Media packages: Messe Frankfurt enhances services for exhibitors and visitors

Messe Frankfurt will roll out the overhauled exhibitor search for the 2010 trade fair season. At the spring trade fairs ahead, exhibitors will have the opportunity to showcase their products and services using pictures and text on the trade fair's internet site. This delivers added value to trade fair visitors in particular. The range of media services is being expanded for exhibitors at no added cost.
"Trade fair visitors do not have time to first start considering what stands they would like to visit once they are already on the trade fair grounds. They want to be able to use the internet to find exhibitors and products before and during the trade fair in order to plan which stands they will be visiting, and those who were not able to visit the fair or individual stands will continue that research process online after the trade fair," says Dr. Ulrich Thieme, Head of the Productpilot exhibitor and product portal for Messe Frankfurt, summarizing the benefits for industry visitors. Exhibitors that really want to stand out for their potential customers, the trade fair visitors, know that time is precious and are investing more heavily in trade fair media in order to generate greater visibility.
The informational material for presenting products on the new internet sites for the various trade fair events is being overseen by Productpilot, a subsidiary of Messe Frankfurt. "A successful internal project means that we will be able to serve exhibitors as a one-stop-shop for the entire range of media services for the first time next year," Thieme continues.
"That way the same core data can be viewed by every visitor whether in the printed trade fair catalog, on the internet or in the visitor information system on the trade fair ground." The internet also makes it possible to convey product descriptions, photos and further details to exhibitors. We were not able to do that on the sites for the individual trade fairs up to now, but visitor demand had been growing. In tandem with the new design for the Messe Frankfurt internet sites, the exhibitor search was also overhauled.
The full text search function with an error correction feature now offers expanded search capabilities for visitors, and exhibitors can make it easier for people to find them by filing certain terms. These and other new services are being offered to exhibitors under the heading "media package". It is a concept that, given the global nature of the competitive landscape in trade fairs and the internet, will become and more important. Messe Frankfurt is assuming a pioneering role amongst its trade fair peers in Germany. The great internet offensive was unleashed for the first time in February, the media package is part of that.
"Universal data usage is especially important to us," explains Thomas Zeller, Head of Messe Frankfurt Medien und Service GmbH, whose responsibilities include the official trade fair catalogs. Working together with the Productpilot team, data is collected and processed in such a way that it can be used flexibly for Messe Frankfurt's various media. Zeller adds, "The exhibitor gets greater visibility for their money and services like logos or brand entry will no longer apply just to the catalog, but the necessary adjustments can be made so that they can be displayed on the internet as well. That is now standard for all events." Collectively using data offers exhibitors another advantage; once company or product entries have been submitted once, they can be listed in the Frankfurt Messe industry portal Productpilot if the exhibitor so chooses. "There is only one offer like that out there on the German market, and it's ours," explains Dr. Thieme.
"We have confidence in the fact that every exhibitor will take advantage of the opportunity to generate as much visibility as possible in the trade fair environment, especially during the economic crisis. And we are certain that we are satisfying the needs of exhibitors and industry visitors alike with the media package."

productpilot.com is Messe Frankfurt's year-round, multi-branch international business-to-business portal. With the slogan "stop searching. start finding", productpilot.com combines all provider and product information available from the exhibitors at its Frankfurt trade fairs under one platform. Buyers can use this platform to research exhibitors' information and contact details from anywhere in the world regardless of whether the trade fair is currently being held or not. By synchronizing the online and offline world, Messe Frankfurt is ahead of the game in combining the traditional strengths of a trade fair with strong online visibility. In addition to the search engine, productpilot.com also operates the multi-media industry information platform productpilot.tv, which uses audio and visual means to convey information about the exhibitors and products currently at Messe Frankfurt's trade fairs.
Further information is available at: www.productpilot.com.

Productpilot GmbH
Dr. Ulrich Thieme
Ludwig-Erhard-Anlage 1
D-60327 Frankfurt
Tel.: +49 69 75 75-0
press@messefrankfurt.com

This release was published on openPR.