18.05.2010 Messe Frankfurt wins double award from the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry

Messe Frankfurt has once again been honoured as an example for trade fairs and trade fair organisers worldwide thanks to its outstanding marketing strategy. At the 14th International Trade Fair Poster Competition, the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry (UFI) declared this international Group the winner in both competition categories, granting it the Grand Award for the best corporate poster as well for the best event-specific poster.

“Gloves”, the campaign submitted by Messe Frankfurt, met with the universal approval of the panel of judges. In explaining their award, the experts pointed in particular to the core message and the extremely successful design, which did a good job of communicating the message that trade fairs are powerful marketing instruments. In this campaign, white gloves are used to present a series of internationally adapted gestures as symbols of excellent service.

Messe Frankfurt also won an award in 2008, the last time this biennial competition was held, in the corporate category for its “Faces” campaign.

“Receiving an award such as this is a tremendous honour, and winning it twice in a row is even more so. We are extremely proud of this achievement,” said Wolfgang Marzin, Chairman of the Board of Management of Messe Frankfurt. “I am also happy that the Texworld team’s excellent work has been recognised with an additional Grand Award.”

The company's French subsidiary Messe Frankfurt France SAS impressed the international UFI judges with its event-specific campaign for Texworld.

Our goal was to establish a new image, making a clean break with the old look,” says Jean Salvadori, Associate Director of the BelleVille agency, in explaining the idea behind the concept. “The trade fair’s emphasis had always been on its position as the most important industry gathering in the world of textiles, apparel and accessories – a creative world that is in a constant state of change. That is why the new Texworld image consciously utilises the language of fashion, as well as that of modern art.”

Oscar Todeschini, CEO of SNK, had the following to say about the “Gloves” campaign: “The new campaign zones in on Messe Frankfurt’s unique combination of event know-how and superior hosting qualities. The company's communication strategy is exemplary: both the timing and the incorporation of the campaign within the overall context of its brand identity are indications of truly sustainable brand management.”

With its focus on service and customer care, the campaign is cresting the wave of current developments in the exhibition sector.
The Global Association of the Exhibition Industry recently singled out service quality and customer care as key competitive criteria for the trade fair industry in coming years.

There were more than 130 submissions in all from trade fair organisers in 17 countries, and their high quality made things difficult for the judges: “Each year we’re seeing an increased synergy between the posters’ graphic design elements and the marketing messages which they are supporting,” says Lili Eigl, jury member and UFI Communications Manager.

The award-winning submissions were created by the following teams:

Gloves

Agency: Scholtysik Niederberger Kraft AG (SNK), Zurich, Switzerland,
represented by Oscar Todeschini
Photographer: Daniel Gerber, Fotoproduktionen GmbH
Company: Messe Frankfurt GmbH,
represented by Kai Hattendorf, Thorsten Oestreich, Nina Schwarzer

Texworld

Agency: BelleVille, Paris, France,
represented by Jean Salvadori
Photographer: Philippe Ughetto
Company: Messe Frankfurt France SAS,
represented by Michael Scherpe

Background information on Messe Frankfurt

Messe Frankfurt is Germany’s largest trade fair organiser, with 424 million* euros in sales and more than 1,500 employees worldwide. The Messe Frankfurt Group has a global network of 28 subsidiaries, five branch offices and 52 international Sales Partners, giving it a presence for its customers in more than 150 countries. Events “made by Messe Frankfurt” take place at more than 30 locations around the globe. In 2009*, Messe Frankfurt organised more than 90 trade fairs, of which more than half took place outside Germany.

Comprising an area of 578,000 square metres, Messe Frankfurt’s exhibition grounds are currently home to ten exhibition halls and an adjacent CongressCenter. The company is publicly owned, with the City of Frankfurt holding 60 percent and the State of Hesse 40 percent.

For more information, please visit www.messefrankfurt.com

*Preliminary figures for financial year 2009

Background information on SNK

Founded in Basel, Switzerland in 1996, Scholtysik Niederberger Kraft (SNK) now employs some 30 people and is based in Zurich’s "Altstadt" district. The agency specialises in brand strategy, design and implementation and currently serves the needs of around 15 clients from a wide cross-section of sectors. In addition to its work for Messe Frankfurt, SNK was recently involved in developing a brand profile for the SIX Group, which was formed by the merger of the Swiss Stock Exchange with SIS and Telekurs. Other clients include UBS, Johnson & Johnson, the City of Zurich and FREITAG.

For more information, please visit www.snk.ch

Background information on BelleVille

BelleVille is a communications agency. Its team, which consists of some twenty employees, serves the needs of private and public sector clients in all matters relating to internal and cultural communications. The services offered by the agency include consulting, graphic design, editing, and project development and implementation. Founded in 1995 by Associate Directors Catherine Jault and Jean Salvadori, the agency acquired a majority stake in "After" – a multimedia consulting and development organisation – from Loic Lechat in 2003.