A critical look at inserts
Trade fair specials in daily newspapers are inefficient, say advertising professionals. But they have discerned some exceptions.
The communications bosses of German trade fairs are not complimentary about most inserts in daily newspapers. Lack of measurability is the drawback most often cited. "There is still no way of measuring the reach of individual inserts", was how Peter Ottmann, head of communications at NürnbergMesse, put it. "Who are we really reaching here? Who can give us any pointers on this?" asks Jens Schreiber, head of corporate communications at Messe Frankfurt, and adds: "Analyses just don't exist!"
Communications professionals also doubt that trade fair inserts placed once a year are reaching their target groups. "Of course, it's great to get trade fair topics into the press", admits Jochen Dosch, head of marketing communication at Koelnmesse: "But you have got to ask how many people actually read an insert in their newspaper?" Hans Werner Reinhard, head of the communications division at Messe Düsseldorf: "A special supplement is all very well. It gives us great satisfaction, but only us."
This inner satisfaction is telling: Trade fair organisers feel left out. The major dailies show little interest in the topic closest to their hearts. And if a special is inserted once a year between the weather report and the panorama, nobody notices it. Ottmann: "When you've got three inserts in a newspaper, who's going to read them?"
And even if a reader does err into a trade fair supplement, it is often not for long: "The quality of writing is for the most part inadequate. There's often too much PR", complains Ottmann. A supplement should be more journalistic, and is even allowed to contain some criticism. His colleague Schreiber agrees: "The inserts often do not have the same quality of content as the leaders in the newspaper. They are often too PR-oriented, which undermines their credibility."
As a consequence, so Reinhard tells us, the major German trade fairs have laid down a basic principle for themselves: "No advertising in inserts in daily newspapers". However, that only applies to company-oriented advertising. Adverts are commissioned for topics that match events. "That is still worthwhile", says Reinhard. At the same time, the press bosses of the trade fairs are attempting to get the national newspapers to replace trade fair supplements with monthly trade fair pages.
"Die Welt" and "Die Süddeutsche Zeitung" have made the change and added a trade fair page to their business section once a month. "We have also spoken to other dailies", says Reinhard. It is definitely not about saving on advertising, "we just think it is better to have one special page a month than an insert once a year".
Alongside this, Reinhard is also willing to advertise in the expensive regular sections of newspapers. For example, when the last trade fair insert of the Handelsblatt appeared. "In this case, we placed an advert in the main section", says Reinhard. And when an insert was included to celebrate the 60-year anniversary of the Handelsblatt, Reinhard and his colleagues did not hold back either: For the first time they placed a collective commercial within the framework of the Gemeinschaft Deutscher Großmessen (GDG). "That is something we may well repeat in future."
Dosch is not opposed to inserts under all circumstances either: "An insert is in our interests if it is interesting for our target group." Consequently, the communications expert from Cologne initiated a few interesting specials this year. There was a joint insert with the Cologne newspaper group ("Kölner Stadtanzeiger", "Express", "Kölnische Rundschau") to communicate the new trade fair halls. Because the venue opened for business with the imm cologne furniture fair, Dosch took the opportunity to communicate the event in the same special. "I would gladly also have placed a national insert, but the budget was too small." Nevertheless, the Cologne insert was part of a wider campaign in which Dosch had placed advertisements at a national level.
Dosch's communications goal was to come across not as a hall rental company but as a service provider. Choosing an insert as the medium for this strategy makes sense: "We were able to make many points for which by its very nature there would not have been space in an advertisement." Despite all the criticism, Dosch has put his finger on one advantage that inserts have: While the message in an advertisement has to be kept to one or two points, inserts give advertisers space to explain in depth. Or, as Frankfurt PR man Schreiber says: "An insert is often a very heavy menu to digest."
Schreiber's comment is not to be taken purely as criticism because even he does not serve a diet of pure advertisement fast food. For example, as the naming sponsor of the Messe Frankfurt Marathon, he supports the regular inserts that appear in the local editions of "Bild", "Die Frankfurter Neue Presse" and "Die Frankurter Allgemeine Zeitung" (FAZ).
Last year there were also inserts for "ART Frankfurt" in "FAZ am Sonntag" and "Bild". Schreiber: "The advantage of an insert is that it can give the full information about a concept in one go, so that the reader can use it to decide whether or not to attend a trade fair."
For Jens Schreiber, the decision whether to place a trade fair insert has to be made on a case by case basis. "An advertisement in an insert is always in competition with other marketing tools. But I would always consider it." The type of event should also be considered. When rare major events such as drupa in Düsseldorf are looming, an appropriate budget is usually granted, says communications boss Reinhard. "It is particularly useful to get space in a supplement if the product requires explanation."
Peter Ottmann agrees: "If I can get 100 more visitors to my stand, the advert is worthwhile." Nevertheless, the NürnbergMesse PR man does not want to go overboard on inserts. After all, the question is justified as to whether the "trade fair budget is being cannibalised". This follows the logic that, if expensive advertising inflates the trade fair budget too much, the trade fair appearance is going to seem even more expensive to controllers than it already was. That is not in the interests of the trade fairs. But the same logic can be applied to the cheapest solution of all: namely, no advertising, no trade fair visit. Markus Ridder
m+a report Nr.4 / 2006 vom 15.06.2006
m+a report vom 15. Juni 2006