TRADE TALK BROUGHT TO
TRADE TALK BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE CRITICAL EYE – AND COMMENTS OF THE MEDIA AT IFA Each day in IFA International, we bring you feedback from media at the show, helping buyers and manufacturers get a better understanding of how they work at IFA. OLD FACES, NEW ROLES Peter Weber Founder & owner, EuroComms IFA is a show where from year to year, one tends to see many familiar faces, but where the roles of course change from one year to the next. A case at hand is Peter Weber of Wiesbadenbased EuroComms. We asked him to explain how he works these days and what attracts him to IFA. I am an old horse, and I have been coming to IFA for generations. I am still surprised that every year I learn something new. For me as a journalist, it’s always important to be here. For many years, I have worked as a trade journalist and as a consultant to the industry, sometimes at the same time, and sometimes with a full-time role. At the moment, while working as a journalist, I am also helping some start-up companies with advice and knowledge. What do you see as being the key trends at the show this year? Here at IFA we have seen the introduction of the first 8K TV that will arrive next year. Everyone is talking about smart home, but not everyone is using it. Drones and robots were not traditionally known as consumer electronics, but now they are. As everything is now networked, there is a connection between all these devices. Another major trend is the huge presence here of the big Chinese companies, and the purchase by some of them of some big European brands. They are all on their way to going global with big success now. The retailers have to comprehend this, to get in contact with these companies, and learn about their technology and their products and understand their advantages. What is your advice to journalists coming to IFA? Go to the ShowStoppers event, where you can get a lot of information in a really short space of time. And read IFA International – it’s the best resource for getting ideas and leads for stories 12
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW Beppe Fumagalli Chief Executive Officer, Candy Hoover Beppe Fumagalli, Candy Hoover’s Chief Executive, says that with more than 220,000 users connected through his company’s appliances, the aim is to reach 1.5 million consumers by 2019. To put the company on this path, Mr Fumagalli says that Candy Hoover show its latest developments in smart appliances at IFA. Candy is a family-owned company – what does this change, and why is it important? Being a family-owned company brings in every business choice the values and the inheritance of the founders of Candy Group. The Fumagalli family brought the first washing machine to Italy more than 70 years ago and we are proud to follow this path and to bring ahead the story of our group, combining every day tradition with innovation. Not many people know you also own the Hoover brand – synonymous (literally) with the best in floor care. What are the latest developments with Hoover today? Hoover is for sure one of our premium brands and it’s a fertile terrain on which we can bring to our customers strong benefits through technological innovation. Here at IFA we present a new standard in the cleaning experience with our brand new product Hoover Rhapsody. With the new H-Spin technology Rhapsody provides effortless multifunctional cleaning experience. As every Hoover product, Rhapsody will combine a strong functionality with a cutting-edge design. What are your “star” products at IFA this year? Other than Rhapsody, Hoover is presenting its concept of the “Kitchen of the Future”, where appliances will be integrated with IA and consumer’s social life. The Candy “star” product is our new washing machine, Bianca. The latest development in our product strategy are aimed at simplifying the life of our customers and their interaction with domestic appliances. We are sure that Bianca, thanks to its intuitive interface and to the possibilities offered by the real customer interaction, will represent the new frontier in the washing category. How important is IFA as a platform for you to present your products to the world and develop your partnerships? I personally think that in our industry, where the physical contact and the direct experience with every new product plays a fundamental role, an exhibition and a platform like IFA is absolutely irreplaceable. IFA is the most important exhibition for our industry and our sector, not only for the quality of the exhibitors and for the possibility of meeting and developing new partnerships, but also for the quality of the debates and of the studies able to depict and analyse in detail the tendencies and the dynamics of the appliances sector on every side. For this reason we have choosen to launch here, Candy Group Heralds New Technologies Candy Hoover is unveiling ambitious goals at this year’s IFA at this important event, the new products of our key brands, Candy and Hoover IFA IS THE MOST IMPORTANT EXHIBITION FOR OUR INDUSTRY (…) FOR THE QUALITY OF THE DEBATES AND OF THE STUDIES www.ifa-international.org IFA International • Tuesday 5 th September 2017 13
