By Steve Reece

The Spielwarenmesse event is the world’s largest Toy trade gathering. There is no bigger or better opportunity to connect and do business with people in the Toy business from all around the world. Tens of thousands of Toy people participate in Spielwarenmesse – the show is so vast in scope, that a measured and planned approach will always yield the best results.

Forward planning is the key

The show runs from Tuesday to Saturday, which means that even if you have a meeting every 30 minutes from the start of the show until the end, the most meetings you can pack in based on the total show hours is 88, which is a very small percentage of the total potential meetings you could have based on the number of attendees. Planning is key to get every little bit of value from the show you can.

How the show works

Spielwarenmesse is primarily an open booth event. This means that the vast majority of exhibitors have open entrances to their stand, and therefore Buyers and other visitors can walk onto most exhibition stands and just start talking to the company Sales team. There are of course some companies who have their latest products hidden away inside, and you can only view their products either by way of prior appointment or by proving you are a Buyer or Media person they want to preview their products to. Therefore, even though Spielwarenmesse is an open exhibition primarily, you will maximise your attendance by pre-arranging as many meetings as you can.

The show layout

Traversing Spielwarenmesse can be a physical challenge. The show is spread over such a large area that you do need to be mobile enough to be on your feet and walk all day. For those who can track their daily step count with a smart watch or pedometer, it is not uncommon to walk as much as 10 -15 kilometres in a single day at Spielwarenmesse. Shoes which are more focused on style than comfort may be in the bin by lunchtime on Day 1. Therefore, the most important advice is to wear comfortable shoes which you can walk in all day for 5 long days!

The opportunity doesn’t stop at 6pm

Die Messe selbst schießt an den ersten vier Tagen um 18 Uhr und am letzten Tag um 17 Uhr. Aber dann ist noch lang noch nicht Schluss, denn nun beginnt der inoffizielle Teil, in dem man neue geschäftliche Kontakte knüpfen und vielleicht sogar Freunde gewinnen oder wiedersehen kann. Abends können Sie sich mit bestehenden Kontakten treffen, aber auch neue Geschäftsbeziehungen auftun. Häufig lassen Aussteller den Messetag mit einem Abendessen für das gesamte Messeteam ausklingen und laden dazu auch wichtige Kunden ein. Andere verbringen den Abend in Bars und Kneipen und halten dort mit Freunden, Bekannten und Kunden ein Schwätzchen. Die Kneipenszene in Nürnberg ist lebendig, daher reicht es, wenn Sie Ihre Kontakte fragen, welche Lokalitäten während der Messe besonders gerne von Spielwarenmessebesuchern frequentiert werden.

While the show officially closes at 6pm for the first four days, and at 5pm on the final day, the reality is that the opportunity to connect with potential commercial partners (and friends!) is only just beginning. After the show, there are many opportunities to meet good contacts, forge new relationships and to build new ones. Exhibitors will often have a team dinner after the show each day, during which they can relax, blow off some steam and reflect on the day. Key partners are often invited to these dinners. For many others, evenings during the Spielwarenmesse event are spent in bars talking to friends, contacts and customers. Nuremberg has many bars, and so it is best to ask around your peers to find out which bars will be most heavily frequented by the Toy trade during the latest show.

Get active and join in

There are also some organised events after hours during Spielwarenmesse, this includes both official events organised and promoted by the show organisers, but there are also parties or functions hosted by major companies from major brand licensing partners through to major Toy companies. Other key groups of people also often organise their own get togethers. When you are a newcomer it all seems impenetrable, and you can feel like an outsider, but Toy people are generally quite friendly. You will often find yourself oversubscribed before too long if you ask people at the end of your meetings during the day what they are up to in the evenings.

Spielwarenmesse offers a massive opportunity to visitors and exhibitors to connect and to get Toy business done.

Note for exhibitors

Finally, bear in mind, dear exhibitors, how bewildering this show must be for Buyers based on the scope of what they see. It is inevitable that they will be late or even miss a few meetings. It is also difficult for them to distil down all the very many great products they will see to the few that they will list for the next sales cycle. So, one final tip – look after your Buyers! Have comfortable seating, offer them refreshments and ask them how they are feeling. Then everything is ready for you to launch the twentieth sales pitch they have seen that day, giving you the best chance of standing out from the rest.

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.