Messe Frankfurt Medien und Service GmbH (MFS) marks four decades of success, evolving from traditional stand construction to pioneering digital marketing services
“MFS was a great success from the very beginning, characterised by steady growth and constant advancement”, says Uwe Behm, Member of the Messe Frankfurt Executive Board, looking back on MFS’s 40-year history: “From the outset, the aim was to make our exhibitors as visible as possible at our trade fairs and to drive our growth by taking on board new developments – in recent years, these were mainly led by digitalisation and sustainability.”
MFS’s two managing directors, Martina Bergmann and Heiko Strutz, attribute the success of this approach over the past 40 years to the company’s strategic orientation, which is geared firmly towards the needs of exhibitors. Other key success factors are the constant stream of innovations being added to the product portfolio and, of course, the specialist expertise and high service quality of the teams in Stand Construction and Marketing.
MFS started out in 1984 focusing on traditional analogue media such as trade fair catalogues, magazines and trade fair newspapers. In addition, its range of services relating to the Frankfurt trade fair centre was rounded off by posters, advertising towers, display cases and other advertising materials.
Stand construction: the main driver of sales
In 1990, it was joined by a second area, Stand Construction, which was based directly on the exhibition grounds. Focusing on building and renting fully equipped and individual stands to exhibitors, it soon established itself as the main driver of MFS’s sales. By its third financial year, it was already offering exhibitors over 260 flexible system stand variants and meeting their demands for high-quality presentation forms while aiming to avoid waste at the same time. Heiko Strutz: “Of course, after over 30 years’ experience in stand construction, we are well aware that environmentally friendly practices are playing an increasingly important role and that more and more exhibitors are planning sustainable trade fair activities. By opting for reusable and therefore sustainable materials and working together with certified suppliers, we are aiming to reduce waste continually and to minimise energy and resource consumption. This is the only way in which we can ensure a sustainable position for the future.”
Now operating under the name Fairconstruction, the stand construction area is one of the largest providers of system stand construction material in Germany, carrying out some 3,500 projects throughout the year, mainly in Frankfurt. The services it currently provides range from planning, designing and organising stands to fitting them out with rental furniture and equipment. For over a decade, Fairconstruction has also been generating more and more growth from its business outside the Frankfurt exhibition grounds.
While Fairconstruction is responsible for planning and implementing trade fair stands in Frankfurt and across Europe, Media Services offers all the marketing and promotional services that exhibitors need to present their brand and message as effectively as possible before, during and after the event. Every year, it now offers exhibitors at up to 30 Group and guest events in Frankfurt a multi-channel trade fair marketing service tailored to their individual needs.
Positioning the message
As Martina Bergmann sums up: “Visibility is our currency. And it is of the utmost importance for our exhibitors when planning their trade fair activities: the higher our exhibitors’ profile at events, the more chance they have of meeting those customers they want to work with. It sounds simple, not least because Media Services makes it simple.” Today, the range of services – which are always geared towards exhibitors and their individual needs – includes multimedia advertising at high-footfall locations on the exhibition grounds (indoors and outdoors) and advertising on the internet or in print publications. As well as maximising visibility, this allows exhibitors and event organisers to generate a high level of attention for their brand and high reach via the Messe Frankfurt portal. Martina Bergmann: “Besides traditional trade fair media, we are including more and more innovative communication channels and platforms in our portfolio. We are also zoning in on key developments and megatrends in this area so that we can continue to provide our exhibitors with the same highly efficient support for their trade fair marketing.”
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