25 years addicted to Spielwarenmesse

A commentary by Steve Reece

Spielwarenmesse 2024 is taking place at the 25^th anniversary of my first attending the world’s biggest Toy trade show. If you had asked the much younger version of me that attended back then if I would still be attending in 25 years, then I suspect my answer would have been “I really hope so!”.

Back then I was a junior Research Associate working for the European head office of a major Toy company providing market and consumer insights to decision makers on the brand and product development teams. I had been in my new job for just a few weeks when I visited my first Spielwarenmesse. So, my viewpoint was that of someone focused on capturing key market insights and investigating how each Toy market varied. This leads to a frenetic run around the various Halls of the show looking for a list of Toy companies from different countries as briefed by my boss. Like with most people working at big companies, this also included some time on our corporate booth meeting key team members I would be working with and for from around Europe.

Spielwarenmesse: First Impressions

My overwhelming first impressions of Spielwarenmesse back then was mostly bewilderment at the sheer scale of the show. Back then there was an entire Hall full of Christmas decorations, and I remember spending 20 minutes walking around that Hall wondering how you can possibly differentiate one Christmas tinsel supplier from another 30 suppliers of what looked like an identical product. One of the challenges of trying to review Spielwarenmesse is that the sheer scale of the show, the number of products on display and the tens of thousands of people on site inevitably mean that one human set of eyes and one human brain can only ever sample a fraction of what is going on at the show – in that sense, if you can’t get a lot of business done at this show then there is probably something wrong with your approach, your product range, your sales capability or something else because the Toy trade comes every year to get business done.

Experiencing Spielwarenmesse from different perspectives

Over time, I have experienced Spielwarenmesse from a number of different perspectives. I have been a corporate Toy guy, I have attended on my own as a start up, I have attended seeking to gain export and international distribution and have also attended to help many client companies I have worked with to further their business. While wearing all these various ‘Hats’ I can genuinely confirm I have never had an unsuccessful show across 25 years. There were some lonely times – for example being a start up in a world of established companies can be a lonely place. However, regardless of that, even when it was just me attending trying to build something, I brought in a lot of sales leads leading to sales.

Having fun and getting business done

There are some strong memories of the deals I can remember coming out of Spielwarenmesse. For example, I often tell people that it can take years to build up international distribution, even if your products are really good. I remember spending 7 years trying to persuade one distributor to take a product he really wanted to distribute…there was just always another reason or another product which pushed my product out. I met with this distributor every year at Spielwarenmesse for 7 visits, until at last he said yes and launched the product which was quite successful for him (as we both predicted years earlier!). Over time, meeting with people at Spielwarenmesse has been pivotal in distribution deals I completed with companies from North & South America, across Europe, the Middle East, India, China, Japan, Oceania and more. Well, that’s down to the quality of opportunity provided by the show, not any great skill on my behalf. Spielwarenmesse provides the platform and opportunity for deals, as Toy business people we just need to make those deals happen.

After show hours: When the fun & the opportunity continues

There is an old saying which is that only some of the business is done during the day at the show. Much of the relationship building and even sometimes negotiating over difficult topics is done over dinner or in the bars and pubs of Nuremberg after the official show hours have finished for the day. This mix of social and business is honestly the best ‘insider’ secret for making the most of a visit to Spielwarenmesse. Meeting new people in the industry, attending industry evenings, dinners and parties – this is an essential part of both the experience and the commercial value of attending Spielwarenmesse.

Nuremberg – the beginning of more than one beautiful friendship

I have many happy memories of nights spent out roaming from bar to bar in the Altstadt in central Nuremberg with old friends and new acquaintances. I remember recruiting a key member of staff to run a subsidiary at one of Nuremberg’s many Irish bars. Another time I was at a party held by a major entertainment licensing company and I met a Buyer at the bar at 01:30 in the morning who went on to spend €millions with my clients as a result of that random meeting after we had both samples a little too much of the fine local beers. In terms of the most memorable experiences, I was lucky enough to be invited to a party for a leading Games publisher in Germany hosted by the Count Faber-Castell held at the Faber-Castell. It is castle a few kilometres out from the centre of Nuremberg in Stein. A very entertaining evening held in a stunning venue. But perhaps of most value have been the countless dinners I have spent with friends in the industry and commercial partners. We have fun together after the show, we laugh at the same old jokes, we tell each other we are older and fatter than the year before and then we spend all year buying and selling from each other in between Spielwarenmesse shows!

A place to rest your head

Another part of attending Spielwarenmesse which really makes me smile is the variety of accommodation of all types and budgets I have stayed in while visiting Nuremberg over the years. Of course, in my corporate days I stayed in the best hotels in Nuremberg and greatly enjoyed that experience, with nice rooms and god facilities in the hotel. In my start up days when budgets were ultra-tight I remember trying to save money by booking into a dorm in a hostel near to the central train station. I was worried about whether this would be too uncomfortable and whether I would get enough sleep, only to find that I was the last person back to the dorm in the early hours each night and the first one up and out to the show in the morning! I also had a very funny experience with an Airbnb residence with an inflatable bed which deflated and so I spent 5 nights sleeping on a hard floor! These days I stay with friends in what could perhaps be described as a ‘frat house’ type of atmosphere – with great access to the Aldstadt and the show, it genuinely feels like coming home each night.

Spielwarenmesse: the place to be

Over the 25 years since I first attended this incredible global gathering of the Toy business community the show has grown, with new Halls built and capacity increased. Many start-ups and wannabees have become significant established players in the Toy trade, and many of those long established companies who were there 25 years ago come back year after year to take advantage of the massive commercial potential of a show which brings together so many potential Buyers, distributors, agents and other key commercial partners. My current plan is to visit another 25 Spielwarenmesse events, by which point I will be 73 years of age and by then I will probably be struggling to walk the aisles. So, if you see a crazy old man on an e-scooter in 2049 looking like he’s enjoying one of his favourite experiences of the year, that might just be me.

About the Author

Steve Reece has worked in the Toy business for 25 years. Having previously worked for Hasbro managing iconic brands such as Monopoly, Play-Doh and Trivial Pursuit, Steve now runs a Consultancy company – Kids Brand Insight – helping Toy companies grow export sales, build robust diversified supply chain and recruit the right people.