FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
22nd of September

viscom presents itself full of new vitality

From high-end digitals to classical engraving: the variety of visual communication is bigger than ever. Proof of that could be seen at this year’s viscom which presented itself full of new vitality. With a total of 8,900 trade visitors the organizers, Reed Exhibitions Deutschland GmbH, recorded a result at a similar level with that of the previous event (2005: 9,023). In this context, the proportion of visitors from advertising agencies and of customers from the industrial and the department store sector who found their way to Düsseldorf this year was significantly higher.

“The new orientation of viscom as a trade fair for visual communication is beginning to bear fruit,“ commented Hans-Joachim Erbel, Managing Director of Reed Exhibitions Deutschland GmbH. This is because in addition to the advertising technicians who traditionally make up the classical core of viscom, there was a marked increase in visitors from advertising agencies, from industry and from the department store sector, among them many newcomers particularly interested in the modern forms of visual communication.

Exemplary for this development is the digital signage segment which presented itself at viscom for the first time. A decision that found resonance in the interest this section drew from visitors: “After digital printing, advertising technology and outdoor advertising, the digital signage segment proved to be a central point of attraction at viscom even at its very first appearance,“ is how viscom Director Petra Lassahn sums up the results of the visitor survey. The second day of the fair in particular which, as “Digital Signage Day“, offered a program of lectures delivered to packed audiences at the new viscom forum by speakers such as media façade “guru“ Christoph Kronhagel and “Mr. Power¬flasher“ Carlo Blatz. “We were quite surprised by´the lively interest visitors showed in the Digital Signage Day,“ declares Pierre Farine, Managing Director of screenFOOD. “This proves that there is a huge lot of catching up to do in this area. And viscom is the first trade fair to have succeeded in putting digital signage on the agenda and thus to pave the way for innovations.“ Another focus of interest was the Digital Signage Best Practise Award which was presented on Friday in three categories (detailed information on this is available on the Internet).

Even so, the classical fields such as advertising technology and light advertising were not neglected either. “Our aim was to address first of all the users from classical advertising technology,“ explains Andrea Sczepanski, Head of Marketing at ASLAN, a producer of self-adhesive films: “In this, we were successful.“ One point of attraction was the “demonstration area“ in which adhesive techniques, possibilities in textile processing and material processing in light advertising, among others, were shown in live demonstrations. Proof of the fact that in this field innovative power remains unbroken is, among others, the modular LED system called “curve LED“ which won one of altogether four viscom INNOVATION AWARDs during “viscom night“ (information on the award winners and their products is available on the Internet).

Digital printing continues steadily on its way up. The latest possibilities in inkjet printing, where printing on new materials is concerned, were demonstrated at the “Industrial Inkjet Marketplace“ which showed many new examples of applications, from carpeting to tiles.

New technologies, innovations in classical advertising techniques and new fields of application in digital printing: they all contribute to the industry’s extremely confident outlook for the future. This is documented in the results of an independent survey on the business situation which was conducted during viscom. According to this survey, 71.5 percent of the companies polled (2005: 65.2%) expect a “strong to slight“ upturn in business. Fewer than five percent (4.7%) are of the opinion that the situation in the industry might change for the worse.

The general confidence was also felt by the altogether 336 exhibitors from 30 countries. Thibault Dejaiffe, Marketing Director at NUR, also emphasizes: “viscom was again an excellent platform for us, we have made very good new contacts. Visitor quality was excellent, they were mostly decision-makers.“ Joachim Rees, graduate engineer with Multiplot Europe GmbH, confirms this: “We are entirely happy and had a large number of new interested visitors to our stand which was very well frequented. We had the right product at the right time.“

The next viscom germany will take place from 30 October to 1 November 2008 in Hall 3 of the Frankfurt Exhibition Centre.

Reed Exhibitons Deutschland GmbH
Völklinger Straße 4
Düsseldorf, GERMANY 40219
Phone: +49 211 90 19 11 91
E-Mail: EGeef@reedexpo.de
Website URL: www.viscom-messe.com