Who can take part...
Building on the success of previous years, 100% Norway 2010 will showcase the new works of both established and up-and-coming designers, and feature a number of the country’s leading manufacturers. This will be the seventh time the exhibition visits London to act as a door opener for Norwegian designers and manufacturers to the British market and simultaneously build awareness of Norwegian design in the UK and internationally.
Manufacturers and designers are eligible for participation at 100% Norway if the UK is a target market where they wish to have their products distributed, retailed or manufactured. Furthermore, all products featured at the exhibition have to be designed by a Norwegian designer, and products manufactured by Norwegian companies will be prioritised where possible. As always at 100% Norway, the curator and co-curator will make sure that there is a mix of furniture and home accessories, new and recent launches/relaunches, manufactured products and a selection of prototypes.
London 2010
100% Norway is organised by the Royal Norwegian Embassy in London, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Norwegian Design Council, the Association of the Norwegian Furniture Industry and Innovation Norway. There is no fee to take part, and the organisers are covering all costs such as stand hire, stand design and production, project management, PR agency, preparation seminar in Oslo, transport from collection point in Norway to and from London, insurance, bespoke 100% Norway catalogue and launch party. Exhibitors will have to cover their own travel arrangements, although designers can apply for the Ministry of Foreign Affair’s travel grant via Norsk Form. Exhibitors will also need to cover manufacturing costs of the chosen products to the curators’ specifications in terms of colours and materials, and arrange transport of the goods to and from the main collection point in Norway.
All chosen exhibitors will be able to work closely with a team from Innovation Norway to maximise their participation by identifying retailers, agents, distributors, manufacturers and/or other potential customers in the UK. A plan and targets will be set for each exhibitor and followed up before, during and after the exhibition. It will be expected that every exhibitor puts a lot of effort into their preparations for the show, and that they all are present in London at the Norwegian stand throughout the four days of the exhibition.
The selection process
The curator, Henrietta Thompson, and the co-curator, Benedicte Sunde, already have extensive knowledge and overview of Norwegian designers and manufacturers, but 100% Norway is open to everyone who fits the above criteria, and the curators would consider anyone within Norwegian design. Whether known or unknown, those with the strongest products deemed most suitable for the UK market were invited to present themselves during the curators’ research trip in Norway. Prior to the curator trip, designers and manufacturers were urged to submit the following:
- Information, sketches, and/or photos of the products they wanted to put forward for 100% Norway 2010
- Information about their company and/or themselves
- Information about what they would like to achieve by participating in London (in terms of the UK design market/industry)
Information had to be in English and emailed to project managers Thomas Aastad / thaa@mfa.no and/or Merete Hildonen / merete.hildonen@mobelradet.no by 15 January 2010. All information was passed on to the curators for them to select who to meet during their trip in Norway.
Working to improve 100% Norway
To help us develop 100% Norway and identify areas for improvement, an external agency was hired to carry out a survey at the stand amongst visitors and a second survey among the 21 exhibitors selected for 100% Norway 2009.
The report delivered by the agency showed that almost 90% of the exhibitors were happy with this year’s 100% Norway project (the preparations, the PR work, the support they had received and the way the exhibition was organised), and more than half of them had already made specific deals with UK customers when they left London. The 12 exhibitors who had also taken part last year all said this year's project was better. Almost all exhibitors felt the stand helped improve the profile of Norwegian design in the UK, and all 21 exhibitors stated that they wanted to take part in 100% Norway again. Areas in need of improvement according to the Norwegian exhibitors were better signage at the stand and labeling of products as well as meeting room and storage facilities.
The second part of the survey where 250 visitors to the Norwegian stand was interviewed, showed that 91% of trade visitors liked the Norwegian stand, and 66% of trade visitors said the stand made them want to buy Norwegian products. Additionally, 89% of consumers visiting the stand enjoyed it, and 68% said it made them want to purchase Norwegian products. Overall, 82% of visitors say that the products at 100% Norway met their expectations of Norwegian design in a positive way, and words such as ‘beautiful’, ‘creative’, ‘exciting’ and ‘original’ were frequently used to describe the exhibition. The organisers of 100% Norway have studied the report closely and are now using it to make alterations to the 2010 show in London.
To read more about 100% Norway 2009, click here.
100% Norway 2009 attracted around 12,000 visitors. Photo: Thomas Aastad / Royal Norwegian Embassy