sportFACHHANDEL 02_2018 Leseprobe

38 | COVER | ISPO 2.2018
THE FACTS
Something for everyone:
ISPO offers for
Companies
New target group:
consumers
in focus
Physical fairs
are for ISPO
and for some
companies only
one way to
interact with
customers.
Retail and
Consumer
Communication
is mixed by
more and more
companies.
Digital offers and
exclusive events
are on the rise.
Or is ISPO’s target group perhaps no longer
the specialist retail? Might it be the influencers
or even the end consumers? “No”, replies Klaus
Dittrich, Chairman of the Managing Board of the
Messe München. “We have always declared ourselves
in favour of not opening the ISPO for the end
consumer. We can’t position ourselves as specialist
exhibition for the specialist sports retail and add
one or two days for sports enthusiasts from Upper
Bavaria towards the end of the event – that doesn’t
go together. That’s why we have searched for new
solutions and found them.”
Concerning the target group balancing act he
explains: ”I believe that isn’t contradictory. There
used to be only black and white in terms of making
decisions – either exhibit or not. Today we offer our
customers an entire pallet of possibilities of using
the ISPO platform. First and foremost it is about
bringing together supply and demand. The ISPO
Award is a good example for that. It offers a good
orientation for an exhibition’s large product variety
for specialist retail. For manufacturers, the ISPO
Award is an excellent marketing instrument. And
when the product is at the specialist store this seal
of quality offers the end consumer orientation. So
everyone profits from that.“
The fact is: The ISPO used the Internet as an additional
channel of communication and put the entire
topic of digitalisation on the agenda earlier than
any other exhibition did and when many didn’t
even understand
the chances and
risks that are
posed here for
the industry.
Another new
format is going
to start at this
ISPO: In hall A4
visitors receive
information on
everything about
digital concepts,
technologies
and market
potentials via
presentations,
seminars and
forums in frame
of “Digitize by
ISPO Academy”.
From summer
2018 the platform
is going to
present itself in a
large format and
is going to take
place as a conference with accompanying exhibition.
“Our new format is the next logical step”, Klaus
Dittrich explains. “It isn’t enough to present digital
products, they also have to be made perceptible. In
order to be able to position oneself in this demanding
environment, it is about ideally combining
smart communication, e-commerce and digital
brand experience.”
That the ISPO itself is also well-connected, is
helpful during all activities, too: Apart from several
media consulting agencies and the order centre
MOC, ISPO has partnerships with, for example,
the World Federation Sporting Goods Industry
(WFSGI), with the Federation of the European
Sporting Goods Industry (FESI) and are also
seated there as members in important committees
for specialist issues. ISPO is a supporting member
of the Federal Association of the German Sporting
Goods Industry (BSI) and the European Outdoor
Group (EOG) describes itself as “key partner”.
The ISPO additionally has partnerships with the
Scandinavian Outdoor Group (SOG), the Italian
Outdoor Group (IOG), the Dutch FGHS, the Swiss
ASMAS, Assosport from Italy and the VDS in
Germany.
And of course it is also of help that the management
is backed by two patient and potent owners,
the City of Munich and the federal state of Bavaria.
The exhibition in Munich belongs to the city by 49.9
per cent and to the federal state by 49.9 per cent.
The chamber of industry and chamber of commerce
each have a share of 0.1 per cent. The closer team,
namely the ISPO project group, has 29 employees,
additionally there are crosssection departments
such as marketing and communication such as the
technical exhibition services, a fincancial department,
a personnel department etc. The exhibition
in Munich has a total of 750 employees.
In frame of the ISPO Academy as well as during
e-learning seminars and web presentations retailers,
salesmen and manufacturers come together – as it
should be for every physical exhibition. Experts from
all segments of the industry add their knowledge
and sharpen the vision of tomorrow’s sports industry,
new impulses for businesses are searched for and
found. Only recently the ISPO has been working on
expanding its international network in frame of the
ISPO Academy. Apart from European countries such
as France, Poland, Switzerland and Spain the ISPO
Academy is already represented in China, Japan and
Korea in the Asian area and since 2017 it is also represented
in Brazil and India. The ISPO has become a
globally acting service company with all advantages,
disadvantages, chances and risks. Just one thing is
clear: Neither the changes in economy and in society,
nor those of ISPO can be stopped …
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