Competitive Landscape: Messes Plant Their Flags

By Heidi Genoist -- Tradeshow Week, 8/22/2005

Mention a German messe and what comes to mind is the image of a large, powerful organization that dominates markets with an ingenious combination of facility ownership and exhibition management.

In fact, the messes are a force to be reckoned with. Even after being battered by a rough national economic environment for the last few years, Germany still holds the top trade fairs in scores of sectors. So what is their secret to success? And who is their competition?

Deutsche Messe in Hanover seems to typify the daunting German trade fair company. The Hannover Exhibition Grounds' 27 halls, pavilions and convention center span more than 492,386 square meters (5.3 million square feet) of indoor exhibit space. The fairgrounds also offer more than 57,878 sq. m. (623,000 sq. ft.) of outdoor exhibit space. Last year, the 58-year-old firm produced 54 domestic events that attracted 21,429 exhibitors and filled 5.3 million net sq. m. (19.8 million net sq. ft.) This year, it will host 11 international tradeshows, many the largest in their industries.

Hannover Messe, the all-encompassing fair for technology, innovation and automation, is expected to fill 204,386 net sq. m. (2.2 million net sq. ft.) with more than 6,000 exhibitors from 60 countries when it is staged April 24–28, 2006. Long billed as the world's largest tradeshow, it began as a reconstruction project to boost German exports after World War II.

CeBIT, which started out as the office equipment component of Hannover Messe and was spun off in 1986, is now the largest information technology exhibition in the world. The 2005 show drew 6,246 exhibitors filling 306,580 net sq. m. (3.3 million net sq. ft.) and attracted 474,082 visitors.

It is successes like this that perpetuate the legend of the messes' dominance in the markets they serve. For such a small country (smaller than the state of Montana), Germany has an unusually high number of market leaders.

Messe Duesseldorf claims that 22 of its 40-odd shows are No. 1 in their sectors. The company's recent Interpack, a triennial show for the packaging systems industry, is one example. It attracted 176,000 visitors to visit 2,668 exhibitors filling 157,935 net sq. m. (1.7 million net sq. ft.), making it the largest show to have taken place at the Duesseldorf Fairgrounds.

Each messe has its areas of specialization. Besides IT, Hannover leads in biotechnology, and the carpet and floor covering fields. Duesseldorf has staked out fashion and print, in addition to packaging and materials. Messe Frankfurt dominates furniture, interior design, textiles and auto mechanics, while nearby Koelnmesse (Cologne) mirrors those and adds lifestyle, leisure, and house and home. Messe Munich has dibs on electronics, construction machinery and beverage technology; Messe Essen on welding, security and horticulture.

Art Paredes, who represents Hannover Fairs USA in the western United States, said it's almost as if there were a longstanding gentlemen's agreement that each messe, from each German city, would focus on its strengths without stepping on the others' toes.

"It is unique, and I don't know how it came about, but it works," Paredes noted.

Karen Vogelsang, an East Coast-based representative for Essen Trade Shows, said she thinks the situation has more to do with history than with courtesy. As the messes grew, they focused on developing trade fairs for the dominant industries in surrounding areas. By the time they began thinking of expansion, their fellow messes were also well established in their respective fields. There was no point in going head-to-head with them.

The system is not as clear-cut as it appears at first glance. Subsegments of many shows overlap. Some Interpack buyers might also visit Essen's Metpack, for the metal packaging business. Companies participating in Hannover's floor coverings show, DOMOTEX, might also want to exhibit at Messe Frankfurt's interior design show, Ambiente. And Ambiente exhibitors might still be hanging around Frankfurt following their appearance in Heimtextil, the home textiles show that is one month earlier.

Carefully planned rotations — including biennial and triennial dates in some cases — keep the shows easy to attend despite overlap.

"We do have some shows in Germany we compete with," Vogelsang said, "but most people who come to Essen are looking for that type of show in Europe. Someone coming to the United States is targeting the American trade; whereas people going to Germany are targeting the European audience."

In other words, those whose job it is to recruit buyers and exhibitors from overseas to go to Germany are not up against other Germans so much as all of Europe.

Some would go even further.

"The main difference for shows in Germany (from those in the United States) is that they are really international shows," said Marlies Osmers, a New York-based representative for Munich Trade Fairs. Osmers pointed out that her company, like most of the other messes, attracts a high percentage of non-German exhibitors and buyers.

According to AUMA (the Assn. of the German Trade Fair Industry), 52.8 percent of exhibitors at German trade fairs are from foreign countries. The association's annual reports on the German trade fair business indicate that the messes' focus on international participation is what has helped keep it stable during the recent economic downturn.

Messe executives were ahead of other countries in taking a big-picture view of the competitive landscape, looking globally, rather than domestically. CeBIT organizers keep tabs on Intl. CES; executives from Munich's bauma watch CONEXPO-CON/AGG, as well as similar shows in the construction equipment industry from Russia to South America.

"It's all based on market and the sectors for our shows," Paredes said. "Take our BIOTECHNICA. It's one of the largest biotechnology shows in the world, but there are lots of competitors for that. Even MEDICA in Duesseldorf is a competitor."

It is because they compete globally, not locally, that the successful messes have active offices around the world. The major players (Cologne, Duesseldorf, Frankfurt and Hannover) have representatives on every continent except Antarctica, serving hundreds of countries through dozens of representative offices. Even the much smaller Messe Essen has offices in North America and Russia, as well as project partners in 30 countries.