Problematic Start for Practical World

Sylvia Herzog
The concept underlying Practical World, which is the new name given to the Cologne International Hardware Fair/DIY’TEC, does not seem to have quite worked out so far: fewer exhibitors than last year and a 25 per cent drop in the number of visitors attending the event.
Is this shrinkage among exhibitors and visitors alike to be attributed to a measure of uncertainty among manufacturers and retailers as regards the new concept of the multi-trade fair, or to the perilous state of the economy?
Both the one and the other. The development of the economy is more than lacklustre, and in difficult times the tendency is to cut back on marketing expenditure, including participation in trade fairs. Especially since manufacturers have long argued that they are simply unable to present new products every year, let alone come up with innovations. So companies are tending to make the decision to save the money and stage in-house fairs in their expensively equipped showrooms instead. The manufacturers of power tools are united in agreeing on this attitude – and they stayed away from the recent event in a body. Which is a poor testimonial for the biggest hardware fair in the world.
Quite a few companies in the DIY sector seemed not to be absolutely clear about the significance of the two-yearly fair cycle. This year with the focus on interiors and decoration, then next year shell construction is on the schedule. And so one section of the manufacturers took “wait and see” as their motto.
It seems reasonable to suspect in this context that it is not only the manufacturing firms that are saving on marketing expenditure. Was the new concept for the Hardware Fair, that is to say Practical World, really sufficiently well communicated? How the fair will continue is anything but clear. Currently under discussion, for example, is whether a day should be introduced for the general public.