PSI-Show-Floor

The 54th PSI Show reported a strong performance and increased attendance at its most recent event, which ran January 13-15 in Düsseldorf, Germany. Organizer Reed Exhibitions credits the show’s performance on an eight percent year-over-year increase in exhibitors and a 3.7 percent increase in visitors, and on the share of international attendees climbing to 55 percent. Reed Exhibitions recorded 932 exhibitors, up from 878 in 2015; and 16,810 visitors, up from 16,218 last year.

“The path toward new growth is paying off; the industry’s self-confidence is on the rise,” says PSI Director Michael Freter.

The show’s growth comes as signs point towards a resurgent European promotional products market. The Europe-wide PSI Industry Barometer, a representative survey of more than 1,500 companies presented at PSI, found that 62 percent of suppliers and 60 percent of promotional products consultants in Europe recorded sales increases over the year before. Only 24 percent of suppliers and 22 percent of distributors noted declining sales. In the medium term, more than 80 percent of suppliers and promotional products consultants forecast sales to increase over the next five years, half of them pegging the number at above 10 percent. The automotive, food, financial and insurance, construction, retail and tourism industries are considered the most important advertising-consuming sectors with the highest growth potential.

Germany’s promotional products industry registered €3.48 billion in sales in 2015, repeating its performance from the year before. Nearly one in two companies in the country are incorporating promotional products in their marketing campaigns now, according to the findings of the Promotional Products Monitor, a report released at PSI by Gesamtverband der Werbeartikel-Wirtschaft e. V. (GWW), the umbrella association of the German promotional products industry.

Beginning in 2017, attendees will be able to invite their clients to attend the show on the last day of the event. All customers visiting PSI as distributor invitees will be qualified and accredited ahead of the show, and receive specially marked admission tickets. To accommodate these plans, the PSI’s event days will be changed so the show will run from Tuesday to Thursday starting next year.

“We’re very pleased with the notion that consultants would invite advertisers to give them first-hand insights into our sector’s strong performance,” says GWW President Patrick Politze. “Nowhere else does the industry do a better job of presenting itself than here at PSI in Düsseldorf. In my view, conveying this impression to corporate decision-makers is the most important signal our industry can send. And we do indeed need to boost our visibility. What’s more, as an association we were delighted to collaborate with a body comprised of suppliers and distributors to develop this concept.”

Freter adds, “This decision is rooted in a great sense of responsibility for the industry and in mutual trust. Distributors still hold the reins. Our objective is clear: the PSI Show wants to whet customers’ appetite for even more promotional products. But something else is equally clear: this hunger will still be satisfied by promotional products consultants.”