allow for more flexibility and tailor-made programmes, “however and wherever the customer wants to interact with Volvo products and services”.

The new approach, which is influenced by changes in customer behaviour accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic, also reflects increasing demands being made to do business in a more sustainable manner and to reduce the company’s environmental footprint, said the company.

Carl Slotte, head of Region Europe at Volvo CE, said: “Whilst physical interaction remains very important, we are beginning to see significant changes in the way our customers want to engage with us both digitally and face-to-face. This is driven both by technological possibilities of doing business more efficiently and the increasing need to do business more sustainably.

“Despite our withdrawal from next year´s event, we have not ruled out future participation at Bauma or other tradeshows. We will continue to review the way our customers want to interact with us and base our strategy on their needs and demands.”