A very continental affair

Boiling an entire country’s rich cultural heritage down to a few characterisations is something we all do: Germany has its bratwurst and a love of order, France their romance and escargot, and Italy its fiery Mediterranean temperament and the invention of pizza. And likewise we as an industry are often guilty of over-generalising the potential of what these foreign climes have to offer us in terms of business opportunities. This is a state of mind that the Viscom umbrella brand of exhibitions has been working to overturn since 2007, and quite successfully too.

“Viscom is divided into two main blocks; it is technology and materials on the one hand, and applications and marketing on the other. If you want to summarise the objective of Viscom, then it is to answer three questions for the industry: What is possible? How is it done? And who can do it?,” explains an enthusiastic Petra Lassahn, director of Viscom Germany.


She continues: “Our exhibitor demographic sees a mix of core regional companies and also a large number of international players. What makes it attractive is that we really concentrate on trying to create real world applications of the latest technology and demonstrate how they can be adopted by the international market.”

Lassahn began her career in exhibitions in 1987 and having worked her way up through some of the biggest names in the business, she re-joined the owner of the Viscom brand, Reed Exhibitions, for the second time in 2006—having spent two years at the organisation from 1998 to 2000. So, she knows a thing or two about what makes a good show.



Perhaps what makes the Viscom platform unique among its fellow industry competitors is that it has managed to retain a strong and vibrant regional flavour, without giving up any of its ability to increasingly draw in an international audience of both visitors and exhibitors. The key advantage this offers is that if you make the trip out to one of the three annual events, you will be exposed to technology, materials, information, and product applications that have yet to penetrate the UK market, but may just give you a serious competitive edge. And if the only risk you are taking is the cost of a budget airline ticket and a night in a hotel, with a trans-European jaunt added into the bargain, it seems like a good deal.



Indeed, Viscom Paris has just rel-eased figures which show a 20 percent growth in exhibitors with a mix from France and the international market. Viscom Germany has also seen good growth, with its last outing in Dusseldorf attracting some 13,277 visitors, a growth of 9.7 percent on 2012. It also saw 350 participating companies, a record for the show and a 7 percent increase.

O Factoid: The seed that has now grown into the Viscom series of shows in Germany, France, and Italy was the founding of the Sign Europe exhibition in 1986. O

“This is news which is well received by a great number of our exhibitors and partners and especially those from overseas and the provinces who look forward to enjoy the Parisian environment. The result is already a real success for the exhibition,” says Annabelle Serres, event director of Viscom Paris.

This builds on a successful outing for the show in 2013, where it drew some 11,000 visitors, 150 exhibitors, and some 500 technology and product brands—21 percent of which were from the international market.

Due to participate at all three Viscom events, this is a point picked up by Multipanel’s global sales manager, James Maylen:  “The key advantage from both end-users and distributors’ point of view is that Viscom will open them up to some of things that are happening in the European market. It showcases different trends and products coming on stream that may not have hit UK shores yet.”

Indeed, the company plans to use the Viscom series to showcase its brand new Alite panel, which has been designed to provide enhanced performance for direct digital printing applications as it is flatter and more rigid. Currently distributing six of its aluminium composite panel grades through Perspex in the UK, Multipanel has also brought all its manufacturing back to home shores, but has a firm focus on continued expansion through-out Europe.

“If you can get ahead of your national or regional competitors by sourcing some new kit or material that gives an advantage, it could really help ensure the long-term prospects of your business,” he says, adding: “For example, there were a number of Italian companies at the regions last Viscom who were exhibiting equipment I have not seen in the UK and had some key advantages in terms of the cost and performance balance.


“Also there are formats of materials on show that you would not see elsewhere. A good illustration here is our double-sided Alupanel sheet with white on one side and silver on the reverse. We sell this all over Europe but it has not quite caught on as a fashion yet in the UK. So right there is an opportunity to break new ground and specify this as a unique selling point to your customers.”

Walk the walk

While many exhibition organisers talk a good talk, there are only a handful that are able to really deliver on their promises. Speaking to Lassahn, what genuinely comes across is that the sign and wide-format print industries are something she genuinely cares about, and wants to grow: “I think it is a wonderful industry because in my time at the show we have experienced so many changes and the ongoing evolution of technology, and trends in the visual communications arena.



“We have always sought to support these changes and Viscom has changed completely over the years. It has been a big challenge, but we have also had a lot of fun along the way. I enjoy working here because it is a good show and the market it services is really interesting and vibrant, I like that.”

“The word I heard more than any other last year was inspiration, and that is our goal,” adds Lassahn, pausing in thought, before emphasising: “We want to help sign-makers, printers, designers, marketing professionals, and a range of other professions in this arena by exposing them to the most creative ideas possible and the technology that can make these ideas into products and revenue streams.

Info:

• Viscom Paris 2014, Paris Porte de Versailles—Pavilion 3, September 9th to 11th, www.viscom-paris.com
• Viscom Italy 2014, FIERA MILANO,
• Rho- Milan, October 16th to 18th, www.viscomitalia.it
• Viscom Frankfurt 2014, Exhibition Centre Frankfurt, November 5th to 7th, www.viscom-messe.com

“What I find fascinating at trade shows is that it is all about the people. It is not just new technology and materials, but meeting interesting personalities face-to-face, bouncing ideas off each other and having that moment of inspiration. I think that is very important in today’s digitally saturated world.”

Looking to Lassahn’s own show in Frankfurt from November 5th to 7th, it started life in 1986 as Sign Europe, which alternated between Paris and Dusseldorf for a few years, before buying up Frankfurt-based Pro Sign in 1998 and taking its current format. Owned by exhibition group Miller Freeman Europe, the company went onto setup shows in Italy, Spain, and France before the company was bought by Reed exhibitions in 2,000—making it the biggest organisation of its kind in the world. These separately branded events continued until 2007 when they were brought under a single Viscom umbrella. The only casualty since this time has been Spain, which due to the economic situation is not currently scheduled for 2014. The stated aim of Reed with the Viscom rebrand was to harness the potential of these regional events and showcase their value to an international audience.



This is a project that seems to have paid off, as Maylen explains: “Viscom is key for us as more than 80 percent of our business is in the visual communication market. It is also an inter-national show working a global market and it offers a chance to find new partners and distributors.

“Out of the eight visual communication and sign shows that are available on the European market, Viscom is only one of two or three that we tend to regularly participate in, the others being Sign and Digital UK and FESPA. There are more and more shows coming to fruition on the market, with different calibres of organisation and attendance, but Viscom is one of the original platforms and works for us very well both on a local and global level.”

Devils in the detail

Having been out to the Viscom shows, what also strikes you is the intense focus they have on providing hands-on training and real-world application areas of the latest technology and materials, in addition to a wealth of seminars and work-shops.



Looking to Viscom Frankfurt, Lassahn explains its 2014 edition will see the World of Inspiration return to the show, highlighting the very outer edge of technology and product innovation from 3D additive printing, to applying graphics to sand. The show now covers six core areas: wide-format printing, sign-making, digital signage, point-of-sale display, print for pack-aging, object printing, and design. The show’s educational content is split into two brackets, covering new technology and materials in one segment, and applications and marketing in the other.

Viscom Paris, taking place from September 9th to 11th, has also lined-up a packed programme of educational content and areas in addition to what the exhibitors will have to offer. This centrally takes the form of a 1,000sq m area dubbed Imag’in, which is described as an, ‘interactive learning zone providing information and presenting the latest technologies and know-how in visual communication’.

“We are offering visitors a promenade through various working universes: the office of a creative, an architect, a designer or even a web-merchandiser. You can then enter the world of a communication and marketing agency or even the open-spaces of an SME,” says Annabelle Serres.

She adds: “The common thread of the visit is to visualise, touch, feel, and understand, in other words, to explore all the different possibilities offered by the process of manufacturing in the graphic industry at the service of the working environment. And also providing a new means of creative corporate communication whether in the decoration of the work space or with the innovations linked to new articles and objects.”



This year’s Imag’in area is broken down into three core areas in addition to a hospitality zone. VIZ Crea, an area dedicated to showcase signage and graphics projects led by designers, to help sign-makers and print professionals understand how best to set themselves up to capture new business.  VIZ Lab will seek to showcase all the product and prototyping possibilities of 3D printing technology. VIZ Shoot is being run in partnership with royalty-free image database Fotolia, and will offer an introductory course which encompasses all the steps from taking a photo, to designing a graphic.

“The participating visitor can then transfer the creation onto a USB stick which can be given to exhibitors partnering the operation who then will be able to print, at their stands, onto a variety of media: T-shirts, smart cases, PVC printing, mouse mats, posters and so on,” explains Serres.



This focus on creativity, inspiration, and real world applications is some-thing that is shared across the Viscom shows, and as you would expect, the first of these aspects is something which the Italian instalment takes to its heart.

The shows last outing saw it draw in some 15,000 visitors and 250 exhibitors. With the 2014 instalment billed to excel these figures, the exhibition will also be split into a number of special zones. The Viscom Forum, which brought together 515 speakers and participants last year, is designed to act as a space for the dissemination of business intelligence and advice on how to adapt to the latest technology and economic trends influencing the industry. Key to the Viscom brand, its ‘Live’ space at the Italian show sees an area demonstrating how graphics can be applied to everything from cars to walls. And Viscom Lab will seek to demonstrate the latest apparel branding techniques using digital printing, embroidering, and screen printing. The show will also be hosting its annual Display Italia Viscom Award (DIVA), as well as a Green Trail so visitors can identify all the most environmentally-friendly technologies at the show.



Exhibition manager, Paola Sarco, explains that behind the show’s innovations are the, ‘competence, passion, and ideas’ of its exhibitors and visitors. Describing them as ‘true advocates’ responsible for the success of the show she explains that one of the show’s key assets is its ability to give exhibitors the space to showcase new technology and materials, while at the same time being able to provide a platform to ‘understand and detect’ the needs of customers. Sarco is all passionate about emphasising to exhibitors that they need to demonstrate to visitors how to improve the efficacy of their businesses and gain a competitive edge by visiting the show.

“This is one of the main assets that once again confirmed Viscom Italia as the strategic exhibition for all visual communication practitioners,” she concludes.



Whether you just attend one or all three Viscom shows, what is clear is that it is a key influencing force in the direction of both regional spaces and the international market. The key strength of these events is that they give the visitor a unique perspective on the trends impacting our continental cousins in both their own and international markets and the technology driving them. And if the passion and commitment of the three show organisers are anything to go buy, then it seems well worth your time and effort to head out and receive both a business and cultural education.


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