Frankfurt. viscom stays on a success course. With a total of 11,660 trade visitors (previous event in 2008: 10,553), viscom frankfurt again grew significantly and achieved a new record with a 10.4 percent visitor increase. "viscom's success story is turning more and more into a serial success", says Hans-Joachim Erbel, Managing Director with the organisers Reed Exhibitions Deutschland GmbH. Just as upbeat as viscom Event Director Petra Lassahn was the final balance she presented at the close of the three-day international trade fair for visual communication: in the course of only two events viscom frankfurt could record increases of more than 70 percent in all respects. The number of visitors for instance increased from 6,715 to 11,660 industry representatives since 2006 (+73.6%). And among exhibitors, viscom is also a bestseller in spite of the recent crisis: the number of exhibiting companies grew from 171 in 2006 to 305 this year (+78.3%).

The primary reason for this is, according Petra Lassahn, "the systematic reorientation of viscom as the central trade fair in the field of visual communication, which has been going on since 2006 and is increasingly showing effect." This was also demonstrated at this year's viscom which, in addition to featuring traditional advertising technology and light advertising, once again attracted marketing decision-makers and users from advertising agencies, from industry and the retail sector in the large format printing and inkjet printing, as well as digital signage segments. Wolfram Last, Manager Corporate Sales NEC Display Solutions Europe GmbH also emphasises this: "As a hardware manufacturer, at viscom we develop new customer bases in the marketing and display segments. We showcase our latest technologies to provide input to marketing departments and advertising agencies for conceptualising future campaigns."

An industry in the upswing: the economic barometer is pointing upwards

viscom was also soaring on the economic upswing which currently shapes the mood in the industry. "The economic signs are definitely pointing upwards. Companies are investing again." The experience of Timo Keersmaekers, Marketing Manager of Roland DG Benelux NV/Deutschland GmbH, is shared by most of the companies who exhibited in Frankfurt. After last year's sharp decline, most companies are now looking towards the future with optimism again. This is also emphasised by the results of the representative business survey which is conducted for viscom every year by an independent marketing research institute. Compared to last year, when almost a quarter of all companies expected a further decline, more than 70 percent now expect a "strong" or at least "slight upturn" of the economy; only just over five percent of companies do not believe in a further positive economic development. A similarly positive view of the course of business was last recorded in 2007.

This could also be felt throughout the trade fair. Ursula Bergs-Quintin of Sihl GmbH confirms: "We are again very satisfied with this year's trade fair results. We look into the future with optimism, since order levels both for our machine segment and for the media segment have picked up." A view that is shared by many companies, as almost 40 percent of the visitors came to Frankfurt with concrete purchasing and investment intentions. Quite unmistakeably, order volumes also show a considerable increase again. Almost one in eight companies placed orders exceeding a value of € 200,000 directly at the fair. Last year, only eight percent of companies had made investments of that magnitude.

The next viscom will take place from 13 to 15 October 2011 in Düsseldorf.

Dr. Mike Seidensticker
Press Spokesman
Phone: +49 (0) 211 - 90191- 128
Fax: +49 (0) 211 - 90191- 138
Mike.Seidensticker@reedexpo.de

Cornelia Maschke
Press Assistant
Phone: +49 (0) 211 - 90191- 182
Fax: +49 (0) 211 - 90191- 138
Cornelia.Maschke@reedexpo.de

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Exhibitor Statements:

"For Sihl, viscom is one of the most important trade fairs of all. We are again very satisfied with this year's trade fair results. We look into the future with optimism, since order levels both for our machine segment and for the media segment have picked up."
Ursula Bergs-Quintin, Product Management/Marketing Sihl GmbH

"We're all smiles again! After the economic crisis, the mood started to turn positive again at the beginning of the year, and since March the figures are also right once more. The market is heading in the right direction. You also feel this trend at viscom. We are practically sold out at the end of the fair."
Klaus Thurnher, partner in d.i.s.pro display- & ausstellungsbau GmbH

"We are very satisfied with the results of the trade fair. Primarily, this is because of the type of audience we find here: at viscom you meet specialists from advertising technology and all related fields."
Monika Rost, Managing Director, creative collection Verlag GmbH

"The market is expanding again. We therefore view the current economic development with cautious optimism. viscom signalled a lot of movement, both in terms of the number of customer contacts and of their quality. As far as industry presence is concerned, the trade fair was well occupied throughout."
Bernd Gröner, Managing Director, Karl Gröner GmbH

"viscom was extremely well attended this year. Especially the number of inter-regional visitors at our stand has increased considerably. We also register a noticeable rise in business activities."
Michael Meyer, folien & zubehör, technical wholesalers

"As a hardware manufacturer, at viscom we develop new customer bases in the marketing and display segments. We showcase our latest technologies to provide input to marketing departments and advertising agencies for conceptualising future campaigns. Over the years, we have noticed that visitors' interest in electronic systems in the area of digital signage has increased, which is why we further enlarged our stand again this year."
Wolfram Last, Manager Corporate Sales NEC Display Solutions Europe GmbH

"We have come to viscom as exhibitors for the first time and were able to make a large number of contacts, including international contacts here straightaway. Our latest product, a table with multitouch technology, was the attraction at our stand and drew many visitors. We are delighted about this strong interest."
Stefan Stallmann, Product Manager ~sedna GmbH

"viscom raises hopes of a positive development of the economy and brings the topic of visual communication into focus, also due to new technologies such as digital signage and presentation systems in the LFP segment. Our impression is that after two difficult economic years, optimism is again spreading in the industry. We have already been able to implement interesting projects in the LED field ourselves this year."
Helmut Amelung, Managing Director, DISPLAY & DESIGN HELMUTH AMELUNG GMBH

"Once again, taking part in viscom paid off for us. The quality of the contacts was super, and we sold several machines. We'll be back next year."
Carsten Behrend, Sales Engineer BZT Maschinenbau GmbH

"The economic signs are clearly pointing upwards. Companies are investing again. We had many interested visitors with definite intention to purchase. We are very satisfied with viscom."
Timo Keersmaekers, Marketing Manager, Roland DG Benelux NV/Roland DG Deutschland GmbH

"viscom frankfurt 2010 was a successful show for us. We were amongs companies which introduced a new product at viscom frankfurt - Manta Slim, a small size UV printer, which brought a lot of interest among the show visitors. They appreciated the combination of printing area size of 2 x 1,5 meter with Grapo high quality technology all that offered for an attractive price and enabling for example solvent printers to provide UV print to their customers without major financial investment into new printing machines and technology. Many visitors were also interested into our bundle offer of printer and cutter enabling end users to conduct the whole workflow and come up with a final product and enlarge their profits. Now we need to work on the leads."
Maja Ostadalova, Marketing Manager, Grapo Technologies, a.s.