Fairs in the service society

The exhibition landscape is broken down into a few leading fairs and innumerable shows that are significant at a national level. The first category primarily includes the Interzoo show in Nuremberg, held biennially in May, which more than any other event brings almost all the important firms in the pet product industry together for four days. While Interzoo numbers many retailers among its visitors as well as industrial representatives, importers and wholesale companies, the APPMA show, the annual exhibition held by the American industry association of the same name, attracts primarily intermediaries and importers in addition to manufacturers and suppliers. Although the majority of visitors to the APPMA show come from the USA, the APPMA association has succeeded in recent years in acquiring a good reputation as the leading fair of the USA pet product sector among European and Asian firms too. APPMA is a must for anyone wishing to distribute their products in the US market.
Garden-pet combination
The combination of pets and gardens is implemented in an exemplary manner at Glee Petindex.
Owing to the dominance of the global fair in Nuremberg, many trade fairs in the pet product sector take place in the year in between Interzoo shows. Such fairs include Zoomark in Bologna, previously held in Milan, and Expozoo in Paris, which are both regarded as international trade fairs and compete for supremacy in Europe in the year between Interzoos. Just how difficult their task is can be seen from the fact that both fairs have failed to emerge from Interzoo’s shadow over the years, in spite of considerable efforts to this end. Nevertheless, companies seeking international contacts in the pet product industry in Europe in the “odd” years are well catered for in Bologna und Paris.
The industry is following the development of Glee Petindex in Birmingham with great interest. Frequent attempts have already been made to integrate a pet product fair into a garden show, as with Gafa in Cologne and Jarditec in Paris, but none of these have so far succeeded in the long term. It is all the more pleasing therefore that the first two “double fair” events have elicited a thoroughly positive response from exhibitors and visitors. The concept is also to be implemented from this year onwards in Paris, under the fair name JLEE. Since garden centres are among the principal distribution channels for pet products in many countries, this show combination makes good sense, and both fair organizers on the one hand and exhibitors and visitors on the other benefit from such cooperation.
Interzoo is the undisputed number one among pet product shows. The entire world congregates at it.
National trade shows
Apart from the principal industry gatherings at international level, many fairs of regional interest are organized every year. Since pet ownership is highly popular throughout Europe, virtually every country now has its own pet product show. These fairs are of particular interest as an information exchange for the domestic market, because everyone who’s anyone in the national pet product industry is to be found there. The atmosphere is also more informal than at the big international shows, making it much easier to make contact with new companies. For smaller pet product retail businesses in particular, which often feel out of place at an Interzoo, smaller yet more intimate fairs such as these are just right.
Shows are springing up all over Europe like mushrooms. It’s not necessary to have been to them all. Many fairs are failed combinations of consumer shows and trade fairs, but this doesn’t always have to be a drawback; many exhibitors are by no means averse to having contact with local consumers in order to get to know the local market better, although a clear delimitation must exist. Why not open a fair to trade visitors for two days and to the consumers for one day?
This is how it’s done in some Eastern European countries, for example. The fair landscape there is still rather less consistent than in Western and Southern Europe, yet two shows have become pretty well established to date: the Petfair in Lodz and Zoosphere in St. Petersburg. Both shows are well organized and now satisfactorily established in the pet product industry, as well as proving a growing attraction for neighbouring countries.
Things are on the move in Scandinavia, too. A new pet product fair emerged last autumn in Sweden with the Zoorf Expo, which was premiered with great success. The extent to which this new fair can become established as the leading show in Scandinavia remains to be seen.
It’s so much better with music: in the mood at the US pavilion at Zoomark.
A change of function
As the professionalism of the pet product industry has grown, the function of trade fairs has changed also. Previously their primary role was as a trading place. The goal of signing contracts still plays an important role at pet product shows even now compared to other industries, although other aims, such as raising the profile of the company or making new contacts, have emerged over the years. Today exhibition organizers are primarily service companies that have to offer a first-class service to visitors and exhibitors alike. For this reason an outline programme is offered at many fairs, in the context of which interesting information specific to the target group can be obtained regarding the market and its trends. Another important job for the fair organizers is to create the right atmosphere in the exhibition halls. This includes laying carpeting, providing floral decorations and numbering halls and stands clearly, as well as ensuring there are enough information desks to provide visitors and exhibitors with help and advice quickly and without bureaucratic hold-ups.
International trade fairs in Europe 2004
05.09.-07.09. Gafa/Spoga, Cologne   Info: www.gafakoeln.de
10.09.-12.09. Zoo Market, Warsaw   Info: www.brsa.com.pl
19.09.-21.09. Glee/Petindex, Birmingham   Info: www.gleebirmingham.com
17.10.-19.10. Dibevo, RijswijkInfo: www.dibevovakbeurs.com
10.11.-13.11. Zoosphere, St. PetersburgInfo: zoosphere.lenexpo.ru
13.11.-15.11. Pet Index, AthensInfo: www.mrk.gr