TRADE NEWS The
TRADE NEWS The Importance of Customer Feedback Albert Zeeman, Marketing Manager - Vogel’s gives us his feedback concerning the importance of IFA as a trade show for the group. First of all, the IFA is the most important Consumer Electronics show. We are market leaders in flat screen mounting in Europe, so for us it is very important to be here. As you can see we have a relatively big stand where we can receive our distributors from all over Europe but also the consumers can come and see our products. How has the business been going for you at IFA this year? We have been doing some very good business here, and that is the main reason why we are here. We had a big show for our distributors three months ago so they could prepare themselves for IFA in order to be as successful as possible in terms of sales. And that is exactly what has happened; we have closed a lot of deals here, and people will be able to see our products throughout Europe. Where has the main interest been coming from? We had a lot of trade visits from Germany, Holland, England, France and Scandinavia. This might be due to geographical proximity to Berlin as well. On the consumer side, we have seen mainly German visitors, and it is always good to feel and hear the reaction directly from the public and the end users. Hall 25 Stand 116 26 IFA International • Wednesday, 5 th September 2007
TRADE NEWS EURONICS Reports Booming Business at IFA According to Euronics, trading at IFA this year is brisk, with a majority of interest in flat TV deals. “During the past year of trading, 2006, expansion by Euronics International exceeded that of the market as a whole”, said the company’s President Werner Winkelmann. There was a nine per cent increase in sales compared with the previous year, to 12 billion euros (2005: 11 billion euros). Sales in Europe totalled 10.8 billion, while in Australia and New Zealand they reached 1.2 billion euros. At the present time the group is engaged in activities with 27 joint venture partners at more than 9,400 locations in 26 European countries. Nowadays this dealers’ organisation reaches almost 600 million people. According to Werner Winkelmann: “The IFA is the most important place for displaying the capabilities of the consumer electronics sector and we are using it firstly to show the concentrated strengths of our international community.” As a strategic trading partner of the IFA, Euronics International has its own separate display area. Occupying 400 square metres, Europe’s largest group is presenting a selection of its more effective concepts from individual member countries. These include the highly successful implementation of ideas on topics such as shop-fitting, advertising, e-commerce and communication among members. Werner Winkelmann reports that, as a powerful international partner, this year Euronics has made a vital contribution to increasing the proportion of international exhibitors at the IFA. Hall 5.3 Stand 100 Sanus Steps Out Sanus sets sights on the European market Sanus Systems Sales and marketing Director Katinka de Vos feels that the company is finally starting to see the benefits from its two years of trailblazing and preaching the add-on gospel: “It really has been an excellent show for us. We’ve signed multiple deals and collected twice the number of potentially excellent leads as last year,” she said. “We’ve been telling dealers for a long time that there’s much more margin in our products and finally now they are starting to see that we were right.” are very popular but as we always want to stay one step ahead we’ve just introduced a new product, the titanium model. It goes with either black or grey TVs and we think we’re on to another winner.” Hall 25 Stand 102 The company’s 360 degree approach to business, with extensive but easily communicable sales and product concepts comes from 30 years of experience. “Our aim is always to provide the tools and knowledge that will make our products effectively sell themselves,” de Vos said. “And we do know what sells but we are to some degree still trying to wakeup Europe which is at least one and half to two years behind the US.” Sanus products are in 45 countries and rising: “What we are starting to see is a much greater penetration of larger screens, from 42” and upwards, due to falling prices,” de Vos said. “And growing demand for black mounts. Black and grey IFA International • Wednesday, 5 th September 2007 27
