Messe Frankfurt held a livestream press conference today, December 1 2020, to introduce the special event for 2021, the International Consumer Goods Show, which will combine Ambiente, Christmasworld and Paperworld in one major exhibition to be held from April 17-20 2021 at the showground in Frankfurt.
The event replaces Messe Frankfurt’s usual European consumers goods exhibitions, which like so many events have been cancelled, postponed, rescheduled or reinvented to navigate the current restricted circumstances.
The International Consumer Goods Show will be complemented with an ambitious digital exhibition, which will not only support the physical show, but will incorporate an exclusive digital showcase for Creativeworld.
The exceptional hybrid event represents a unique opportunity for exhibitors and visitors across all represented sectors to make new contacts, discover new products and be inspired by Messe Frankfurt’s world-class trend forecasting features.
The hybrid concept combines the advantages of both a physical and a virtual fair, thus creating synergy effects for the entire sector. Registrations for the International Consumer Goods Show have been very positive so far, including more than 2,000 companies from 63 countries, with more still waiting to make a decision, based on government directives and other factors.
Hosting the event were Messe Frankfurt Director of Marketing Communications/PressMarketing, Erdmann Kilian, Vice President of Ambiente, Nicolette Naumann and Christmas, Paperworld and Creativeworld Show Director, Julia Uherek.
Ms Naumann described Messe Frankfurt consumer goods shows as “the last really international consumer goods shows taking place in Europe and perhaps the world. It may also be the first one to take place in Europe in 2021, but it is not a show you are used to, it is an adjusted format that brings together the offer of Paperworld, Christmasworld and Ambiente. Creativeworld is going to be digital format but at the same time.
“Corona has changed our world and trade show industry was hit hard [but] we are well prepared for April 2021, we can make business meetings possible, we have a safety concept developed with the health department. Our focus is to prepare a secure working and networking event in Covid 19 times”. These include important ventilation measures and adjusted planning with 5 metre aisles – “it is almost like being in fresh air, the best prevention there is”.
The challenge still remains because of the strong international aspect that are the vital hallmark of Messe Frankfurt exhibitions and it is unknown at this stage how many of our companies on both the retail and supplier sides will be allowed to travel in April. Naumann said: “We will ask ourselves in time if it is possible to have a show in April – looking at travel restrictions etc, as happened with January.”
The team remains hopeful of the show going ahead, however, largely due to the rollout of the vaccination programme in Germany and other countries starting this month.
Whilst participants will not be required to have a vaccine to enter the show, they will be required to either demonstrate proof of vaccination or to undergo a rapid turnaround Covid-19 test, administered onsite at the show. This is likely to be held outside Hall 6, where all participants will be taken before entering the show.
Trends are crucial for both Ambiente and Paperworld, specific for industries, so they will both stay. Talents area will be in Hall 8.0, to make sure there are opportunities for new designers. “We will keep Plagiarius as copying is still very important for our industry”.
Julia then took the floor to explain another major development for Messe Frankfurt in 2021, which is the innovative digital package. She said: “I’m very pleased I can show you the second important component of our ICGS, which is the digital offering.
This will especially facilitate the generation of new contacts, “a central task to us as a trade fair organiser so visitors and exhibitors can benefit. This is what the digital days can bring. We want to bring supply and demand together on this digital platform and enhance the function of trade shows”.
The digital solution will feature an AI-based match-making device which enables direct contacts with interested parties. Visitors receive corresponding content via livestreams in addition to exhibitor products.
The Nextrade platform also brings something crucial to the mix, as all visitors will be able to order the products they see on the digital days directly on screen. “Nextrade is part of the mix,” Julia confirmed “and registration for Nextrade is included for both exhibitors and visitors in their ticket for the digital days. If you have a good contact on the digital days platform you can directly link that to Nextrade, forwarded to the exhibitor’s online shop on the Nextrade platform.
“For all of this our main focus is on relevant content and consistent merging of market stages. One important ingredient is that we are defining a fixed time and place, not just for the physical event but also for the digital dates, creating a bundle of the industry on one platform to give everyone more efficient and better access to inspirational content and products. For us it’s only logical to expediate business encounters in the digital space, parallel to the physical space on site here in Frankfurt”.
The digital solution is based on three pillars:
The first pillar is live streaming, which will take place across four different streams. The first will be broadcast from the physical event to share real-time content from the different theatres, panel discussions and guided tours. The second stream stems specifically from Creativeworld, which is purely digital. The third stream will cover special interest topics, such as sustainability. Fourth will be an exhibitor stream, where exhibitors can broadcast from Messe or their own studio from around the world.
“This is quite exciting and pretty new for us!” said Julia. “We are not a broadcasting company but this is one of the main topics we have to deal with. We want to achieve maximum synergy for all our participants.
In 2022 Messe Frankfurt will return to its separate events and normal show cycles. Paperworld, Christmasworld and Creativeworld will run from January 29 to February 1 2022 and Ambiente will run later in February.
“We will also adhere to the digital supplements,” Julia added “as we are convinced they add value for new consumer and customer business. We think that especially the AI machine of our platform is one of the important success factors we have in the digital offering. It is a prize winning solution in the exhibition industry, so we believe we have the best tools and best features for our digital offering”.
There will also be a long warm-up to the special 2021 International Consumer Goods Show, so that all participants can complete their profiles and familiarise themselves the new system. Watch this space for more information.
