Interview Kai Hattendorf
"As an industry, we are not in people's heads".
Photo: UFI
Photo: UFI
The outgoing CEO of UFI, Kai Hattendorf, talks about the big picture, the role of German event organisers worldwide, further business potential, what content has to do with it and why he is not worried about the analogue offering "trade fairs".
m+a report: The UFI Barometer reveals that the German trade fair industry differs from its international counterparts when it comes to climate protection and sustainability: For most, the topic ranks at the bottom of the list, with the Germans in third place. Are the other countries far ahead of the Germans when it comes to climate protection/sustainability? Or is it falling behind for them?
Kai Hattendorf: This is partly due to the methodology of the survey, which only allows a maximum of three answers to this question. This leads to fluctuations from barometer to barometer - especially for medium and long-term topics such as this. In some countries, the topic is at the forefront (Brazil), in others it is completely overshadowed (USA). We therefore always look at the general global trend, and it has been rising in relevance for years. Its relevance has been recognised worldwide and is increasingly being demanded - especially by internationally active organisers and exhibitors. The pressure to implement and the complexity of the measures differ from country to country. Germany - which has been more or less consistently active on the subject since the environmental movement in the 1980s - is comparatively ahead of many other countries, for example in terms of site development and energy efficiency.
Why do the Germans attach so much importance to this? They are - comparatively speaking - even less threatened by weather phenomena ...
Ultimately, the German trade fair companies are publicly owned and local and state politicians have had the issue on their agenda for "generations of politicians" - and this has an impact on trade fair organisation at the headquarters and internationally via the development of the exhibition grounds. In my view, this positioning in the global competition between locations is a competitive advantage, and this will increase even further if - as with the General Data Protection Regulation - binding reporting standards for companies on the topic of sustainability are now introduced throughout the EU (and therefore ultimately globally). Due to the shareholder structure, German trade fairs also have to think and act systemically in the medium term - if only because of the length of decision-making processes. Anglo-Saxon companies listed on the stock exchange or financed with private capital, for example, are more focussed on short-term investments and earnings.
Photo: Koelnmesse
By the end of 2024, Koelnmesse will be operating over 20,000 square metres of solar panels on its hall roofs. The goal is three million kWh of sustainably produced electricity per year. Overall strategic goal: CO2-neutral energy supply by 2028.
How is the increasingly extreme weather affecting international business?
More and more. You only have to look at what the headlines about extreme weather events mean: When the strongest typhoon ever is reported in Shanghai, trade fair days are cancelled. This happens regularly in Hong Kong. When it storms in Germany, train services are cancelled - and visitors and exhibitors can't get to the trade fair. If there are heat records in India, then this stops construction sites and delays new hall projects. Open-air concerts (also a big issue for outdoor areas on grounds) have to be cancelled or postponed due to heavy rain or thunderstorms, and at the EURO many people will certainly remember the thunderstorm game in Dortmund, the round of 16 match between Germany and Denmark. In the end, the game went ahead. But all fan events had to be ended and cancelled. And if we take it a step further: The New York Times recently ran a lead story entitled "Heat is killing thousands, and Big Events have not adjusted". Examples in the text include the 1,000 deaths caused by heat during this year's Hajj pilgrimage and how extreme temperatures in India have prevented people from going to the elections there. These are not "events" in the strict sense of the word, but they characterise a perception that will also have an impact at trade fairs.
Trade fair organisers are working to offer exhibiting companies good platforms for their success, which are sought after by interested visitors from all over the world. However, there is still room for improvement in terms of external perception "on their own behalf".
Photo: Munich Trade Fair Centre
From weather to innovation: Sometimes it seems to me that everyone is just busy keeping their topics halfway up to date, exporting their brands abroad and only generating growth through acquisitions - this applies to both listed and public broadcasters. Is there a lack of courage when it comes to new business? Or can you say from your experience that my horizons are too small and that things are different in Latin America, Southeast Asia, India and South Africa? I'll give you just two examples: OMR and WebSummit: Do the ideas come from others, who thus become lateral entrants, so to speak?
It's a bit like the search for the "One More Thing" that Apple had under Steve Job - the longing for the one product that redefines or even creates a market. Apple hasn't had that for 15 years either. The spectacular growth there is mainly due to the fact that, although the existing products are regularly updated, they are essentially produced and marketed more efficiently - and from growth in the service business, i.e. with all the services and offers that can be sold in addition to the devices themselves - from storage space in the cloud to mobile phone covers. It's the same in the trade fair world: whatever is good and works is done, and that's perfectly okay - from geo-cloning to additional purchases. The vast majority of innovations are "everyday innovations", and we tend to overlook this. Where ten years ago everyone was discussing the independent digital areas, today many products and services are naturally integrated into the product portfolios of trade fair brands and companies. In my time at Messe Frankfurt, we organised digital and analogue catalogue formats together early on and marketed them in exhibitor packages. Today, digital services, as well as content and community offerings, are at least as big a growth area. This requires investments in digital services that are largely outside of public reporting. The large listed companies in the UK are well ahead in this respect. And about the lateral entrants: WebSummit, Burning Man, South by Southwest - we have known these examples for years, in which community-driven events become global brands, and we find it strangely difficult to learn from them. There are excellent examples such as Money 20/20 or corporate events such as Salesforce that show how ideas can be transferred to the B2B sector - beyond buzzwords such as "festivalisation" or symbol campaigns. We are most likely to see this in Germany as imports from international organisers. The "new" IFA in Berlin, now with Clarion behind it, was a good re-launch, and I'm looking forward to the first Gitex Europe, an offshoot of the Gitex show in Dubai, organised by Kaoun, the event arm of the Dubai World Trade Centre.
About UFI
Until 2003, the abbreviation UFI stood for Union des Foires Internationales; today the organisation is called UFI, The Global Association of the Exhibition Industry. The association of the world's largest trade fair organisers and owners of exhibition grounds was founded on 15 April 1925 in Milan by the 20 largest European trade fair organisers at the time, namely: Bordeaux, Brussels, Budapest, Cologne, Gdansk, Frankfurt/Main, Leipzig, Ljubljana, Lvov, Lyon, Milan, Nizhny Novgorod, Padua, Paris, Prague, Reichenberg, Utrecht, Valencia, Vienna and Zagreb. The 100th anniversary programme will be launched at the UFI World Congress 2024, which will take place in Cologne from 20 to 23 November.
Many large, internationally active event organisers have a background in publishing. Is this an important criterion now that more and more content is being demanded?
It's exciting to see how a circle is closing here. Many of the major international trade fair organisers were departments and spin-offs of publishing houses. Over the years, the business with trade publications has been dissolved or sold off - the distribution costs were high and it was simply much more lucrative to activate your own customers with trade fairs and B2B events. Now, in a fully digitalised, increasingly data-driven and soon AI-optimised B2B world, the physical event will retain its role as a central meeting point. However, there is immense potential - and customer expectation - for better, more targeted, personalised information and offers. In this context, content is the universal key that allows trade fair organisers to serve customers individually with content, while at the same time learning more about the interests of individual customers (who accessed which topic and when?). The business potential for content-driven subscription models is huge, and - unlike in analogue times - without the distribution of content being a cost block for providers.
Can the leading international trade fairs fulfil a meta-level function? They just need to get the content creation/generation thing right. A new business segment? There are so many leading international trade fairs in Germany. Are new forms of cooperation between trade fair organisers and content suppliers such as publishers conceivable?
Of course, every leading trade fair is a strong brand. This does not have to be limited to the trade fair alone. Brands can be expanded. British and US organisers have long since invested in trade publishers and thus gained access to industry-specific content (and additional reach). German trade fair organisers can do the same internationally - and do so here and there. In Germany itself, however, a different approach is needed - once again due to the shareholder structures: The trade fair companies are publicly owned - and therefore de jure state-owned - and accordingly cannot engage in publishing activities. But joint ventures and partnerships are certainly one way.
What are trade fairs for media/products when even media editors at the IFA realise: "It seems to be a trend that flagship trade fairs like this are increasingly being visited online." According to Frank Puscher in Meedia on 6 September. The service stated: "Gamescom recently enjoyed huge viewing figures for its own video streams ..."
For far too long, our industry - both in Germany and worldwide - has paid far too little attention to its external perception, and we have paid a high price for this during the pandemic. When we at UFI launched the "Global Exhibitions Day" in 2016 as a global campaign day for the industry, there was a lot of scepticism, especially in Germany - whether such generic marketing was necessary, as it would only "distract" from the focus on the individual trade fairs and their specific brands. In the meantime, we are successfully lobbying - UFI operates and directly supports presences in Brussels and Washington DC and the German association Auma is successfully building and deepening relationships with politicians and the media. But: This is a "thick board", and in my discussions with politicians and journalists around the world, I realise time and again that we as an industry are not in the right mindset. Changing this is a joint task. The "new" media world with social media also gives us new opportunities to do generic marketing. Other industries have managed this, we as an industry have to want to do it - and do it, and not least invest in the topic.
The 100th anniversary of the IFA was a kind of "fountain of youth". The trade fair was able to score points with its new concept and inspire young media professionals and content creators. Photo: Maz und Movie, Markus Braumann
What do editors get from trade fairs? In other words: Are trade fair people stuck in their own bubble? If so, how can they get out of it?
Every industry is a bubble with its own rules, jargon, beliefs and culture - I've worked in a few industries myself over the years. What editors realise: certainly too little, or, in most cases: probably nothing at all. Business and consumer newsrooms are sector-focussed, less context-oriented. As a result, a TV station may broadcast live from an electronics trade fair for hours on end without ever discussing how this event actually came about - precisely because the editorial team is focussed on its industry coverage. One idea to overcome this: When organisers invite viewers to the "Making of...", to take a look behind the scenes. Netflix, for example, produced the series "7 Days Out" a few years ago - insights "behind the scenes of some of the biggest events in the world". These include: the Kentucky Derby (a horse race) in the USA, the Chanel show during Fashion Week in Paris, NASA's Cassini mission and the Westminster Dog Show. Nothing against these events, but the construction of a Bauma or a Boot would have fitted in perfectly - but the producers didn't come up with the idea because we're not in our heads, see above.
What do you think is the biggest difference between public broadcasters like the big ones in Germany and the private broadcasters of this world?
In the shareholder structures, because these lead to very different coordination and decision-making processes. One example: When a company or a trade fair portfolio is put up for sale on the market, the process takes a few months to finalise. Systemically, this is too fast for the vast majority of publicly owned companies. This in turn means that German trade fair companies organise their acquisitions differently and also plan for the long term. In addition, because the public-sector companies operate the exhibition grounds and organiser business in an integrated manner, different priorities and weightings arise than in the case of "pure" event companies. This is neither good nor bad, it is just different. But in a consolidating industry, this means that the Germans are gradually losing ground in the global rankings (sorted by turnover and profit). A new ranking has just been published by the consulting firm Stax - like all such rankings with a special methodology, but that's another topic. Based purely on organiser revenue from 2023, as the consultants there know or estimate it, Frankfurt, Munich and Düsseldorf still make it into the top 10.
Christiane Appel