New trade shows and formats in Leipzig / Strategic extension of the product portfolio / development of the services

The Leipziger Messe expand their business with new tradeshows, congresses and services for event organisers. Also new are event formats such as an exhibitor road show and a community event, or the function as guest event organisers at other exhibition locations. The bandwidth of the services mirrors the corporate strategy. Two years ago the managing director Martin Buhl-Wagner had announced a new orientation of the corporation as an integrated exhibition organising association. Together with his managing director colleague Markus Geisenberger he has now drawn a first balance. The 2012 program contains three new exhibitions. The new mobility is an own development of the company, the central German graduate exhibition was taken over from the former event organisers, and „The 66“ is held in cooperation with Germany's most successful 50plus fair. In 2011 the med.Logistica, the WORLD OF TROPHIES, as well as the guest exhibition BEAUTY FORUM had already celebrated their premiere in Leipzig. For the 2013 program the specialist tradeshow CosmeticBusiness was acquired, a strategic investment in the portfolio of the Leipziger Messe and which is expected to grow further over the coming years. But the Leipziger Messe is going even further, creating their own formats of live communication for the new requirements of the Internet generation. How, for example, does one approach a sensitive community that is closed-off towards the active advertising of classic tradeshows? The GeoGames were a successful solution for this. The mega-event of the Geocachers in June attracted more than 4,000 participants to Leipzig from around the world. And the pilot project established a sense of trust. The new product development of the Leipziger Messe continues to work on deriving new events from the emergence of new media and sectors. Most innovative exhibition location in Germany „We are one of the most innovative exhibition centres in Germany“, says Martin Buhl-Wagner, spokesperson of the management board. „No other incorporation has positioned so many exhibitions as successfully in the market in the last 20 years as we have.“ Since 1991 more than 30 own exhibitions have been permanently anchored in Leipzig. Large flagships like the Leipzig Book Fair, the Auto Mobile International, the exhibition double feature Z/intec and the world leading trade show ORTHOPÄDIE+REHA-TECHNIK are accompanied by accredited specialist fairs like the denkmal, as well as by numerous national sector meetings and general public events. New league, new format This year the Auto Mobile International (AMI) achieved the jump into the international league. The new two-yearly cycle synchronises the AMI in alternation with the IAA Frankfurt. The consensus then developed in the automobile sector to upgrade Leipzig as an international premier show. The exhibitors of the young specialist trade show AMICOM benefit from a new format that takes the order deadlines better into account and substantially extends the accessibility of the specialist visitors. In a German nationwide road show AMICOM exhibitors toured together in all directions with their exhibition stands and then came to Leipzig for the finale. Together with the Leipziger Messe service provider FAIRNET, the AMICOM has offered a format here for the first time that substantially increases the efficiency of classic exhibitions. Drumming up support for the Leipzig exhibition location Leipzig has gained international importance as an exhibition and congress location. This can also be seen in the number and size of the guest events. Roughly 90 congresses took place in Leipzig in 2012, in addition to the exhibitions and their accompanying specialist programmes. In June a US American event organiser used the Congress Centre Leipzig (CCL) for the CYTO Congress for the first time. Martin Buhl-Wagner comments on the acquisition strategy: „We are in international competition with high-performance congress centres. The less well known Leipzig location has two advantages: firstly we offer a highly developed individual service from within our own corporate group. Secondly, through regional alliances we have created high sector competence in several clusters.“ Leipzig enjoys an excellent reputation especially in the area of medicine. The cooperation with Leipzig University and the research institutes has been a substantial foundation for the increase in the number, size and importance of the medical exhibitions and congresses in Leipzig. This is also demonstrated in the example of the Leipzig veterinary surgeons congress. It was developed together with Leipzig University, and in its sixth edition at the beginning of 2012 it was already the largest advanced training event for veterinary surgeons in Europe. For the development of the congress business Buhl-Wagner sees additional capacities in the Congress Hall that is owned by the Leipzig Zoo, and which is currently being extensively renovated. „We are already supporting the management of the building, as far as this is possible in view of the construction works, and we would definitely like to run the facilities later. The order situation at the CCL offers good prospects for a second location.“ Congresses are an especially sustainable business sector for Leipzig as the long duration of stay of the participants promotes the turnover for local businesses. Through overnight stays, restaurant visits, taxi rides, visits to the cultural facilities, shopping etc. the 13 fold of the congress turnover itself is generated again in the surrounding areas. In 2011 the CCL counted 78,000 participants alone for the independent exhibition congresses. Martin Buhl-Wagner also sees potential in renting out the Leipzig exhibition facilities for guest exhibitions, shows, sports events and concerts. Successful cooperationÂ's already exist since many years, for example with the organisers of the Touristics & Caravaning, the motorcycle exhibition or the Fachdental. „But we still have space and are in a position to take on more events. We are drumming loudly in the sector so that word gets round.“ In the current year for example the Germany Travel Mart (GTM) has decided in favour of Leipzig; that is the largest incoming workshop for the travel destination Germany. Also Freestyle Motocross and Dance Championships have a good tradition in the Leipzig exhibition halls. „Our building is constructed in such a way that we are able to fulfil most diverse requirements in a very flexible way“, explains Martin Buhl-Wagner. „With a long-term investment strategy we continuously adapt the exhibition halls and the CCL to the current trends and requirements.“ Extension of the portfolio through acquisitions In 2013 the Leipziger Messe will be acting as guest event organiser for the first time – at least within Germany. In Munich they will be organising the CosmeticBusiness, which was acquired several weeks ago. The international specialist trade show is the only supplier exhibition for the cosmetics industry in Germany. Managing director Markus Geisenberger sees this as being an important extension of the portfolio: „Germany is the largest cosmetics market in Europe - and the CosmeticBusiness is an excellent national as well as overseas sector platform of the industry. It has a large development potential.“ In future further acquisitions are conceivable, as long as they match with the product strategy of the corporate group, comments Markus Geisenberger. Around the world with the Leipziger Messe The Leipziger Messe has been involved as overseas exhibition organisers or as cooperation partners for quite some time. This is the business purpose of the subsidiary company Leipziger Messe International (LMI) – apart from the organisation of German joint stands. Regional main focus areas for own organised events are Eastern Europe and China. In September 2011 the denkmal Moscow celebrated its premiere, which will always be taking place in the uneven years (in alternation to the Leipzig denkmal exhibition). In 2013 the ISPO world congress will be taking place in India for the first time in Hyderabad, which is a cooperation with the ISPO world association. This demonstrates the know-how that has been developed in Leipzig with the world leading exhibition ORTHOPÄDIE+REHA-TECHNIK. Related projects in which the LMI is involved as partner are the People & Health in St. Petersburg (Russia), AOPA in Boston (USA), CRSE in Qingdao und Rehacare∨thopedic Canton in Guangzhou (both China). The LMI cooperates with foreign exhibition companies on the topic of construction economy and restoration in a similarly successful way. Apart from the denkmal Moscow they are co-event organisers at five construction exhibitions in Russia, White Russia and Ukraine. New in the portfolio is the Lisderevmash in Kiev (Ukraine) - an exhibition for wood processing machines, the Gifts Expo in Moscow and the specialist shoe exhibition Sibshoes in Novosibirsk. The LMI is also co-organiser at these events. With the overseas strategy managing director Markus Geisenberger largely relies on competences within the parent company. „Using our existing know-how and the networks that develop through the Leipzig exhibitions stands in the foreground. Through this we are not only a reliable partner for overseas exhibition companies, but at the same time offer the Leipzig customers and partners an added value, in so far as they are interested in overseas markets.“ Internal complete service provider The exhibition service provider FAIRNET also accompanies its customers abroad, mainly with the concept of construction and complete service for exhibition stands. During the first six months of the current year the company FAIRNET implemented 15 projects in ten countries. In total the exhibition subsidiary company processes more than 730 projects a year, half at the regular location in Leipzig and half at other exhibition locations. As with all subsidiary companies the FAIRNET is an important service partner of the Leipziger Messe network. For the development of special formats such as the „AMICOM on Tour“ exhibition managers can draw on extensive competencies here under their own umbrella organisation. The complete service provider designs presentations, implements them and if required organises the complete supporting programme up to exclusive events. FAIRNET is successful far beyond the borders of Leipzig – and to an ever increasing degree. 20 new customers placed orders with the service provider alone in the first half of the year 2012, which led to a turnover increase of more than one million Euros – in addition to the regular customer business. Exhibition caterers en route throughout the region A stable pillar for the corporate group is also the catering subsidiary fairgourmet. The regular caterer of the house takes care of all exhibitions, congresses, shows and events at the exhibition facilities. As the largest caterer in central Germany the company fairgourmet is also predestined for company and cultural events, community festivals and receptions in the economics and political domains. The company fairgourmet provides the catering services at major Leipzig events such as the Classic Open or Bach on Air, as well as at the Leipzig Christmas Dinner Show in the old city public baths. Even the hosts of large private celebrations enjoy commissioning the exhibition specialists to their homes. The growing demand from private customers caused the exhibition caterers to develop a new business area. Products from fairgourmet can since recently be acquired directly, e.g. at the weekly Leipzig market, at the Christmas market and of course at the general public exhibitions. Vanguards in tradeshow industry „Our service network is a firm foundation of the business development“, says Martin Buhl-Wagner. „Apart from the tradeshows and congresses we also derive earnings from the services of the five subsidiaries. The wide portfolio is on the one hand crisis-proof – after the economic decline in 2008 we suffered substantially less losses than other tradeshow companies. On the other hand, due to the networking a high service level has resulted in all business areas.“ This is a clear competitive advantage and holds growth potential, says Buhl-Wagner. The objective is to create the largest possible service packages, which also make the coordination easier for customers. „We are one of the oldest exhibitions locations in the world, but we also aspire to be amongst the most efficient“, he announces. The Leipziger Messe is most certainly already a vanguard in the area of sustainability. It was certified with the Green Globe Seal in 2010 as the first Germany exhibition association. The demanding criteria require to be newly fulfilled every year. For the managing directors Martin Buhl-Wagner and Markus Geisenberger sustainability is not a political statement, but a central component of the corporate philosophy and a business foundation. „As exhibition organisers we always need to exercise some foresight so as to be successful in the present, because we mirror trends“, explains Buhl-Wagner. „The society and the economy changes. Our own sustainable management becomes a competitive factor. For our customers this includes the conditions at exhibitions and congresses.“ Background The Leipziger Messe corporate group consists of the companies Leipziger Messe GmbH, Leipziger Messe Gastveranstaltungen GmbH, Leipziger Messe International GmbH, FAIRNET GmbH, fairgourmet GmbH and MaxicoM GmbH – Euro Asia Business Centre Leipzig. In 2011 the group achieved a turnover of 68.9 million Euro. In the year 2011 roughly one million visitors came to the 36 exhibitions, 93 congresses and 43 major events in the areas of business, politics, sports and entertainment. Roughly 11,536 exhibitors participated in the exhibitions. The Leipziger Messe is counted amongst the oldest and leading German trade show associations. Its nearly 850-year history is evidence of this. Since 1996 it operates one of the most modern exhibition facilities in the world. It offers a hall surface area of 111,300 m² and open-air facilities of 70,000 m². The combination with the Congress Centre Leipzig imparts the area with the greatest flexibility for events of any type and size. As a comprehensive service provider the company covers the whole chain of the event business - from conception and planning, up to execution of presentations including the catering requirements. Leipzig has been certified according to Green-Globe standards as the first German trade show company. A guiding principle of the corporate activity is sustainability. Number of characters: 14,042 Contact for the press: Lea Mock Phone: +49 (0) 341 / 6 78 81-56 Fax: +49 (0) 341 / 6 78 85-02 e-mail: l.mock@leipziger-messe.de Heike Fischer Phone: +49 (0) 341 / 678 81-81 Fax: +49 (0) 341 / 6 78 85-02 e-mail: h.fischer@leipziger-messe.de Internet: http://www.leipziger-messe.de