Exhibitors' expectations exceeded / Visitors with high decision-making authority
The trade fair association for visual communication and haptic advertising, EXPO 4.0, impressed with 421 exhibitors and 12,518 visitors from 30 January to 1 February 2020 in Stuttgart. Within the framework of EXPO 4.0, WETEC 2020 was the industry meeting point for the advertising technology community. The trade fair offered a complete overview of advertising technology, illuminated advertising and digital printing - in combination with a wide range of action areas for trying out new products and exchanging ideas with like-minded people. The expectations of the 103 exhibitors, including market giants and industry leaders such as Mimaki Deutschland GmbH, H. Brunner GmbH, IGEPA Systems GmbH and 3M Deutschland GmbH, were exceeded - even with a close trade fair schedule in the first half of 2020. An increased international orientation of WETEC became apparent: The international network of Messe Stuttgart provided exhibitors from 15 countries, including the Netherlands, Italy, USA, Austria and Poland. A further expansion of WETEC's impact in the DACH region and other European countries is on the agenda for 2022.
Decision makers from the DACH region come to the industry meeting
The complete market overview in the exhibitor range convinced the trade visitors, who were particularly interested in advertising technology, digital printing, vehicle wrapping / foiling and illuminated advertising. The entire EXPO 4.0 trade fair network attracted 17 percent international visitors from 50 countries to Stuttgart. With 30 per cent of international visitors coming from Switzerland and 28 per cent from Austria, the charisma of Europe's leading trade fair is evident. 28 per cent of all trade visitors to EXPO 4.0 travelled to Stuttgart from further than 300 kilometres.
The quality of the trade visitors has been a reliable constant at EXPO 4.0 for years: four out of five visitors are significantly involved in purchasing and procurement decisions, 87 per cent have specific purchasing intentions and 84 per cent of visitors want to invest within the next 12 months. An overall rating of 2.0 for the trade fair network and the intention to visit again by three out of four visitors underscores the positive synergy effects that result from the parallelism of the three trade fairs in the EXPO 4.0 trade fair network. This is also reflected in the length of stay, with visitors spending an average of 4.8 hours at the three fairs.
Supporting programme makes trade fair concept a well-rounded affair
In addition to the range of exhibits, WETEC also impressed the visitors with a supporting programme tailored to the target group and encouraging them to participate. Visitors were very pleased with the action areas of the WORK AND DO Area and WRAPandSTYLE Area as well as the 3D Print World, which was offered for the first time. The partners and also the exhibitors praised the concept of WETEC, Uwe Niklas, Sales Manager of Mimaki Germany, states: "The concept of exhibition and supporting programme is simply convincing.
The two-year cycle of trade fairs is another guarantee for the successful development of WETEC. Tim Hansen, Managing Director of Lichtwerbers Hansen GmbH, confirms: "The trade fair dates are ideally located in the winter half year. The two-year cycle also fits very well into the industry's innovation cycle".
The next WETEC will take place in the EXPO 4.0 trade fair association together with TV TecStyle Visions and GiveADays the next time in two years. The date is currently reserved from 10 to 12 February 2022.
Exhibitor comments:
Matthias Grimm, Managing Director H. Brunner GmbH:
We draw a very positive conclusion! WETEC really couldn't have gone better, we were practically overrun. In our opinion, WETEC is currently the most exciting trade fair in Germany. For us, the trade fair is a home game, but we were surprised how many of our regular customers travelled the sometimes long distances from the north, such as Berlin or Hamburg. The entire organisation is really top-notch and we appreciate the continuation of the very good partnership, now also with Messe Stuttgart. We will certainly be back in 2022!
Daniel Huber, Sales/ Key Account Management Region South IGEPA Systems GmbH:
We are positively surprised that the trade fair has had such good growth and that our expectations have even been exceeded. The quality of the discussions was exceptionally good, we had both new and existing customers at our stand. The customers found exactly what they needed and some of them came here from northern Germany. A small but great trade fair for the advertising technology community, which is really to be taken seriously!
Tim Hansen, Managing Director HANSEN GmbH:
We, too, draw a very positive conclusion. The catchment area for visitors to the illuminated advertising has definitely increased. We also had customers at our stand from Bavaria, NRW and even northern Germany. For us, WETEC is already the ultimate. The date is ideally located in the winter half of the year and the connection from Stuttgart is very good. The two-year rhythm also fits very well into the innovation cycle of our industry.
Svenja Stieg, Segment Marketeer, 3M Germany:
WETEC was intended as a test for us because we haven't exhibited for a long time. We are really very positively surprised, the interest was huge. We had very good discussions, the stand was always very full. Our live demo in the WRAPandSTYLE Area was very popular! We are definitely considering coming back in 2022!
Sandra Reimbold, Sales Manager Welle Oberkirch:
WETEC is the most important trade fair for us. We practically have a home game here. The entire trade fair was very successful. Our idea to present ourselves here with a completely different exhibition stand, as a classroom for the industry, worked out very well. The concept was a good starting point for discussions and we reach our target group here 100 percent. Besides German customers, we also had trade visitors from Switzerland and Austria.
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