The Minelli Group Case Study

Minelli Group is a multi-business-unit industrial group active in international markets, with different targets, products and stakeholders across its divisions.

Participation in industry trade shows is a key channel of visibility and business development for the company — but also a complex context to manage in a coherent, strategic way.

Growth That Required a Leap Forward

Minelli Group, an international brand active at major industry trade shows, was already present in global exhibition settings. However, its communication and stand experience didn’t yet express the brand’s and offering’s qualitative positioning in a fully consistent way, limiting the overall effectiveness and authority of the trade show experience.

As a result, trade shows risked staying an isolated action, with no structured system for marketing and contact management.

The Obstacles Along the Way

The group’s trade show management presented some challenges typical of international industrial contexts. For example:

• multiple business units with different needs and targets
• the need to adapt communication to diverse markets and audiences
• coordinating suppliers and local partners across different countries
• limited follow-through on leads collected at events

The group effectively operated as “four companies in one,” with different products and markets, but with the need to maintain a consistent identity.

Meeting OTO Agency: The Turning Point

In its journey to evolve its international presence, Minelli Group met OTO Agency.

At the time, the Bergamo-based agency was already supporting the group’s companies on broader, integrated communication projects, able to connect online, offline and event activity into a single strategy.

For Minelli, this marked a shift in perspective.

With OTO Agency, trade show participation could be managed as a structured marketing and business development lever, capable of generating relationships and opportunities over time.

The Strategic Partnership

OTO Agency supported Minelli Group in the complete design and management of its international trade show presence, working across three integrated levels:

• pre-show communication and marketing
• design and on-site management of the stand and related activities
• lead follow-through and post-show actions

Support went beyond the event itself: it included building a system capable of generating and organizing qualified leads in the company’s CRM, turning trade shows into a structured sales channel.

From Trade Show as Event to Trade Show as Strategy

OTO Agency guided Minelli Group and its various Business Units through a progressive evolution of their trade show presence, turning it into a coordinated, repeatable process.

The work covered the entire communication ecosystem tied to the group’s international trade show presence.

OTO designed the stands and visual language consistently with the group’s identity, ensuring continuity across different events and markets.

It adapted messaging to local contexts, target audiences and the specific commercial goals of each show.

Operational management included coordinating suppliers and production across different countries, to ensure quality, timing and execution consistency.

At the same time, the agency developed event-related marketing activities:

• pre-show communication
• supporting materials and content during the exhibition
• follow-up actions afterward, to make the most of the contacts generated

During the shows, OTO Agency provided continuous operational support to the Minelli Group team, helping organize and manage on-stand activities.

Finally, the agency structured a system for collecting and organizing contacts, turning relationships started at trade shows into trackable, workable business opportunities over time.

Over the years, the collaboration has covered numerous international events, including Paris, Las Vegas, Dubai, as well as Italian trade shows such as Bologna and Bergamo.

A Complex Global Coordination Challenge

One of the most significant aspects of the project was coordinating very different contexts.

Each business unit within the group required specific language, messaging and relationship approaches, with different internal stakeholders and competitive markets.

OTO Agency managed this complexity by adapting communication to each target while maintaining brand consistency across all divisions.

The Result: Trade Shows as a Sales Lever

Working with the Bergamo-based agency OTO turned Minelli’s trade show participation into a structured marketing and sales tool.

Trade shows became:

• opportunities for consistent international visibility
• contexts for qualified lead generation
• touchpoints integrated into the company’s sales system

Contacts collected at events are organized in the CRM and used for effective post-show activity — essential in competitive industrial markets.

The Transformation

The collaboration with OTO Agency marked a key shift for Minelli: from managing trade shows as one-off operational events, to trade shows as an integrated strategic process.

This partnership allowed Minelli Group to strengthen its presence at global trade shows and use events as a structured lever for business development.

Today, the group’s international presence is built on:

• consistent communication across divisions and markets
• integration between marketing and events
• systematic follow-through on contacts
• continuity across pre-show, on-site and post-show phases