The major food industry, consumer electronics and telecommunications brands, the “white giants” from the appliance sector and major distributors and retailers. Creative talent and design pros from agencies, advertising technology companies and print service providers were on hand in such huge numbers that exhibitors are calling this the best viscom of all time, an event that once again broke records.

The bar had been raised high. After last year’s successful viscom frankfurt event, which had provided a huge boost in a difficult economic environment, the industry was anxious to find out whether such a great result could be repeated. Indeed it could: With a total of 13,277 visitors, viscom grew considerably yet again, surpassing even the prior-year result (12,100) by 9.7%. With 350 participating companies, this year’s viscom also set a new exhibitor record, gaining 7% in the comparison with viscom frankfurt 2012 (327).

“viscom has definitely reached the goal we’ve steadily worked toward in the past seven years – developing it into a 360-degree trade fair covering all aspects of holistic marketing and visual communication. It impressively underscored this Europe-wide leadership position,” says viscom Director Petra Lassahn. The “viscom World of Inspiration” serves as an example illustrating this all-inclusive perspective. On 700 m², this special show presented the latest best practice examples from store design, POS marketing, digital signage as well as printing technology, packaging and object design. Especially in the context of POS and display marketing, this approach attracts more and more manufacturing and retail brands, including retailers such as real,- SB Warenhaus, dm drogerie markt, IKEA and Hornbach; consumer electronic brands such as SONY and Saturn; financial services providers such as Deutsche Bank; and cosmetics manufacturers such as L’Oréal. Their presence drives home the point “that viscom, thanks to its repositioning, now appeals to the entire spectrum of visual communication in design and brand communication,” says Hans-Joachim Erbel, CEO of Reed Exhibitions Deutschland GmbH.

More and more, viscom is taking on the role of a trend and innovation trade fair, the preferred venue for the introduction of new products and novel marketing approaches. Michael Wartmann, Marketing Manager of MUTOH Deutschland GmbH, speaks for many exhibitors on this point: “Lots of customers are now saying, Let's go to viscom first before making our final decision.” Manuela Ernst, who made her first appearance at viscom as the owner of Instore Solutions GmbH presenting an interactive shop window that generated great interest, underscores that statement: “Leading German consumer electronics and telecommunications companies visited our stand."

“viscom unleashes creative powers of imagination, especially because it brings together technology innovations from a wide range of sectors, all sharing one goal: to promote cross-media product marketing. This opens up new horizons, and it's why viscom is so inspirational,” says Petra Lassahn.

That’s why “Inspiring your business” will be the tagline of the upcoming viscom frankfurt 2014 event, which will take place with an improved concept. In future, viscom will be structured into six core segments: large format printing, signmaking, digital signage, POS display, POS packaging and object design. With POS packaging and object design, two new trade fair segments will also be repositioned. Moreover, the new profile will be reflected in the hall configuration: viscom will occupy both levels of Hall 3, with the six theme worlds being clearly distinguishable as a result of the layout. This clear structure will ensure that exhibitors and visitors can easily find their way and that each sector has the space to express its own identity.

The upcoming viscom frankfurt will take place at the Exhibition Centre Frankfurt from 5 to 7 November 2014. Visitor, exhibitor and floor space figures of viscom düsseldorf are calculated and certified according to the uniform definitions published by FKM – German Society for Voluntary Control of Fair and Exhibition Statistics.