"We expect a curiosity effect"

FAMAB is planning a change of name. In future it wishes to be known as Verband für direkte Wirtschaftskommunikation e.V. or the association for direct business communication.

The decision is not definitive, but the initial reaction to the new name among members was so unanimously positive that the association has already changed its website, where FAMAB - the industry association for the conception and services for design, exhibitions, and events domiciled in Rheda-Wiedenbrück is already called the "Verband für direkte Wirtschaftskommunikation". That is the official name it wishes to adopt. The members will have the last word at the annual general meeting in Düsseldorf in late November. However, with the growing importance of direct target group addressing, the management are sure that the renaming proposal will meet with resounding approval.
It is not the first new name. The association has spawned several sub-brands over the past few years. "FAMAB has changed these past few years, just as the market has. The communication market is redefining itself. Anyone observing the development will have quickly noticed that it was always in line with the times", says Claus Holtmann, chairman of FAMAB. He is convinced: "Our new name is forward-looking. It is strongly focused on the future." And Vok Dams, former president of the Forum Marketing event agencies, adds: "By opening up for further suitable market segments, the association will widen its basis in the long term."¶Different sectors and service providers form networks, co-operate and offer new services with different profiles to meet the demands of the market. An association must meet these challenges. For Dams the planned renaming is a sign of strength. Both Dams and Holtmann dismiss the objection that few will understand that direct business communication includes trade fair contracting, events and catering. The term business communication does "not have any pre-existing meaning". The epithet ‘direct' narrows down the term and applies to all communication disciplines, technical services and practical implementation that address target groups directly. Dams: "It was important to us to find a name that is not an Anglicism but proper German." And he also hopes to achieve a certain PR effect with the renaming: "We expect a curiosity effect."
In future, FAMAB will unite different specialist groups, which are almost all organised in forums, under one roof as an umbrella association, says Holtmann. Trade fair contracting, the origin of FAMAB, which was founded as the trade association for trade fair and exhibition contracting, has been called Forum for Trade Fairs and Exhibitions since late August. The Forum Marketing Event Agencies (FME), the Forum Design and Architecture (FDA) and the Leading Catering Association (LECA) also operate under the umbrella of the association. The management could envisage production companies and similar service providers as network partners, but not as a new member group.
Claus Holtmann knows: "The term ‘Association for Direct Business Communication' has to be learnt." And no words must be missed out. "That is our aim." Dams sees the declaration as an opportunity to explain the market segment and make it transparent. "We are not only using the renaming for internal orientation but also to show what we are offering. We want to use it to influence development of the market." ‘Event' was already the word of the year in 1996 and has undeniably gone on to play a great role in marketing. They do not see any proximity to the directing marketing association. "What is direct about that? Letters in the post? People meet face to face in all our activities", says Holtmann and stresses: "Direct communication is something else."
Vok Dams is adamant: "An association must represent the interests of its members and provide a response to contemporary issues. It must recognise changes on the market and in the membership structure and respond to new challenges in an evolutionary process in order to remain attractive and capable. An association must also provide its members with help with day-to-day business, but also offer prospects for independent development. With the current organisational structure and further member groups, FAMAB, rebranded Verband für direkte Wirtschaftskommunikation, is equipped to handle these tasks in a dynamic growth market in future, too."
They are sure their clients who have been working in new markets and with modified structures for a long time will back them. They have always looked for specialists or capable, internationally operating networks. And if the exhibiting or event-organising companies noticed that members of an association were driving this development, they felt in even better company with its members. "Our clients no longer work in strictly demarcated segments", explains Holtmann. "And we are their business associates with overarching competence." He assumes, "that we will not be encountering problems." The German Event Day on December 1 also picks up the topic. This year's slogan is "culture of meeting".
Claus Holtmann is looking forward to the renaming with confidence. Even if he does have to admit: "It does take a bit of courage."

m+a report Nr.7 / 2006 vom 27.10.2006
m+a report vom 27. Oktober 2006