- An optimistic start to the new year: more trade visitors at Paperworld, Christmasworld and Beautyworld

- Double-digit growth in visitors from Europe

- Positive signals from Frankfurt: trade and industry anticipate an economic upswing

The overall improvement in the economic climate could be felt clearly at the Paperworld, Christmasworld and Beautyworld consumer-goods fairs. From 25 to 29 January, a potent cross section of the international industry (4,116 exhibitors from 75 countries) welcomed around 106,800 trade visitors whose attitude can only be characterised as positive, receptive and constructive. "We are very pleased with the result of the three events. We had expected the number of visitors to remain stable in comparison to the previous year and, in view of the difficult economic situation in 2005, certainly not expected that more guests would make their way here to Frankfurt from all over the world. However, the industry gave a convincing demonstration of its strength and offered the trade exactly what it needs at this point in time and what it had been calling for: innovations", said Dr. Michael Peters, Member of the Board of Management of Messe Frankfurt GmbH. Paperworld was once again attended by 66,000 buyers while Christmasworld and Beautyworld noted small but significant increases to around 30,400 and 10,400 visitors respectively.

This growth was primarily the result of a large increase in the number of visitors from outside Germany (+15 percent), especially from Europe. Apart from Germany, the best-represented visitor nations were Italy, France, The Netherlands, Great Britain and Switzerland. This increase in numbers from abroad confirms once again the significance of the three events as the biggest order venues at the beginning of the year. Paperworld is the world's leading platform for the office-supplies sector, Christmasworld continues to expand its position as the foremost international trade fair for all festivals of the year while Beautyworld is the first order and new-products event of the year for the international beauty sector.

Throughout the five days of the fair, the trade once again placed greater emphasis on quality and image. For the trend among consumers towards attractive and individual products – coupled with a willingness to pay a higher price for them – remains unbroken. However, it is not only new products that are in demand among dealers. The tendency towards themed campaigns and complete packages was also clearly evident this year. Innovative brand presentations were launched as overall concepts and, in many cases, implemented by the trade one to one. "The trade is banking more and more on innovative brand presentations and, at the same time, on themed marketing instead of price cutting", explained Rolf Schifferenz, Marketing Manager for German-speaking markets of Faber Castell AG, who was pleased with the course of business at the fair and, in particular, with visitor quality, which was higher than ever before. "People were markedly more relaxed. It seems that they have had enough of lethargy and are now taking a more optimistic view of the future. Dealers are desperate for fresh ideas and this resulted in a large number of orders for Pelikan during Paperworld", said Horst Burghard, Head of Exhibitions and PR at Pelikan Vertriebsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG., confirming the positive mood at the fair.

Horst-Werner Maier-Hunke, Chairman of the Association of the Paper, Office Supplies and Stationery Industry in the Metalware and Related Industries Association (Fachverband Metallwaren- und verwandte Industrien (FMI) e.V.) and General Manager of Durable Hunke & Jochheim GmbH reported, "The mood among visitors is noticeably better than last year. Hence, business was good for us at Paperworld. There were more foreign visitors to our stand this year than in 2005. However, the success or failure at a fair also depends on whether exhibitors can offer visitors ideas and innovations. Nowadays, innovations are essential to attract visitors. And this means that exhibitors must take the necessary steps. Paperworld is on the way from being an order fair to an innovation event."

Altogether, the exhibitors of the three consumer-goods fairs were satisfied with the results of this year, too. The most decisive role in this was played by the large number of top decision makers – three quarters of buyers belong to the top managerial level of their company – and the associated further increase in purchasing authority. At the same time, the positive atmosphere at the fair translated into more orders being placed at the fair. "We are really enthusiastic because we have seen that dealers are once again calling for innovations. With regard to their purchasing decisions, they are bolder than last year", said Pieter Hogenhout, Business Unit Manager Retail of Messrs. Haans, The Netherlands, describing the course of business at Christmasworld. Amscan Partyartikel (Deutschland) GmbH, for example, reported "50 percent more sales than a year ago and lots of new contacts." More orders than last year and new export customers was the résumé made by Inge’s Christmas Decor GmbH.

In line with this were the positive assessments of the current economic situation in the sector made by representatives of both the trade and industry. 85 percent of the dealers polled consider the present business climate to be satisfactory to good. Three quarters of the exhibitors are similarly optimistic. This year, particularly confident answers to the questions were given by German exhibitors and visitors.

Werner Hariegel, General Manager of the German Perfumery Associations (Bundesverband Parfümerien e.V.), sees the encouraging course of business at Beautyworld 2006 as being a continuation of the good business at Christmas. "I have spoken with many satisfied exhibitors and, in the case of those who are dissatisfied, the reason was, quiet simply, that their own product ranges were not on target. Visitors are extremely enthusiastic about the host of new and small special brands." This was confirmed by Markus Wiesmaier, proprietor of Eyes & Faces, Rosenheim, who exhibited for the first time at Beautyworld: "At first, we thought we would have no chance against the big brands. However, we soon noticed that dealers are looking for new ideas and were delighted to see that they took a great interest in our products." A similar view was taken by Udo Heuser, Sales Manager, Fribad Cosmetics Group GmbH: "The fair was very, very good for us. Our products were in great demand. We were visited by all decision makers from the perfumery cooperatives, as well as their members and representatives of the department stores."

Trends

Celebrate like champions

Soccer is the key to success in this year of the World Cup, 2006. Accordingly, Christmasworld was resplendent in feather boas with dots in the German national colours, black, red, yellow, and hats with integrated football pitches, not to mention festoons, fairy lights, trumpets, chairs, beanbags and table cloths in football design. Also essential: German-designed Frisbee confetti that is particularly easy to throw. At Beautyworld, topical football outfits were used to decorate manicure cases and other accessories. Also to be seen on the shelves were flag-look soap and temporary tattoos for making a colourful appearance at the stadium. The subject of football was also prevalent at Paperworld and to be found in all product segments.

Paperworld: things are getting colourful

In the field of writing utensils, increasing attention is being paid to smaller children and 'writing instruction' at an early stage. Additionally, the products in this segment are becoming more and more fashionable with the aim of reducing the time individual products remain at the point of sale.

As ever, the emphasis in the office-article segment is on ergonomics and saving time. However, the subject of product colouring is also gaining in significance with the demand for colour accents increasing in offices, too, whereby fresh shades, such as soft blues and greens, or orange are popular.

Through the increasing use of colour laser printers, the focus of interest is moving towards special paper for such applications. The innovations in this field tend to be very much in the direction of new, more practical and environmentally friendly packaging and means of carrying the paper.

Besides luxurious white-in-white, colour is also being used increasingly for note blocks and cardboard packaging in the premium paper segment. In this case, the trend colours are not only shades of red and restrained orange but also, and in particular, 'lagoon', an intensive sea green.

Christmasworld: festive glitter, gloss and glamour

Christmas 2006 is set to be a glittering and sparkling occasion: whereas last year's Christmasworld was characterised by plain shapes and natural materials, the tendency is now towards glamorous products with arabesque patterns and luxury materials, a cheerful reflection of which is to be seen in dollar notes made of glass. Eye catching, especially for members of the young target group, is black glass jewellery with dramatic colour contrasts in green or pink; silver and gold are used to set brilliant accents. Practical are innovative, wireless, battery-powered candles. Popular for lighting: LEDs, which use less power than conventional bulbs. Original: a revolving Christmas-tree stand that plays popular Christmas tunes appropriate to the season

Beautyworld: medical skin care and photographic printing for the nails

Skin care bordering on medicine, the result of intensive dermatological care, was the latest trend to be seen at Beautyworld 2006. Dominant in the field of decorative cosmetics this year are cool colours, such as lilac, pink, blue, turquoise and light green, as well as 'nude', which is also topical in the textile sector. Consumers who want to stand out a little, can now use a 'nail printer'. Thousands of motifs for printing on nails are available and the machine can even photograph and print the customer's own face.

Note for journalists:

You will find more information and reproduction-quality photographs on the internet at:
www.paperworld.messefrankfurt.com
www.christmasworld.messefrankfurt.com
www.beautyworld.messefrankfurt.com
and about Messe Frankfurt GmbH at:
www.messefrankfurt.com

Paperworld, Christmasworld and Beautyworld will next be held in Frankfurt am Main from 24 to 28 January 2007.