NEWS NEW RECORDS IN
NEWS NEW RECORDS IN PRESS ATTENDANCE ON CARDS PROGRESSION OF IFA FINDS CONTINUALLY GROWING INTEREST AMONG WORLD MEDIA Download Podcast at w w w.ifa-international.org PETER WEBER – CHAIRMAIN OF THE PRESS WORKING GROUP – INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION Already at preview press events IFA 2008 has had the press “buzzing” about this, the biggest show of its kind in the world. We sought out the latest pre-show trends from Peter Weber, chairman of the Press working group at the Industry Association, which runs IFA (via GFU)… and also chairman of the IFA communications group. We asked Mr Weber how media interest is progressing from his point of view… Download Podcast Download Video Read, watch and listen... To all the information from IFA 2008 at www.ifa-international.org We have been seeing growth for several years and due to our efforts, we have been seeing much more of a response from international journalists. Last year was record breaking. We had more than 90 dailies from outside Germany coming to Berlin to report on the show. We had TV and radio groups from all over the globe, so this is a clear indicator that IFA is the world-leading event in this industry. We believe we will have even more journalists in Berlin this year than in the past. Of course, the advantage with Berlin is that it’s not limited like some other major cities in which events like this are held. Berlin is an ideal city for such an event like this. The fairgrounds are, up to now, big enough, the city is very vibrant… so for everybody it is worth coming to. There are a lot of hotels at reasonable prices in the city, so it’s a great argument for the location. How important is it for IFA to become more and more international? It is interesting and important because from the exhibitor’s side, we can no longer afford local shows on a national level. This means too much investment, taking too much money and manpower. So we need one central buying platform, which is an advantage that IFA provides. This is a buying event, so retailers all over Europe are coming to Berlin to buy their products. This is very important, as Europe for many companies is one of the most important markets in the world. And of course, retailers are strongly encouraged to come here through incentives. There are a lot of incentives from the fair organisers and from the ten European buying groups. Some companies are flying in planeloads of retailers to shop at Berlin and so we are planning a complete program for the retailers. These are our VIP guests and we roll out the red carpet for them. They really feel accepted and honoured in this role as customers and that is then reflected in the show’s results. We are selling products for several billion euros at the show floor and this is important for us as exhibitors. The addition of home appliances is attracting a lot of interest as well. How has the reaction been? It has been very positive on all levels. From the industry side, this just mirrors the development some companies have where both areas, Home Appliances and CE, have merged. On the retailers’ side, we see the same development. Most of the important retailers are selling both product groups so for them it’s an ideal place to shop. We will also be getting more retailers because some of the smaller European retailers that are interested in coming to IFA, but not purely for CE products. So if we combine it, it’s worth a trip to Berlin, especially as we also have special all-inclusive travel packages for them from several major cities. A final word here, really catching on this year at IFA is the green aspect. Yes, there is a global discussion about the environment. Everybody in the political arena, as well as NGOs, are talking about green issues. We as an industry have done our homework. For us, this is not a new topic, as we have been working on it for many years. Companies like Panasonic are already in their second 10-year green plan with clearly defined parameters on product development. So we are prepared for this discussion, but many of these topics are quite complex. For example, you cannot reduce a product just in power consumption. You have to respect new technologies, new screen sizes, and you have to see the complete lifecycle of these products; from sourcing of products through manufacturing through life cycle and then in the end, how to dispose or reuse them properly. So our challenge is to show the world that we are making progress and that we are intent on trying to protect the environment. But it’s not so easy to judge. international O f f i c i a l D a i l y N e w s S o u r c e f o r I n t e r n a t i o n a l V i s i t o r s a t I F A international TV O f f i c i a l D a i l y V i d e o S o u r c e f o r I n t e r n a t i o n a l V i s i t o r s a t I F A IFA International • Monday, 25 th August 2008 www.ifa-international.org 9
