Business is local

Unlike Germany's reference marketing exhibitions, which are labouring under a decline, some exhibition makers have succeeded in occupying the market with regional fairs.

It is hard to get a handle on marketing as an exhibition theme. The industry is too diverse to fit into a single exhibition format. This was something the organisers of the exhibition flagships of the marketing industry, DIMA in Düsseldorf and Marketing Services, which alternates between Frankfurt und Hamburg, discovered last year to their detriment. Both shows are steering an uncertain course and have repeatedly been declared dead by the media and attendees.
All the while, marketing fairs relying to a large extent on the heavily regional slant of their exhibitor and visitor portfolios have carved themselves a successful position in recent years in a largely unspectacular fashion. In 2000 IM Marketing Forum from Erlangen took the plunge into exhibitions. In the lee of the then still undisputed number one in the direct marketing world, DIMA, the exhibition Mailingtage premiered in Nuremberg. "Our idea was to concentrate heavily on the entire print mailing segment. And unlike DIMA we were more of a production-focused fair," is how Nico Marcuz, co-managing director of IM Marketing Forum, describes the early days of Mailingtage in Nuremberg exhibition centre. The regional slant was not an unalloyed blessing, though. The first three years called for staying power, but the show has since moved mainstream. The cost aspect was an important reason for starting out on a smaller scale. At that time we didn't see ourselves on a larger scale. We were convinced that was not us," Marcuz continues. But in time signals from the attendance side persuaded the exhibition organisers to expand their portfolio. The themes customer newsletters, telephone marketing and call centres, to name but a few, have taken root alongside classical direct marketing. And the exhibition company is growing. "Although we still perceive ourselves as a regional provider, we now also have exhibitors from Russia, Poland, Belgium and Holland." And last year's sixth Mailingtage fair drew attendees from all over Germany to Franconia. For all this success, Marcuz does not see the show as competing with DIMA: "We work on the same theme and I'm certain the market has not yet been fully exploited. A glance at the rising sales figures bears out his forecast. In 2004 companies in Germany invested a total of EUR 32 million in direct marketing, so the Deutsche Post study "Direktmarketing Deutschland 2005" reveals.
IM Marketing-Forum is therefore also mulling how further to develop the successful concept, which has long since cast off its regional corset. At the 7th Mailingtage fair on July 12 and 13 in Nuremberg Congress Centre a Corporate Publishing exhibition will consequently premiere alongside the special show Kreation, which presents outstanding mailings. But opening up also brings hazards. As gratifying as the growing importance of the Mailingtage may be to its organisers, they run danger of losing their focus in the sectoral surfeit. Already the Nuremberg show, with attendance of 3,510 in 2005, has overtaken industry leader DIMA with 3,340 visitors.
The Ideenbörse, Stuttgart, which is looking to set new marketing accents on March 23 and 24, sees itself as a top-drawer advertising fair for small and medium-sized businesses. The 4th Direct Marketing Congress by co-organisers Deutsche Post, Sales Mail Commercial Customer Division, is intended as an accompanying highlight. The previous event in April 2005 was attended by some 120 exhibitors and more than 2,100 professional visitors. In Stuttgart, too, the exhibition organisers have found that many SMEs are only gradually beginning to take an interest in direct advertising and that the theme therefore offers lots of potential. The Ideenbörse aims to provide this "new" clientele with a comprehensive overview of the fresh opportunities direct marketing now holds out. The exhibition therefore primarily addresses marketing and sales executives in small and midsize companies, industry, the distributive trade, the services sector and the crafts as well as marketing services providers such as agency managers, customer consultants or management consultants. "Contacts you don't forget" is the new slogan which, together with a revamped logo, is intended as vital and dynamic self-promotion. Another high spot and source of ideas for visitors will be the "Bestseller Mail Lounge" showing the most successful mailing solutions from the network of Deutsche Post's 30 direct marketing centres throughout Germany. The exhibition makers in Stuttgart are also endeavouring to help visitors gain a clearer picture of a very complex and confusing industry by dividing the Ideenbörse into sections: In the Direct Marketing section are address list publishers, direct advertisers, letter shops and mailing specialists. Another focus is on interactive media such as e-mail marketing, newsletter marketing and search engines. Print & Services covers printers, print finishing and mail processing systems. Photo agencies, advertising agencies and PR agencies are to be found in the exhibition section Communication. Event agencies and conference hotels and meeting planners are represented under Exhibition/Congress & Events. Also on display are offers on the themes customer loyalty cards, customer newsletters, rebate systems, perimeter advertising and promotional merchandise. Even farther south, and even earlier in the year, komma, Trade Fair for Communication and Marketing, was staged for the third time at the end of January in Munich's M,O,C,. In the Bavarian state capital local business is evidently not to be sneezed at either. Most visitors came from southern Germany to obtain advice on the range of product services, dialogue marketing, exhibition and event marketing, E-marketing and promotional merchandise. "146 exhibitors and 4,000 visitors once again underscored that marketing executives appreciate komma." Organiser Michael Hagemann is convinced that his strategy of presenting a manageable offering on a footprint of 6,000 m2 is the right one. "It is efficient for visitors and exhibitors alike. It saves time yet still conveys an exclusive and, most importantly, swift market overview."
Even so, a predominantly regional focus is still no guarantee of sustained success, as the exhibition organisers from Mattfeld und Sänger, Kempten, discovered. They had a presence in various German locations with their marketing fair concept. "What works brilliantly in our main business area, environmental fairs, didn't suit in marketing," says the company's spokesperson Günter Rauch. The regional concept of a trade show with around 100 exhibitors did not evoke the desired response on the attendance side, even though customers were satisfied with the quality. The addition of themes such as personal marketing ultimately failed to trigger any change. But a trade fair can stumble over more than the concept - the venue is also instrumental to its success. Mainz, for instance, will no longer host a Mattfeld & Sänger marketing fair. The Phönixhalle, hired for the first time in 2004, proved unsuitable, leading to complaints from exhibitors again. The local press reported that the standard of outfitting professional exhibitors and attendees have come to expect was unattainable in the hall.

m+a report Nr.1 / 2006 vom 13.02.2006
m+a report vom 13. Februar 2006