Press Releases

• PRO SIGN surpasses  expectations
• Exhibitors register lively demand

Frankfurt. Satisfied faces, a busy fair and a strong push in demand: this year’s PRO SIGN proved extremely productive and lively. “Instead of just offering an end of season gleaning in the autumn, the fair was characterised by a large number of innovations and the interest among trade visitors in specific aspects,“ is how PRO SIGN boss Petra Lassahn sums up the very successful course of the fair with a big smile. Top marks from exhibitors and visitor figures tying in seamlessly with the previous record made for a thoroughly positive course of the fair. With a total of 7,270 visitors from more than 30 nations, PRO SIGN surpassed its previous record (2004: 7,007). The opinion expressed by the 170 exhibitors clearly reflected this mood: 67.7 percent awarded PRO SIGN the marks “very good“ or “good“, another 27.7 percent said the three fair days had been “very satisfactory “.

Instead of trade fair fatigue, there was an invigoratingly fresh breeze going through Hall 3 of the Frankfurt Exhibition Centre: “We presented the right products to the right audience at the right fair,“ stresses Ursula Bergs-Quintin from Sihl Direct GmbH which presented three new products in Frankfurt. Martin Moedel, object consultant at moedel GmbH, also emphasises: “We certainly had become trade fair sceptics lately, but here we were able to make top quality contacts. It was good to see that the interest of our customers in trade fairs continues.“

One reason for the increased interest was also the economic revival which industry representatives expect to continue next year. This is also reflected in the index of general business activity determined in a representative survey at PRO SIGN: here, more than 70 percent of companies polled 73.6%) expect a slight or even strong increase in business. Plans for investment match this figure: almost 50 percent of companies came to PRO SIGN with concrete intentions to buy, particularly in the areas of large format printing, sign making as well as new materials. In the field of light advertising, the organisers also registered increased interest. Here PRO SIGN, together with its new cooperation partner Fachverband Lichtwerbung e.V. (FVL), could markedly broaden the range of exhibiting companies.
Exhibitors recorded an increase in demand in foreign business as well: almost one in five customers (18.6%) came from abroad, almost one in two (44.6%) travelled more than 300 kilometres to Frank­furt: “Exports made up a much higher share than in previous years. We make more than 80 percent of our sales through our export dealers, and a number of new contacts were made,“ says Gerrit A. Rauch, Manager International Sales Headquarter Neschen AG. In this sector as well, PRO SIGN again demonstrated its lead function as a trade fair of decision makers, since almost 80 percent of trade visitors (78.5%) are self-employed, managing directors or department heads.

“With PRO SIGN 2006 we were able to further consolidate our position as the market leader for sign fairs in Europe,“ says Hans-Joachim Erbel, Managing Director of Reed Exhibitions Deutsch­­land GmbH. The new brand strategy which will unite the six sign fairs organised by the Reed Group under the new umbrella brand viscom from 2007 onwards will, Reed Ex­hibitions expect, further strengthen the trade fair network. Already the six fairs bring together more than 1,300 exhibitors and 65,000 trade visitors on more than 50,000 sqm of exhibition space.

Instead of PRO SIGN, the name will then be “viscom Germany“, and the viscom fair which takes place every other year in Düsseldorf will become “viscom Europe“ (Germany); both will carry the subtitle “International Trade Fair for Visual Communication“. This will not affect the range of products presented at the six fairs which will continue to focus on the fields of conventional advertising techniques, light advertising, out-of-home media, digital signage as well as textile finishing and advertising products.

“viscom Europe“ will be held from September 20th to 22nd 2007 in the two new exhibition halls 8a and 8b of the Düsseldorf Fairgrounds. “viscom Germany“ will take place in 2008, from October 30th  to November 1st in Hall 8 of the Frankfurt Exhibition Centre.
 

More comments from exhibitors:

Stephan Kurz, Channel Development Manager Hewlett-Packard GmbH:
“For us, the fair was very successful. PRO SIGN is a great platform to present our products to a trade audience. Our partners were also very satisfied with the course of the fair.”

Ursula Bergs-Quintin, Customer Services / Product Management Sihl Direct GmbH:
“Our assessment of PRO SIGN is very positive. Business at our stand continued lively right into the evening. We presented a lot of trade fair highlights – among them three new machines and a number of new materials - and are convinced: We presented the right products to the right audience at the right fair.“

Rolf Lottermoser, Product Marketing / Sales nbn Elektronik GmbH & Co. KG:
“At this point, PRO SIGN already promises to be a very successful fair for us, we are thoroughly satisfied.“

Mario Pälicke, Managing Director Fachverband Lichtwerbung e.V.
“Our trade association met with great interest, both at our trade fair stand and our seminars Our presence at PRO SIGN was an absolute must! In our view, extending and continuing our cooperation is vital. Our members also were more than satisfied. They had very intensive contacts and feel that PRO SIGN is an ideal platform to win new customers.“

Uwe Becker, Product Manager Siebdruck&Werbetechnik Igepa group GmbH & Co, KG:
“We are pleasantly surprised by the sheer number of visitors. We are quite new to the machine business which we wanted to present at PRO SIGN. This was much more successful than we had expected.“

Gerrit A. Rauch, Manager International Sales Headquarter Neschen AG:
„Our assessment of PRO SIGN is positive. Thursday tends to be a weak day – but this year it provided more good contacts than we had expected. Exports made up a much higher share than in previous years. We make more than 80 percent of our sales through our export dealers, and a number of new contacts were made.“
 
Martin Moedel, Objektberater moedel GmbH:
„We are very happy with the quality of the visitors. We had become trade fair sceptics lately, but here we were able to make top quality contacts. It was good to see that the interest of our customers in trade fairs continues.“

For more information as well as photos of the fair please go to http://www.prosign-messe.com/ or contact the Press Department at Reed Exhibitions Deutschland GmbH

Dr. Mike Seidensticker
Phone: +49 (0) 211 – 90 19 11 28
Fax: +49 (0) 211 – 90 19 11 38
Email: Mike.Seidensticker@reedexpo.de

Eva-Maria Geef
Phone: +49 (0) 211 – 90 19 11 91
Fax: +49 (0) 211 – 90 19 11 38
Email: EvaMaria.Geef@reedexpo.de